Chapter 733: Section 521: Eating Contest: Yangzhou Fried Rice (Extra update at 2800 monthly tickets)
"Wow, so delicious."
"The culinary skills of a master are just different. Even if it’s not an Extraordinary Dish, it’s still incredibly delicious, almost beyond belief."
"The pickled vegetable fish slices were just cut, so the flavor of the pickled vegetables is very strong, yet it doesn’t overpower the delicate taste of the fish!"
"The fish is incredibly tender and melts in the mouth. I feel my mouth is filled with a taste of happiness."
"After the sour and spicy taste, the refreshing sweetness of the rice wafts up. Although they’re just the most ordinary rice grains, they’re extremely fine and add an excellent smoothness to the texture!"
As the crowd tasted the dishes, they couldn’t stop praising them.
"Eh, why is there none left?"
"Mine, leave some for me!"
The few remaining fish sushi even sparked a scramble.
Those who had tasted it wanted more, but looked toward Ci Haishen in disappointment when they realized that he had already started on other dishes.
"It’s so popular; why doesn’t he keep making it?" In the Observation Room, the Sea Bird Bishop said as he gently bit into a piece of pickled vegetable fish sushi before setting it aside.
As a VIP in the Observation Room, there was no need for him to queue; someone would personally bring him the dishes that had just been prepared.
"Although it’s just a mortal Grade, it is indeed delicious," remarked the City Lord of Snowbird Port, who had also not finished eating.
Mei Landu explained, "This has to do with the specific rules of the eating competition."
"The competing Magic Chefs must face guests from all levels of life and produce the minimum standard of dishes."
"You start from the Mortal Level, and only after satisfying the minimum standard can you move on to the higher Bronze Level."
"Likewise, once enough Bronze Level dishes are created to meet the criteria, the chef can progress to making Black Iron Level dishes."
"Ci Haishen has clearly given up on competing for mortal points and is hastily preparing higher-Grade dishes to seize more personal points."
"Personal points?" inquired the Sea Bird Bishop.
Mei Landu said, "The eating competition is the Magic Chefs’ form of contest, unlike actual combat, so a different method is used to calculate the outcome of the battle."
"Each variety of Magic Chef duel has its own method of scoring."
"For this current eating competition, when a mortal finishes a portion, it counts as one point. When a Bronze Level Transcendent finishes a portion, it counts as ten points. Black Iron Level is worth one hundred points, Silver Level a thousand points, and Golden Level ten thousand!"
The bishop understood, "Each leap in level sees the points increase tenfold, so naturally, it’s more profitable to make higher-Level dishes."
"The City Lord of Snowbird Port then added, "However, as far as I know, the higher the Level of the Extraordinary Dish, the harder it is to make. Should the chef fail in their creation, the loss is more than just morale. As they cook, their Extraordinary Power is deeply involved. Just like casting spells or alchemy, a failure leads to backlash."
The bishop glanced at the leftover pickled vegetable fish sushi in front of him and subconsciously touched his stomach, "I’m starting to look forward to the Golden Level dishes now, hahaha."
However, Mei Landu poured cold water on his expectations, "To taste a Golden Level dish in an eating competition isn’t that easy."
"What do you mean?" asked the bishop.
Mei Landu explained, "Golden Level dishes are difficult to make. A failure not only deals a heavy blow to the Magic Chef mentally and physically."
"For culinary contests such as the eating competition, the Magic Chefs only need to defeat their opponents."
"Thus, if one side has a significant lead in points, they won’t take the risk to prepare Golden Level dishes to ensure stability."
"If the competitiveness is deadlocked, neither side will take the risk. They’ll typically compete at the Silver and Black Iron Levels, producing a large quantity of these-Grade delicious dishes."
"Once the tasting crowd can eat no more, and there are few points left to gain, the Golden Level points are the most valuable. That’s when the chefs will prepare Golden Level dishes on spot."
"There’s another situation where a Magic Chef is exceptionally strong, and Golden Level dishes are a walk in the park for them."
At this point, the bishop had fully comprehended.
Because it’s a points-based competition, the main battleground of the eating competition lies within the Black Iron and Silver Levels.
For Magic Chefs like Ci Haishen and Da Dou who are at the Golden Level, making Extraordinary Dishes of that grade is more assured, without the fear of backlash. And there’s a higher number of Transcendents at these levels worth competing for.
The City Lord suddenly asked, "The points can be counted repeatedly, right?"
Mei Landu nodded, "If a person has tasted both Ci Haishen and Da Dou’s dishes, each of the Magic Chefs will receive corresponding points."
"But don’t forget, Extraordinary Dishes aren’t simply for casual eating. Anyone who consumes an Extraordinary Dish will be burdened physically. The rich energy and abundant nourishment contained in the Extraordinary Dishes also need to be digested in time."
"So, in the eating competition, the dishes Magic Chefs choose to cook have three characteristics. The first is appealing to the general palate. The second is low difficulty in preparation, with a high success rate. The third is large portions for satiety—eat mine and it’ll be hard to eat my opponent’s."
Hearing this, the City Lord frowned slightly, picking up on something abnormal, "That’s how it is with Extraordinary Dishes, but for mortals, the burden of ordinary food is only in terms of digestion."
"Yes," Mei Landu nodded, "This is a unique advantage of mortals. Mortals can eat a lot of food, unlike Transcendents, who generally get full after one or two portions of dishes at the same level."
"So, there are usually two tactics for a food duel. The first is what Ci Haishen selected, rapidly climbing in level. The second is not to hurry in leveling up, but rather to stay at the mortal tier and prepare a large quantity of food. Although a mortal’s points are only one point each, each mortal can eat multiple portions. At the same time, mortals make up the largest number!"
"Hmm..." Mei Landu suddenly paused and looked at the Magic Image, "It seems that Da Dou has chosen the second tactic."
In the Magic Image, Da Dou also took out rice and poured it into the hot oil pan.
Bucket after bucket of rice was poured into the Black Iron Pot, yet it didn’t seem remarkable.
The Black Iron Pot possessed spatial magic, and although there was only one pot, it could store much more food.
Da Dou poured more than a dozen buckets of rice until the audience finally saw the rice covering a small portion of the bottom of the pot.
With one hand holding the iron pot handle and the other holding a long spoon, Da Dou stirred and tumbled the rice inside continuously.
"It turns out he is making fried rice," the audience discerned clues.
Da Dou then took out eggs, their shells colorful, like those from free-range chickens.
Da Dou placed the free-range eggs at the edge of the pot and gently tapped them open. His fingers moved skillfully, separating the yolks, egg whites, and egg greens into the pot.
Free-range eggs are different from ordinary eggs; they not only contain egg yolks and whites but also egg greens. This green egg liquid contains nutrients similar to those in fresh vegetables.
Over a hundred free-range eggs were cracked one after another, their contents all pouring into the large iron pot.
The liquid from the eggs solidified quickly and was then smashed by the iron spoon into small chunks or granules of yellow, white, and green.
The rice was fried to a golden hue.
With every toss of the large iron pot by Da Dou, the tricolor rice flew like sand grains, and when it fell, it was like a golden waterfall, quite a sight to behold.
"Oh wow! It’s Yangzhou Fried Rice," many people recognized as they watched.
Just like Ci Haishen’s pickled fish sushi, Yangzhou Fried Rice was also a popular dish, a frequent guest on the dinner tables of countless households.
Both the City Lord of Snowbird Port and the Sea Bird Bishop were familiar with this dish.
Mei Landu chose to share something not widely known: "The creator of this dish was Hao Youwang."
"He was a Magic Chef, and also a great adventurer of the Human Race."
"Once, after his ship had been through a storm, it entered the Windless Sea Area. A vicious group of Magic Beast fish fixed their eyes on them."
"With no wind, Hao Youwang’s ship lost two-thirds of its power. The shipwright had been lost at sea during the previous storm."
"The entire crew tried everything they could, exerted all their efforts, only to watch helplessly as the Magic Beast fish group closed in."
"Almost everyone had given up hope, except Hao Youwang maintained the Spirit of struggle and did not give up in advance."
"He scraped together the remaining ingredients onboard, including some oil and leftover overnight rice."
"Utilizing these limited ingredients, Hao Youwang miraculously created Yangzhou Fried Rice."
"After eating the fried rice, the sailors and crew not only had a surge in morale, filled with passion for the struggle, but each time they rowed, the oars seemed to create waves."
"Waves pushed the ship along, allowing it to navigate with a spirited stance through the Windless Sea Area, ultimately escaping from the Magic Beast fish group and cheating death!"
"After this battle, Hao Youwang’s renown reached its pinnacle."
"Ultimately, they returned home smoothly, to the very place they had set sail from. Their adventure story was also spread, and with it, the method to make Yangzhou Fried Rice."
"So much so that now, in many places, people eat a bowl of Yangzhou Fried Rice before a ship sets sail. It encompasses blessings for the ship and crew, wishing them to retain courage and hope, and never give up no matter the hardship."
Upon hearing this story, even though the bishop had yet to taste the Yangzhou Fried Rice, he was already relishing it.
He murmured in admiration, "Yangzhou Fried Rice, not bad, I quite like this story. I’m looking forward to its taste."
Before long, two portions of mortal-grade Yangzhou Fried Rice arrived in the Observation Room.
The Sea Bird Bishop took up a spoon and had a taste, his eyebrows moving slightly.
He took another bite and then set down the spoon, "Not bad. In my opinion, it tastes a bit better than the pickled fish sushi."
The City Lord of Snowbird Port, however, said, "I think so too. Perhaps... I find the story behind the fried rice more to my taste."
In the next moment, the two Golden Level powerhouses exchanged smiles.
Watching this scene, Mei Landu’s lips curled up slightly.
He told this story with exactly this intention.
The City Lord of Snowbird Port chose him to be the commentator, not solely because he was a Magic Chef!
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