Tsk~
The fillet steak changes color quickly in the frying pan, and the fat turns into small bubbles, emitting a unique aroma.
This time Lu Yuan learned his lesson and prepared a good brown mushroom sauce, spread it evenly on the surface of the fried steak, then wrapped it with a layer of puff pastry, and asked Cai Mingjun to put it in the refrigerator.
After fifteen minutes, take out the steak wrapped in puff pastry, use a knife to score beautiful patterns on the surface of the puff pastry, and then put it in the oven.
The whole process took almost an hour.
If it weren't for the delicious desserts provided by the second chef and pastry chef of Reef Restaurant and Gray Whale Restaurant, I'm afraid the people below would have scolded me.
"Okay, Chef Lu of the Gray Whale Restaurant has finished making the Wellington steak, and I would like to invite three guests to taste it and comment on it."
Liu Quanquan, Yang Zhesen, and Meng Hualing each picked up a plate, picked up a small piece with a fork, put it into their mouths, and chewed it carefully.
Liu Quanqi cherished his words like gold: "It tastes good."
Meng Hualing ate two pieces in a row: "It's delicious, it's delicious. This is the best steak I have ever eaten."
Her statement made the wealthy people in the audience smile. They felt that the little girl was too naive and was not afraid of exposing her unseen nature.
As a food blogger, Yang Zhesen does have two brushes. He only tasted half a piece and then gave it a rainbow fart: "The pastry is crispy, the mushroom sauce is dry enough, and the taste is very good, and the innermost filet mignon is smooth and soft. It meets the three-ripe standard, very good and delicious.”
Lu Yuan smiled and thanked him, Feng Yufang's face was full of joy, and Jiang Lai's dead father's face also became prettier.
Steven's Wellington steak was served fifteen minutes later than Lu Yuan's Wellington steak.
In terms of cooking time, he had already lost. However, when Meng Hualing forked a piece and put it in her mouth, she said honestly, "Wow, this one is better." The audience below was immediately moved to pull their necks to look at the stage. Trying to figure out the difference between two steak Wellingtons.
Yang Zhisen showed off again: "Please see, Mr. Steven's Wellington steak is brushed with a layer of egg wash on the outside of the puff pastry, and there is an extra step of refrigeration. This results in a later cooking time than Mr. Lu's Wellington steak. However, this It’s just the icing on the cake. The soul of this Wellington steak is that it spreads a thin layer of Parma ham between the mushroom sauce and puff pastry. In my opinion, this not only makes the taste even better. , and it can also reduce the difficulty of this dish.”
Steven took the microphone from the female host: "Mr. Yang is right, Parma ham can effectively prevent beef juice from penetrating into the puff pastry, greatly improving the success rate of this dish, and it can be perfectly blended with The combination of mushroom sauce and steak makes the taste more layered.”
The audience in the audience were not just people who came to join in the fun, but also many Western chefs who came here to gain experience. After listening to Steven's explanation, everyone suddenly realized, which was like an enlightenment. It turns out that all you need to do is spread the puff pastry between the puff pastry and the steak. A layer of Parma ham takes care of the crux of this dish.
Wow~~~
These people applauded the most vigorously, and some of their hands turned red, because it was no different from performing a live performance.
In the Western food industry, being able to cook a perfect Wellington steak is a watershed in culinary skills. As long as they master this trick, they can confidently say that they are a Western chef who can cook Wellington steak. Can you not be excited about this? Can you not sincerely praise Steven's selflessness?
"Hey, this guy's Chinese level has improved a lot." After Feng Yufang finished speaking, he realized that Jiang Lai's face was ugly. He smiled and wanted to say something comforting, but he was worried about being criticized back. After hesitating for a moment, he still felt like shutting up and pretending. It is better to be mute.
The surprise on Lu Yuan's face lasted for a long time. He had no idea that in just the past few days, Steven would come up with such a trick to solve the difficulty of Beef Wellington.
"Okay, that's interesting."
Cai Mingjun asked in a low voice from behind: "Chef, in this first level, do we win or do they win?"
"There are three levels in total. Did you know that the judges will give out the scores only after the three levels are compared, and only then can the winners be determined."
"oh."
At this time, the female host looked at her watch, took the microphone and said: "Without further ado, the next step is the second level, a knife skills competition. The content of the competition is to ask two chefs to make a dish that they think can test their knife skills. Dishes.”
The first level tests the mastery of fire, and the second level tests knife skills.
Lu Yuan touched his chin and thought for a while, then snapped his fingers and ordered "foie gras" to Cai Mingjun.
At the table opposite, Lin Yue took out a square piece of tofu and handed it to Steven. He held the knife in his right hand and pressed it with his left hand, skillfully slicing the dried tofu into 1mm thick slices.
…
Phew~
Phew~
Phew~
Accompanied by the whistling of the spray gun, the outer flames burned slightly, and the thin foie gras was coated with a layer of brown.
Lu Yuan sprinkled the seasoning on the plate again and gave it to several judges to taste.
Yang Zhesen started his commenting life again: "I believe many of my friends have made pan-fried foie gras at home. It's sticky when you cut it, like tofu mixed with sand. Chef Lu can cut the foie gras into 1mm thick. The thin slices are really amazing. And the control over the heat is perfect.”
Lu Yuan chuckled and said: "Thank you, thank you."
He turned to look at the opposite side. Steven's dishes had just come out of the pot, and Jiang Haokun was dividing them equally into three small colorful glazed bowls. There was a spiral tower of dried silk floating on the golden soup, with a red layer on top. Shredded ham, large shrimps and green side dishes.
"This is... Huaiyang cuisine?"
"That's right, boiled dried shreds. I like to eat this. I guessed it when he used the knife just now."
"It's interesting that a chef of a Western restaurant actually challenges Chinese cuisine."
"Just now the female host said that you can freely make a dish that allows you to experience knife skills, and there is no requirement to make Western food."
"..."
The audience in the audience talked a lot, and most of them were surprised.
The staff brought three small bowls to the guest seats. After the three people tasted it, Yang Zhesen gave a thumbs up and said, "This is made from dry silk, authentic! It's great!"
Some people are accusing this guy below of saying that everything he eats is good. The food in the articles and videos he posted online has never been said to be bad. Now that he is invited to be a judge in the challenge, no one can offend him. He is so smooth. People point their fingers.
"Miss, Lu Yuan has secured this level." Feng Yufang dared to speak, because as a Western restaurant manager, he knew how difficult it was to cut foie gras into 1MM slices, and as a Yangzhou native, he was also familiar with boiled dried silk. It is very familiar. You need to cut the square root into thin strips. Not to mention those chefs with stars, even the chefs at the morning tea shop in your hometown can make this dish well.
When he said this, Steven took the microphone and said: "I have been studying Chinese with great concentration since I came to China. I have only one purpose in doing so, and that is to be able to make good Chinese food. Mr. Jiang said something very well, He said that the power of Chinese food does not mean that it is more delicious than Western food, but that it is reflected in the rich cultural heritage and rich and colorful combination of ingredients. Everyone can find dishes that suit their own tastes in Chinese food. I know very well, This big boiled dried shredded dish cannot fully express the importance of knife skills in Chinese food. I used to go to BJ, the famous tofu white in Beijing, Mr. Chang. I had eaten his Wensi tofu and wanted him to teach me, but he said I couldn’t even Even Chinese is not good, and he taught me a waste of ancestral craftsmanship. He also said that what I want to learn is cooking skills, and what he teaches is not a way to make a living, but the inheritance of culture."
"well said!"
There are people cheering for him below, regardless of whether the Daizhu Gansi he makes is delicious or not, just because of his fluent and connotative Chinese, he surpasses 99.99% of the foreign chefs who come to China to make a living.
Wow~
There was another round of prolonged applause.
This scene confused Feng Yufang. Wasn't it agreed that he should compete with swordsmen? Look at this big boiled dried shredded silk that excited the people behind me...it's so tasteless.
Xu Li moved closer to Xu Lan and whispered: "Auntie, who do you think taught the French chef this sensational Chinese language?"
The old lady knew what she meant by this.
"The following is the final level of the cooking challenge. Please let the two chefs play freely and make a special dish to conquer the taste buds of the three guests." The female host announced the setting of the last level and turned the audience's attention Attention returned to the field.
Lu Yuan glared at Steven fiercely. From Beef Wellington to thinly sliced foie gras, he was better than his opponent in terms of his grasp of the heat of the dishes and his proficiency in knife skills. But why was there always a feeling of holding back? What about the feeling of humiliation?
This time he is going to take it seriously!
With a look in his eyes, Cai Mingjun brought out expensive lobsters and king crabs.
Gan Jing, who was sitting upright in the audience, pursed his lips, knowing that Lu Yuan was annoyed and was about to make a big move.
Lu Yuan quickly took action, peeling off shrimp shells and threads, and breaking down king crabs...
Steven and Lin Yue did not take action immediately. They discussed in a low voice, one went to get flour, eggs, cauliflower and corn kernels, and the other prepared the condiments for pickling the ingredients.
The two parties worked in full swing for more than half an hour. This time, Lu Yuan was still the first to finish the dish. However, he did not give it to the three judges to taste at the first time. He deliberately worked hard on the final decoration in order to let Steven and Jiang Haokun finish it first. superior.
Lin Yue did not compete with him on this matter. After finishing the dishes, he asked Liu Hong to divide them into three portions and bring them to the judges' table.
Meng Hualing looked at this dish, which completely used Chinese cooking techniques but looked like Western food. She hesitated for a moment, then picked it up and took a bite.
In one bite, it has the softness of milky bread and the crunchy texture of fried vegetarian balls. It is not greasy at all and tastes very sweet.
"Well, it's delicious."
She hasn't said anything else since she sat down at the judges' table. She kept saying "yummy", "this is good", "delicious" and "awesome" over and over again, making those below who could only watch but not eat want to pinch themselves. Kill her.
"What...is this dish called?"
Lin Yue said: "Cauliflower and corn assorted buns."
"Is this Chinese food or Western food?"
"That's a good question." Steven said in his increasingly fluent Chinese: "You can call it fusion cuisine, or you can call it creative cuisine."
Yang Zhesen said: "I understand, this dish draws on American fast food burgers and Chinese fast food roujiamo, as well as the increasingly popular vegetarian style, which uses corn kernels and cauliflower fried balls, paired with cabbage pickles. Made with light cream crust and sauce.”
Lin Yue said: "Most of it is correct, but I have to correct one thing. There is no whipped cream in the ingredients. The egg liquid that can be whipped is actually the water from boiled chickpeas. This is healthier."
Yang Zhesen gave him a thumbs up: "I didn't expect that Mr. Jiang, as a restaurant owner, has such great cooking skills. If I were a chef, I would definitely submit my resume to your restaurant."
Lin Yuexin said that this guy's mouth was really... very good at complimenting people.
In 2015, creative dishes and fusion dishes of this era have not become the trend in the catering industry as they would in a few years. As long as you grasp these two concepts, you can create the characteristics and highlights of the restaurant.
"Chef Lu, are you okay here?"
Lu Yuan was awakened by the female host's words. He nodded, winked at Cai Mingjun with a hint of displeasure, and asked the apprentice to bring the dishes to the judges.
The reason why he is unhappy is not because he thinks that the dishes he cooks are not as delicious as Steven's. Food made with high-end ingredients such as king crab and langoustine is far inferior to his opponent's cauliflower and corn assorted buns in terms of deliciousness. What he is unhappy about is that Jiang Haokun and Steven always find tricks to fool people, making the judges, audience and host stunned, completely ignoring their superiority in cooking skills.
The cooking challenge, since it is a cooking challenge, what is the competition if it is not about cooking?
Similar to the previous two times, his lobster and king crab was served, and several judges gave good comments. The smoky lobster meat and the king crab meat with apple sauce were both very novel experiences. But that was it, and it did not arouse more heated discussions.
"Okay, all three games are over. Whether it's the steak Wellington that tests the fire, the thin-cut foie gras that shows off the skill of the knife, the dried shredded pork, or the final cauliflower and corn assorted buns and langoustine with king crab, we have brought them to everyone. It also left a deep impression and proved that the two chefs really have real skills. However, since it is a challenge, it is natural to decide the winner. Let’s enter the final stage and ask the three judges to give feedback to Chef Lu and Reef of Gray Whale Restaurant. Rating from Chef Steven of the restaurant.”
Steven and Lu Yuan turned to look at the guest seats. The people in the audience also held their breath and stared at the three judges without blinking, waiting for the results with a hint of nervousness.
About half a minute later, Meng Hualing was the first to raise the wooden sign.
Gray Whale Restaurant 98 points.
Reef Restaurant 98 points.
Is it a draw with her?
Everyone doesn't know if she is sincere, or if she is holding on to the idea that neither party will be offended.
At this moment, Yang Zhesen also raised the wooden sign. To everyone's surprise, the guy who said "This is good, that is good" gave two different numbers.
Gray Whale Restaurant 95 points.
Reef Restaurant 96 points.
That’s right, Reef Restaurant won by 1 point!
Lu Yuan's big face turned into a longer donkey face.
Audiences below, you look at me and I look at you. I am a little surprised by this score, because Yang Zhisen said that Lu Yuan’s cooking was delicious one more time than that Steven’s cooking was delicious. How to score? When the time came, the Reef Restaurant was one point higher?
But that's not important. What matters is Director Liu's opinion.
Everyone's eyes moved to his face, and they saw this middle-aged man who cherished words like gold slowly raised the wooden sign. The scores on it were: Gray Whale Restaurant 95 points and Reef Restaurant 99 points.
Wow~
This result caused violent reactions off the court.
You must know that in similar competitions, the judges usually score 93 points or higher. It is normal for the opponents to have a difference of two or three points. Now Director Liu has judged Reef Restaurant to win, and all of a sudden he has given a 4-point difference. He is belittling or not optimistic about it. The meaning of Gray Whale Restaurant is too obvious.
Lu Yuan was so excited that he couldn't breathe evenly, and his face could be said to be extremely ugly.
"I'm not convinced. You must be colluding?"
It’s okay if Director Liu doesn’t give Gray Whale Restaurant a high score, but he still praises Reef Restaurant so highly. I wonder when he, Lu Yuan, was a leader in the American catering industry. When did he suffer from this kind of cowardice.
In the first level, making steak Wellington, even a fool can see that Steven has used a trick to reduce the difficulty of the operation by adding an ingredient.
The second level is more about knife skills. His thinly sliced foie gras is also more challenging than the big boiled dried shreds.
In the third level of free play, he used top-quality ingredients to create novel flavors. As for Steven and Jiang Haokun, is it Roujiamo, is it a burger, is it a sandwich? Even if it is made, it is also a low-end product. .
Why did he suddenly lose 5 points when the scores of the three people were added up?
"Collusion?" Lin Yue said, "You mean Director Liu accepted bribes from Reef Restaurant?"
Just when Lu Yuan was about to speak, Feng Yufang hurriedly walked to the stage and blocked his mouth: "Can you say this without any evidence? You are an American, you can just pat your butt and leave, while my restaurant will continue to open."
The female host was afraid that Lu Yuan would say something that would stop the judges from coming to the stage, so she immediately walked to Steven: "Mr. Steven, as the winner, do you have anything to say to everyone?"
Steven took the microphone and said: "Actually, the biggest support for me to win this time comes from my teacher, Jiang Haokun, Mr. Jiang."
After saying this, the scene fell into silence because everyone was surprised. Isn't Jiang Haokun his assistant? How did he become his teacher?
Steven handed the microphone to Lin Yue: "Mr. Jiang, my Chinese level is limited, please help me say a few words."
"Lu Yuan, are you very unconvinced? Don't you know why you lost?"
Lin Yue said: "The answer is very simple. You are just cooking with your own ideas and working behind closed doors. Do you understand? As for you, your structure is too low and you don't understand what it means to be flexible. Miss Meng, one of the three judges, is from Shanghai University. The purest idea is to taste the delicious food. Since the dishes cooked by both parties are delicious, they will give the same score. And Yang Zhesen, Mr. Yang is a food blogger. He wants to win in the online space where the old and the new are changing rapidly. To get attention and traffic, you have to learn to attract attention and focus on novel experiences, or innovations. Your steak Wellington, thinly sliced foie gras, and langoustine with king crab are all decent Western food. No matter how good the taste is, no matter how high-end the ingredients are. None of Steven's creative dishes are as eye-catching as the cauliflower and corn assorted buns. It does refer to the characteristics of sandwiches and roujiamo, but its presentation, its health, its taste and creativity, even A Michelin-starred restaurant is also a main dish that can appear in the recommendation column. The most basic ingredients and civilian-level expenses give you the feeling of making a recommended dish in a high-end restaurant. For this reason alone, Mr. Yang is just giving you a low price. Steven's score of 1 point has taken good care of your face. Finally, let's talk about Director Liu, what did he see? What he saw was that Steven, as a foreigner, came from a country famous for its delicious food. In the future, our country can humbly learn Chinese, actively understand Chinese food culture, and cook Chinese food in a decent way. This humble and studious attitude can give the Chinese people more cultural confidence than you, an American cook."
(End of chapter)
