Chapter 373: Costly Effort

“Finished!”

In the Competitive Standard Kitchen, Ying Chao quickly placed his meticulously prepared dishes into the kitchen cabinet car.

He was even faster!

Without hesitation, he pressed the completion bell in the kitchen and then turned his head towards Qin Lang’s direction, wanting to see where his opponent was in the process.

But once he looked, a smirk formed at the corner of Ying Chao’s mouth.

That guy… Is he still tenderizing that piece of meat?!

Not long after the competition started, he noticed Qin Lang consistently beating that piece of meat.

Now nearly an hour had passed, and his opponent was still not finished.

However… a smile appeared on Ying Chao’s face.

To him, this was good news.

For the past 5 days, apart from wholeheartedly preparing for the competition, in his spare time, he had repeatedly watched Qin Lang’s performance in the Scoring Competition.

He was sure that while the Dragon Beard Noodles did taste good, the high score it had received was inseparable from the boastful techniques displayed under the transparent mode.

What he was most worried about was that Qin Lang would have similarly attractive performance this time as well, but it seemed he didn’t.

Beating a single piece of meat for an hour, such a dull step, most audience’s attention should be on him, right?

In this case, maybe his vote count would be unexpectedly high?

With this in mind, Ying Chao swiftly pushed his kitchen cabinet car out without any hesitation.

He had a premonition.

He might just win this!

“Player Ying Chao is the first to complete his cooking. We also saw the specific cooking process earlier,” the host greeted with a smile, “Ying Chao’s main ingredient is lamb belly meat. Can you introduce your dish to us?”

“Of course,” Ying Chao took the microphone and began, “Hello eleven Food Recommenders, the dish I cooked is called Secret Lamb.”

“As many of you have probably seen, during the cooking process, I used a spherical container.”

“That’s a container specially designed for this dish. It’s a good thing that the cost of kitchenware is not included in the total value, otherwise I may not be able to choose this dish.”

“This container has excellent sealing capabilities, it can form a slight high- pressure environment during the heating process, thereby sealing in the deliciousness of the lamb.”

Ying Chao put down the microphone, indicating that his introduction was over.

“The cost of custom-made kitchenware is not included in the total value… indeed, this is a loophole. Seems like we have to let the organizers refine the rules,” joked the host upon seeing Ying Chao’s embarrased expression. “I was joking!”

“Now, let’s have player Ying Chao present his dish to the eleven Food Recommenders to taste!”

“Ying Chao received the three local First-level Food Recommender Badges, namely the Wind Chaser Badge, Prawn Badge, and Shell Badge. After the tasting, the respective three Food Recommenders will evaluate Ying Chao’s Secret Lamb!”

As the host was speaking, a close-up of the spherical container being opened was displayed on the electronic screen, revealing the pieces of lamb wrapped in soup that were still simmering inside.

Under the sunlight, the shiny soup on the surface of the lamb was so clear in the camera that people couldn’t help but want to taste it.

In the Judges’ Seats, the eleven Food Recommenders quickly completed the tasting one after another.

“Let me say a few words,” said Ms. Geng Ni, the First-level Food Recommender who awarded Ying Chao the Wind Chaser Badge, over the loudspeaker, “Ying Chao received the Wind Chaser Badge three months ago.”

“I felt his progression and efforts in the past three months from this Secret Lamb. This dish gave me quite a surprise.”

“My thoughts are not much different from Geng Ni,” said Mr. Si Pu, the First- level Food Recommender who awarded the Prawn Badge with a light laugh, “The quality of the lamb prepared and the taste it presents are very important.” “The texture can’t be aged, the meat can’t be too dry during the cooking process, and the lamb scent must be well removed without leaving a heavy aftertaste, nor can it be over removed, losing the flavor of the lamb entirely.” “In these aspects, Ying Chao did quite well.”

“The good words have all been said by you two, then I’ll talk about the negatives,” said Mr. Shen Tianjian, the First-level Food Recommender who awarded the Shell Badge, with a shrug.

“The marinade is a little on the salty side. I can see that you noticed this problem and tried to rectify it in the subsequent cooking process, but there are still some flaws, giving the overall seasoning a defect.”

“However, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, this dish is very good.” “Thank you to our three Food Recommenders for your evaluation!” The host patted Ying Chao’s shoulder, “Now, let’s wait together for player Qin Lang to finish his cooking.”

As the host’s voice fell, the camera on the electronic screen switched back to the Competitive Standard Kitchen where Qin Lang was.

Seeing Qin Lang’s movements at this time, everyone’s expressions became strange.

How long are you going to tenderize that piece of meat?!

The tens of thousands of audience members in the venue stared at Qin Lang tenderizing meat, and for a moment, the atmosphere on-site became eerie.

After another half an hour, Qin Lang’s meat tenderizer finally came to a halt.

This caused everyone to breathe a sigh of relief.

Two hours had passed since the start of the competition, and if Qin Lang didn’t stop, they’ll start to question whether he would exceed the time limit.

“It seems that the dish Qin Lang is preparing takes quite a bit of time to cook.” The host laughed awkwardly, at a loss for words, “After two whole hours of tenderizing, the pork hind leg has thoroughly turned into minced meat.”

“Perhaps some of the audience would wonder, why not use a meat grinder to directly grind it into minced meat?” The host paused, “My personal guess is that the meat grinder would cut the muscle fibers in the pork, which may be required for the subsequent steps.”

“Now, Qin Lang has brought out sweet potato starch. He is using a method similar to kneading dough, mixing the sweet potato starch and minced meat thoroughly.”

“Qin Lang used the rolling pin! He started to flatten the minced meat mixed with sweet potato starch, making it evenly thin…”

As the host continued speaking, his expression gradually turned strange.

The method of kneading dough… Rolling pin… Flattening it thinly…

Why doesn’t this seem like the way meat is prepared?

As strange as it was, his commentary continued.

“We can see that Qin Lang’s technique is stable. The original clump of minced meat has been rolled out to cover the entire table in a thin layer. He is now cutting the rolled meat into palm-sized square thin slices… ”

“Wait! Qin Lang has taken out another de-skinned piece of pork belly! He chopped it up and seasoned it for mixing. Is this… ground meat?”

“Then what were the thin slices made earlier? Were they wrappers for the ground meat?! ”

Along with the astounded voice of the host, the audience erupted in shock.

So you’ve spent two hours making a wrapper?

What kind of dish is this?!