Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Dragon and Phoenix Carving
Translator: 549690339
Unlike Huang Shu’s understanding of the word exquisite, the female judge surnamed Qi sitting next to her has a different perspective on it.
In Qi’s view, being exquisite is an attitude.
It’s like the afternoon tea she enjoys every day, the cakes she bakes and then tastes carefully, her uniquely styled necklace, or her current makeup that makes her look bright and charming.
Put another way, it can be called elegance.
Yet when the crab-stuffed orange was placed before her, the dish was so exquisite that she became less concerned with maintaining her own elegance.
The carved patterns on the outside of the orange, the contrast between the orange of the container and the white of the porcelain plate under the light, the tempting colour of the crab powder inside, the clearly visible crab roe, crab paste, crab meat and orange flesh.
Upon seeing this, she was instantly captivated and her appetite was whetted.
Not to mention the unique and rich but fresh aroma that was already permeating the surroundings.
Judge Qi didn’t hesitate. She picked up a small spoon, scooped a spoonful from the orange container and, despite her effort to slow down for the sake of elegance, she still appeared eager to taste it.
After a brief taste, Judge Qi’s eyes bulged suddenly.
There it is again, that same sensation!
The familiar feeling she had a few days ago when tasting Qin Lang’s red braised oxtail resurfaced in Judge Qi’s mind.
The indescribable taste left Judge Qi lost in its flavorful world for a while.
How exquisite…
It’s too exquisite!
The next moment, Judge Qi’s tasting speed suddenly increased.
Meanwhile, Judge Zhou, known for his garrulousness and who was sitting next to Judge Qi, had yet to start tasting the dish.
He was still carefully observing the patterns carved on the outer wall of the orange container.
Eventually, Zhou nodded approvingly.
Seeing these exquisite patterns was like looking at exquisite patterns themselves.
In his eyes, exquisiteness naturally referred to the appearance of the ingredients.
The appearance of this dish in front of him was certainly worthy of the word ‘exquisite’.
Just when he was about to taste this uniquely scented dish, he caught sight of the orange container in Judge Qi’s hand out of the corner of his eye.
The pattern… It’s different?
His gaze shifted once again to the other judges’ containers, and the surprise on his face grew more intense.
At first glance, there wasn’t a single container that was the same.
It’s a pity that everyone was in the midst of tasting, so it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to inspect the other judges’ containers.
Nevertheless, this dish of Qin Lang’s was secretly given a few more points in Judge Zhou’s mind.
Judge Zhou scooped a spoonful of crab powder into his mouth, and the next moment, his eyebrows raised slightly.
This taste…
Significant extra points!
At the farthest end from Judge Zhou sat the one who had previously mocked him for his verbosity, a judge surnamed Zhang.
At this moment, the orange container in Judge Zhang’s hand was almost empty.
Among the five judges, he was eating the fastest.
For Judge Zhang, the definition of exquisite is most straightforward and blunt.
What is exquisite?
Exquisite is good!
If it tastes good and makes you feel satisfied, it’s exquisite!
Whether or not this crab-stuffed orange is exquisite?
If you were to ask Judge Zhang this question, he wouldn’t even bother to answer.
Stop asking, I’m eating!
Judge Li, who was sitting between Judge Zhang and Huang Shu, was likewise tasting the Crab-Stuffed Orange at this moment.
After deeply sniffing the peculiar aroma that filled the air, his face expressed a degree of wonder.
His understanding of ‘exquisiteness’ was more inclined towards taste.
What kind of dish can be regarded as having an exquisite taste?
In his opinion, it at least couldn’t be a dish that is filled with a lot of spices and has an overbearing meaty aroma.
The aroma of such a dish is like a burly man hastily rushing up to give you a bear hug, too passionate and rough that Judge Li finds it hard to accept.
But being too light is also not good.
Delicious food stresses the unity of color, aroma, and taste. ‘Aroma’ forms a very crucial part of it and a dish that barely has any aroma is soulless.
The dish in front of him, named Crab-Stuffed Orange, seemed to perfectly hit Judge Li’s taste preference for dishes.
The flavor of the crab was fresh with no fishiness, possessing the richness of crab roe and the freshness and sweetness of crab meat.
The orange was sweet and cleared the greasiness, its sourness perfectly blending with the rice vinegar scent, stimulating one’s appetite. Its sweetness mixed harmoniously with the rice wine scent, pleasing one on smelling.
When Judge Li put a mouthful of Crab-Stuffed Orange into his mouth, all his senses seemed to be activated at that moment.
His eyes were filled with bright colors, but deep in his pupils, there was a touch of regret.
Among the five judges, he had participated in Tang Xie’s Food Fight judging the most and had a pretty good understanding of this recently rising Spirit Chef besides appreciating him a lot.
However, this time Tang Xie might have encountered the toughest opponent in his Food Fight career.
As time went by, the five judges quickly completed tasting Qin Lang’s Crab-Stuffed Orange.
But they did not communicate with Qin Lang at all, nor did they reveal their thoughts on the dish.
Because another Spirit Chef hadn’t finished his cooking, any biased act at this moment would go against their professionalism as Food Fight Judges.
Qin Lang was also well aware of this. He took a portion of Crab-Stuffed Orange from the kitchen cabinet car for Dan Bao to enjoy, while he quietly stood in place, waiting for Tang Xie to complete his cooking.
“Ding— ”
After about ten minutes, an alert sound came from the front of the stage.
The gazes of the five judges and Qin Lang simultaneously turned to the kitchen door on the other side as Tang Xie, pushing the kitchen cabinet car, slowly walked out.
By this point, the aroma of the Crab-Stuffed Orange had dispersed throughout the entire Food Fight venue, and due to the venue being large enough, the remaining scent was minimum.
Tang Xie took a discreet sniff, and although he could smell a little, it wasn’t very distinct.
There was a fleeting twinge of disappointment in his eyes, but his face remained expressionless.
Walking calmly to the front of the judges’ seats, Tang Xie took out the dishes from the kitchen cabinet car, placed them in front of the five judges one by one, then returned to his place, revealing a courteous smile and began talking eloquently.
“Respected judges, this is my cooked dish called Dragon and Phoenix Carving.”
“The cooking process of this dish is quite complicated. Firstly, you need to…”
Like a conductor, as the five judges were tasting his Dragon and Phoenix Carving, he laid out the entire process of cooking the dish, perfectly ending his explanation as the last judge finished tasting.
Tang Xie concluded with a polite smile, turned his gaze to Qin Lang who was stunned on one side.
Never seen it before, have you?
This was the secret weapon he had devised from dozens of Food Fights.
Although he finished cooking later, with the explanation he had just given, he was certain that the judges’ impression of his dish wouldn’t be much worse than Qin Lang’s. Not only did he make up for the disadvantage of finishing later, but he could potentially turn the tables.
However, Tang Xie had completely overlooked that something seemed to be off about the expressions of the five judges in the field.
He had tried his best to make his dish leave a deeper impression in the judges’ hearts, but this previously unbeatable technique seemed to have failed to have the intended effect this time.
“Taste testing of both the dishes has been completed.”
Huang Shu hid all her emotions, and spoke calmly.
“Begin the voting..”
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