Chapter 1474: Fried Ice Cream, Sweet and Sour Live Carp

Neither of these two looks like a chef.

Aside from Gu Zhihao, basically no one on the scene is optimistic about their team!

The competition has begun.

Zichen and Yuxin work together with great tacit understanding.

Yuxin sets up the pot to heat the oil, while Zichen mixes the batter.

Using two basins, he puts in different proportions of flour, starch, and cornstarch, then mixes up two basins of batter.

Zichen scoops a lively, jumping carp out of the fish tank, covers the fish's head with a damp cotton cloth, and quickly guts and descales it with his other hand.

Once the fish is cleaned up and rinsed, he fillets the meat, cuts it into strips, coats them in batter, and drops them into the oil pot to fry.

During this time, Gu Yuxin lights two other stove fires, one to set up another oil pot and the other to simmer the sweet and sour sauce.

By the time the fish strips are fried, the sweet and sour sauce is also ready.

He places the fried fish strips back onto the fish body, drizzles the sweet and sour sauce over them, and sets the plate aside to wait.

Yuxin opens the refrigerator to take out two ice cream bars and places them on the cutting board; Zichen flashes his knife so quickly that one can barely see him cutting the ice cream into beautiful diamond-shaped pieces.

He coats them in batter, and since the oil temperature is already very high, he fries them for less than a minute before taking them out.

The two dishes are sent to the judges' table.

The Fried Ice Cream is golden on the outside, with a crispy crust steaming with heat, but upon taking a bite, the ice cream inside flows out, providing a cold, sweet, and fragrant taste that makes one feel summer and winter at the same time.

Two completely different sensations collide wonderfully in the mouth—a heaven of ice and fire.

This dish tests one's mastery of heat control, and in this regard, both sides are equally excellent; it is impossible to tell which side is better.

If one looks at the two Sweet and Sour Live Carps from the outside, they are on par with each other, each having its own merits.

The meat on the fish has been fried into strips, but the fish head and tail are still twitching non-stop.

The sweet and sour sauce made by Li Dashao uses a new method: he mixes orange juice, fresh lemon, and white sugar to create the sauce, using the fruity aroma to mask the fishy smell; this is also a very common method.

It is just that his skill level is high, so the flavor he produces is better.

Zichen's sweet and sour sauce uses the old method, with ordinary white vinegar for the base; the color does not look as bright as Li Dashao's, but the flavor is superior!

The judges taste them one by one, and all of them are in a dilemma.

They are almost equally good, and it is too difficult to decide a winner between the two, so everyone looks in unison at Huo Zhenteng; he is the chairman of the judging panel, and his opinion is especially important.

Huo Zhenteng tastes Li Dashao's Sweet and Sour Live Carp and says, "Good."

Then he looks at the one Zichen made, but he does not move his chopsticks; he only frowns, looking thoughtful.

People do not know what he is thinking, but judging by the expression on his face, he seems dissatisfied with the sweet and sour fish made by Sheng Zichen, so some decide to follow suit and cast their votes for Li Dashao.

Huo Zhenteng is the head of the judges this time; theoretically, no one should vote before him, but he delays expressing his opinion, only staring at the two plates of fish, looking back and forth repeatedly.

Finally, someone cannot hold back and whispers a reminder: "Chairman, it is time for you to vote."

"No rush, wait a moment."

Since the chairman said to wait, everyone waits; people do not know what they are supposed to be waiting for.

This wait lasts for half an hour.

The two fish on the table have long since cooled, but the fish are not dead yet; the fish tails and heads are still twitching non-stop.

But at this moment, people notice that these two dishes have changed.

To be precise, it should be that one of the plates of fish has changed.

It is the plate of fish made by Sheng Zichen.

The cooled fish meat has actually turned into Pulled Silk.

The sweet and sour sauce made by Sheng Zichen changed after cooling, while the sweet and sour fish made by Li Dashao did not change.

A smile finally appears on Huo Zhenteng's face; he stands up and picks up a piece of fish strip to put in his mouth.

The crust is crispy and sweet, and even after the fish meat has cooled, there is not the slightest fishy smell, but rather a different fragrance than when it was just out of the pot.

He nods with a smile and then calls out to everyone: "You all try it, you can score it now."

Soon, the plate of fish is eaten clean, and expressions of wanting more appear on everyone's faces.

Li Dashao also tastes it; he does not need others to score it, as he knows he has lost.

A bet is a bet.

He cups his hands toward Sheng Zichen and says in a gruff voice: "You won, that fifty-thousand-yuan prize money is yours."

Zichen smiles slightly: "I didn't make a bet with you; the prize money is still yours. Now, do you still have objections to me being a judge?"

"No, you're awesome!"

Li Dashao is now completely convinced by Sheng Zichen.

This move by Zichen stirs up the entire food festival, and at this moment, someone exclaims in belated realization: "Oh, I remember now, is Sheng Zichen that little prodigy who participated in the chef competition ten years ago?"

"That's right, it seems to be him."

"I heard back then that that prodigy had quite a background and exquisite culinary skills, but I never saw him in other competitions later; if it's him, then it's no surprise..."

People discuss it heatedly, and all the topics revolve around Zichen.

Gu Yuxin looks at her boyfriend with eyes full of admiration.

"Zichen, are you the person they are talking about?"

Ten years ago, she was still a little girl in elementary school.

She had occasionally seen a news report in the newspaper, which said that a little boy had defeated all the masters in a national chef competition, becoming the youngest and highest-scoring chef in the history of Jiangzhou!

Gu Yuxin still kept that newspaper at the time, because that newspaper was very meaningful to her; the little boy in the newspaper had sparked her strong interest in culinary arts.

It was also that incident back then that made Gu Yuxin fall in love with the kitchen!

Zichen says: "I don't know if the person they are talking about is me; anyway, I did participate in a chef competition when I was a child, and I did get a ranking, but I forgot if it was first place."

That chef competition was the only high-level competition Zichen had participated in before today.

Because so much time had passed, he had almost forgotten the process of the competition.

He could not remember if the result of the competition was first place either, but there was one thing he remembered deeply and would never forget.

That was, after the competition ended, because it was a competition he had been forbidden from secretly participating in, he was punished by his mother to wash dishes for half a year!

Cooking had always been Zichen's hobby.

Washing dishes had always been Zichen's nightmare!

He was telling the truth, yet it was interpreted as humblebragging.

Gu Yuxin glared at him: "Would it kill you not to be so cocky?"

Zichen:...

Heaven and earth as his witness, he was not being cocky.

The food festival ended, and Zichen prepared to go back.

Li Dashao found him, staring straight at Zichen with his eyes, saying nothing.

"What do you want to do? Do you want to fight?"

Judging by this posture, it looked like a fight, but Zichen did not want to fight, and even less did he want to get beaten, so he had to strike a pose to guard against Li Dashao suddenly making a move.

"Can we add each other on WeChat?" He spoke up; it wasn't to fight.

Zichen thought for a moment and agreed: "Sure."

The two of them added each other on WeChat, and Li Dashao cupped his hands: "The world is vast, we shall meet again." After saying this, he turned around and walked away with long strides.

Just these eight characters were words he had found after enduring a headache and reading books for half the night.