Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The Saliva Chicken served by Yuan Zhou was able to stimulate one’s appetite by its looks alone.
The Saliva Chicken was served on a peacock-styled plate, and the head of the peacock was slightly slanted toward the chest, looking like a peacock with its head lowered. That was where the chicken head and neck were placed.
The body of the peacock was where the chicken meat was placed, while the peacock tail was where the chicken feet were placed. The entire dish had the look of a resting peacock.
The chicken used was the little fragrance black-boned chicken, yet this chicken was also classified into three types. The one used by Yuan Zhou was one with dark skin, white flesh, and white bones.
Thus, the entire dish radiated a bluish-black color of the skin and tender white color of the meat and bones. On top of the chicken was a thin and glossy layer of red with some white sesames on it. That was the chili oil.
Just by looking at this dish, one could feel the spiciness. The illusion of spiciness caused them to start salivating before even eating.
“I’ll give it a try,” Lee Yanyi moved quickly and picked up a piece of chicken breast meat the moment he made the declaration.
He had selected a crafty part to eat. The breast was the least exercised part of the chicken, and without special preparation method, the meat would be tough and not chewy.
The size of this piece of meat was just perfect for a mouthful, with a layer of bluish-black skin that was attached to it. After it was picked up, the layer of chili oil on the skin spread downward and wrapped around the entire piece of meat.
Lee Yanyi stuffed the entire piece into his mouth and started chewing.
“Hiss, so spicy,” stimulated by the intense flavor, Lee Yanyi could not even finish his sentence before he started chewing on reflex.
When the piece of meat entered his mouth, before he could taste the flavor of the chicken, his entire attention was snatched by the fragrance and the spiciness. But the moment he chewed on it, the freshness of the chicken erupted. The broth also erupted from the meat, flooding his mouth to perfectly merge with the fragrance and spiciness.
“Ohhh,” by reflex, Lee Yanyi made a voice, a voice with unknown meaning.
Why did he make that voice? Because he had only noticed that his entire tongue went numb after the meat was swallowed. This was when the spiciness of the Sichuan pepper showed its prowess.
Even with a numb tongue, he could still clearly recall the tenderness of the meat, the crispiness of the skin, and the freshness of the entire piece of meat. It was as if the numbness was for the sake of better recalling the flavor he had experienced a moment ago.
“What an exquisite dish,” Lee Yanyi lamented.
“Um, not bad. Delicious,” while Lee Yanyi was busy recalling the flavor, the others had already started eating as well. These were the words of Zhou Shijie who was lamenting with his eyes shut.
Zhou Shijie wasn’t bothered with being polite as the part he took was the drumstick. The meat was tender and springy, the skin was crispy, and the bone was filled with the natural fragrance of the little fragrance chicken. And coupled with the intense aroma and the spiciness, he couldn’t stop eating.
“Tissue? Where’s the tissue?” Hu Yue asked with one hand covering his mouth while his other hand moved everywhere looking for a tissue.
Thankfully, Ma Cheng handed him a napkin and saved Hu Yue from having his saliva flowing out his mouth.
That’s right. The unique characteristic of the Saliva Chicken was making the eater salivate after eating from the numbness. Yuan Zhou’s Saliva Chicken had successfully accomplished this task.
“Hu…” Hu Yue heaved a sigh of relief with the napkin covering his mouth.
As a chief editor, he cared deeply about his image. It would be too embarrassing for him to allow himself salivating in front of the camera.
Of course, the only reason Hu Yue had the time to care about his image was because the Saliva Chicken had already been finished.
A chicken of about 0.95 catty could be easily finished by six grown men. Suddenly, all six of them started lamenting the lack of portions.
“Boss Yuan is truly worthy of his fame. No wonder Chairman Zhou had given him full marks before even eating. This Saliva Chicken is indeed worth full marks,” Ma Cheng remarked, completely forgetting his dissatisfaction earlier.
Ma Cheng truly could not find anything he could criticize about this dish from all aspects.
“So a person can truly do anything he wants just because he is talented?” Zhang Yan wondered inwardly.
“Really not bad,” Hu Yue was able to maintain his calm. With this Saliva Chicken, he acknowledged Yuan Zhou’s cooking skills.
As for Zhao Xin, his heart was filled with resentment and despair.
“Why? Why is the chicken so spicy yet I still want to eat more? And why do I feel like eating more food after eating it? What a despair this is.”
“So can spiciness stimulate one’s appetite as well? Why is it that while eating, it was so unbearable spicy yet after eating, it feels refreshing? I need to persevere, I will only eat one more,” Zhao Xin’s heart was filled with questions, and his gaze towards Yuan Zhou was filled with resentment.
When Zhao Xin looked at the completely empty plate, he confirmed that he was not the only one who was feeling that way.
When he discovered that, he felt even worse. Looking at the back of Yuan Zhou who was busy cooking, he slowly understood why his master Cao Zhishu had scolded him.
He also understood the feeling of Cao Zhishu when he spent an entire night cooking Spicy Boiled Fish after the exchange with Yuan Zhou.
“This dish is so delicious to the point it makes one feel like crying, yet it also fills one with hate.” Zhao Xin muttered to himself, “More importantly, why is the portion so small? That’s not enough at all.”
Nobody noticed Zhao Xin’s abnormal behavior, and only Master Cheng who was beside them noticed.
“Now you know? Ignorant mortal,” Master Cheng thought to himself smugly.
Yuan Zhou might not care about Zhao Xin, but that did not mean the unofficial disciple, Master Cheng, did not care.
Master Cheng still remembered Zhao Xin’s rudeness. Now that he saw Zhao Xin’s behavior, he felt incredibly satisfied.
“This cold dish is above expectations. You did not embarrass yourself with it,” Lee Yanyi remarked unhurriedly.
“True. The function of a cold dish is to allow the person eating it to have a better appetite when eating the next dish. Little Yuan has done well in this aspect,” Zhou Shijie nodded approvingly.
“We still need to see his performance with the next dish,” Zhang Yan extinguished their excitement.
“There won’t be any problems,” Zhou Shijie vouched for Yuan Zhou.
“My tongue is still useful. There won’t be any problems,” Lee Yanyi supported.
This left Zhang Yan no space to praise Yuan Zhou as all the praises had been said by the other two. They were probably not here to judge. It was more like they were here to sell something. Before eating, they were already singing praises.
They had just eaten the first dish yet the two were already praising the next dish. Could they maintain fairness?
Zhang Yan berated endlessly within his heart, yet he still calmly stroked his goatee and put on a dissatisfied expression. After all, he was a judge. As a judge, he could not come to a decision so easily. Even though he had also fought for the chicken meat earlier, he still had to maintain the facade of a judge.
As for the filming crew, they were the ones suffering the most. Everyone around them was eating. Even if they couldn’t smell the aroma in the air, just looking at the satisfied expression of those people and looking at how the judges were shamelessly fighting over the chicken, they started wondering if all those people were paid actors hired by Yuan Zhou.
“Is it really that good?” The crew cut guy looked at the evaluation committee before looking at Wu Hai, the customers who ate with an expression of infatuation.
This scene reminded the crew cut guy of a saying he once heard, “Before eating at Yuan Zhou’s restaurant, you will not be able to imagine how delicious food can be. And after eating there, you will wish for nothing more than to be a bowl, the storage of the delicious food.”
“Is it really that great?” The crew cut guy watched on as the evaluation committee all locked their gazes on the second dish served by Yuan Zhou, gulping as they waited.
