In the beginning, he was ranked alongside An Shigeng as a spoiled brat.

The young master once said, "Every work is forged through countless trials and tribulations. It's not the flaws that are frightening, but the flaws that we are unaware of, and that we don't even know how to correct them."

Upon hearing the host's words, everyone snapped out of their daze and couldn't help but admire the Zhang family's magnanimity.

By saying this, the Zhang family was clearly preparing to—

Incorporating the wisdom of many, it became a timeless masterpiece!

So everyone stopped being polite and picked up their bowls and chopsticks to try the food.

Especially at the World Banquet, there were ingredients they had never seen before, legendary rare delicacies.

Everyone took just one bite and immediately felt the tender, juicy, translucent shrimp meat burst in their mouths.

Super black-boned chicken, darker than regular black-boned chicken; incredibly delicious Australian abalone; giant bear paws...

Compared to cooking these ingredients, everyone is naturally aware of their value.

In just over an hour, everyone spent their time chewing.

Previously, everyone felt that the Zhang family was being a bit arrogant, but after actually seeing these dishes, they immediately understood that the Great Harmony Feast of the Nine Provinces truly deserved its name.

In cooking, all kinds of skills were brought to their fullest potential;

In terms of ingredients, the small banquet featured a complete range of ingredients from all over Kyushu; the grand banquet featured many rare and exotic ingredients that they had never seen before.

Their skill in controlling the heat is also superb; every chef in the Zhang family is at the level of a royal chef.

"Now that everyone has tasted it all, we will proceed with the selection and grouping."

This isn't an elimination tournament; it's a twelve-group competition, divided into nine groups based on the number of participants. Two players will be selected from each group to advance to the main tournament!

When the host announced the competition rules, no one paid any attention.

The selection of two out of twelve, instead of one, is already a good rule.

"Let's start with a common ingredient – ​​tofu!"

The dish we'll be serving is our recently developed signature dish – Wensi Tofu. Next, one of our head chefs will demonstrate how to prepare it.

Upon hearing that the next dish would be Yingbinlou's newest signature dish, everyone was immediately intrigued, not expecting the Zhang family to be so generous.

At the same time, Diao Buyu, dressed in a chef's uniform, stepped forward and bowed.

In terms of culinary skills, Diao Buyu is by no means a master, but in terms of knife skills, he is definitely a grandmaster.

Therefore, from the moment the sound began, amidst the dazzling display of skill, a piece of tofu remained perfectly intact, even with the naked eye's limited knife work.

Such knife skills have reached a level of unparalleled mastery.

If it were a regular chef, after cutting it, it would be a lump of paste, and the extremely fine tofu strands would be difficult to stand up.

"Old Jiang, it's your turn!"

Diao Buyu was in charge of knife skills, so naturally the real chef's job was to take over.

The Zhang family was merely putting on a show of force this time; with such knife skills, their dishes are naturally far superior to those of ordinary chefs.

With such a skilled chef, the Zhang family had a clear advantage in knife skills.

"what happened?"

“The cook eats the cow!

The Zhang family is indeed full of hidden talents; I never expected someone to have reached the level of a master butcher who could dissect an ox with such skill!

"This is clearly a show of force; he's just a cook who only prepares side dishes!"

···

Amidst the murmurs, another chef stepped forward and began preparing to make Wensi Tofu.

With her already skilled techniques, she showed no restraint in handling the tofu and controlling the heat, all under the watchful eyes of the master chefs. Soon, a small pot of Wensi tofu was ready.

Looking at the fine, evenly thick tofu strands inside, the chefs were all amazed.

The Zhang family has presented them with a major challenge.

This Wensi Tofu is definitely a classic and innovative dish, but making it for the first time is definitely a challenge.

"Lord Di, Lord Pei, Lord Wang, you are the judges for this, please give your opinion on the latest signature dish of my Yingbin Restaurant?"

Suddenly, the host let out a coquettish laugh, and then three imposing adults walked out from the side.

Di Renjie, who was at least sixty years old, was from the Pei family among the ten great families—Pei Ju, and Wang Shichong, the Sima of Shendu.

All three were prominent figures in their time, highly respected scholars of Confucianism.

Whether they were highly respected, from prestigious families, or had made outstanding contributions, the chefs were all shocked, never expecting that the Zhang family would invite these three to act as referees.

"Wensi Tofu, what a great name! What excellent knife skills! What a creative idea!"

Di Renjie looked at the tofu, which was as thin as a hair, in the small bowl in front of him, never expecting such a pleasant surprise today.

"It's truly a pleasant surprise! The butcher's skill in carving up an ox is unparalleled in the world. Today, I've really broadened my horizons!"

"That's right, I never noticed before, I only realized today that there's such a master in the kitchen!"

The three of them had just witnessed everything from the attic and were all amazed.

"Lord Pei, Lord Wang, how about we try some Wensi Tofu together?"

"Yes, together!"

All three were filled with anticipation. From the preparation, they could tell that Wensi Tofu was definitely a classic dish, and that Yingbinlou would have another signature dish in the future.

As they took a spoonful of soup, the rich, smooth flavor and the melt-in-your-mouth tenderness of the tofu immediately caught their attention, and their eyes lit up.

"Just this small bowl, we need to save room for later!"

"Ok!"

Delicious food naturally makes you want to eat more.

But they have a mission today, so this small bowl is more than enough.

Therefore, the remaining Wensi tofu was divided into more than a dozen small bowls and distributed to each of the chefs, who each took a spoonful, and that was about it.

At this moment, everyone looked at the head chef of Yingbinlou and was even more amazed.

Such a famous dish, and it's just been announced like that?

Chapter 502 The Nine-Piece Set of the God of Cookery

"Wensi Tofu!"

In a single day, a tofu dish as beautiful as a flower became famous throughout the capital.

As a touchstone for the competition, Wensi Tofu's knife skills also revealed the basic skills of many chefs. In just one round, all the dishes served were top-notch.

However, this test is not only about the finished product, but also about basic knife skills and overall ability.

Finally, the scores were divided into A and B levels, and the nine chefs with the best basic skills were randomly scattered and interspersed.

This way, the chefs with the best basic skills won't be grouped together, causing infighting among top chefs.

The restaurant opened in the afternoon, and customers flocked to try the Wensi Tofu.

This also allowed everyone to recognize the profound heritage of Yingbinlou.

"The vast land of China is indeed full of hidden talents!"

"Auntie, there are so many experts in the Yingbin Building this time. I was originally confident I could defeat them all, but seeing their strength, at least ten of them are no less than me!"

Liu Yiyi returned to the hotel, looking somewhat dejected.

Originally, Liu Yiyi thought that only Madam Zhang might be stronger than her, but now that she knew she was just one of the countless 'ordinary people,' she suddenly felt dejected.

"The girl is not even twenty yet, but her cooking skills have reached the pinnacle and are beyond compare."

And those master chefs whose culinary skills are no less than those of young women, aren't they all over fifty years old?

Hearing Aunt Shi's words of comfort, Liu Yiyi nodded, noticing something 'unusual' about it.

Yes, she's still young and has room for improvement!

But those veteran craftsmen are different; fifty years old is their peak, so she has an absolute advantage in comparison.

Moreover, being a chef requires a combination of tradition, talent, and hard work.

She is also the daughter of Liu Yizui, the previous generation's God of Cookery; otherwise, how could she have such culinary skills at such a young age?

"Even so, so what? Compared to the Zhang family's chefs, they are far inferior."

Today at the Yingbin Building, the Zhang family gave everyone a rude awakening, displaying a master butcher skilled in the art of dissecting an ox, who stunned everyone with his masterful preparation of Wensi Tofu.

Not to mention that all the chefs from the Zhang family performed well, the two chefs who performed alone showed amazing skill.

Even Liu Yiyi had to admit that Yingbinlou, as the number one restaurant in the world, had an absolute foundation.

Even she was stunned by the skill of Butcher Ding in dissecting an ox.

Although I don't know how good Mrs. Zhang's cooking skills are.

But this single banquet, the Great Harmony of the Nine Provinces, was enough to make Yingbinlou the number one restaurant in the world.

Moreover, the Zhang family's cuisine is not just about food, but also about decoration and service, all of which are the best in the land.

From this day forward, Yingbinlou's position will be unshakeable!

Even if they don't win first place, it's just a regret for Yingbinlou, not a fatal blow.

After all, the Yingbinlou (迎宾楼) has a rich history and heritage.

"Young lady, you underestimate the Zhang family. At its peak, the Hong family was known as the number one mansion in Jiangnan!"

Even though the Hong family is now in decline, it still possesses the strength of a top-tier restaurant in Jiangnan. How much more so now that it's the Zhang family's stronghold? Young lady, don't underestimate the Zhang family's resources.

Seeing Liu Yiyi still looking dejected, Aunt Shi felt that this competition was also beneficial to Liu Yiyi.

After all, the Central Plains is full of hidden talents, and as the most popular profession, there are countless famous chefs.

Among thousands of cities, if only one famous chef is represented in each city, that would amount to one or two thousand.

With such a large base, there are countless unknown individuals among them.

This Zhang family's extravagant Culinary God Competition was promoted for three months, resulting in the gathering of so many renowned chefs that it practically brought together 70% of the top chefs from across China.

···

For half a month, a knockout tournament was held every three days.

In addition to the three pre-selected judges, five lucky guests will be randomly selected from the restaurant's diners each time.

In just half a month, the number of people at Yingbinlou not only did not decrease, but more than doubled compared to before.

Even with a one in ten thousand chance, being selected is an unparalleled honor.

In addition, some classic dishes passed the test and became famous dishes that replaced the Great Harmony Banquet of the Nine Provinces.

After all, the Great Harmony Banquet of the Nine Provinces only had the Zhang family's word, so it was difficult to achieve great things.

Only a grand feast that brings together the best of all schools of thought can be considered a true feast of universal harmony.

On this point, as long as Zhang Yuan, Manager Feng, and the three judges agree to the replacement, it will basically be done.

The gathering of heroes stirred up a storm, causing great excitement in the capital.

This also demonstrates the magnanimity of Yingbinlou.

The master chefs selected through the two-week competition are undoubtedly the top chefs in Kyushu.

One person is more than capable of running a top-notch restaurant.

To be sure, the profit of a top-tier restaurant is at least tens of thousands of dollars a year.

The seemingly million-gold profit of Zhang Family Red Mansion was actually built on a tenfold increase in scale and a reputation that resounded throughout the land.

Market positioning, marketing strategies, and consumer environment... these factors led to Hongfu's success.

Otherwise, a top-tier restaurant's profit, which might be over 10,000 taels a year, would be extremely difficult to exceed 100,000 taels.

"The selection process for today's Food God Competition has officially ended, and we've entered the finals!"

Before the competition, let's take a look at the prizes.

The first place went to the Chef God Cooking Utensils Nine-Piece Set provided by our Zhang Clan Chamber of Commerce: