Fortunately, Mr. Zhao was magnanimous enough to smooth things over with a chuckle, "That's true, these fish are indeed very fresh. However, every place has its own way of cooking. Our family usually eats this flavor profile a lot, but we will try steaming them next time."
After he spoke, Mrs. Zhao didn't say anything more, but she was visibly less pleased than before.
The host had to quickly step in to lighten the mood, inviting everyone to taste the dishes made by the young idol Xiao Chen and his mother.
The hairy crab with rice cakes and the braised pork were typical of the rich, dark soy sauce style. The hairy crab pieces were an appetizing reddish color, and the sliced rice cakes were evenly coated with sauce. They tasted savory and sweet, and very flavorful.
The braised pork was cut into even squares, with distinct layers of skin and meat. It looked bright red and translucent, quivering slightly when picked up with chopsticks, and it practically melted in the mouth.
After tasting, everyone praised them, "The rice cakes are so flavorful! The hairy crab is so fresh, and there's so much crab roe!"
"I haven't had braised pork in so long, it smells and tastes amazing!"
...
Mother Xiao also smiled and said, "I brought the hairy crabs and rice cakes from our hometown yesterday, and I bought the pork belly this morning. I'm glad you all like it!"
Unexpectedly, right after she finished speaking, that Jason He, who seemed to be missing a screw in his head, spoke up again, "I feel the braised pork is a bit too sweet. Since pork belly is already quite fatty, making it this way just makes it cloying to eat."
"Another thing, rice cakes are considered a staple food, so this dish is already high in calories. Plus, the hairy crab was pan-fried in oil. Cooked like this, I'd suggest people trying to lose weight eat less of it."
As soon as he said that, the surroundings fell silent for a moment.
It was Cheng Yiran, a Northeasterner, who humorously broke the ice, "Good thing I'm not on a diet today. I love eating this."
"I love it too!"
His good buddy Ah Tian chimed in, and the two of them deliberately picked up more rice cakes and braised pork to eat.
At least it saved Mother Xiao and her son from too much embarrassment.
The host tried hard to ease the tension, saying, "That's right, with good food right in front of us, let's put dieting aside for now. Next, let's see what Lin Lin's family has made!"
The camera followed the crowd to the dishes prepared by Lin Lin's family.
The group's attention was immediately drawn to the bright red appearance and the aggressive, spicy aroma of the two dishes.
Papa Lin looked like a typical good man from Sichuan. The dishes he cooked were quite impressive. The pork liver was cut into evenly thick willow-leaf slices, and the pork kidney was scored with standard phoenix-tail patterns. The two main ingredients were stir-fried over high heat, showing an oily luster. Garnished with red and green peppers, the visual effect was excellent.
They tasted spicy, savory, and fresh, perfect to go with rice.
The spicy blood stew went without saying; it had all four flavors: numbing, spicy, fresh, and fragrant. Whether it was the duck blood, beef tripe, pork aorta, or soybean sprouts, they were so delicious that no one could find a single fault.
It made everyone eat non-stop.
However, amidst the chorus of praise, someone just had to ruin the mood—
"The reason Sichuan cuisine uses such heavy seasoning is to cover up the taste of the ingredients. After all, they are just offal and innards. Although it's satisfying to eat, from a health perspective, I suggest eating less, otherwise it's easy to get high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar."
Without a doubt, the speaker was that so-called "sharp-tongued judge," Jason He.
Fortunately, the host had anticipated this and immediately said, "We still have the food of three groups of guests to taste, so we need to speed things up a bit." He then led everyone to the next group's two dishes.
One would think such a hint was obvious enough.
Unexpectedly, after tasting Cheng Yiran's group's stir-fried potatoes, eggplants, and peppers, as well as the stewed pork with pickled cabbage and vermicelli, that Jason He still found faults—
"As everyone knows, fried foods and pickled foods are actually unhealthy. The number of people with the 'three highs' in the country is increasing every year, which is something to be very vigilant about. I suggest everyone stick to a light diet."
"..."
Fortunately, the two men were magnanimous and didn't stoop to his level.
But the straightforward Lu Jingxi couldn't help but complain to Xu Yanxia.
"Is there something seriously wrong with this guy? Did his head get squeezed by a door?"
Because there were cameras filming in front, she had to hide behind, pretend to smile, and quietly squeeze the words through her teeth.
Xu Yanxia imitated Lu Jingxi's manner and whispered, "I think he is very clear-headed. He's probably acting like this today to create drama and build a persona so he can sell products."
Indeed, seeing how every sentence of his revolved around "healthy eating," he was likely planning to sell some kind of health supplements.
Lu Jingxi squeezed another sentence through her smiling teeth, "If he dares to find fault with you later, I will absolutely tear him apart!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the host led the camera and everyone to their two dishes.
Before they could introduce them, the host couldn't help but exclaim, "What beautiful dishes!"
Indeed, following the camera lens, in the first clay pot, the evenly sized chicken pieces showed a golden hue, and each piece was coated with a thick sauce.
The abalones were scored with wheat-ear patterns, looking round and plump. After being braised, they took on a pale yellow sauce color. Combined with the rich aroma, it was enough to make anyone's mouth water.
Looking at the other soup tureen, the milky white thick soup was rich and smooth, evenly coating the translucent fish maw and the garlic-clove-like yellow croaker meat, presenting a jade-like luster. Just looking at it, one could feel its warm and nourishing qualities.
"Great, we finally get to taste the dishes Xia made!"
With a cheer from Lin Lin, everyone immediately started tasting.
Right after, there was a chorus of praise—
"Wow, this chicken is so delicious! It's tender, juicy, and so savory!"
"The abalone is also very flavorful! The texture is amazing!"
"This broth is so good with rice!"
Even the reserved Mrs. Zhao couldn't help but join the young people in praising it, "The flavor profile of this dish is very rich, savory with a hint of sweetness, and there's a fragrance of wine!"
Mr. Zhao also nodded and said, "This girl Xia looks young, but she is really good at cooking!"
Xu Yanxia smiled modestly and said, "It's actually because of the good ingredients. Our local Hainan abalone and Wenchang chicken are very fresh. Combining the two just multiplies the flavor."
Lu Jingxi urged from the side, "Everyone, try this fish maw and yellow croaker thick soup. This is one of the signature dishes at Director Xia's restaurant."
Everyone then tasted the yellow croaker soup, and similarly, they were immediately full of praise—
"Wow, what a mellow aroma!" Xiao Chen exclaimed first.
Lin Lin jumped with joy, "This fish maw is so delicious! It's soft, glutinous, and smooth! Every bite is pure essence!"
"We really lucked out today, this soup is definitely super nourishing!" Ah Tian also sighed in admiration to Cheng Yiran.
The young idol Xiao Chen's mother curiously asked Xu Yanxia, "This fish maw must be very expensive, right?"
Xu Yanxia explained, "This is the 35-head size yellow fish maw we use at our restaurant, priced at under three thousand yuan per jin. Actually, for home consumption, around the 100-head size is fine, and the price is only a few hundred yuan."
"A true expert indeed!"
Mother Xiao nodded again and said, "It's expensive for a reason. This fish maw is truly too fragrant!"
Papa Lin chimed in, "The key is that it's made so well. We've had it at other restaurants before, but it was never this rich."
"That's right, under normal circumstances, the soup really shouldn't be this thick."
The acid-tongued master chef Jason He finally found an opportunity to speak, asking Xu Yanxia, "Tell the truth, did you thicken this soup with starch?"
"No starch was used."
Queen Xixi finally couldn't help but speak up, "There are no artificial additives or shady tricks in our two dishes either. The cameraman has been following us the whole time. If you don't believe me, ask him."
As soon as she finished speaking, before Jason He could even ask, the cameraman who had been filming Xu Yanxia cooking immediately testified, "That's right. Aside from the ingredients and the necessary salt and pepper, there was nothing else. It was simmered purely with water."
"That's impossible, right?"
The fake foreigner continued to question, "Can pure water simmer into such a thick soup? Were the ingredients specially processed beforehand?"
"That's because you don't understand the ingredients of this dish,"
Xu Yanxia said directly to him, "The collagen content of yellow croaker fish maw is over eighty percent. During the heating process, the collagen undergoes thermal denaturation, its triple-helix structure is destroyed, and the molecular chains unfold and dissolve into the water, forming a gelatin solution."
"When the soup cools down to a certain temperature, the gelatin molecules reassemble to form a three-dimensional network structure, trapping water molecules within it to form a gel with a certain elasticity and consistency. This is one of the core reasons why the soup in this dish is so thick."
"Furthermore, yellow croaker is rich in soluble proteins. When stewed, the proteins partially hydrolyze into small-molecule peptides and amino acids, while also releasing myoglobin. These protein molecules can also increase the viscosity of the soup."
As her voice faded, the so-called acid-tongued master chef was left completely dumbfounded.
The host quickly cheered for Xu Yanxia, "Beautiful! Now that is an authoritative explanation from a food science major!"
Saying this, he took the lead in applauding Xu Yanxia.
But Xu Yanxia kept her eyes on Jason He and said bluntly, "Regardless of whether you have studied food science or not, as a professional and experienced chef, you should understand these basic food properties, rather than making random, baseless guesses here like an amateur."
"Exactly!"
Her best friend Lu Jingxi immediately followed up, asking him, "What? Do French restaurants not teach these things?"
