Dragon Riding the Clouds Crisp?

After shooing the host away with "yes, yes, yes," Feng Xue quickly put a "[Incomprehensible]" sign on her cooking table, letting the audience know that she was making pastries and that the rest would be revealed at the end, thus maintaining that "Huh?" state.

After preparing seven pieces of pastry of different colors and shapes, Feng Xue used acupressure to anesthetize them all. The idea of using the Sunflower Acupuncture Hand to anesthetize pastries sounds a bit far-fetched, but considering that Bai Zhantang could freeze even a flying steamed bun after using his acupressure, it doesn't seem so absurd.

It really is Layering Pastry, because this thing is a Killer Weapon in pastry competitions. Why? Just like the host said before, nobody dares to do it.

The reason is that it takes time.

Even a master puff pastry expert needs at least ten minutes to cut out a piece with more than a hundred layers. Considering the color ratio and the sense of layering, it is common for some to cut out two or three pieces, and others to cut out four or five pieces. This process takes nearly an hour, and it's not over yet, because the puff pastry needs to be refrigerated for a period of time before it can be used.

After that comes the more crucial shaping stage. Abalone pastry is a relatively rare event in pastry competitions, where even five minutes can easily exceed the time limit. As for lion dance pastry, even experienced bakers need more than ten minutes to make it, leaving no time for rest before exceeding the time limit.

Not to mention the various possibilities of it tipping over when deep-frying this thing.

In this world, a pastry of the level of "Lion Dance Pastry" is far from enough to win an award in a national-level competition.

Ultimately, the advantage of pastries lies in their shape, and the more exquisite the shape, the more time it takes to make them.

This time, Feng Xue cut the puff pastry into seven pieces.

But this is merely the surface that elicits a "Wow!" from the audience.

His preparations this time were far more extensive than just this little bit.

Scalded dough sheets, wheat starch sheets, alkaline noodles, fried gluten...

The complexity of Feng Xue's work is such that even if it's not considered "incomprehensible," few people can truly understand what he's doing.

Or rather, he doesn't seem to be participating in a pastry competition at all, but rather... he seems to be preparing a noodle feast.

Time passed slowly, and it wasn't until the last half hour that people began to submit their work.

It's not that there's some kind of curse that the first to submit will lose; it's just that the pastry competition doesn't have a first-come, first-served tasting system. Instead, the pastries are judged uniformly, and the order in which you submit only determines the tasting order.

This competition format may seem like it could easily create a taste barrier, but which of the gourmet connoisseurs who can earn the title of "Dragon King" hasn't honed an exceptional sense of taste and profound Internal Force? To think that one can win by using taste barriers or similar methods is to seriously underestimate the prestige of the "National Competition."

Feng Xue silently counted the number of people who had "submitted their papers," looked at the work on her own desk, and quietly removed the "[incomprehensible]" label.

"Most contestants have already completed their works, with only a few still making their final efforts. There are still ten minutes left in the competition. If you exceed the time limit, you will be disqualified from judging. Those who haven't finished yet, keep going!"

The host listlessly announced the countdown, as most of the pastries were either being steamed or plated towards the end. The host casually reported on topics that would definitely be cut from the broadcast, such as who had completed what.

Her gaze swept across the cooking stations of the contestants who hadn't yet handed in their papers, but then suddenly focused.

When the host saw the contestant's artwork on the table, he realized that a gimmick was about to be created!

"Ladies and gentlemen, Sun Wukong's artwork seems to be nearing completion. Let's take a look at the final product!"

As the cameraman zoomed in from a distance, the host slowly approached, providing a very professional commentary:

"As we all know, after the pastry is made, the process of making flaky pastries is actually like sculpting dough figurines. But what truly determines the success or failure of a piece is the final step of frying it in oil."

"The more complex the pastry, the more difficult it is to fry it well. Sun Wukong's work, in terms of both overall length and detail, has surpassed all pastry types within my knowledge. No wonder Sun Wukong requested such a large wok!"

As the camera zoomed in, viewers could clearly see the ten works displayed on Feng Xue's desk.

Those were ten dragons riding the clouds and mist, poised to take flight.

Each dragon is complete with scales, claws, and whiskers, and has a lifelike expression. Even before it's cooked, it's already like a work of art.

Feng Xue noticed the camera approaching, carefully placed the ten dragons in a long, specially made frying basket, walked to the large pot with a diameter of three meters, and lowered Dragon Riding the Clouds was half a meter long and as thick as an arm, into the oil.

"We can see that Sun Wukong didn't use a thermometer, which means he's extremely confident in his temperature control. He's in the pot! He's in the pot!"

The host's exaggerated voice echoed in my ears. The originally dull-colored dragon, stepping on clouds, landed in the pot. Suddenly, bursts of steam gushed from all parts of the dragon's body, splashing up many oil droplets, startling the host into exclaiming:

"Was it really too big? It's very difficult to fry such a large pastry thoroughly, especially with the expansion of Water Vapor, which could easily ruin the dragon's integrity! Sun Wukong is still too focused on details. If he had ignored the proportions of the pastry layers and made the dragon smaller... wait, it didn't fall apart! No, not only did it not fall apart, it actually came to life! Am I seeing things?!"

Following the increasingly exaggerated voice of the host, the focus turned to the rising bubbles in the oil pan, where the dragons seemed to come alive, their bodies swaying, their whiskers and mane bristling, and even their claws visibly curling up.

They seemed to float in the oil pan along with the bubbles. Although they had expanded slightly compared to before, they had not lost their shape at all. On the contrary, they became more vivid. Even the dragon scales stood up one by one under the effect of their expanded bodies, and the oily and curly patterns were even more distinct.

The dragon's whiskers fluttered, its mane bristled, and even the clouds beneath its feet became fluffy.

To the host's surprise, this seemingly completed work was not removed from the oil fryer. On the contrary, the contestant named Sun Wukong suddenly turned the valve, making the flames under the oil fryer even more intense.

The oil in the pan, which was originally only 140 or 150 degrees Celsius, suddenly heated up. The fine bubbles that had been gradually calming down in the pan suddenly became turbulent. The dragons that had already taken shape suddenly began to twist again, and their bodies, which were originally as thick as an arm, suddenly began to expand.

A large number of bubbles rushed into the oil pot, and boiling oil splashed out of the pot, but "Sun Wukong" did not stop at all, but just watched the ten fat dragons in the pot with a cold eye.

Suddenly, the ten fat dragons seemed to deflate, shrinking abruptly and splashing out even more boiling oil. But Sun Wukong ignored the dangerous situation, lifting the ten dragons out of the oil pot with a swift movement of his hands.

The steam sprayed by the suddenly cooled dragon condensed into mist, enveloping the dragon in the smoke, just like a dragon ascending to the sky.

PS1: For Dim Sum to look good, your knife skills basically need to be at the level of Wensi Tofu. Take the Lion Dance Pastry that many YouTubers imitate, for example. What level is it to cut it evenly with 20 cuts at 5 millimeters? YouTubers can cut a little bit, freeze it, and use time to work it out, but making it all at once requires a very high speed. If you are even a little slow, the pastry may melt.

PS2: Don't bring up the Yongquan acupoint. It's just that Lao Bai (Old White) isn't good at biology. The corresponding part of a cow's hoof is the toenail and toe. The first joint from the bottom of a cow is actually its ankle. So the Yongquan acupoint on a cow is actually on its 'lower leg'.