Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 45: The Revival Match That Was Seen Through – Can the Three Delicacies Rice Ball Sandwich Advance?
"Three-ingredient rice ball sandwich?"

Looking at the food in front of him, which looked about 8% similar to the "Five Hans" Three Delicacies Bean Curd Skin, Xia Ming finally nodded.

"Compared to the previous ones, this can be considered a formal dish."

Seeing him poke the surface of the sandwich with his chopsticks, the host next to him immediately perked up.

There was nothing they could do; the head chef was just too polite. Even when they gave him a black card, they still pointed out some good things about him. The bald cook was a bit fierce, and his words weren't as sharp as Xia Ming's.

As for the graduate student at the banquet, she ate very blandly and basically didn't express any opinions. However, after much deliberation, she approved the "fried ice cream toast" dish from the previous dishes, which was called "No Pain, No Gain."

However, according to the vote, the dish did not pass.

On the other hand, Xia Ming's behavior was quite outstanding, and when you asked him questions, he had a lot of reasoning and evidence. Although he didn't eat it, what he said was basically the same as the production process.

Most importantly, he still maintains a 100% accuracy rate in his results, and many viewers are attracted to his behavior and stay in the live stream.

At this moment, sensing that Xia Ming had become somewhat interested in the dish in front of him, the host hurriedly ran over.

"Sichuan-Chongqing Ice and Fire Chef, I see you're about to pick up your chopsticks. Is there some special story behind this dish?"

Xia Ming nodded at the camera.

"Previous dishes either failed due to a lack of basic creativity or due to problems in the preparation process."

"Take the 'Crab-Flavored Fried Dough Sticks' for example. The idea itself wasn't wrong, but when making the dough sticks with instant noodles, the heat wasn't controlled properly, and the bottom was overcooked."

"Not to mention the crab roe on top, which is made from crab roe-flavored beans without any processing. That stuff is meant to be eaten as a snack, so putting it in a dish makes it too hard."

"And then there's that 'Salted Fish Three-Layer Soda Cracker with Sparkling Water.' Putting aside the taste, the sweet and sour jujube cake paired with the salted fish filling creates a jarring clash of flavors. Just considering the three flavor layers of this dish, if even one of them is actually seasoned, it's a death sentence."

"The salted fish used is dace with fermented black beans, which does taste quite good, but it was added without any processing. The jujube cake was also unprocessed, and the soda crackers were readily available."

"The only thing that's been processed is the thin layer of scallion pancake skin between the soda cracker and the ingredients. Tell me, what's the difference between this and me biting into a soda cracker, a scallion pancake, a piece of black bean dace, and then a piece of jujube cake?"

"Why go through all this trouble? Why don't I just eat these four things separately and then drink sparkling water separately? Do you think I'm that bored?"

At this point, Xia Ming sighed.

"The only dish I could call a dish before was the 'Fried Ice Cream Toast,' which was a toast coated with a water-based batter (starch and water). I don't know why they didn't use egg batter; maybe they didn't have any~"

Actually, when Xia Ming realized this, he had a general idea of ​​the situation. The so-called new product tasting was most likely a form of revival competition.

Given the limitations of the previous cooking methods, this revival competition will most likely require contestants to prepare food using semi-finished products, which, combined with the fact that the previous dishes were all instant noodles, will likely require them to do so.
Xia Ming had already guessed that the theme of this competition would be small supermarkets or convenience stores.

"However, he did add a very thin layer of mayonnaise at the end, but this egg was salted. Considering that he didn't use fresh eggs, I have reason to suspect that he used braised eggs or salted egg yolks."

"This combination with ice cream would have tasted good, but perhaps I wasn't skilled at using the water-based batter. The pre-made toast was fried until it was dry. No matter how delicious the ice cream is, it defeats the purpose of this."

The host's eyes lit up as he listened to Xia Ming's eloquent speech.

The reason was simple: the director told him that the live broadcast ratings had increased.

"So, Sichuan and Chongqing Ice and Fire Chef contestant, how is this dish different from the previous ones?"

Xia Ming poked it again with his chopsticks, then slowly opened his mouth.

"Look, this 'Three Delicacies Rice Ball Sandwich' has a thick rice skin on the outside, similar to crispy rice crust. Judging from the taste and texture of the rice, this layer is most likely made from the rice inside the rice ball."

"It doesn't use rice directly. This rice probably has starch, a little salt, and very small hot dog pieces added to it, and then it's fried in oil."

"The three delicacies he's serving below should be crab sticks, luncheon meat, and black bean dace. But judging from the color, the black bean dace looks like it's been cooked. This is to remove excess salt so it can be paired better with the other two ingredients."

"Most importantly, he put a little bit of vegetable leaf in it. Judging from its color, it was fried twice. I strongly suspect that he took a piece from a supermarket boxed lunch and made it into a side dish."

At this point, Xia Ming finally picked up the dish in front of the camera and took a bite.

After closing his eyes and sensing it for a moment, Xia Ming continued.

"The crab sticks are tender and soft, the luncheon meat is pan-fried to maintain its meaty texture, and the black bean dace is diced to ensure a chewy texture. After mixing these ingredients together, other seasonings are added and stir-fried again. Finally, leafy greens are added to make the filling."

"Interestingly, he added a layer of 'tamagoyaki' (Japanese rolled omelet), the kind you get in bento boxes, between the three-delicacy filling and the thick rice skin to balance out the flavors."

"A lot of effort was put into the overall design, but the taste is barely passable."

Hearing Xia Ming's words, the chefs around all turned to look. Shuai Xiaojian glanced at Xia Ming, then gently patted Li Zhian on the shoulder.

"What do you think."

Lai Chi-On swallowed the food in his mouth.

"It's a bit too hard after frying. Considering that it's rice ball, it should have been steamed for a while longer before frying."

"? No, I'm asking you about the Sichuan-Chongqing Ice and Fire Chef!"

Shuai Xiaojian was a little helpless. As a professional food critic, how could he not notice that it was fried a little too hard?

"Oh, him? He's a promising young man!"

Li Zhian chuckled and put down the sandwich. He knew that Shuai Xiaojian had something on his mind, but he didn't take the bait.

Seeing Li Zhian's expression, Shuai Xiaojian understood what he meant and turned his gaze back to Xia Ming.

At this moment, he truly took Xia Ming seriously. After all, there are many unconventional methods among chefs, and occasional victories cannot be taken as the sole measure of success.

However, young, untrained chefs who possess solid basic skills, extensive knowledge of ingredients, strong sense of smell and taste, and a few unique talents are extremely rare.

If he's really not one of those old fogies, then he wouldn't mind coming over to pick up some peaches.

Xia Ming was unaware of Shuai Xiaojian's intentions at this moment. After finishing the "Three Delicacies Rice Ball Sandwich" in his mouth, he remained silent for a moment.

Seeing his gaze shift between "delicious" and "unpalatable," the host quickly asked the camera to give him a close-up shot.

Meanwhile, inside Hell's Kitchen, Xia Yuxingye nervously stared at the screen in front of her.

Xia Ming's judgment on his cooking was spot on. He knew that he had made several minor mistakes in order to save time, but he was confident that the dish would pass muster.

At this moment, he no longer looked at Xia Ming with the same disdain as before, but instead became very cautious.

He didn't believe that someone could analyze an unknown dish thoroughly just by luck.

"No matter where you come from, I'll remember you. Once I'm resurrected, I'll definitely come and learn from you!"

He already sensed that Xia Ming was likely to be a rising star in the culinary world.

Just as Xia Yuxing was feeling tense, the viewers in the live stream started discussing the vote count.

[I saw it! The bald cook and the graduate student in charge of the banquet both gave out "delicious" cards!]

Chef Shao rated it delicious, while Lin Chao rated it terrible, so now it's 3:1.

[Chef Wang Qingrui gave it a bad review, that's too much! Was it delicious or terrible?!]

[Chef Dong served something terrible, Zeng Huaijun served something terrible, it's over, it's 3:4 now, Xia Yuxing is in trouble!]

[The Sichuan-Chongqing Ice and Fire Chef will definitely serve delicious food, right? He's already said so much, he can't go back on his word!]

It's hard to say. This guy's really good at creating entertaining moments. I think he'll definitely vote for the unpalatable one.

In the banquet hall, as everyone around him offered their evaluations, Shuai Xiaojian hesitated.

Strictly speaking, this dish had too many minor flaws and its taste was not up to par, but he also realized that it was part of the revival competition.

After much hesitation, he decided to give the chef behind the dish a chance.

With Shuai Xiaojian casting the "Delicious" card, only Xia Ming and Li Zhian remained unvoted.

Xia Ming looked up at Li Zhian, who happened to be looking at him.

As their eyes met, the two seemed to reach some kind of tacit understanding. Just when the viewers in the live stream were getting a little impatient, the two suddenly spoke at the same time.

I abstain.

I abstain.

(End of this chapter)