Chapter 184 - 184: Soup Dumplings
The moment the duel began, Qin Lang and Jihe’s actions were strikingly similar.
They both picked up the flour they had prepared.
In contests themed around pasta, kneading the dough is of utmost importance.
Despite there being ready-made pasta available in the market, it certainly would not be the choice of the two Spirit Chefs on the field, both of whom have won city-level cooking championships.
Even in their choice of flour, the two differed.
Qin Lang selected the high-gluten flour, which has a higher protein content. The protein in the flour, combined with water during the kneading process, forms gluten and directly influences the elasticity of the dough.
Jihe, on the other hand, chose medium-gluten flour.
As they brought out their flour, the two also kept an eye on their opponent’s kneading process out of the corners of their eyes.
Similarly, the audience all around and the five judges sitting in the judges’ seats are watching the movements of the two Spirit Chefs on stage with wide eyes.
Public duels where the entire cooking process is visible are not common.
The kneading process for Qin Lang’s dough was relatively simple. High-gluten flour and water were mixed uniformly in a ratio of 2:1. Once the dough presented a “three lights” state, it was wrapped in cling film and set aside.
In contrast, Jihe not only added the necessary water to his dough but also incorporated a lot of seasonings and other things whose details were unclear.
“Interesting.”
Qin Lang muttered softly, his gaze shifting away from the basin in Jihe’s hands.
Then, he began the following cooking steps.
The pasta dish that Qin Lang planned to make today required careful dough preparation, but there were also many steps just as important. Were it not for the help of the Spicy Cooking Acceleration, he would have never opted to bring it out for such an occasion.
With this in mind, Qin Lang opened the foam box beside him, which kept his ingredients fresh, and brought out the ingredients he would be using next.
Five…ten…fifteen…twenty…
A total of twenty remarkably large female crabs were taken out of the foam box by Qin Lang amidst gasps of astonishment from the surrounding audience.
Jihe, who was considering Qin Lang as a formidable opponent and giving his all, had already slowed his movements the moment Qin Lang opened the foam box and focused more of his attention on the ingredients Qin Lang brought out.
Right from the start of the competition, he had noticed the tightly sealed foam box next to Qin Lang.
At this moment, seeing the size of those twenty hairy crabs, his pupils shrank suddenly.
Did his opponent plan to use hairy crabs for his pasta dish?
And these weren’t ordinary hairy crabs either.
Having seen their size, Jihe was convinced that the local Food Material Market would never have such high-quality hairy crabs readily available.
The hairy crabs were obtained using Cooking Competition Points!
A serious expression appeared on the face of Jihe, who, like Qin Lang, earned 100 points in the Cooking Competition after having won the championship.
Qin Lang’s decision to redeem ingredients with his competition points for a contest like this was somewhat unexpected for Jihe.
Fortunately, he also wasn’t completely unprepared.
Glancing at a small box next to him, Jihe refocused on his kneading process.
The corners of his eyes flickered with a faint blue light.
Culinary Skill: Ingredient Insight.
This culinary skill, previously showcased by Lei Ke, has the ability to reveal deeper changes in the ingredients during the cooking process. It becomes a game-changer for processes like kneading that seem simple but involve infra-level changes in the flour.
That’s why he dared to add several more seasonings and auxiliary ingredients to the kneading stage without worrying about a disaster.
The hairy crabs did not only surprise Jihe.
The five senior judges seated in the judges’ seats were also shimmering in their eyes.
The judges, working their way up from a junior level, didn’t need any introduction to their discerning skills.
With just one look, they could see the details of the twenty hairy crabs.
“Hairy crabs from Mengze Province, these were purchased with Cooking Competition Points, weren’t they?”
“He’s willing to use points to exchange for ingredients for a fight, this Qin Lang is not an ordinary person, huh?”
“I think I’ve heard about him, if I remember correctly, he’s the champion of Dongxia City’s Cooking Contest. His cooking skills are also very superb.”
“I see, never thought that such an informal contest could draw two city-level cooking champions to compete.”
“It’s getting interesting.”
The group exchanges a few words in a voice only they can hear, quickly shifting their attention to Qin Lang.
Before this, their attention was mainly on Jihe, who had a bigger reputation.
Unfazed by the gasps around him, after putting the hairy crab into the steamer, Qin Lang quickly starts dealing with the old hen.
This pasta dish also requires chicken soup!
After quickly preparing and blanching the old hen, he put it into the stew pot. Qin Lang then took out a large chunk of pork skin that weighed several pounds.
Standing opposite him, Jihe, who had just finished kneading the dough, slightly furrowed his brow.
Hairy crab, hen, pork skin.
In just a short time, Qin Lang has already taken out three different kinds of ingredients.
And these three ingredients, in his view, don’t seem to have much relevance to each other.
What kind of pasta is this guy going to make?
While his mind was filled with thoughts, Jihe opened the box beside him and carefully took out the ingredients inside.
Catching this out of the corner of his eye, Qin Lang slightly paused in his motion, his eyes filled with surprise as they swept over the ingredients in Jihe’s hands.
Is that… pufferfish?!
Jihe’s pasta actually uses pufferfish?
His expression immediately became more serious.
If he wasn’t seeing things wrong, this should be Jinwen Pufferfish from Wuhe State. After artificial breeding, it has almost no toxins, yet its delicious meat quality has not been reduced at all.
This, too, is an ingredient that needs to be exchanged with cooking competition points.
Just from seeing this ingredient, Qin Lang can imagine that the final pasta dish must surely be outstanding in terms of freshness.
Truly a formidable opponent.
Of course, the pasta dish he prepared isn’t bad either.
He picked up the blanched pork skin, his eyes filled with a confident look.
Usually, there’s only one possibility when pork skin is used in a pasta dish.
And that is soup dumplings!
By using the gelatin in the pork skin to solidify the delicious soup and mix it with the filling, then adding it into a bun. As the bun heats up, the solidified gelatin melts back into soup within the bun, creating a soup dumpling with noodle skin filled with delicious soup.
And if it’s a soup dumpling that uses hairy crab, there’s also only one possibility.
That is, crab roe soup dumplings!
This, is the dish Qin Lang has prepared for this competition!
Qin Lang lowers his head again as he scrapes away the fat from the surface of the blanched pork skin.
Meanwhile, with the appearance of the pufferfish, cries of surprise once again echo around them.
The absorbed Qin Lang, who was busy with his cooking, didn’t notice that among the gasps, many revealed expressions of “Just as 1 thought”.
Seeing the pufferfish, they’ve already guessed what dish Jihe was going to present.
What he is going to present is the pasta dish that won him the championship of Qingyang City’s Cooking Competition-
Clear River Pufferfish Noodles!
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