Chapter 7 Garlic Pork
Xu Qing said: "This is the dish I cooked, and it is also the most common dish in Sichuan - pork with garlic."

The method of cooking garlic pork is very simple. Boil the pork belly and cut it into thin slices. Then blanch the bamboo shoots and cut them into thin slices. Wrap the bamboo shoots with the meat slices and pour the sauce made of mashed garlic, chili oil, soy sauce and other seasonings on the outside. The dish is ready.

Garlic pork does not require frying, stir-frying, or deep-frying. The only skill required is knife skills. The meat slices should be cut as thinly as possible to allow the meat fibers to fully absorb the flavor of the sauce.

In addition to knife skills, the most important factor affecting taste is the sauce, and seasoning happens to be Xu Qing's strong point.

The method is simple and the seasoning is important. Combining these two factors, garlic pork becomes Xu Qing's first choice.

Simple ingredients, ordinary appearance, and textbook production process.

There was no need for Xu Qing to say the name of the dish, the judges already had the answer in their minds.

But after experiencing Shaoan’s incredibly gorgeous cuisine, the judges inevitably lost interest in this familiar home-cooked dish.

The judges leaned lazily in their seats, looking at the garlic pork in front of them with a little disdain.

"Boy, I've eaten more garlic pork than you've eaten salt. The chefs on this street who can make garlic pork can line up all the way to the town entrance."

"Besides, your pork with garlic paste is too ordinary. There is nothing new about it. It really doesn't interest me."

"If you served pork with garlic paste before Shaoan, maybe I would have tried it. But after Shaoan's exquisite delicacies, you served such ordinary pork with garlic paste. The difference is obvious! I don't think I need to try this dish."

The judges shook their heads and sighed.

Shaoan stood aside and sneered, the sarcastic words were already on the tip of his tongue, he just needed the right time to say them.

Under the continuous criticism from the judges, Xu Qing remained calm.

Xu Qing just let their words go in one ear and out the other, and they didn't take it to heart at all.

Although there are five judges, the most important one is Master Abei.

Xu Qing ignored the other four people, turned to Master Abei, clasped his fists and said, "Master, please try this garlic pork."

Chef Abei looked at him and asked, "Do you have confidence in serving this dish after the delicacies from Shaoan?"

Xu Qing replied: "I have confidence."

After hearing Xu Qing's reply, Master Abei nodded, said nothing more, picked up the chopsticks, picked up the meat roll and put it into his mouth.

When the judges saw Chef Abei picking up his chopsticks, they had no choice but to pick up the meat rolls as well.

The first thing that sweeps into your mouth is the aroma of mashed garlic. The refreshing spicy feeling is like a gust of fresh wind, sweeping across your mouth in an instant. The garlic flavor is like an advance army, forcefully occupying the taste buds, sweeping away the remaining taste, and clearing space for the subsequent taste.

Then comes the tender white meat, delicate fat and chewy lean meat, with a soft and slightly resilient taste, rich in texture, and more fragrant the more you chew. Then comes the crisp green bamboo shoots, which are light and thin and can be eaten with a pleasant crisp snap.

When you take a bite, the sauce in the meat gushes out from every fiber, and the aroma of juice splashes in your mouth. The taste of the sauce skillfully blends the slippery meat and the crisp bamboo shoots, making the two completely different things inseparable. The meat seems to have the fresh and crisp taste of bamboo shoots, and the bamboo shoots seem to have the rich flavor of meat. The two are combined into one, constantly melting as you chew, and multiple flavors ripple on your taste buds.

The spiciness is like a catalyst, and the appropriate stimulation makes the taste buds more sensitive. The sensitive taste buds are constantly impacted by the surging taste and melt into this wonderful taste. In the end, even the tongue is soaked in the wonderful taste of the sauce, almost making people want to chew their tongue and swallow it.

The place was completely silent, with only the sound of chopsticks hitting porcelain plates and even the barely perceptible sound of breathing.

The people who fell into madness seemed to have forgotten to breathe. All they saw was the food on the plate, and only one clear thought remained in their minds.

eat!
Take another bite!
Only when every last drop of soup in the plate was drunk up did people sigh with satisfaction, close their eyes and silently enjoy the aftertaste in their mouths.

Shaoan couldn't wait any longer and said anxiously, "We have tasted the two dishes, give us the results quickly!"

Master Abei whispered to the other four people for a few words, and then said: "Shaoan, Xu Qing, the two of you come forward."

Shaoan and Xu Qing walked to the table and waited for Master Abei to announce the results.

Chef Abei looked at the two of them and said, "You two have demonstrated amazing cooking skills in this duel. You have used your abilities to the fullest and brought diners an excellent dining experience. You are both excellent chefs..."

"Old woman, stop talking nonsense." Shaoan said with dissatisfaction.

Chef Abei sighed and said, "Let's review Shaoan's dishes first, in the order in which they were served. Hongxi, you start."

"Yes, Master Abe."

Chef Hong Xi, who was sitting on the far left, agreed.

"Shaoan cuisine is very grand, and includes the most precious ingredients in China, forming a luxurious banquet of eight delicacies. One bite of it is like traveling through the world."

The chef beside Hong Xi continued, "At the same time, Shaoan's cooking methods for various precious ingredients are also amazing. You know, the more precious the ingredients are, the more careful you have to be when handling them. Shaoan's cooking methods seem bold and unrestrained, but the heat and time of cooking are controlled very finely, which just brings out the deliciousness of the food itself."

A third person said: "And the selection of nine ingredients is also very clever. The taste of each ingredient is completely different, with distinct characteristics and strong contrast. Each ingredient has a strong sense of presence, and the taste of the nine ingredients is presented in turn, which is very novel."

After the first three people praised him, the fourth person changed the topic.

"However, this is the shortcoming of this dish. This dish is twice-cooked pork, which should be dominated by pork belly and supplemented by the other eight ingredients. However, all nine ingredients in this dish are dominated, which makes each ingredient very distinct, and ultimately causes the overall taste to be fragmented. This doesn't feel like a single dish, but like nine dishes randomly put together."

Chef Abei finally said: "Shaoan also realized this, so he tried to suppress the unique taste of the eight treasures by adding stronger flavors when seasoning, but this made the taste more confusing. It was fashionable and novel at first, but after eating half of it, the taste became mixed, and various flavors fought endlessly in the mouth, eroding each other, and finally leaving only a vague taste on the taste buds."

The other four people also nodded repeatedly. This dish was quite novel at first, but after the novelty wore off, it became a bit greasy.

(End of this chapter)