RBCT Chapter 98 Silver Needle Potato Shreds
Chapter 98 Silver Needle Potato Shreds
Because Lu Yuan was positioned in a corner, neither Master Huang nor the host noticed that Lu Yuan had already finished filming.
However, to be fair, these days, housewives of the older generation are really capable.
Although they hadn't learned flat or angled slicing techniques, they managed to slice radishes into decent slices through years of experience in the kitchen.
These days, there aren't many tools available. They basically honed their skills by cooking for large families, chopping knife by knife.
Fifteen minutes passed quickly, and the host announced that the chopping of vegetables would stop. Chef Huang began to check each piece from beginning to end.
The atmosphere at the competition was great, and the host was very good at creating a lively atmosphere.
The contestants who passed the check could not hide the joy on their faces.
The contestants eliminated by Master Huang left the venue looking dejected.
Some of them came with their families, while others came in on their own after seeing the guys outside.
They initially thought that since their whole family approved of their cooking skills, their technique must be excellent. However, after participating in the competition, they discovered that there are always people more skilled than themselves.
The dream of winning the prize and surprising the whole family was shattered.
Lu Yuan and the old lady next door both passed this round of the competition. In particular, when Master Huang saw the paper-thin slices of radish on Lu Yuan's plate, he looked at Lu Yuan in shock and asked:
"Young man, have you studied this? Which restaurant do you work at?"
Lu Yuan originally wanted to admit that he had studied, but then he thought that he had never formally become an apprentice in this life. What if he rashly said his master's name and couldn't match it up?
So Lu Yuan changed his tune and said, "My family has a small restaurant."
Master Huang then asked, "In the provincial capital?"
Lu Yuandao: "In the countryside."
After hearing this, Master Huang didn't say anything more. If Lu Yuan was an apprentice from a restaurant in the provincial capital, then he was really worried that Lu Yuan might have some skills.
But in the rural restaurants, Chef Huang didn't care much. After all, it was just slicing a radish, and if he was skilled at it, it was quite normal.
At this point, there were still more than 20 players on the field, most of whom survived.
The host picked up the microphone and said, "Our competition will have different events in each round until a final winner is determined. Please welcome Master Huang to demonstrate the next round of the competition."
Clap clap clap clap!
Master Huang took the microphone and said, "The competition for this round is cutting potato shreds."
Upon hearing about this project, all the contestants present breathed a sigh of relief.
Stir-fried shredded potatoes are the most common dish in the northern frontier, and it can be said that the contestants present are best at cutting shredded potatoes.
But then, Master Huang picked up a needle and said, "The requirement is to cut a whole plate of shredded potatoes, and every random check must pass through this needle."
Upon hearing this requirement, the contestants gasped in shock, feeling immense pressure.
Among the onlookers, some began to grumble, "Threading potato shreds through a needle? How is that even possible!"
Master Huang gave him a cold glance, picked up a potato, trimmed it into a square, and then sliced it.
Then, one piece was placed on top of another, stacked in a row, and they started cutting it with a clicking sound.
Before long, a plate of shredded potatoes was ready.
Master Huang raised the needle with his left hand, picked up a shredded potato with his right hand, and threaded it through the needle.
This move stunned the entire audience, who erupted in applause once again.
From a distance, Mr. Zhang's assistant gave him a fawning thumbs-up and said:
"Mr. Zhang, you're too kind! Arranging for someone to shout that makes Master Huang seem like he's on a whole different level!"
Mr. Zhang earnestly corrected him, "What do you mean by 'helper'? That's called an enthusiastic audience member!"
"Yes, yes, yes! Enthusiastic viewers!"
The second round of shredding potatoes also took 15 minutes.
Watching from the sidelines, Wei Yinghong nervously grabbed Lu Changming's arm and asked, "Is our son alright?"
Lu Changming said nonchalantly, "You spend all day in the workshop fiddling with your dough, you have no idea how capable your son is."
Recently, Wei Yinghong has become obsessed with baking bread and hasn't been to the kitchen much.
She missed out on the amazing techniques of whole-duck deboning in the Eight Treasure Gourd Duck dish; there was a bit of an information asymmetry.
The contestants tried cutting it and found that the knife was rather dull, so they all started sharpening it with the bottom of the plate.
This is a fairly common way of sharpening knives, and it's not exactly a closely guarded secret.
Only Lu Yuan and the old lady next door started seriously cutting potatoes.
Lu Yuan slowly peeled the potatoes while glancing at the old lady next door, and couldn't help but say:
"Grandma, if you peel a 'base' for the potato first, it will stand flat on the table."
In most households, potatoes are not shaped into rectangles before being cut; they are usually sliced whole.
However, this cutting method is not very effective at slicing thin shredded potatoes.
Lu Yuan demonstrated with his own potatoes, and the old lady immediately understood, smiling as she said:
"Young man, you're such a kind person. Grandma will treat you to dinner after the competition!"
"Sure, sure!" Lu Yuan smiled and started cutting his potatoes.
When it came time to cut the potato shreds, everyone had an extra bowl of water in front of them.
Lu Yuan first wet his hands with water to moisten the cleaver, so that it wouldn't stick to the potato starch when cutting.
Then Lu Yuan continued to use the flat knife method to slice the potatoes into thin slices as thin as cicada wings.
It is difficult to achieve the same thickness when cutting vertically as when cutting with a flat knife.
After slicing the potato, Lu Yuan placed the front half of each slice on top of the back half of the previous slice.
After arranging the potatoes neatly, Lu Yuan began to use a pushing and cutting technique, slicing them into extremely thin shreds from beginning to end.
After cutting the potatoes, Lu Yuan soaked them in water and began wiping the cutting board.
This time, Chef Huang noticed Lu Yuan's vegetable-cutting process. Judging from Lu Yuan's potato-cutting technique, he was quite composed and showed none of the nervousness typical of a young kitchen helper.
Chef Huang was somewhat surprised by this, as he was apprenticed to a master of Huaiyang cuisine and had been poached by General Manager Qi with a high salary.
To be honest, he was never this good at cutting potato shreds when he was an apprentice.
However, he didn't care too much, since it was just slicing potato shreds, and many restaurant kitchen staff could do it very well.
Lu Changming patted Wei Yinghong's hand and said, "See? I told you our son would be fine."
Wei Yinghong nodded and pointed at the host, saying, "It's all his fault for making everyone so tense."
After the time was up, the contestants raised their heads with confidence, after all, cutting potato shreds was something they were all very familiar with.
As usual, Master Huang began to check each item one by one. His method of checking was also very direct. He then picked out a few potato shreds and tried to thread them through the eye of a needle.
Although everyone was confident, many people still got stuck when trying to thread the shredded potatoes through the hole.
They thought they had cut the food finely enough, but they still couldn't get it through, and they instantly began to doubt their cooking skills.
When Master Huang inspected Lu Yuan's area, he simply nodded and didn't say anything more.
But his hand clenched tightly, because Lu Yuan had cut it so thinly that he had accidentally picked up two pieces and they had both gone through!
As he turned to walk back, Master Huang's eyes clearly showed a hint of determination.
This competition was supposed to be a showcase of his skills, so what's up with this young man who's learning to cook?
Are they here to cause trouble?
So he gritted his teeth, ignored the other contestants, and directly announced the next round of competition: cucumbers wrapped in straw raincoats!
The host was somewhat bewildered upon hearing this, as it was different from what he had expected; Master Huang had unexpectedly changed the competition format at the last minute.