Every Kind of Culinary Skill, This Is...

"No need, these are fine."

As Feng Xue spoke, she took out a small box of bottles and jars and placed them on the table for inspection.

Although the preliminary rounds do not require you to complete all the steps on the street, you must report all the ingredients used. This is partly for food safety reasons and partly to assess your culinary skills.

After all, many things can affect the fairness of a cooking competition. For example, a pot of old soup passed down for generations can easily make a chef who can barely cook noodles beat a master chef who has been immersed in the art for many years in making plain noodles.

Not to mention the practice of hiring someone to stew broth or pre-prepared ingredients. While the organizing committee cannot completely eliminate such practices, it can balance the contestants' scores by reducing the weight of the corresponding ingredients and seasonings.

The seasonings that Feng Xue submitted could be described as meager. The only ingredients were high, medium and low gluten flour, the only seasonings were oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar and sugar, and the only kitchen utensils were a steamer and common pastry tools. The only thing that could be considered complicated was the "ingredients" sealed in two small glass jars.

"They are all common plant extracts, no problem." The organizing committee staff quickly sampled and archived the two sets of "ingredients", and Feng Xue also received a card with a QR code for payment (to facilitate the tracking of turnover) symbolizing her participation permission. Under the watchful eye of the camera installed on the food cart, she pushed her cart into the square.

Feng Xue arrived rather late today. Many contestants in the square had already started selling their food, and many pedestrians on the roadside had already eaten their fill. Feng Xue was not in a hurry. She leisurely walked to the stall prepared by the organizing committee, connected the competition-specific water pipe to the water purification system of the mobile stall, and then began to knead the dough.

He didn't attempt any fancy tricks or acrobatics, even though they could easily attract the attention of passersby. But as one of the ladies in the movie "The God of Cookery" said, a chef isn't a circus clown. Even if an eye-catching approach could quickly attract diners, it might leave a bad impression on the judges.

"A chef's success depends on the taste, right?"

Feng Xue's lips curled into a slight smile as she began her dazzling cooking...

"Hey everyone, today we're continuing our focus on the preliminary rounds of the Dragon Gate Noodle Competition. What? Shop visits? Are you kidding me? The best pastry chefs in Dragon Palace City... no, the whole country are right here in this square. You want me to go somewhere else to visit shops? What are you thinking?"

Holding a selfie stick, Li Ziming walked into Dragon Gate Square while talking, constantly adjusting the camera, his eyes searching for food that would catch his eye.

There are quite a few streamers like him at Dragon Gate Square. Putting aside the popularity of the pastry competition itself, the fact that all dishes are priced at a friendly five yuan per serving, combined with the chef's skills, is enough to drive any gourmet crazy.

Forget about the livestreamers, even the construction workers next door come over morning, noon, and night. Just kidding, the food here is cheaper than the boxed meals at the construction site!

"As we all know, there are only a few days left in the preliminary rounds. The contestants still in the square are either super confident big shots who are determined to participate at the very end, or brave individuals who have been eliminated and challenged again and again. You could say they are taking a huge gamble. Hmm, I didn't eat anything this morning, so let's start with some Dim Sum!"

While interacting with the audience in the Live Broadcast Room, Li Ziming glanced at the surrounding stalls, and many chefs perked up at his arrival.

It was precisely this change that led Li Ziming to reject these chefs. Ultimately, he felt that the presence of livestreamers might bring in buzz and increase customer traffic. However, this very idea implied a lack of confidence. While it's true that livestreamers can create entertaining Program Effect, those who come to compete in this square must have some skill. Even if they're bad, their food shouldn't be Dark Cooking. Rather than eating at such half-baked places, it's better to find a master chef.

Just as he was thinking this, a faint fragrance suddenly wafted past his nose. Although it was very faint, light, and gentle, in the Dragon Gate Square filled with steam and the aroma of noodles, such a sweet scent immediately caught his attention.

"Guys, my nose tells me there's something good up ahead!"

After addressing the audience, Li Ziming took a step forward, following the scent. Soon, he found the source of the fragrance...

[Hilarious! A fruit stand at a pastry competition!]

Wow, wow! Can you sell fruit directly at a pastry competition?

[By the way, I'm curious, are there fresh blueberries in Lungmen this season?]

[What era are we living in? You can grow anything in a greenhouse!]

Various comments flowed across the screen, but Li Ziming stared blankly at the fruit stand in front of him. Yes, a fruit stand.

Although the payment codes for the preliminary round contestants of the Dragon Gate Noodle Competition were hanging next to the mobile stall, fresh fruits were placed on the table displaying the finished products.

There were grapes, blueberries, oranges, apples, green mangoes... and so on, and the sweet fragrance he smelled was the aroma of these fruits.

"Boss, give me an apple!"

Suddenly, a voice broke his daze, and only then did he notice the customers scanning codes to pick up their goods.

Then...

"Holy crap, is this Flour Fruit?!"

Li Ziming stared wide-eyed as the stall chef stopped kneading dough and handed an apple to a customer. Only then did he realize that this was probably not fruit, but a traditional Chinese pastry.

Flour Fruit.

But the problem is...

[I didn't see Fruit Puree!]

Sure enough, as people from the Dragon Palace, while not all of them were master pastry chefs, they could certainly chat for a bit. Before long, someone raised a question.

"But it does smell a bit fruity." Li Ziming sniffed the faint fruity aroma in the air, then finally stepped forward, took out another phone, and said while scanning the QR code:

"Boss, a bunch of blueberries, please."

"Okay, just a moment."

The chef, who was coloring an orange with a brush, put down the lid, opened the insulated lid, and took out a bunch of blueberries that looked as if they had just been picked and were even covered with white frost, and handed them over.

Li Ziming carefully took the blueberries, then pointed the camera at the Flour Fruit in his hand with his other hand, saying in a somewhat exaggerated tone:

"Guys, let's take a closer look first. Can anyone tell that this is actually made of dough?"

Even through a high-definition lens, Li Ziming himself couldn't find a single flaw when he held the blueberries up to his eyes. Whether it was the faint, slightly astringent fruity fragrance, the dense white bloom that resembled fine water droplets on the dark blue surface, the clearly defined veins of the branches connecting the blueberries, or the leaves with their distinct veins, crisp green color, and light-permeable leaves, everything appeared flawless.

There should be one more chapter.