Chapter 137 Innovation and Conservatism

While Jiang Cheng and Li Weiran were busy, Chen Yu and Fang He on the side also took action.

Each major restaurant has its own characteristics. For example, Feihuanglou is famous for its chicken dishes, Taoranju is famous for its exquisite taste and appearance, Wenhuayuan combines Chinese culture with dishes and even prepares corresponding dishes based on poems, and Shangpingguan cooks food with a rigorous and demanding attitude.

For Chen Yu, who was born in Wenhuayuan, originality is not a difficult thing.

But for Fang He, who always follows the rules, this is a huge difficulty.

After a day of experimentation and deep thinking, Chen Yu finally decided on the dish he wanted to make.

The three examiners were also closely watching the candidates' every move at this moment.

Halfway through the time, the chef should have a basic idea of ​​the dish he wants to make, and all that remains is fine-tuning the taste and cooking method.

If we delay any longer, it might be too late.

Yao Ye said: "After Jiang Cheng and Li Weiran, Chen Yu also started to take action."

Lei Hua nodded and said, "The difference in strength between the four of them is probably the same. Due to the favorable subject matter, Jiang Cheng is the strongest, followed by Li Weiran who has superb skills, then Chen Yu who is good at coming up with new ideas and originality, and finally Fang He. Fang He's skills are not outstanding, and the characteristic of Shangping Hall is to focus on stability. In this assessment, I'm afraid he is in the most disadvantageous situation."

Yao Ye sighed and said, "I wonder how he will respond to the test questions."

At this moment, Lei Hua suddenly exclaimed: "Is that... lychee in Chen Yu's hand?"

Yao Ye looked at it carefully and said, "It really is lychees. Is he going to use lychees to cook?"

After saying this, he showed difficulty, "This is a difficult problem for him."

Generally speaking, fruits are rarely added to food to make dishes. As the name suggests, fruits contain plenty of water, but after being cooked at high temperatures, a lot of water is lost, and the sweet and crisp taste of the fruit itself is gone. If other seasonings are added, the taste is really unbearable.

Moreover, the texture and taste of cooked fruits are far inferior to the taste of fresh fruits. Using fruits to cook is not just adding unnecessary elements, but a pure waste of things.

If using fruits to cook is not a gimmick, it only means that the chef's ideas and taste are different from ordinary people.

Of course, there are also fruits that can be used in cooking. For example, pineapple, a fruit with coarse fibers, can still maintain its original taste during high-temperature cooking. It is crisp, tender, sour and sweet, very appetizing and has a unique flavor when cooked with meat.

But lychees are not among them.

Lychees are high in water and sugar. Too much sugar will greatly affect the taste of other ingredients, ultimately creating an indescribable strange smell that is completely off-putting.

Yao Ye couldn't understand why Chen Yu chose lychees when there were so many high-quality ingredients in the examination room?

Yao Ye thought for a moment and said, "In terms of originality, using lychees to cook food can indeed be called 'unique'. After all, it's the only one of its kind."

This is not only a "terrible taste", it should be said to be a "strange taste".

If it's not done well, even if it gets points for skill and originality, the lack of taste will immediately put the dish in a bad place.

After all, the final product of the dish still depends on its taste. No matter how beautifully the dish is decorated or how rich its meaning is, it will not taste good if it is not eaten.

A mediocre street food dish can be praised by many people if it tastes great. External decoration is just icing on the cake and cannot change the quality of the dish itself.

On the other hand, after careful consideration, Fang He decided to follow the master's instructions and cook this dish according to what he had learned.

After all, for someone who has never tried to be original, if he suddenly changes his style, it may not bring any benefit but disastrous consequences.

Especially in an environment where time is so tight and pressure is so great, rash innovation is even more undesirable.

However, even if we follow the usual method, we can still create a "delicious" dish that lives up to the title.

If you do your best in every step, then countless steps and countless wonderful flavors combined will eventually present a "superb taste" that surpasses all previous dishes.

Fang He began to prepare and process the ingredients according to Shangping Restaurant's previous practices.

The first things he chose were ham, chicken, chicken liver, cabbage, etc. He picked out the best ingredients and put them into the basket.

Lei Hua said: "The dish Fang He is going to make is Jinhua Yushu Chicken."

"Jinhua Yushu Chicken?" Yao Ye asked puzzledly.

Lei Hua explained: "The ingredients used in this dish are three-yellow chickens, so the skin is golden yellow, and the ham and chicken liver are fiery red, plus the emerald green jiaocai placed next to it. The jiaocai is emerald green like jade, and the chicken skin is golden and dazzling, so it is called Jinhua Yushu."

"I see."

Lei Hua added: "However, judging from his selection of ingredients and cooking methods, he doesn't seem to be planning to innovate."

Yao Ye nodded and said, "It seems that he also understands that his strengths lie at the bottom of his weaknesses. It is really impossible to make up for his weaknesses in such a short time. It is better for him to try his best to develop his strengths and make the dishes taste the best."

If Yao Ye were in such a situation, he would make the same choice.

Now the four people in the field are starting to move towards the final product.

Only Xu Qing, apart from cooking for himself, would just sit there with his eyes closed and rest, not even moving at all, and there was no trace of the final dish.

Yao Ye was puzzled and asked, "What's wrong with Xu Qing? It's too late to prepare now. Could it be that the black-bone chicken is too difficult to make and he wants to give up?"

Lei Hua shook his head and said, "Probably not. He had a similar performance during the initial test, and he still presented a qualified dish in the end."

However, Lei Hua was also a little confused.

This was different from the initial test. Xu Qing was facing legendary ingredients that had never appeared before. From the time he arrived at the examination room until now, he had not even tasted a black-bone chicken. How could he make a suitable dish just sitting there?
Is it possible to just rely on what you think in your mind?
If you could make a delicious dish just by imagination, then everyone in the world would be a chef.

Hongze was also watching Xu Qing closely. It would be fine if Xu Qing took action like the other four people, but the quieter he was and the more he did nothing, the more curious Hongze became.

He didn't think Xu Qing was going to give up. It was more like he was preparing for something, like the prelude to a storm. Beneath his calm appearance, it seemed as if he was hiding a power that was enough to shake the world.

(End of this chapter)