Chapter 403 - 159: A King Player in the Silver League?

Chapter 403: Chapter 159: A King Player in the Silver League?

This allowed the light fragrance of the rice and the aroma of the eggs to stand out.

"Then what if there’s no clear soup?"

This question had just occurred to Su Chen.

Clear soup was a wonderful aid in Lu Cuisine, and he had reached a point where he could hardly cook without it. What would he do if, one day, he didn’t have enough prepared?

Was he supposed to be like those old Lu Cuisine restaurants that would simply refuse to cook certain dishes if they ran out of soup?

Acting on a sudden impulse, Su Chen placed a pot of rice on the work counter. Instead of immediately lighting the stove, he went straight into his practice room.

Moving as quickly as he could, he made a serving of egg fried rice without adding any clear soup.

[Egg Fried Rice: B Level Rating]

’As expected. Relying on skill alone, I can only make a serving of egg fried rice that tastes decent.’

This result was almost entirely due to the limitations of the ingredients.

The dish only contained rice and eggs. Without any other complementary ingredients, this was the inevitable outcome.

This was why Yangzhou fried rice incorporated so many different complementary ingredients.

But Su Chen was determined to stick to his principles. Egg fried rice was egg fried rice, and he absolutely wouldn’t add any strange, unnecessary things.

’When you’re eating egg fried rice, you’re looking for that satisfying feeling of being stuffed with carbs!’

’If I was going to add that many ingredients, why wouldn’t I just make a few other stir-fries? Is that so hard?’

’The clear soup serves two purposes: first, to moisten the rice grains, and second, to remove the eggy smell.’

In the practice room, Su Chen began a new brainstorming session.

’The best way to moisten the rice grains is to pour liquid into the wok over high heat, then cover it and let it steam for a few dozen seconds as the liquid vaporizes.’

’There are plenty of ways to get rid of the unpleasant odor.’

’Adding cooking wine is a common method, but using it for the eggy smell feels like overkill.’

’Besides, my fried rice method is unique. The cooking time is so short that the wine wouldn’t have time to fully evaporate, which would be counterproductive.’

’So no matter what I use to neutralize the odor, I’ll have to face the fact that any new seasoning will inevitably affect the final taste of the egg fried rice! That’s unavoidable.’

’Lemon water is one option, but savory egg fried rice with a hint of lemon sounds a little strange.’

’Pepper is another option, but spicy egg fried rice would be even more freaking weird!’

’And then there’s...’

Su Chen thought of another way to remove the odor, and it seemed to be a completely new approach!

’It seems like no one in the entire country has ever tried this before, have they?’

’Well, let’s give it a shot!’

After a few minutes of cooking, Su Chen saw the rating floating in mid-air and left the practice room, satisfied.

"Alright, our eight contestants are now ready. Let’s see what amazing performances they have in store for us!"

With a slight concentration of will, Su Chen applied the Magic Sticker to his forearm. It was covered by his sleeve, so no one would notice.

He had spent the last while testing the Magic Sticker on nearly every part of his body. Applying it to the forearm mainly served to increase his arm strength.

This was also very important for a chef.

The most useful place to apply the Magic Sticker was still his forehead, which could instantly heighten all five of his senses.

When cooking, he could even faintly perceive the changing states of the ingredients.

But he couldn’t do that now. It would look too strange if he suddenly showed up with a bandage on his forehead.

The competition began!

The ingredients for egg fried rice were so simple that they required no preparation.

This time, however, Su Chen began to prep a certain ingredient.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he squatted down and began to...

Peel garlic!

In the time it took him to peel a few cloves of garlic, one of the contestants had already managed to set his ingredients on fire while trying to toss his wok. Panicked, he leaped right off the stage.

The host had to put the fire out by covering the wok with a lid.

The contestant next to Su Chen, however, was quite calm. He had actually chosen a difficult meat dish and was currently prepping a pork tenderloin.

After peeling about seven or eight heads of garlic, Su Chen tidied up the skins, threw them in the trash, and finally began to cook.

Still, his calm demeanor was a stark contrast to the other flustered contestants.

To the armchair critics in the audience, however, Su Chen’s methods seemed a little strange.

"Garlic in egg fried rice? Are you kidding me? The guy’s a total kitchen newbie!"

"Just look at him, all dressed up in a suit..."

"That’s to be expected. Young people these days can’t cook. No matter what they’re making, their first instinct is to fry up some scallions, ginger, and garlic."

"I can understand frying scallions for egg fried rice, but what’s the deal with frying garlic?"

Listening to the crowd’s chatter, the few employees from Delicious struggled to hold back their laughter.

’Oh, you ignorant mortals...’

’Just you wait. One bite will shut you all right up!’

An auction?

A strange thought even occurred to Zhang Heping.

’Could Boss Su’s egg fried rice actually sell for an astronomical price at auction?’

But Su Chen’s next move left many in the audience completely baffled.

They watched as he smacked the garlic a few times with the flat of his knife and put it in a bowl. Then, grabbing the rolling pin from the table, he crushed the garlic into a paste with a few quick taps—TAP, TAP, TAP.

Then, he added some water to the bowl.

Baffled. This time, the audience was truly and utterly baffled.

What on earth was this contestant trying to do?