Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 81 Unfinished Frozen Tofu, how could it be? It's actually... a fish?

Frozen tofu

Essentially, it is a flavored tofu ingredient made by freezing tofu, causing the water in the tofu to coagulate and expand, and ultimately destroying the protein structure, leaving behind a honeycomb-like structure.

In the days before refrigerators, most people had to wait until winter to eat "frozen tofu".

However, in modern cities, "frozen tofu" can often be easily obtained with just a normal freezer and a day.

Even for commercial freezers operating at -40°C, the forming time can be reduced to about 3 hours.

After the second round, Luo Luo realized something was wrong and prepared some firm tofu with most of the water pressed out to make "frozen tofu".

As for why soft tofu isn't used, the reason is quite simple!
The water content in soft tofu is too high, and squeezing alone cannot remove it completely.

This can cause the ice to expand excessively under freezing conditions, eventually turning it into either a soft, collapsed mass or a failed product with unevenly distributed internal cavities or even hollow spaces.

Even if soft tofu manages to freeze into a solid shape, it will fall apart during subsequent stewing, completely lacking the fine, well-defined pores of firm tofu.

When it comes to ingredients, Lolo, who has received strict training since childhood, is naturally right about what to eat.

However, in the actual "Infinite Reincarnation Cooking Showdown", there is a key factor!
【time】

Luo Shurong, the one who set the question, had this question solved by Xia Yitian (Xia Minhui) using frozen tofu back then.

During the competition, the moment he saw Xia Ming put the tofu into the freezer, he realized Xia Ming's little scheme.

So he deliberately adjusted the time to completely block the road.

Unexpectedly, before Xia Ming could even see the final product, his granddaughter got to see the frozen tofu first.

Looking at the holes on the side of the tofu in front of him, Luo Shurong silently glanced at Luo Luo (Luo Jinran).

Luo Jinran felt her breath catch in her throat.
Actually, she had already noticed something was wrong when she took the frozen tofu out.

Although it was covered in ice shards, judging from its appearance, it was very likely that this thing was not fully formed.

Moreover, under normal circumstances, frozen tofu can only develop its most perfect honeycomb-like pores after being left to thaw at room temperature.

But Luo Jinran didn't have time to think so much at that time. She had originally planned to use frozen tofu as the main ingredient for the final "fresh" flavor.

Even if the main character is having some problems right now, it's really impossible for her to find a new solution on short notice.
So, she took a risk and used "frozen tofu" that was not fully formed before it thawed, hoping to make up for some of the score by using the unique texture of the ingredients.

However, apart from Nicholas Tse who was still observing, all the other judges present noticed that something was wrong with the tofu.

Taking a deep breath, Luo Shurong finally picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of "frozen tofu" from the bowl, and put it in his mouth.

The first taste is the "umami" flavor provided by chicken essence, followed by the chewy texture of the "frozen tofu" itself.

Generally speaking, the key to delicious frozen tofu lies in its outer skin, which should maintain its firmness and chewiness while exhibiting a soft texture.

The ideal bite is one that is just the right amount of force to break through the tofu, allowing the broth inside to be squeezed out, creating a perfect balance between the tofu and the broth in your mouth.

But all of this is predicated on the premise that the "frozen tofu" itself is not problematic.
But now, Luo Shurong, whose teeth are still in relatively good condition, feels very bad because this frozen tofu is impossible to chew.

That's not the worst part. The worst part is that the broth that "frozen tofu" should have is especially scarce because of the incomplete holes.

The sensation in my mouth wasn't like eating "frozen tofu." Instead, it felt more like taking a piece of undercooked chicken skin from a pot of poorly cooked chicken soup and then struggling to chew it properly.

So, in order to preserve his last remaining tooth, Luo Shurong silently spat out the frozen tofu.
Seeing this, Luo Jinran felt as if the sky had darkened. If she had known her grandfather would be a judge, she would never have dared to use such unfinished ingredients.

At the time, she thought that the judges, apart from Li Shanghu, were all relatively young and should be able to handle the food. Although the taste might be a bit of a problem, the creativity should make up for it.

And that was indeed the case; besides Luo Shurong, even Li Shanghu swallowed the frozen tofu.

However, the judges generally looked quite grim after eating.
Luo Yumin didn't waste any time and directly pulled out the "rejection" card.

"Lolo, your last dish had a major flaw in the choice of ingredients, to the point of completely ruining it. I think you might need to start learning the most basic things about cooking again. After all, even an apprentice doesn't serve food to diners."

Sui Wubai shook his head, pursed his lips, and silently put down the "no" sign.

Those familiar with him know that when Sui Wubai makes this expression, it means the food is absolutely beyond description.

Speechless with anger, all she could do was purse her lips and offer a polite smile.
Tan Zhifeng even placed the "no" sign directly on the soup bowl that had been returned.

"There are still ice crystals left in the tofu, which is really unacceptable."

Li Shanghu seemed to want to make amends, but after thinking for a long time, he couldn't find a starting point and finally chose to give up, directly pulling out the rejection card.
The others shared the same opinion, and even Zheng Yongqi showed a hint of pain on his face.

Looking at the seven rejection cards in front of her, Luo Jinran felt as if the last thread in her brain had snapped. Tears streamed down her cheeks, dripping onto her black chef's uniform before disappearing.
"I...I'm not."

Luo Jinran opened her mouth to try and make amends, but found that everyone had already started heading towards Xia Ming's table. Thinking that all her efforts had been wasted because of a bowl of "frozen tofu", she felt extremely wronged and threw herself onto the stove, beginning to cry silently.

Luo Shurong witnessed this scene, and although a hint of emotion flashed in his eyes, he offered no words of advice.

"It's better to lose face on your own variety show than to lose face in public. With such a frivolous mindset, how will you deal with any unexpected incidents on your culinary journey in the future?"

However, Luo Yumin turned around and glanced at Luo Jinran, then stopped and returned to her side to hand her a tissue.

"Can't you even handle a few criticisms? The competition isn't over yet, and nothing's settled. If you want to withdraw, the production team is right there!"

Looking up at her cousin, Luo Jinran twitched a few times, took a tissue, and wiped away her tears.

As Luo Yumin said, although she lost a match, she is still ranked higher than Wang Qingrui. If Xia Ming loses, the two will only be tied.

"Yes, there's still a chance! There's a chance!"

Taking a few deep breaths, Luo Jinran looked up at Xia Ming's stove. In front of him were several covered bowls, making it impossible to tell what kind of food they were cooking.

Seeing that Luo Jinran had recovered, Luo Yumin didn't say anything more. She turned back to Xia Ming and pointed to the covered bowl lid.

"So, what's the name of your last dish?"

Xia Ming looked at the judges gathered in front of him and smiled slightly.

"My last dish is called 'fish'!"

"fish?"

Just as Luo Yumin was wondering, Xia Ming quickly opened all the lids of the bowls, and instantly, a rich aroma of fish filled the arena!
The fragrance was so captivating that even Luo Shurong couldn't help but take a few more sniffs. Luo Yumin raised an eyebrow and looked toward the source of the fragrance.

But under the light, on top of the reddish-brown sauce at the bottom of the bowl, there were actually several pieces of fried fish.
Whether she was distracted or seeing things, Luo Yumin actually thought that the fish pieces were emitting a shimmering golden glow under the light!
"This... how is this possible? It's actually... a fish?"

(End of this chapter)