Chapter 404 - 160: The 368 Yuan Champion, Got the Doll

Chapter 404: Chapter 160: The 368 Yuan Champion, Got the Doll

There are many ways to remove unwanted odors from ingredients. Cooking wine works, as does lemon water, vinegar, or garlic.

But which specific method should you use?

That depends on the ingredients you’re working with.

If what’s in front of you is a portion of egg fried rice, how would you handle it?

Su Chen chose: garlic.

He crushed the garlic in the bowl and added a suitable amount of water. This amount could only be judged by experience, but it was better to add more rather than less.

After preparing the garlic water, Su Chen noticed out of the corner of his eye that not all the contestants in this event were clueless about cooking.

Though one contestant had already burned their dish to a crisp over high heat, the contestant right next to Su Chen was a middle-aged man. A number 6 tag hung in front of his stove.

Contestant No. 6 had sliced all the pork tenderloin on his cutting board and was currently marinating it with seasonings.

’Looks like he’s making a meat dish, probably a flash-fried pork stir-fry.’

After all, the side ingredients beside the contestant were garlic scapes and potatoes. This was a classic Jingzhou dish: ’Flash-fried Pork with Potato Slices.’

Su Chen looked away and began to focus on his own dish.

After all, he had brought a whole pot of rice. It wasn’t that Su Chen wanted to make so much, but rather that the cookware provided by the organizers was a bit problematic.

All the iron pans were single-handled woks, and shallow, wide-mouthed ones at that.

A major problem with this kind of wok is its uneven heat distribution. One has to stir-fry constantly, otherwise the ingredients at the bottom can easily burn.

That is why many modern cooking styles utilize Western-style flat-bottomed pans.

Su Chen’s method was to use a large amount of rice and, with his arm strength enhanced by the Magic Sticker, stir-fry it constantly. This would allow the ingredients in the wok to achieve a state of relatively even heating.

A spoonful of lard!

’A pity it’s not a high-flame stove.’

Su Chen turned the regular gas stove to its highest setting, then used his spatula to press down on the block of pure white lard, sliding it continuously back and forth along the sides of the wok.

This not only sped up the melting of the lard, preventing the oil temperature from rising while chunks of it were still unmelted, but also coated the sides of the wok with hot oil.

"Do you guys think the Boss can win that doll?" Shi Qi asked, watching eagerly from below the stage.

"Of course he can," Zhang Jiayi said confidently. "I can just buy it."

Zhang the Second turned his head to glance at the young woman.

’How can the gap between people be so huge...’

"Jiayi, is it true that any problem money can solve isn’t really a problem?" Having rarely encountered truly wealthy people, Zhang the Second was very curious about this.

Zhang Jiayi thought for a moment. "You can’t really put it that way."

PHEW... Old Er breathed a sigh of relief.

’So rich people are no different from us after all!’

"But problems that can be solved with money are, at the very least, easier to solve."

The smile that had started to form on Zhang the Second’s face froze halfway.

"I wouldn’t be so sure," Shi Qi interjected, attempting a serious analysis of the situation. "Look at Contestant No. 6."

Su Chen was still on stage melting the lard.

Meanwhile, Contestant No. 6 had already started flash-frying his meat in a generous amount of oil.

"Barring any surprises, he’s making that flash-fried pork. And you all know the characteristics of this dish."

"First, Jingzhou People absolutely love it. Second, without an extractor hood, the smell from this dish is incredibly strong."

He was referring to the aroma released during the final seasoning stage over high heat, after various condiments are added one after another. Especially when a splash of aged vinegar hits the pan, the resulting smell is enough to snatch a person’s soul.

"In a place like a food street, having the most fragrant dish is a huge advantage."

Ling Shuyu nodded. "Shi Qi is right. The best-selling food on this street is fried chicken."

Fried chicken shop owners often place their deep fryers at the front window instead of in the back kitchen.

This way, as the chicken is being fried, its aroma wafts down the entire street. People passing by can’t help but take a sniff, and upon seeing the "Buy One Pound, Get Half a Pound Free" banner, they immediately feel compelled to go buy a pound.

Shi Qi continued, "So the Boss’s egg fried rice is actually at a disadvantage. His egg fried rice is certainly delicious, but it doesn’t produce much of an aroma during the cooking process. If we’re talking about a taste-testing and auction, that flash-fried pork has the upper hand."

Ling Shuyu glanced at the giant *Cooking Master Boy* doll in the middle of the stage, then her gaze returned to Su Chen. "But he’s the Boss."

She said this with great certainty and confidence.

"What does him being the Boss have to do with anything?" Zhang Jiayi hadn’t been at the company for long, so there were some things she didn’t know.

Zhang Heping took a deep breath. "The Boss never passes up an opportunity to show off."

HISS!

Zhang Jiayi sucked in a sharp breath. When she turned to look back at the stage, the lard in Su Chen’s wok had already reached the desired temperature.

He was in the middle of pouring an entire pot of cold rice into the wok.

’So this is the benefit of enhanced arm strength...’

Su Chen easily lifted the wok and all the rice inside it with just his left hand. After all, this wasn’t a high-flame stove, so he had to control the temperature by adjusting the distance between the wok and the flame.

With the spatula in his right hand, he stir-fried at an unhurried pace. Whenever he encountered clumps of rice, he would use the spatula to press them down and break them apart.

After stir-frying for a good three or four minutes, he finally had all the rice grains perfectly separated.

The already-white rice grains began to glisten after being coated in lard, but only Su Chen knew that the grains, which had already lost much of their moisture, were losing even more in the heating process.