Chapter 73: Chapter 73: Threading a Needle
Translator: 549690339
“The third elimination round has begun!”
In the arena, the host who had presided over two rounds of elimination seemed to be infected by the suspense of the competition, his voice growing more passionate.
“The competitors are Qin Lang, who ranked second in the Scoring Competition, and Zhang Chen, who ranked fifth.”
“Both contestants have entered the Competitive Standard Kitchen, let’s look forward to their performances!”
“Our audience present here and in front of the screen can send their well wishes for the two contestants to our official hotline. Your well-wishing messages might have a chance to appear on our big electronic screen!”
The host gestured towards the screen where messages were scrolling, then transitioned, “And now, let’s enjoy a spectacular performance by the Yunhua Dance Troupe!”
Several beautiful women in dance dresses appeared atop a rising platform, escalating the cheers from the audience who were anticipating the culinary skills of the Spirit Chefs.
The Competitive Standard Kitchen isolated all the noise from the outside world.
Inside the kitchen, Qin Lang and Dan Bao were busy working.
In the pressure cooker, Qin Lang had peeled, deboned, and pounded the chicken drumsticks into a paste, which was now cooking alongside the bones to extract the maximum flavor into the soup.
In front of Qin Lang was a box of tofu that was yet to be opened.
Depending on the coagulant used, tofu can be categorized into salted tofu, gypsum tofu, and glucono delta-lactone tofu, each with distinct textures.
For the best cooking result, Wen Si Tofu required the softest texture of all – the glucono deita-lactone tofu.
The tofu in ingredient box number 97 wasn’t categorised in detail, providing ample room for Qin Lang to demonstrate his skills.
The sophistication of Wen Si Tofu started from how the tofu was taken out of its package.
After peeling off the seal, the box was inverted with the opening facing downwards. Using a flat knife, the bottom of the box was delicately sliced off. Once done, the sides were gently lifted.
The whole block of glucono deita-lactone tofu was then flawlessly presented on the cutting board.
After trimming the rough and uneven edges, Qin Lang took a deep breath, ready to split the tofu horizontally into two equal parts.
To make fine strips from tofu, first it needed to be thinly sliced. The soft texture of the tofu sticks to the knife due to gravity, hence it was better to have thinner tofu pieces for efficient cutting.
The knife had to be gently pushed inward, slightly inclined. This way, the two halves of the tofu would unevenly lean on either side.
After splitting, the top half was kept aside for later use.
Qin Lang quickly dipped the entire knife into the running water to wet its surface. Standing in front of the tofu, he took a deep breath.
And slashed down!
“Thud! Thud! Thud!”
The rapid chopping sounds of blade touching the cutting board echoed in the expansive Competitive Standard Kitchen, becoming the sole sound within.
Dan Bao, who was standing by, held his breath. He was afraid to disrupt the focused Qin Lang.
Just after a few breaths, about one-tenth of the tofu had been sliced.
Unlike other food ingredients that naturally fall to the other side of the knife after slicing, the extremely soft glucono deita-lactone tofu cannot maintain its shape after being sliced, cling onto the knife in a soft and sagging manner.
This made the sliced part of Qin Lang’s tofu appear more like tofu paste rather than tofu slices.
It was difficult to determine the exact thinness of the tofu slices and make any adjustments on the spot, which was the key challenge of handling Wen Si Tofu.
Only with plenty of practice could one confidently perform this near-blind slicing.
But Qin Lang’s knife did not stop.
Once the slicing started, it couldn’t be interrupted midway. Otherwise, inconsistent thickness would occur in the tofu slices.
Only by completing the slicing in one go could the overall stability be ensured.
Under the continuous sound of the chopping, Qin Lang’s knife, as straight as a ruler, steadily and slowly moved towards the other side of the tofu. It wasn’t until about ninety percent of the tofu was sliced that his knife finally stopped.
With a swipe to the side, the remaining uncut tofu was discarded.
The last section of tofu was too small to apply the necessary force correctly, which could affect the precision of the slicing.
A certain amount of discard was necessary to ensure a better overall presentation.
What remained on the cutting board appeared more like tofu paste than proper slices. It barely retained its shape.
However, when Qin Lang gently poured a bowl of water over it to wash off the scattered pieces and smooth it slightly, the shape of the tofu slices soon became clear. They looked as if they were stacked like spread-out playing cards.
After inspecting it carefully, he nodded in satisfaction.
He was performing normally.
After making a slight adjustment, Qin Lang quickly started his second round of slicing.
The previously sliced tofu was now, in this second round of slicing, to be transformed into tofu shreds as fine as hair.
Discard the first slice, align the cutting edge and the blade, and once again the sound of chopping echoed in the silent kitchen.
When slicing near the end, the remaining part was also discarded, and what was left on the cutting board was the finely shredded tofu.
Qin Lang gently placed the shredded tofu into the clear water, then turned his head to start working on the remaining half block of tofu using the same method.
He needed to prepare at least twelve portions, which was quite a lot of work.
Soon, the rhythmic sound of chopping filled the air again.
Meanwhile, Dan Bao was inspecting the finished tofu shreds a little bit nervously.
Under the gentle wavering of water, the thin tofu shreds started to gradually spread out. Under the light, they were distinctly visible, numerous and fine as hair, floating in the water, light, and soft.
Such tofu shreds were so fine that they could be threaded into a needle, which was astonishing.
After admiring the tofu shreds for a while, Dan Bao turned his attention back to Qin Lang, who was intently slicing tofu.
Completely absorbed in the task, both the chef and his spirit weren’t even aware when the bell indicating that the opponent had completed his dish rang out.
Zhang Chen had completed his cooking first.
Outside.
Shortly after the dance performance ended, the door of the Competitive Standard Kitchen in which Zhang Chen was working slowly opened.
Pushing his kitchen cabinet car, Zhang Chen glanced at the still-closed door of Qin Lang’s kitchen before calmly looking towards the eleven Food Recommenders on the Judges’ Seats.
A hint of joy flashed undiscoverably in his eyes.
During the five-day preparation period, Qin Lang had divided his attention between the fun game and the competition.
In their elimination round, he had completed his cooking first.
By capitalizing on this advantage and the dish that he had intricately prepared for this elimination round, Zhang Chen believed that the final victory would belong to him.
Taking a deep breath, Zhang Chen suppressed all his thoughts, walked to the Judges’ Seats where the eleven Food Recommenders were seated, and deeply bowed after taking the microphone from the host. “Greetings, respected Food Recommenders. The dish I bring today is called ‘Seize Every Opportunity’.”
Putting down the microphone temporarily, he opened the kitchen cabinet car and started serving dishes to the Food Recommenders..
The sourc𝗲 of this content is fre(e)webnovel