He was very calm and collected, and his focus was on the dish he would be making . The judges never mentioned any specific noodles to make so he chose the easier one to produce in a short time . For this round, he decided to cook soba . With a huge mixing bowl in front of him, he sifted the flour .
Unlike the hand-pulled noodles that Lu Xinyi made earlier that needed gluten to be firm, Ye Xieren's soba didn't have gluten . For this reason, the noodles he should create shouldn't be too long; or else it would break apart .
He made sure that there were no remaining lumps on the flour before pouring water on it . Using his bare hands, he mixed the two as if playing with sand and water on a hot summer day . The flour formed into small, soft balls as he ran his fingertips on it . His mixing technique then changed into something else .
His hands played with the flour mixture as if there was an explosion on every movement of his hands . The gravity forced the flour to stick together . The last part of his mixing technique was to mix everything in huge circular motions with his hands .
Ye Xieren was Chef Qin's nephew . He'd been working under him since he was nine . His talent in cooking was accidentally discovered when he made changes on a soup that his uncle left to simmer . Since then, Chef Qin took it upon himself to train the young Xieren . Although he didn't have to work full-time in his uncle's restaurant, he spent most of his free days in the kitchen, watching and copying the skills of the chefs—engraving them on his mind .
At the age of twelve, he started participating in different amateur cooking competitions, earning him the title 'the young prince of cooking . '
Mixing his dough for the last time, he let his fingertips do their magic as his hands started to bind everything in a ball of dough and knead it in the mixing bowl . His movements were precise as if he was doing the same thing for a long time . He never faltered and let his whole body release the tension from him, balancing his actions and letting himself to connect with his dish .
He continued to knead until he was able to produce a smooth and elastic dough before giving it a rest . After giving it enough time to rest, Ye Xieren dusted his countertop and started stretching the dough with his palm and a rolling pin . Stretching it carefully and evenly, he folded the dough several times and started cutting it with a knife .
To finish everything, he cooked the soba noodles on the boiling water and transferred it to a bowl before adding the soup base he prepared . He was done .
His eyes lifted up just in time and saw Lu Xinyi twisting her dough in the air before making loops several times . 'So she chose to do it in a traditional way? How absurd,' he thought . How could she serve a dish that needed to cook for hours in one hour? Although he was really interested to see what else Lu Xinyi could do .
Meanwhile, Lu Xinyi hadn't noticed the eyes that were watching her every move . She was deep in her thoughts, seeing if the noodles were cooked properly . At least she was able to finish on time before the sound of timer distracted her . It sounded like the horn of a juggernaut: blaring and unceasing, crippling her thoughts and assaulting her ears . It was genius on Silver Leaf's part; no examinee could ignore a sound like that .
She then decided to serve her dish as soon as possible to avoid ruining the dish . Just when she was about to serve it, Ye Xieren lifted his hand indicating that he was about to present his dish for the second round .
The interests of the judges shot up! The two had tied on the previous round; now, who would dominate the second round?
Chapter end
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