NOVEL NEXT Chapter 97 - 97: Finals
Chapter 97: Finals
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“Ningning, I’ll drive you to the competition.”
Today marked the finals of the highly anticipated food competition. Zhou Ling eagerly awaited Liao Ning’s presence in the living room of their main residence, rising early in the morning. As soon as he spotted her, he promptly set aside his newspaper and offered to accompany her to the event.
Liao Ning paid him no heed and walked out of the house.
Zhou Ling hurriedly followed suit, understanding her frustration with his handling of his injuries. He had intended to address those minor concerns swiftly, sparing her any unnecessary worry. It was entirely his fault for neglecting her feelings.
It had been two days since Liao Ning had spoken to Zhou Ling. He yearned for her to scold him rather than ignore him.
Once Liao Ning departed from the main residence, she boarded the prearranged flying car organized by Butler Li. From the opposite side, Zhou Ling promptly joined her in this vehicle.
Liao Ning glanced at Zhou Ling, his face adorned with a smile in an attempt to please her. Eventually, her heart softened, and she refrained from forcing him out of the car. She merely maintained her usual indifference.
Zhou Ling nervously observed her, fearing she would expel him from the car if she remained displeased. Luckily, she didn’t. Zhou Ling breathed a sigh of relief. Liao Ning’s decision to let him stay in the car signaled that her anger had somewhat subsided. He was close to winning her over.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we sincerely appreciate your attention toward this momentous food competition. Thank you for gracing us with your presence at the grand finals!”
“The finals will commence promptly at nine o’clock this morning. The ten esteemed contestants vying for the championship will have twelve hours to prepare a sumptuous feast of ancient delicacies, adhering to the competition’s specific requirements. At nine o’clock in the evening, our panel of judges will assess the dishes based on their presentation, aroma, and flavor. The contestant with the highest score shall claim the title of champion!”
The resounding applause, cheers, and exuberance from the audience filled the
venue.
“And now, it is with great pleasure that I declare the official start of the second Interstellar Alliance Food Competition finals!”
Liao Ning and the other nine contestants had already taken their places on the grand stage, each confirming their designated cooking stations as determined by the draw.
The competition’s format differed from previous editions. Unlike her past experiences of live-streaming the preliminaries and recording the semi-finals alone, Liao Ning found herself drawn to the energy of the stage format. This marked her first participation in such an event, and the cheers from fans and audience members ignited a fiery determination within her.
In this competition, the production team required each contestant to prepare an entire table of ancient delicacies individually. A complete table would include the main course, soup, four cold dishes, and six hot dishes, representing the highest etiquette of ordinary households in the eastern tradition.
Liao Ning swiftly devised her plan. She decided to create 12 dishes following Earth’s customary etiquette. Her menu included roasted pork ribs with green onions as the first dish.
After thoroughly cleaning and placing the ribs in a basin, Liao Ning used the tip of her knife to create even holes, facilitating better marination. She added ginger slices, a beaten egg, salt, cooking wine, and a touch of starch. After thorough mixing, she allowed the ribs to marinate for half an hour.
Using hot oil, she fried the marinated ribs for three minutes before carefully removing the golden ribs and setting them aside. Discarding two-thirds of the oil from the pot, she retained the remaining one-third to stir-fry the scallion-infused oil. After scooping out the scallions, Liao Ning poured in an appropriate amount of water, a spoonful of light soy sauce, half a spoonful of dark soy sauce, a spoonful of white sugar, a suitable amount of salt, and chicken essence. Once well mixed, she reintroduced the fried ribs into the pot and turned up the heat to reduce the sauce.
Liao Ning skillfully plated the aromatic ribs, garnishing them with scallions. She then placed the ribs in the provided incubator, designed by the production team to preserve the optimal taste of the food throughout the day.
Moving on to her second dish, she prepared chestnut-stuffed birds.
After washing the bird meat, she placed it in a pot with scallions, ginger slices, cooking wine, and an appropriate amount of water to blanch it. Lifting the pot of hot oil, she carefully poured the blanched bird meat into the pot, adding ginger slices, garlic, and star anise for a quick stir-fry. Removing the ginger, garlic, and aniseed, she incorporated cooking wine and raw soy sauce, continuing to stir-fry until the meat achieved a rich color. Adding the shelled chestnuts, she continued stir-frying before pouring in enough water to submerge the bird meat, along with an appropriate amount of rock sugar and salt for seasoning. After simmering for half an hour, the dish was ready to be served..