Food Stall: Customers Chase Me across the Country-Chapter 417 - 416: World Guobaorou Championship (Part 2)
"This young man looks so youthful, but his skills are indeed quite seasoned."
Chen Mo had already finished his tomato Guobaorou, and the volunteers had taken away his dish. With nothing to do, he started watching the others around him at work.
The others were more or less at the same pace as him, at most they were just getting a glimpse of the finished dish. Wang Fan started late, so naturally, he watched him a bit more.
When he first looked over, Wang Fan was doing his first frying. Usually, one scoops the meat directly with a skimmer, but this young fellow was picking them out one by one with chopsticks, which puzzled him.
Isn’t this like removing pants to fart - totally redundant? Would using chopsticks to pick them out taste different from using a skimmer?
Watching further, he couldn’t help but put aside his dismissive thoughts about this young man.
After all, regardless of his age, his skills were undeniably mature. It was evident he had years of experience, especially the technique of frying the sauce, which was no less proficient than his own.
Blending the sauce was a crucial step. If the sweet and sour sauce wasn’t fried properly, it wouldn’t coat evenly, and the final product would end up plain and tasteless.
This step requires precise control of the heat; if it’s too low, it won’t coat, if it’s too high, it’ll caramelize instead, which makes it look odd.
Ha...
Thinking of caramelization, he laughed to himself.
No matter how deeply colored caramelization might be, it can’t match the vibrant hue of his tomato sauce blend.
Chen Mo was brimming with confidence for this competition.
He’s developed not only tomato Guobaorou but also orange juice Guobaorou, durian Guobaorou, pineapple Guobaorou, and so on. As many kinds of fruit as there are, that’s how many kinds of Guobaorou he can make!
My limit is the stars and the sea!
Feeling satisfied with himself here, the audience watching the live stream, as well as the spectators outside, had already erupted into chaos.
Watching the ingredients swirling in the various pots, many were already in an uproar.
"Indeed, this is undoubtedly an aberration! Even if the Emperor himself came, this Guobaorou must still be made with sweet and sour sauce!"
"Isn’t it just a few years, and the Guobaorou we used to eat are now considered old-fashioned? Suddenly, it feels like I’m lying in a hospital bed about to pass away, but I don’t like this new Guobaorou! I prefer the old-style. The old style must win the championship!"
"Does anyone have a bulldozer? Get rid of the person making durian Guobaorou! Argh, and also the one with snail noodle flavor!"
"That camera shot just now, was that passion fruit? Damn, was that passion fruit?! Are you trying to drive me mad?!"
"I’ve realized that those who make these bizarre, outlandish flavors are almost all chefs from Liaoning."
"Exactly, I specifically checked the nameplates, most of them are from that area!"
"I thought this was going to be the Northeast trio challenging the world, but I’ve discovered I was wrong. Our chefs from Heilongjiang and Jilin are still promoting the old-style Guobaorou, while those from Liaoning have let themselves loose, adding tomato sauce and orange juice! I unilaterally announce that Liaoning is expelled from the trio in Guobaorou!"
"Tomatoes, yellow peaches, blueberries, strawberries, pineapples, passion fruit, durians, green apples... Even a fruit store couldn’t have dreamed it would one day execute a strategic cooperation with Guobaorou!"
The online uproar didn’t affect Wang Fan’s Guobaorou being served.
Volunteer Wang Ting quickly picked up the plate and headed toward the public judges.
Being very familiar with this dish from frequent consumption, she knew it must be eaten hot; if it cools down, it loses its crispness, and the sweet and sour sauce becomes sticky.
As she carried the plate, Wang Ting felt her mouth uncontrollably salivating.
A strong pungent vinegar aroma continuously teased her taste buds.
This is what Guobaorou should be like!
Wang Ting felt a bit exhilarated.
Guobaorou has to have a sharp vinegar aroma, with the first bite biting into throat-tingling sourness, then a large dose of acid and sweet; only then is it flavorful. Eating it like this keeps you coming back for more.
Since there were many public judges, Wang Fan had to make more Guobaorou, with a heaping plateful.
Every dish brought to the judges was offered for immediate tasting rather than a collective tasting after all dishes were served.
This heavy-oil, heavy-flavor dish becomes cloying towards the end, so having a dish presented first has an advantage. This encourages chefs to speed up and avoids intentional delays that could compromise earlier dish tastings.
When Wang Ting brought Wang Fan’s Guobaorou to the public judges, her heart sank at the sight of the previously tasted dishes.
These public judges were mostly outsiders!
Flavors seen as aberrations by them were actually the ones most consumed, while the old-fashioned ones were just sampled sparingly!
Could Boss Wang be eliminated in the preliminaries?
The public judges only knew the dish numbers, with no information on the chefs. Even Wang Fan’s followers wouldn’t know which dish was his.
Wang Ting quickened her pace, almost sprinting to the spot.
As she passed by, the aroma from the Guobaorou drew frequent glances due to its rich vinegar smell.
By the time she placed it on the table, curious public judges were already moving in for a closer look.
Wang Fan’s Guobaorou was visually striking.
The green coriander stems, the fresh white scallion shreds, golden ginger slices, and vivid red carrot shreds intertwined, making the golden yet slightly dark golden Guobaorou appear texturally more pronounced.
Additionally, the rich vinegar aroma smelled refreshing, rekindling the interest of the public judges who had tired of the many variations of Guobaorou they had already sampled.
Lou Xinyu and Ke Peiyao found themselves in Harbin for the second time.
Being unlucky individuals always prone to getting stuck, these two had encountered countless hurdles during their travels, but Harbin had given them the best experience. So, they seized the holidays to visit again.
Lucky enough, they both became public judges.
Ke Peiyao had a passion for durians, and consequently, she was fond of durian-flavored Guobaorou.
Having eaten quite a bit at the beginning, she then wrinkled her nose at the later additions, barely touching them.
Lou Xinyu wasn’t particularly fond of any specific flavor, sampling almost every dish, but inevitably feeling a tad sluggish after so much.
However, with this new Guobaorou, the potent, fragrant sour aroma caught them both with interest, and they couldn’t help but each grab another piece.
Each piece of Guobaorou was over ten centimeters, substantial enough to feel substantial between the chopsticks.
Ke Peiyao lifted the Guobaorou to her nose and took a sniff; the intense vinegar aroma nearly made her cough.
Mysteriously, not only did she not cough, but her appetite grew stronger.
She couldn’t resist taking a bite, and the crisp breaking sound of the crust was endlessly pleasing.
Ke Peiyao swore that of all the portions she had tried, none had ever captivated her purely by texture alone like this one had.
Even the one with the best texture before was merely crisp and tender, but this one right now was exceptional!
