Yu Wan was fully focused on preparing for battle. She did not know that her mother had brought back three little munchkins for her. She had just finished choosing ingredients with Yu Feng.
“Why isn’t there even soy sauce and cabbage?” Yu Feng muttered. One had to know that although cabbage was the most ordinary vegetable, it was also the most suitable. It was delicious no matter what, and it would not affect the taste of the main ingredient.
Yu Wan laughed. “If Second Brother were here, he would definitely be asking why there’s so little meat.”
Yesterday, there were chickens, ducks, and fish on the shelf, but today, there was none.
“You’re right.” Yu Feng thought of something and said regretfully, “These ingredients for chicken soup are not bad.”
Yu Wan shrugged. Unfortunately, there was no chicken.
After getting the ingredients, the group began to remove the fishy smell from the sea cucumber.
Chef Liu and the other chef surnamed Zhang both chose white wine. They first cooked the sea cucumber with water and then put in ginger slices, white wine, and green onions to cook it thoroughly. This way, they could remove most of the fishy smell of the sea cucumber. However, this way, it would also make it easy for the stimulating supplementary food to collide with the taste of the sea cucumber.
Uncle used rice water to wash the sea cucumber. After soaking it in rice water for a while, the fishy smell of the sea cucumber could be removed. But this method was too time-consuming, and they still had other ingredients to deal with. After they finished cooking that dish, the sea cucumber would be done.
It was not the season for the oysters to be the fattest yet. Next month was the season. The oysters they received were not big. The oysters would be gone if they were to roast it with charcoal, and it was not fresh enough to be made into sashimi.
Yu Wan thought for a while and said, “Uncle, make what you’re best at.”
He was naturally best at braised meat.
Uncle made a portion of white brine on the spot and braised a high-grade rib meat. The rib meat was also called third-string meat. It was taken from the abdomen of a pig and contained a lot of fat. It was also mixed with a small amount of meat. It was fat, thin, fresh, and juicy.
Yu Wan cut the braised pork ribs into pieces and cut the pickled vegetables.
Yu Wan tasted the pickled vegetables. To be honest, the taste was not as good as her own pickled vegetables. However, she was not allowed to use her own ingredients in this round, so she could only settle for the next best thing.
Uncle made a pork belly oyster stewed with pickled vegetables.
The small-sized oysters didn’t seem so thin anymore with the addition of the streaky pork. The oysters completely blended with the umami of the braised meat and the sourness of the pickled vegetables. The braised meat wasn’t greasy, and the oysters weren’t fishy. The freshness and saltiness were mixed with a sour taste. If there was a little more, it would be pungent. If there was a little less, it would be bland. Everything was just right.
The imperial chefs each tasted a piece of braised meat with the taste of seafood, ate a mouthful of oysters with the fragrance of braised food, and finally, drank a spoonful of warm sour soup.
“Wonderful, wonderful!” The imperial chefs nodded repeatedly, clearly very satisfied with the taste of the dishes.
Considering that pork belly oyster stewed with pickled vegetables had a strong taste, Uncle’s second dish was a relatively light sea cucumber egg custard. Apart from the fishy smell, the other problem with sea cucumber was that it was too tough and it was difficult to stew it until it was soft.
Of course, if he had Yu Wan’s knife skills—
Yu Feng recalled the scene of his sister smashing a sea cucumber into pieces. I’m suddenly so worried that my sister won’t be able to get married in the future.
This was probably the softest sea cucumber that the imperial chefs had ever eaten, but it was not dry. It mixed well with the egg custard.
Chef Liu made fried eggs with oysters and leeks. It seemed that he had also avoided the shortcomings of the oysters being too small. The leeks could remove the fishy smell, the eggs could increase the freshness, and the bottom was fried until it was crispy yellow. However, the surface was so tender that one could suck out the juice and it would melt in the mouth. This oyster was what the imperial chefs were most satisfied with.
However, Chef Liu made a mistake when making the scallion-fried sea cucumber. The fishy smell of the sea cucumber was gone, but unfortunately, it was not stewed well. They could not chew it after chewing for a long time. The imperial chefs could only shake their heads regretfully.
Chef Liu’s mistake allowed Uncle to win without any suspense.
However, after tasting Chef Liu’s dishes, Uncle still broke out in a cold sweat. “If he didn’t make a mistake with the sea cucumber, I’m afraid the outcome will be different.” It was no wonder that Master Qin specially reminded them to pay attention to Chef Liu. His strength had improved tremendously compared to three years ago.
Yu Wan said disapprovingly, “How can there be so many ifs and ors in the world? Luck is also a part of strength. His mistake was because his mentality was wrong. Uncle, you have stabilized yourself. This outcome is what Uncle deserves.”
Where did this twisted logic come from? Uncle was helpless and amused, but it was undeniable that he was successfully comforted. There were many things in the world that only had one chance. If you grabbed it, you grabbed it. If you didn’t grab it, you didn’t grab it. You couldn’t be forgiven just because of a mistake.
In the first round, the Drunken Immortal Pavilion advanced. After an intense battle, Madam Du’s Abalone Stewed Sea Cucumber was the most favored.
Of course, there was no real abalone sauce at the scene. The abalone juice was made from duck, old hen, pig trotters, pig bones, pork skin, aged ham, and dried shellfish. The sauce was golden in color and tasted delicious. Its nutritional value was especially rich.
Madam Du could use a secret method to brew the taste of the abalone sauce without chicken and duck. This alone was enough for her to win.
“Didn’t Shopkeeper Cui say… that she can’t even rank in the top ten in Tianxiang Restaurant?” Yu Feng finally noticed Madam Du because if they continued to compete like this, they would meet her sooner or later.
Yu Wan smiled faintly. “That’s before. We have to allow her to improve.”
Once a woman became ruthless, there would sometimes be no place for a man left.
It was unknown if they were ill-matched with the Tianxiang Restaurant, but they actually encountered another chef from the Tianxiang Restaurant in the second round. Other than Madam Du and Master Bao, this was the last chef from the Tianxiang Restaurant who was still tenacious. Yu Wan had heard that his surname was Qin, but Yu Wan was sure that he had nothing to do with Master Qin.
This Chef Qin was a young chef. He only entered Tianxiang Restaurant after Uncle left, so the two of them didn’t know each other. Tianxiang Restaurant placed the bet on Chef Bao and sent the experienced Chef You and Chef Liu. Chef Qin seemed to be here to gain experience from the competition.
Uncle did not feel much pressure when facing him. However, after two days of competition, Uncle’s legs could not take it anymore. While cooking red ginseng stewed with mutton, Uncle was in so much pain that he couldn’t stand.
“Uncle!” Yu Wan put down the half-cut sweet potato and walked over to support her uncle, who was sweating profusely.
Uncle waved his hand. “I’m fine.”
“How could you say that? You’re in so much pain.” Yu Wan took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off her uncle’s forehead.
Uncle smiled. “Almost done.”
When Yu Feng saw how hard his father was working, he suddenly had the thought of withdrawing from the competition. However, he understood that his father did this not only for the workshop’s business, but also to fight for himself. Even though he said that he didn’t care, he was also sad, right?
Regardless of whether the recipe belonged to Third Uncle or not, it definitely didn’t belong to the Tianxiang Restaurant. What right did the Tianxiang Restaurant have to steal their things without a word? After that, they didn’t even apologize. They even made people think that they were being unreasonable. When Chef Yang’s limelight subsided, who would remember that those signature dishes were stolen from them?
Chef Qin made braised pig’s heart with red ginseng. The taste was slightly worse than Uncle and the other chef.
This round, the Drunken Immortal Pavilion advanced without any suspense.
Then, the most worrying thing happened. In the last round of today, the Yu Family faced off against Madam Du.
“I found out!” After resting in the room for a while, Master Qin walked in, sweating profusely. He had gone all out to win the competition. He ran back and forth, scattering countless wealth.
Yu Wan poured him a cup of tea.
“Thank you!” He drank it all in one gulp and only said after he had recovered, “There are only the three of you left, Brother Yu, Madam Du, and a chef from Wei Yuan Inn.”
“What inn?” Yu Wan looked at him.
“Wei Yuan Inn,” said Master Qin.
Yu Wan : “…” Shouldn’t it be the Wei Yuan Escort Agency? Why did an inn have the name of an escort agency? It sounded very lousy, but they managed to enter the top three.
Master Qin gulped down another cup of tea before saying, “By the way, we can use our ingredients for this round. Have you thought of what to use?”
Yu Wan took out a small jar from her bag. “Yu’s Stinky Tofu Beancurd!”
After careful discussion, they decided on this after filtering out the marinade, sauce, shark fin, stinky tofu, and other stunning ingredients.
Compared to the stinky tofu that always occupied the center position, the potential of the fermented bean curd was even higher. It would not steal the limelight, but it could also add “fragrance” to the dish. Of course, this was all based on the fact that his culinary skills were high enough.
Master Qin had tasted the Yu Family’s fermented bean curd before, but it was accompanied by stinky tofu that had just been fried. It was salty, cool, and had a sharp stench. The texture was tender and smooth. He wondered how the stir-fry was. Wouldn’t it be too smelly?
Stinky tofu itself was smelly, so it was fine to match it with fermented bean curd, but other ingredients…
Master Qin cleared his throat. “Ahem! Are you sure you don’t want to change to something else? I heard that Madam Du brought rose brine.”
The rose brine was a sauce that was mixed with white sugar and fresh rose petals that was smashed into a paste. It was sprinkled with a layer of honey and had a sweet taste. The fragrance of flowers filled the air. It was a very high-end ingredient.
“No,” the Yu Family members said in unison.
“…” Fine, as long as you guys are happy.
This was the last round of the competition today. The winner would be lucky enough to compete with Chef Bao. Whether they won or not was another matter. Just being able to stand on the same “stage” as Chef Bao was enough to make people famous.
Wei Yuan Inn and Drunken Immortal Pavilion were both dark horses that had appeared out of nowhere. No one thought highly of them, and they all guessed that they could only be stepping stones for Madam Du.
“Who said that!” Bai Tang also came. She walked out of the room and roared at the guests gathered in the corridor, “Do you know who the chef of the Drunken Immortal Pavilion is? It’s Master Yu whose recipes were plagiarized by the Tianxiang Restaurant! He was the one who made the five signature dishes of the Tianxiang Restaurant! What do you mean by being a stepping stone for others? It’s more like Madam Du is a stepping stone for him!”
A young guest jumped out and said, “Where did this ignorant girl come from! Madam Du is the personal disciple of Chef Bao! Can he be compared to Madam Du? Besides, I heard that he was the one who came up with the idea for the signature dish, but the one who really made the dishes and did it perfectly is Chef Yang. If not for Chef Yang, who knows about him?”
“You… you… you’re rambling! You’re full of nonsense!” Bai Tang was so angry that she was about to explode. What kind of people were they? Master Yu even benefited from a thief?
“Miss, stop talking,” Shopkeeper Cui advised.
Bai Tang said angrily, “What did I say? Did I not distinguish between right and wrong first? These people are all brainless!”
“Who’s brainless? Do you know how to talk?” Another customer spoke.
Bai Tang had angered everyone. Seeing that the situation was bad, Shopkeeper Cui hurriedly persuaded his young miss to return to the room.
Shopkeeper Cui said earnestly, “Aiya, Miss, why lower yourself to their level? They’re just talking. In the end, it all depends on the outcome of the competition.”
“I know! But I’m angry!” Bai Tang said as she pushed open the window and stuck her head out to take a look. Don’t think that she didn’t know that Yan Ruyu was upstairs. Yan Ruyu had been staring at the Yu family’s movements. Did she not know that Yan Ruyu was waiting to make a joke out of the Yu family?
Before the competition began, many people had already come to congratulate Yan Ruyu and Madam Du.
Yan Ruyu had her own plans. After the Yan Family was convicted, all the shops under the Yan Family’s name were confiscated. However, they were all returned one after another. There was no lack of inns and restaurants among them. If Madam Du won the championship in one go, it would be a good thing for her.
“I’ll congratulate Madam Du first. Remember to set up two tables to celebrate!”
“Of course, of course,” Yan Ruyu said with a gentle smile.
“Madam Du, are you confident?” After everyone left, Yan Ruyu asked Madam Du softly.
Madam Du nodded and said, “I’ve worked hard for this day. I’ll definitely win.”
Yan Ruyu smiled and asked, “Madam Du, do you still care so much about a mere competition despite your reputation?”
Madam Du said, “The person I won was none other than myself. I want to prove to Master that I’m qualified to inherit his mantle.”
Master Chef Bao’s mantle!
That’s right, Chef Bao’s son had gone missing. After years of fruitless searching, he was already old and would probably not be able to reunite with his son for the rest of his life. Someone had to inherit his mantle, and as his most proud disciple, Madam Du was the best candidate.
Yan Ruyu was so happy that she was about to bloom. She had invited Madam Du, but she had earned the mantle of Chef Bao. How lucky was she?
Madam Du looked at her hands. “Master has always been dissatisfied with my culinary skills, but now, I believe he will change his mind.”
As the competition approached, in order to express her high regard for Madam Du, Yan Ruyu personally sent her downstairs. When she left the back door of the hall, she bumped into Yu Wan and Yu Feng, who were heading to the competition venue.
After competing for two days, the siblings already recognized Madam Du. As for Yan Ruyu, they were old acquaintances.
Madam Du was holding an exquisite blue and white porcelain container in her hand. It must have been filled with her secret sauce, rose brine. Even the jar was unbelievably exquisite. It was truly filled with the nobility of the upper-class. Compared to this, the earthen jar in Yu Wan’s arms seemed especially unpresentable.
Yan Ruyu held back her laughter and glanced at Yu Wan. “What good ingredients did Miss Yu prepare?”
Yu Wan said indifferently, “There’s no harm in telling you. Have you eaten bean curd?”
Yan Ruyu had naturally never eaten it before, but she sensitively noticed Madam Du beside her and frowned slightly. Could it be that even the confident Madam Du was afraid of this bean curd?
Yan Ruyu remembered something. At Old Mrs. Wei’s birthday banquet, Aunt Lin placed the Yu family’s stinky tofu on Madam Du’s table. After Madam Du tasted it, she only said those words, “I can’t do it.”
There was actually a dish that Madam Du could not make in this world.
Coincidentally, at this moment, two waiters carried the table over. The two of them did not notice Yu Wan, who was by the door.
Yu Wan walked out.
“Miss Yu!” Yan Ruyu called out to her.
“What do you want again?” As soon as she finished speaking, the waiters bumped into Yu Wan and knocked down the jar in her arms. The bean curd scattered all over the ground, and an indescribable stench immediately filled the air.
“Sorry, sorry!” The waiter hurriedly apologized. Halfway through, he pinched his nose. “Oh my god! What’s so smelly!”
The surrounding people were all affected by the stench. After all, there were only a few people who had eaten stinky tofu before. Most of them did not recognize what fermented bean curd was, and all of them revealed disgusted expressions.
Yan Ruyu covered the tip of her nose with a handkerchief and said mockingly, “Miss Yu, just say it if you don’t have any ingredients. Tell me, I’ll prepare one for you. Why take out smelly things to cook? It’s fine if you lose the competition, but it’s not right for the imperial chefs to eat this.”
Yu Wan looked at her coldly. “You did it on purpose?”
“I didn’t knock it over,” Yan Ruyu said in surprise.
“I’m sorry! It’s me, it’s me…” The waiter hurriedly apologized, but he retched from the smell.
“Every injustice has its perpetrator and every debt has its debtor. It was the shop assistant who did it. How can you blame her?”
“That’s right. She’s too unreasonable.”
Everyone started to criticize Yu Wan. Yu Feng frowned tightly.
“Let’s go,” Madam Du said.
The only person who was not affected was probably her, because she understood that it was a good thing. If she lost it, the Yu family would definitely lose to her.
Yan Ruyu smiled smugly at Yu Wan and left with Madam Du. The moment she crossed the threshold, Yu Wan quietly stretched out a foot and tripped Yan Ruyu. No one saw how Yan Ruyu fell. They only knew that Yan Ruyu was holding onto Madam Du. When she fell, she also pulled Madam Du down in a hurry.
The blue and white porcelain in Madam Du’s hand shattered, and the fragrant rose brine flowed all over the ground.
“My rose brine!” Madam Du screamed.
Yan Ruyu’s expression changed drastically. She turned around resentfully and glared fiercely at Yu Wan.
Yu Wan spread her hands and returned the words to her. “I didn’t knock it over.”
