Chapter 216 - Chapter 216: Chapter 216: Mastering the Eight Major Cuisines (1/2)

Chapter 216: Chapter 216: Mastering the Eight Major Cuisines

“This is impossible, the cleaver has been tampered with; how could it not have shattered after so many chops!”

Zhou Zheng was becoming anxious; he was mixing some soup base, and unconsciously scattered all of the seasoning into it.

Li Tai’s breathing also became rapid involuntarily: “That cutting board is hollow and can’t possibly withstand the force of chopping; how did he manage to cut the vegetables?”

The four of them instantly tensed up, their gazes all fixed on Chen Yu, just waiting for him to make a fool of himself.

According to the rules of the competition, if there was the slightest mistake with Chen Yu’s equipment, he would be declared the loser.

But as time went on, Chen Yu became more and more adept, and his speed also kept increasing; on the cutting board, he had prepared ingredients for a total of seven dishes.

The four of them gave up any hope and could only bury their heads and concentrate on cooking their own dishes.

Not long after, a rich fragrance spread across the stadium, drawing the attention of everyone there.

Some members of the audience even couldn’t help themselves and walked down from the stands, wanting to take a closer look.

“Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix!”

Chen Yu suddenly shouted, and then he presented a huge plate.

This dish is a classic in the Huizhou cuisine, made with over a dozen types of poultry and aided by hundreds of cooking techniques.

Various side dishes and meats were neatly arranged on the plate, forming a picture of the Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix, with the phoenix in the center looking dazzlingly colorful.

Especially, the mix of scents from the hundreds of cooking techniques used in this dish created an extremely unique aroma, making all the judges unable to resist.

When this dish was served, the judges quickly gathered around and eagerly took a bite.

“Delicious, so delicious! With one bite, the flavors of pigeon, chicken, duck, and goose meat blend together; it’s incredibly tasty.”

“What’s this sauce made of? Taking a bite, I can taste several flavors evolving on my tongue.”

…

These judges were some of the rare gourmands in Suzhou City, and their comments were enough to prove how delicious this dish was.

The spectators in the stands could hardly wait; they were dying to rush down for a taste.

The four opponents had no choice but to speed up the movement of their hands.

While Chen Yu was cooking, his knife skills and techniques were superior to theirs, and even the flames he used for cooking were much larger than typical gas flames.

They had also heard of the dish Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix, a very difficult dish to prepare. To create it, one had to prepare ingredients and sauces half a month in advance, and most importantly, the knife skills during the cooking process were highly challenging.

Under circumstances where ingredients were ample, even the best chefs would need a full day to complete it.

But Chen Yu had used less than twenty minutes from start to finish.

Just as the four were filled with anxiety, Chen Yu took out another dish from the steamer.

“Drunken Fish in Scorched Rice!”

Anyone with a bit of culinary background would start upon hearing the name.

This dish is strictly speaking a Huaiyang cuisine, but it has been fused with Cantonese cuisine to form a new cooking method.

The rich aroma of fish had already captivated all judges, bringing them back from the intoxicating taste of Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix.

At a glance, the dish seemed like a simple steamed fish, but upon closer inspection, one would realize that this fish was dissimilar to ordinary fish.

It actually had various characteristics of different fish.

The significance lay in the sheer size of this fish, which astonishingly weighed over twenty pounds.

One of the judges also hurried forward, eager to taste the dish without delay.