Chapter 517: Is Mapo Tofu a Vegetable Dish?
After the judges had each finished the Crab Stuffed with Orange before them, the dish from Bright Court Pavilion finally arrived a bit late.
Walking out from the kitchen and realizing the current situation, Chef Hong of Bright Court Pavilion immediately looked displeased.
Originally, his dish had already been inferior to the Crab Stuffed with Orange. Now that it had been completed even later than the opposing dish, winning had become even more impossible.
After tasting the Crab Stuffed with Orange himself, the last trace of hope in his heart completely vanished.
Chef Song had not been exaggerating. Compared to that dish, his lotus-fragrant fruit-flavored fish was far inferior.
Meanwhile, Qi Han also began tasting Bright Court Pavilion's second dish.
The plating of this lotus-fragrant fruit-flavored fish was quite exquisite. Lotus petals were spread beneath the dish, while a whole fish rested on top. The surface of the fish carried a faint golden color, and a rich aroma drifted through the air. Mixed into the fragrance of the fish itself were hints of fruity sweetness and lotus blossom fragrance.
Fish meat naturally contains very little fat, so unlike meat from livestock, its flavor was not greasy at all. Instead, it carried a distinctive fresh seafood taste. With the addition of the refreshing fruit aroma and lotus fragrance, that freshness became even more vibrant, creating an overall sense of harmony in the aroma.
At first glance, there didn't seem to be any fruit in the dish. However, after observing for a while, Qi Han quickly noticed something unusual. Using a dining knife, he gently sliced open the fish's belly, and thick fruit puree—already cooked down until nearly liquefied—slowly flowed out from inside.
Seeing the puree, so soft that it had practically become liquid with only a few bits of fruit still visible, excitement appeared on Qi Han's face. He used a fork to pick up a piece of fish, dipped it a few times into the puree, and placed it into his mouth.
The fish in this dish had been prepared excellently. The golden fish skin carried a slightly crispy yet tender texture, while the flesh inside remained fresh and juicy without the slightest dryness. The fruit puree had a sweet-and-sour flavor. Qi Han had never tasted this particular fruit before; it was probably some kind of native fruit from the Sun Moon Continent.
Overall, it was a very delicious dish. Unfortunately, after only one bite, Qi Han noticed a very obvious flaw.
The natural fresh flavor of the fish showed signs of being overwhelmed by the sweet-and-sour fruit puree.
For a dish, harmony and balance in flavor and texture are extremely important. Yet this dish failed to achieve that properly. The main focus of lotus-fragrant fruit-flavored fish should have been the fish itself. Since that was the case, the flavor and texture of the fish should have been the absolute star of the dish.
However, the addition of the fruit puree felt somewhat forced, to the point where it overshadowed the fish's own flavor. It was a classic case of the supporting role stealing the spotlight. Although the overall taste was indeed excellent, compared to the perfect fusion of orange fragrance and crab flavor in the Crab Stuffed with Orange, it was clearly lacking.
It was obvious now that Han Shi's victory in the second round of the culinary showdown had already been decided.
After finishing the entire serving of lotus-fragrant fruit-flavored fish, Qi Han had already reached his conclusion.
And after the judges finished tasting the dish, the final voting results confirmed it.
Han Shi won the second round by an overwhelming margin of forty-two votes to seven.
After two rounds of the culinary showdown, the judges had finally become fully aware of Han Shi's strength.
They had narrowly lost the first round by a single vote, then completely crushed the second round with a massive lead. Han Shi's overall culinary ability might even surpass that of Bright Court Pavilion.
Now that each side had won one round, the third and final round would be the decisive battle.
What kind of dishes would the two sides bring out this time?
Quite a few people recognized Chef Jin from Bright Court Pavilion. The theme of the third round was vegetables, and this chef just so happened to be the best vegetable specialist in all of Mingdu City. No one doubted his skill.
The only question was what kind of vegetable dish Han Shi would bring out, and whether it could compete against Chef Jin's cooking.
Under the tense and expectant gazes of the crowd, Qi Han and Chef Jin of Bright Court Pavilion entered their respective kitchens, and the doors to both kitchens slowly closed behind them.
Among the judges, Wu Henian stared nervously at the tightly shut doors of Han Shi.
So this time, the dish Qi Han planned to use should be Ginkgo Biloba Dish, right?
As long as he brought out that dish, Han Shi's chances of victory would be extremely high. And as long as they won the third round, Han Shi would become the final victor of the culinary showdown.
Wu Henian had long been displeased with Bright Court Pavilion. Although he himself had failed to defeat them, just seeing Han Shi crush Bright Court Pavilion already made him feel deeply satisfied.
Meanwhile, Chef Song, standing in the viewing area, silently clenched his fists.
He did not dare tell Zhao Yangfan about his suspicions, but earlier he still couldn't resist secretly pulling Chef Jin aside to warn him that Han Shi might use an unexpected dish.
He could only hope that Chef Jin would perform beyond his limits and create a dish powerful enough to defeat the Ginkgo Biloba Dish.
Otherwise, Bright Court Pavilion would truly be in danger this time.
…
Completely unaware that two people outside the kitchen had fallen into entirely different emotional states because they assumed he would use Ginkgo Biloba Dish, Qi Han continued his preparations calmly.
If he knew, he would probably burst out laughing.
Who told you I was going to use Ginkgo Biloba Dish?
Qi Han had long known that ginkgo did not exist on Douluo Continent.
So even if he brought out Ginkgo Biloba Dish and insisted that ginkgo counted as a vegetable, nobody would really be able to refute him. It was barely workable.
But the problem was that ginkgo nuts were not vegetables at all—they were dried nuts.
So from the very beginning, Qi Han had never considered using Ginkgo Biloba Dish for the third round.
The dish he had originally planned to present was actually Mapo Tofu.
Did tofu count as a vegetable?
Technically, yes.
In a broad sense, vegetables referred to edible herbaceous plants and fungi.
The raw ingredient of tofu was soybeans, which belonged to the legume family. Soybeans could be classified either as grains or as vegetables depending on how they were prepared.
If you treated them as a staple food, they were grains.
If you treated them as a dish, then they were vegetables.
Although the reasoning was somewhat forced, it was still far more convincing than trying to call Ginkgo Biloba Dish a vegetable dish.
Unfortunately, after narrowly losing the first round by a single vote, Qi Han had no choice but to abandon that plan.
As good as Mapo Tofu was, it could not guarantee victory in the third round.
If he wanted to win, Qi Han needed to bring out an even more intimidating secret weapon.
And it just so happened that he did have one.
Among the 3 Star dishes, Boiled Cabbage in Clear Broth, Wensi Tofu, and Dinghu Shangsu were all dishes that perfectly fit the requirements. Any one of them would absolutely dominate the competition.
The only problem was that all 3 Star dishes came with extraordinary phenomena and all kinds of magical special effects. Once such phenomena appeared—or if news of those effects spread—it would inevitably attract unnecessary trouble.
Even if he lost this culinary showdown, Qi Han could still gradually build up Han Shi's reputation by challenging other restaurants. At worst, it would just take more time. But if he used a 3 Star recipe to win this match, the trouble that followed would not be something that could be solved simply by spending more time.
So he had to think of another solution.
The cooking process for Crab Stuffed with Orange required a full twenty minutes of steaming time. As a master of time management, how could Qi Han possibly let those twenty minutes go to waste?
During those twenty minutes, he did one thing.
"Ru Yi, add some—ah, no, serve the dish!"
<+>
<+>
<+>
<+>
<+>
<+>
Tn: I updated the story once every 2 days, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.
Latest Chapter: Chapter 538: Walking Straight into the Trap?[1]
Link: https://www.patreon.com/Avicebron/posts/becoming-food-in-160492301[2]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/Avicebron/posts/becoming-food-in-160492301
[2] https://www.patreon.com/Avicebron/posts/becoming-food-in-160492301