Chapter 5: Twice-cooked Pork with Delicacies from the Mountains and Sea

As soon as Master Abei finished speaking, Shaoan immediately took action.

There was a blazing fire on the stove, and pots were placed on both stoves. One was filled with water and boiled, while the other had an iron pot placed on it and heated.

Shaoan took a deep breath while holding the kitchen knife, his eyes focused, and the knife in his hand was like a fluttering butterfly, with the knife shadows continuing. The ingredients on the chopping board were cut neatly almost in an instant, the cuts were as smooth as a mirror, the slices were evenly thick, and each piece was distinct.

Shaoan changed his knife skills one after another according to the different ingredients he chose, whether it was slicing, dicing, or cutting into thin strips, etc. However, his knife skills were not messy at all and were as stable as before.

In a blink of an eye, most of the dozen or so ingredients on the table were processed, and the cut ingredients were neatly placed on the plate, waiting to be steamed.

The iron pot was hot enough, so Shaoan put the ingredients into the pot and increased the fire. Flames instantly burst out and engulfed the entire iron pot in flames. The flames almost burned Shaoan's eyebrows.

There were sudden exclamations from all around.

"The fire is too big. It will burn the food in an instant."

"Shaoan made a mistake. Even if he wanted to stir-fry, he shouldn't have used such a high fire."

“What a waste of good ingredients.”

Shaoan picked up the iron pot with one hand, without using a spatula, and turned the pot upside down. The ingredients in the pot jumped up with inertia and danced in the flames. In an instant, the flames roasted the surface of the ingredients, and the fresh taste was instantly sealed inside the ingredients. The next second, the ingredients were caught by the iron pot, rolled in the pot, turned around and faced the flames in the air again.

Such a bold and sweeping technique is rough yet delicate, like a magic trick, which makes people stare at it with fascination and their hearts are filled with excitement.

Master Abe was very pleased when he saw this scene.

Shaoan always disobeys advice and talks back to Master Abei during training. Unexpectedly, he strictly implements Master Abei's teachings at the critical moment.

The wok-flipping technique that Master Abei had corrected many times before was now perfectly demonstrated in front of everyone, and it was even better than Master Abei had expected.

However, this is not just the credit of Master Abe.

Master Abei looked at Xu Qing. It was precisely because of the opponent that Shaoan would try his best to squeeze out every bit of his potential and strive to climb higher.

People like Shaoan may not be suitable for practicing silently in the kitchen. He is more suitable for learning and growing through confrontation with other chefs, constantly discovering his own shortcomings in the confrontation and striving for excellence.

Master Abei sighed inwardly, it was a pity that only one person could survive this duel.

Shaoan and Xu Qing are both arrogant people. Shaoan is needless to say. Although Xu Qing appears to be humble and gentle, and is very polite to people and things, Master Abei can feel the pride hidden deep in his heart, the kind of arrogance and indifference that despises everything, as if there are not many things in the world that can truly enter his heart.

In addition, Xu Qing's talent is so extraordinary that there are probably no more than five people in history who can compare with his talent. Such an outstanding talent also contributed to his inner arrogance.

Therefore, during the conversation, Master Abei advised Xu Qing not to underestimate the world and not to forget his original intention.

Two such arrogant young geniuses are destined not to live under the same roof, otherwise it will only lead to greater disasters.

Master Abe knew this very well, so she did not stop it, and could not stop it.

Opposite Shaoan, Xu Qing was also stunned.

Such delicate knife skills and wok-flipping skills were really beyond his expectations. Shaoan was indeed a real talent.

Although Shaoan is arrogant and looks down on others, he has the capital to be arrogant.

Moreover, this exquisite and superb skill is really enviable. Although Xu Qing doesn't want to admit it, this skill is really too cool!

But Xu Qing is a vulgar man, and he will not change his opinion of Shaoan just because of this exquisite skill. Shaoan still has to leave.

Only one of them was destined to stay.

Xu Qing is determined to win this competition.

Xu Qing lit the stove, set up the pot, first fried the skin of the pork belly in the pot, then added water and boiled it, then put the cooking wine, onion, ginger and pork belly in and simmered them together.

The stewing process takes at least twenty minutes. Xu Qing first peels the bamboo shoots, then blanchs them in water, lets them cool, then cuts them into thin long slices and sets them aside.

Then peel the garlic and mash it into garlic paste, then add soy sauce, chili oil and other seasonings to make a sauce.

All that’s left is to wait for the pork belly to cook.

Twenty minutes passed quickly. Xu Qing took out the meat and let it cool. He concentrated on wielding the kitchen knife and slowly and carefully cut the meat into thin slices.

Xu Qing’s knife skills are not good. He practiced his knife skills all night last night, but his skills were just barely qualified.

Therefore, he can only take his time to produce fine work. In fact, if you look at it alone, his knife skills are not that slow, but the contrast with Shaoan next door is very clear. If Shaoan is the fast lane, Xu Qing's side is like an old lady crossing the road, so slow that it makes people scratch their heads.

"Is this kid any good?"

"Don't ask anymore. Shaoan will definitely win in the end."

Even Liu Keling, who had always had confidence and expectations for Xu Qing, couldn't help but ask Master Abei: "Mom, can Xu Qing really win?"

"Maybe." Master Abe said with a little embarrassment.

Perhaps because he was bewildered by the amazing talent that Xu Qing had shown before, Master Abe did not expect Xu Qing's foundation to be so poor.

Listening to the discussions around him, Xu Qing gritted his teeth and decided that he would definitely practice his knife skills hard in the future!
Just as Xu Qing was slowly slicing the meat, he suddenly heard Shaoan shouting from the opposite side, "I'm done!"

Xu Qing looked up and saw Shaoan putting the dishes into the plate and even covering it with a lid to completely hide the contents of the dish.

Shaoan proudly walked forward with the dishes in his hand, not even looking at Xu Qing.

The judges for this competition are Chef Abei and the other four top chefs of Juxialou, namely Hong Xi, Fang Lei, Liao Shengyi and Li Shun.

Shaoan placed the plates of dishes in front of everyone one by one.

Everyone looked at the plates in front of them curiously. The lid not only covered the contents of the food, but also completely blocked the smell of the food. This sense of mystery aroused everyone's curiosity even more.

"Attention, this is the delicacy that I, Shaoan, have carefully prepared - twice-cooked pork with mountain and sea delicacies!"

As he spoke, Shaoan moved as fast as lightning and quickly opened the lid, revealing the delicious food in the dish at the same time.

At the same time, the blocked rich fragrance burst out instantly, immersing the entire space in this fragrance. The rich fragrance not only poured in from the nose, but even penetrated into every pore of the body. Everyone in the field seemed to be soaking in a hot spring composed of fragrance, and couldn't help but be intoxicated by it.

(End of this chapter)