Chapter 119 The first dish
With less than half a day left before the test officially began, Xu Qing came to the test room with the food.

At this time, all the chefs taking the test have arrived in the examination room and are busy preparing the dishes.

The eyes of all the chefs were focused and determined. The heat waves rising in the air and the blazing flames in the stoves were no match for these passionate hearts.

Xu Qing walked to the empty stove and took out the ingredients.

He brought very little with him, just a few earthenware jars, a pre-processed whole chicken, a little seasoning, onions, ginger, garlic, etc., and nothing else.

Xu Qing cleaned the chicken, stuffed onions, ginger and garlic into the chicken's belly and tied it with thread. Then he wrapped the whole chicken with straw paper and stuffed it into a clay pot filled with salt. He buried the whole chicken with salt and all that was left was to wait.

At this moment, the examiners of the preliminary examination for the top-grade chef assessment had already arrived at the examination room in advance and were watching everything in the examination room from a distance.

This assessment is extraordinary, not only for the chefs participating in the assessment, but also for the examiners.

After all, it is the first time in history that Chef Long is participating in this assessment.

However, Chef Long did not participate in the evaluation of the preliminary test. The evaluation of the preliminary test was handed over to three examiners to jointly judge.

The three of them have served as examiners for many top-level chef assessments, and their qualifications and abilities are convincing.

At this moment, with Chef Long watching them from behind, they were under a lot of pressure. They were determined to do their best to select the best talents for the re-examination.

The assessment is not only a test for the chefs, but also a test for them to see if they have the vision to select talents.

It would be a dereliction of duty on their part if they allowed an unsuitable person to pass the initial test.

Moreover, Chef Long also specifically asked them to pay attention to a young man named Xu Qing.

The three of them didn't understand, but since Chef Long said so, they had no choice but to do as he said.

They have reviewed all the candidates who have taken part in the assessment for top chefs this year. The number of candidates taking part in the assessment is much smaller than in previous years, but most of them are elites among elites, and many of them are successors carefully trained by major restaurants.

Among these people, one boy was the most unique.

First of all, he was incredibly young; his application stated that he was only twelve years old.

He is only twelve years old. At his age, they are still catching loaches in the fields, but he is already able to take the assessment for top chefs.

Initially, they didn't care much about this young boy. He was so young that it would be difficult for him to pass the preliminary examination.

At such a young age, he has probably only learned cooking for a few years. How can he compare with those successors who have been carefully trained by major restaurants?

Maybe he's just here to go through the motions and experience the atmosphere of the top chef assessment.

However, after hearing the name again from Chef Long, the three of them immediately became interested in this young man, so they went to the Guangdong Chefs Association to inquire about his situation.

This question immediately surprised the three people. This young man actually defeated the top chef from the imperial kitchen in the previous cooking duel!
This is difficult to achieve even for a top chef who has been famous for many years.

It was actually done by a young boy!

This is simply a fantasy!
If this matter had not come from Elder Li of the Guangdong Chefs Association, they would have thought it was a legend made up by someone else.

After all, this doesn't seem to be something that would happen in reality.

However, such an exaggerated and almost absurd thing actually happened. After that, they were very curious about this young man, and even more curious about what kind of dishes he would make in this assessment.

However, unlike other chefs, this boy did not come until the assessment was about to officially begin.

When he arrived, he simply prepared the chicken, stuffed it into the salt shaker, and then sat there without moving.

As time passed, everyone else's dishes were almost finished, but he was still in a daze.

One of the examiners sighed in disappointment: "I think he gave up this time."

"After all, Chef Long is among the examiners. Most people would be too scared to come when they hear Chef Long's name. He probably felt that he had no hope of passing, so he gave up. I guess he won the last cooking competition by luck, but luck won't favor him the second time."

The oldest and calmest examiner showed dissatisfaction: "Even so, he shouldn't be so passive in the assessment of the top chef. No matter how strong or weak the others are, they are trying their best to show everything they have learned. Even if they can't get the results they want in the end, at least they won't have any regrets. With this attitude, even if he has extraordinary talent, he won't go far in the future."

Another person laughed and said, "Don't even talk about the future. I'm afraid he won't even pass the first test this time."

The older examiner said, "Put him last. Let him watch others pass the test one by one, and fail after a long period of suffering and waiting. This will help him learn a lesson and let him know that the special chef test is not a playground for children."

"Yes."

As time passed, the assessment time came.

The bell rang throughout the venue.

The examiners came to the front of the examination room and said loudly: "From now on, the evaluation of the special chefs will officially begin. The evaluation time will last until sunset. Chefs who are ready, please raise your hands and we will taste them one by one. After tasting all the chefs' dishes, the top five will be selected. Announcement completed!"

As soon as the examiner finished speaking, a hand was raised high.

Xu Qing turned his head and saw a young chef with a confident look on his face.

Some of the people around who knew him began to whisper to each other.

"It's Fang Yi who apprenticed at Jianghuayuan two years ago. It's said that he's even better than the head chef at Jianghuayuan. He's been cooking all the dishes at Jianghuayuan lately, and the taste of the dishes has improved a level compared to before. It's said that the head chef at Jianghuayuan tried his best to keep him, but he doesn't want to stay in Guangzhou and will leave after he gets the qualification of a top chef."

"Alas, what a pity! It will be hard for Jianghuayuan to find another person as capable as him. After he leaves, Jianghuayuan's business will probably decline significantly."

The examiners came to Fang Yi and saw three large bowls on the stove. The bowls were filled with a wide variety of ingredients, with the snow-white chicken in the middle.

Fang Yi said: "'A mountain is not famous because of its height, but because of the immortals living there.' Even if it is a small hillside, as long as there are immortals living there, it will be famous. Therefore, what is important is not the mountain, but the immortals in the mountain. And what I choose are the treasures of the world that are worthy of the immortals."

The three examiners looked down and saw that the simplest item on the plate was chicken, while the rest were various precious delicacies from the land and the sea, some of which were worth a fortune and were simply not available on the market.

Even the examiners couldn't help but look surprised when they saw these gorgeous treasures.

These precious ingredients surround the chicken placed in the center.

"Please have a taste, three examiners."

Fang Yi looked at the examiners' surprised expressions and said proudly.

(End of this chapter)