Chapter 420: The Kitchen King Championship Begins
Chapter 420: Chapter 420: The Kitchen King Championship Begins
Far away at the Kitchen King competition in the Upper City District, Shen Lu received a message from Wang Daguo. He said that Mr. Sun had brought a large group of people to the restaurant to stir up trouble, but left after failing to break down the door.
A staff member holding a basket walked up to Shen Lu. "Contestant, please place your Light Brain in the basket."
The official competition was nothing like the preliminaries. There were rules for attire, and to ensure absolute fairness and impartiality, all Light Brains had to be handed over. They would be returned after the match.
Shen Lu obediently took off her Light Brain and placed it in the basket. "Thank you."
The first round of the official competition had a total of 108 contestants: 50 from the Lower City District and 58 from the Upper City District.
All the contestants drew lots to be randomly reassigned into new groups for the competition.
Shen Lu was assigned to Group Three. Her match was next.
Except for Group Eleven, every group had ten people. After handing over her Light Brain, Shen Lu sat backstage with the other nine people in her group, bored stiff as they waited to go on.
She was the youngest face in Group Three, and her youthful features drew constant gazes from the other contestants.
"Young lady, how old are you?" a burly man asked.
"Eighteen."
"Making it into the official rounds of the Kitchen King competition at just eighteen... Young people these days are truly impressive."
"Heh." A sarcastic, grating voice rang out discordantly. "Countless young chefs compete every year, but the only ones who make it to the end are the experienced old masters. I see her hands have no calluses or scars. She doesn’t look like someone who’s dedicated to honing her craft."
The aggressive words were very unpleasant to hear.
There was an especially large number of contestants this year, particularly young women. This female chef, who looked to be in her thirties, seemed to harbor some unknown resentment and seized the opportunity to aim her biting sarcasm at Shen Lu.
Shen Lu didn’t respond. Some people in this world are just full of malice.
’So if my hands don’t have calluses or scars, it means I’m not dedicated to my craft?’
’Can’t there be exceptions?’
Soon, it was time for Shen Lu’s group to go on stage. Guided by the host, they each gave a brief introduction.
Shen Lu glanced at the judges’ panel. There were five permanent judges in total, and one empty seat for a special guest judge.
Shen Lu had looked up the permanent judges in advance: Duan Bangzhang, a highly respected senior in the culinary world; Xu Minxia, an incredibly popular food critic; Wu Long, a renowned gourmand; Tao Qingquan, winner of three consecutive Kitchen King titles; and Lin Jingqi, the nation’s sweetheart.
There was no need to guess who the special guest judge was: the Eldest Prince, Han Xu.
However, the Eldest Prince hadn’t arrived yet, so his seat was empty.
Shen Lu remembered that Sang Yue had been lucky enough to draw the last group. In the original story, hers was also the only group that the Eldest Prince would participate in judging today.
The first match was clearly much more formal. This round was a test of knife skills.
To put it simply, the task was to cut the provided ingredients into fine shreds of uniform length and thickness. Contestants could use their own knives or the ones provided by the organizers.
Shen Lu, of course, used her own. However, she didn’t use the Legendary Kitchenware, the Jade Knife. Instead, she used a slicing knife she had bought from the System Mall.
She had already sharpened the knife meticulously before leaving, and now was the time to use it.
With the signal to begin, Shen Lu quickly took the tofu from the water. Her hands worked in coordination as she began to chop. CHOP CHOP CHOP.
Of all the ingredients prepared by the organizers, the tofu was the most difficult to cut, the most delicate. Shen Lu immediately started with it, lest the blade become dull after use and unable to cut the tofu properly.
Cutting the wobbly tofu into shreds was an extreme test of a chef’s knife skills. It required fluid, uninterrupted motion, with absolutely no hesitation or timidity.
But for Shen Lu, it wasn’t a difficult task. In less than five minutes, the shredded tofu was gently placed into a bowl of water, where it slowly fanned out with the ripples, resembling a blooming chrysanthemum.
Because Shen Lu was strikingly beautiful and also the first to finish cutting the tofu, the camera naturally found her, focusing on the tofu shreds blooming in the water.
The livestream chat immediately blew up with comments.
—This young lady doesn’t look very old, but her knife skills are amazing.
—Seriously, her skill in cutting tofu is way better than most of the other chefs in her group.
—Huh, why does she look so familiar?
—If you’re not going to use your eyes, I suggest you donate them. That’s the owner of Little Deer Cuisine!
—Oh, oh, oh, you’re right, it’s her!
—I can’t believe she actually entered the Kitchen King competition.
—She’s the real deal!
—"Real deal" my ass. Maybe her knife skills are just decent. Doesn’t she just run a small restaurant in the Lower City District? What kind of "skill" is that?
—Have you ever eaten her food? If you haven’t, you have no right to judge!
—What’s there to argue about? Aren’t there a ton of young women competing in the Kitchen King competition this year? It’s not like she’s the only one.
—Exactly. In the end, a veteran chef will definitely win. These girls are all just stepping stones.
...
Shen Lu inspected the blade of her knife. After confirming there were no issues, she began cutting the potato and carrot into shreds, the lettuce stems into diamond-shaped slices, and various types of meat.
For many people, chopping vegetables is a rather tedious task.
It looks like a boring, repetitive motion.
But those who truly understand the culinary arts know that cutting also involves all sorts of techniques.
For example, beef should be cut against the grain. You also have to pay attention to holding the beef down firmly with your left hand while using a push-and-pull motion with the knife in your right hand.
Beef cut this way will be of uniform thickness, cook evenly, and have the best possible texture.
Pork is different from beef. The cutting method depends on the cut of meat and the cooking style.
For instance, pork loin should be cut with the grain. This preserves the length of the meat fibers, preventing the pieces from falling apart during cooking and maintaining their elasticity and texture.
Another example is the pork neck. Because its tissue structure is denser and the meat is chewier, it’s best to cut it against the grain to make it easier to chew.
Therefore, it was also very important to be able to accurately identify which part of the animal the meat on the cutting board came from.
Shen Lu barely paused, and when she did, it was only to check the condition of her blade.
No ingredient stayed under her hands for more than three minutes before being cut into various shapes. Because her movements were so elegant and composed, the camera favored her, giving her many close-up shots.
After cutting the last shred of meat, Shen Lu let out a long sigh of relief. She placed her knife on a cloth next to the cutting board, took a step back, and signaled to the staff that she was finished.
Two robotic arms descended from the ceiling, placed all of Shen Lu’s cut ingredients onto a tray, and delivered it to the judges’ panel at the front.
Shen Lu’s knife skills were, needless to say, impeccable. The five permanent judges pressed the green light to advance her.
Shen Lu raised an eyebrow, then promptly left the competition stage and entered the adjacent waiting hall for contestants who had advanced.
Unlike the tense competition floor, the waiting hall for advanced contestants was like a large recreation center.
Everyone here had successfully advanced to the next round. A long dining table was laden with food and drinks for the contestants to choose from freely. The wall on the right was a giant screen, displaying feeds from various camera angles, allowing them to see everything happening on the competition floor.