As the judges went to the next room, the students started their mise en place, making sure that all the ingredients they needed were cut appropriately. Everyone had three hours allocated for two dishes that could give them the chance to win the selection. However, making a traditional pho could take up all that time, giving them another challenge to use their time efficiently.
This selection challenge was all about working smart and fast and getting as much flavor they could give their dishes as possible. A simple mistake could easily lead them to lose their chances.
With a renowned chef judging their plates, the pressure for the junior students was higher than their previous cooking activities.
Judging with the blind taste-testing, it added another challenge to the students to surprise He Haotian and their fellow schoolmates. For this selection, Ye Xieren and Yan Chen had prepared themselves. Since it was Lu Xinyi who’d rate their dishes, they were eager to see how she’d view their plates.
The three judges would taste and judge everyone’s dishes without knowing who cooked what. This also excited Lu Xinyi who was eager to taste the Banh flans her classmates would be doing today.
At the secluded room next to the cooking arena, He Haotian gave the two women pointers and what to expect on tasting pho and Banh flan. He specifically made the two dishes and presented it to them.
“Come and take a taste-test of this pho and Banh flan. I made them in a traditional way, for you to be able to dissect the flavors and understand the influence of ingredients used in these dishes.”
Lu Xinyi had one tasted a Banh flan and already knew what to expect from it. However, pho wasn’t something she was familiar with. If it was another noodle soup that she needed to painstakingly prepare for hours like her failed attempts on ramen, then she was glad that she was exempted from this selection.
Two bowls of stunningly beautiful beef pho and two plates of Banh flan. Lu Xinyi and Han Yixin were both impressed with its plating. Only a Masterchef like He Haotian would be able to present simple yet delicious dishes worthy of a food magazine cover.
Lu Xinyi picked up her chopsticks and took a quick scent of the pho from her bowl. Instantly, she was sent to nirvana. The flavor washed over her, taking her senses over and over again, with the delicate but strong flavors of the dish.
It had chewy noodles, that savory broth, the tender slices of beef… all those crunchy, spicy, and herby garnishes were tossed on top. Taking the initiative to taste it, she squeezed the lime wedge on the broth and gave it a quick stir before putting a few strands of rice noodles on her mouth with a slurp. Her actions were followed by Han Yixin beside her.
Lu Xinyi loved the slippery softness of fresh noodles. However, like the other popular noodle dishes, the broth was the determining factor to know the quality of this dish. As much as she loved those chewy rice noodles and tender bites of meat, pho was really all about the broth.
She believed it was one of the greatest soups in the world. It didn’t fall behind other popular noodle dishes. With the broth that was light yet at the same time so full of flavor, it’s infused with spices like cinnamon, star anise, and cardamom. It was utterly addictive, and every spoonful left her wanting more! ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
“So what do you think?” He Haotian asked with a smile. The reactions of the two women were filled with awe and content.
“It looks like a relatively harmless bowl of beef noodle soup.” Lu Xinyi admitted. “That is until you take your first slurp. The soup broth is everything. It’s light yet full of flavor, deceptively beefy, savory… complex. It has the tiniest hint of richness and is filled with beautiful spices like cinnamon.”
“This pho is absolutely peerless. The rich and cclear broth, the immensely beefy flavor, the aroma of the spices, and the cloud of steamy hot vapor rising from the bowl when served was really satisfying,” Han Yixin commented.
Chef He slightly nodded. Their opinions were all under his expectations.
“Can Miss Lu tell us how this savory dish was made?” he asked. After all, this was his real reason why he convinced Han Zhiling to let Lu Xinyi judge today’s selection.
Lu Xinyi kept her silence for a moment, cupping her chin out of habit with her eyes fixed on the savory noodle dish that left her speechless. She then took her spoon and took another taste on its broth, her eyes closing in concentration as she tried to distinguish the flavors in her mouth.
“It has a clean and clear broth,” she pointed out the obvious part. “This means you parboiled and rinsed the bones. Bones were parboiled first in rapidly boiling water; this will get rid of the impurities like blood particles and extra fat.
“The pink or gray foam floats up to the surface as you boil. Then, after three to five minutes, you dumped out all the water, rinsed the bones, and refilled another pot with clean, cool water to make the broth. By parboiling the bones will give you the pure, clean-tasting broth you were aiming for.”
Han Yixin’s jaws dropped. She couldn’t believe that Lu Xinyi was able to find out Chef He’s method by merely tasting the dish he’d made. Just what kind of tongue did this woman have?
“What else?” the man asked with nodding at his apprentice with approval. Parboiling wasn’t really a secret method. For experienced cooks and chefs, this method was popular to make the broth clean and clear.
Some chefs would even soak the bones in cold water overnight before bringing to the boil three times in fresh water until most impurities were removed and then cooking it gently for a long time to extract the gelatin from its marrows.
“There’s a classic smoky flavor to the broth which means fresh onions and ginger were charred or roasted. Not only will it produce a wonderfully mellow and naturally sweet flavor, but it will also give you nice depth and color. The spices were toasted to bring out the flavor before adding into the pot.”
“And what are these spices?” He Haotian cut her off, testing if her tongue’s sensitivity to spices had improved since the last time. How could he not take advantage of this event?
Lu Xinyi smacked her lips together and glared at her mentor while Han Yixin, who was standing next to her, also tried to distinguish the spices she’d tasted from her pho. She really hated it when the man tried to play this trick on her to convince her to become a professional food taster instead of being a chef.
“Aside from the ginger and onion, there’s cinnamon, coriander, cardamom, fennel seeds, cloves, and star anise.” Lu Xinyi easily counted the spices her tongue found from the broth. “There was also a hint of saltiness and sweetness from salt and sugar. The clean fish flavor from the soup came from the fish sauce.”
