"This... seems to be a guy who does borderline content, what was his name again?"
Wen Jiajun was still trying hard to remember.
Lu Jingming had already found the person's name from the official TikTok comment section of "One City, One Flavor"—
"Brother Song Can Eat?"
He frowned. "How can this kind of person be allowed on the show?"
Wen Jiajun wasn't surprised at all. "The entertainment industry is highly competitive right now. How can you retain an audience without doing something eye-catching? Don't underestimate this guy, he has tens of millions of followers. A lot of girls love watching him!"
"Girls love watching this?"
CEO Lu expressed deep incomprehension.
—His little silly baby wouldn't like this kind of greasy guy, right?
Also, this man was standing so close to his little silly baby, constantly striking provocative poses. What were his intentions???
...
Wen Jiajun comforted him from the side, "Don't worry, you two have already made it official. This guy probably wouldn't dare try to seduce Little Xu."
Seeing that it was about time, he reminded him, "It's time. We need to resume the meeting."
"..."
Lu Jingming gave a 'hmm' and exited the short video interface.
However, before turning off the screen, he opened his work app and sent a message.
...
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in a studio in Rong City, Xu Yanxia was focused on cooking while being interviewed by the host—
"Finally meeting our Director Xia again. The Fish Maw and Yellow Croaker Soup and the Abalone and Chicken Claypot you made last time really made many viewers and netizens crave them during the holidays. I wonder what dishes you will bring us today?"
"Today I will be making Scallion Braised Abalone and Deep-Fried Oysters."
Xu Yanxia smiled generously at the camera and introduced, "I am using high-quality local abalone and oysters from Rong City. I hope to bring everyone a new surprise."
Off-camera, Ye Shu couldn't help but sigh to Xiaozhen, "Our Director Xu is truly a natural for the camera. Look at how natural and approachable her every movement is! She is so likable to the audience."
"Yes,"
Xiaozhen also whispered, "I've done makeup for so many celebrities and influencers. To be honest, Xia's bone structure is really good, very suitable for being on camera."
However, as soon as her voice fell, before the host could say anything else to Xu Yanxia, they heard Teacher Jin, the royal chef heir, speak up from not far away, "That's not quite right, is it? Traditionally, Scallion Braised Abalone should be made with dried abalone."
This made both of them unconsciously frown—
Although they didn't know much about cooking, listening to the tone of this royal chef heir, he didn't seem very friendly?
After all, he hadn't said a word when the host was interviewing others earlier, yet he spoke up right when it came to Xu Yanxia, and immediately picked such a big flaw.
However, Xu Yanxia on stage smiled unhurriedly and said, "That's right. In traditional methods, dried abalone is indeed more suitable for this dish."
"But for one, the rehydration time for dried abalone is demanding, and secondly, the ingredients provided by the show today only include fresh abalone, so I am adapting to the local conditions today."
"In fact, as long as the cooking method is proper, fresh abalone can also achieve a texture almost identical to dried abalone."
She spoke clearly, with confidence and poise. The host immediately followed up, "Hearing that really makes us look forward to it even more. Viewers, get your tissues ready so you don't drool later."
Saying that, she smoothly turned to the royal chef heir and interviewed him, "Then I wonder what two dishes Teacher Jin will bring us this time?"
They saw Heir Jin say, "Today I will bring you two royal court dishes—Mountain Delicacies Stuffed Sea Urchin, and Eight Treasures Tribute Braised Rice."
As his voice fell, Xu Yanxia frowned imperceptibly.
—Even though she was born into a family of royal chefs in her past life and had stayed in the palace for so many years, it was the first time she had heard of these two dishes.
The host went wow and asked him, "It really fits Teacher Jin's style, it sounds so high-class! I wonder what specific ingredients are used?"
Heir Jin then said, "The Mountain Delicacies Stuffed Sea Urchin, as the name suggests, uses porcini mushrooms, one of the eight vegetarian treasures, paired with sea urchin. The collision of these two extremely fresh ingredients will make it fresh upon fresh."
"As for the Eight Treasures Tribute Braised Rice, it uses diced abalone, diced chicken, diced porcini mushrooms, and other precious ingredients, along with our local specialty Simiao rice. It is also made completely according to an ancestral secret recipe."
The host gave enough emotional value by going wow again and said, "It seems today's judges are in for a treat. They can eat authentic royal cuisine without going to Jingbei. Let's look forward to it together!"
"..."
Beside them, Xu Yanxia nodded silently.
She actually wanted to see what these two royal dishes she had never even heard of looked like.
Of course, for now, she still needed to focus her attention on her own dishes—
Carefully skimming the fat from the boiled chicken soup, she took only the white parts of top-quality scallions and fried them in the wok to extract the scallion oil. Then she sautéed the base ingredients until fragrant, pan-fried the abalone until both sides were slightly golden, added the pre-boiled chicken soup, seasoned it, and simmered it slowly over low heat.
Compared to this dish, the other dish, Deep-Fried Oysters, was a quick dish meant to be eaten fresh. She estimated the time and only started operating when it was about right—
The locally produced oysters were plump and meaty. Only an experienced hand could find the trick to prying the shells open. Using a knife to gently pry open the outer shell, she quickly took out the oyster meat and washed it rapidly.
Then she mixed it evenly with seasonings to marinate. A few minutes later, she removed the surface moisture, coated them in batter, and dropped them into the wok.
First frying to set the shape, second frying for crispiness. Right at the last moment, she plated the golden, plump deep-fried oysters one by one. Along with the richly fragrant Scallion Braised Abalone, they were presented to the judges.
According to the show's rules, each episode invited sixteen public judges and four professional judges.
The public judges were randomly selected locally from netizens who signed up.
And the four professional judges were also officially meeting everyone for the first time today.
Among them was a local master chef, Master Zeng; a famous domestic food critic, Teacher Qiao; a famous entertainment industry manager, Sister Xue; and a famous domestic nutrition expert, Dr. Hui.
Very well, Xu Yanxia did not know a single one of them.
But Heir Jin was quite familiar with two of them, having greeted them long before the recording started.
Right now, Xu Yanxia's dishes, along with those of the other three, were brought before the judges. Xiaozhen still felt a bit uncertain and quietly muttered to Ye Shu, "Could this show be rigged? It looks like Xia isn't very familiar with these people."
—Especially that Mrs. Zhuang, and Brother Song who has so many fans. Who knows if there are any of their fans among these public judges.
Ye Shu secretly told her, "Our CEO Lu is the major sponsor of this show. Even if they dared to rig it, they'd have to rig it in our favor, otherwise do they not want the money?"
"That's true."
Xiaozhen felt relieved and sincerely sighed, "The dishes Xia makes smell so good! Just now when the abalone came out of the wok, the whole studio was filled with the aroma. I almost drooled."
"Tell me about it!"
Ye Shu also said with a face full of envy, "I wonder if there will be any left after distributing the portions to them. If not, let's go have a taste after the recording is done."
...
Regrettably, however, after the staff distributed the eight dishes prepared by the four guests today to the twenty judges one by one, and set aside portions for the four contestants to taste each other's food, there wasn't even a drop of broth left, let alone the dishes themselves.
Next came the judging segment.
According to the drawing order, the four professional judges first reviewed the two dishes made by Mrs. Zhuang.
"The braised chicken is very flavorful, and the steamed fish is quite good too. Both are cooked in a homestyle manner. I think they are really nice and give a warm, comforting feeling."
The first to speak was the manager, Sister Xue. It was obvious she had high emotional intelligence and spoke in a way that wouldn't offend anyone.
Nutritionist Dr. Hui also evaluated the food from a nutritional perspective, "Both dishes are high in protein and low in fat, making them quite suitable for the elderly and children at home. In particular, the grouper doesn't have many bones and is rich in various trace elements and unsaturated fatty acids, making it perfect for homestyle cooking."
With that said, both of them gave a perfect score of five points.
Mrs. Zhuang was naturally thrilled and quickly took the opportunity to speak up, "Thank you, teachers. Actually, my philosophy has always been that cooking for family must be healthy and nutritious. Compared to fancy presentation and showing off culinary skills, safety must always come first."
As she spoke, she casually pitched an advertisement to the camera, saying, "That's why we have been developing our own brand of seasonings over the past few years. They are very suitable for beginners, and especially because they have no additives, they are exceptionally healthy."
...
Standing to the side, Xu Yanxia couldn't help but frown inwardly.
Pitching an advertisement was understandable, but lying so openly was a bit intolerable for her.
Because just now, she had distinctly tasted the strong flavor of chemical flavor enhancers in those two dishes.
And the amount definitely exceeded national standards.
To be honest, if all the judges played the nice guy and gave out scores like this today, she would be quite disappointed.
After all, this was a dedicated culinary competition show; there should at least be someone knowledgeable enough to tell the truth.
...
