Chapter 155: Eight Treasures Duck

“How dare a child dream of winning against the Master Chef? Dream on!”

“This episode is just a joke, right? Who are the guests?”

“Oh my god, there’s actually someone who doesn’t know Xu Le? He has almost seven million fans!”

“In any case, can he be as good as the Master Chef?”

The people in the comments section started arguing. Of course, the audience who had been following the live broadcast of the competition would naturally think that the Master Chef was going to win by an overwhelming margin.

Just like every competition in the past, he would definitely win!

Lu Yuxi was watching the live broadcast when an incoming call interrupted the broadcast. She looked at the unknown number and frowned for a moment before answering.

“Hello?”

“I’m Li Yue.”

“Professor Li?”

Lu Yuxi was so surprised that she lost her voice. Why would a university professor whom she had not contacted for a long time suddenly call her? “What’s the matter?”

The scene changed and the live broadcast continued.

The first dish was “Eight Treasures Duck.”

The Eight Treasures Duck had already been widely circulated during the Qianlong era. The duck skin was crispy and fragrant, and the meat was soft and tender. The stuffing inside was filled with oil and fragrance, and the texture was excellent.

Before the competition began, Chen Yeqi had privately told the two of them that they could bring their assistants with them.

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At this moment, Li Qing’s mouth was like a loudspeaker.

“This dish isn’t that difficult? Even I know how to cook it.”

“If the two of you make the same taste later, how are they going to differentiate it? By luck?”

“The audience below doesn’t look like culinary judges either. Isn’t it unfair to judge according to their preferences?”

“Master Xu, do you know this dish?”

Xu Le wanted to pick up the carrot on the table and stuff it into Li Qing’s mouth. In the end, he smiled and said, “I definitely will.”

The two-hour clock on the screen was already counting down. It could be considered a rush to finish this dish in two hours. He could not afford to waste any time.

Xu Le skillfully split open the duck’s neck. The duck skin was tender. After opening it, he took out all the soft bones and tendons inside and cut them with scissors…

The host said, “The hardest part of making the duck is that the entire skin can’t be broken. The two contestants are very skilled. Of course, the one on the left is still better.”

Xu Le was in the kitchen on the right. When he heard this, he ignored the host and continued to remove the bones.

Shen Hui looked up. In the next moment, Li Qing immediately said in surprise, “Damn, this doesn’t f*cking look like something a human can do.”

Xu Le calmly looked at the screen. He saw that ‘Master Chef’ had cut a small hole in the duck skin with the tip of a knife. Only then did he cut the bones bit by bit. By doing that, he could guarantee that the duck skin would be more perfect.

“… Is the chef really not a surgeon before? His technique is a little exaggerated.”

Li Qing complained, but he had to admit that the bone removal technique was indeed impressive.

Xu Le broke the duck neck bones in turn and took out the shoulder blades, wing bones, and leg bones. At the same time, he carefully flipped the flesh down.

He continued until the duck meat was completely separated from the bones, while ensuring that the duck skin was still intact except for the initial cut.

His technique was equally precise, winning cheers from the crowd.

Due to his young age, many viewers who had never heard of Xu Le’s name were shocked. The comments quickly flooded the screen.

“Is this something a child can do? Isn’t it too awesome?”

“Oh my god, my family makes Eight Treasure Duck. Even an old master can’t remove the bones in such a short time.”

“Look, it’s not broken at all. It’s an entire duck skin!”

“I’ll bet 50 cents that no matter how powerful that kid is in the beginning, he will still lose. Don’t get your hopes up.”

“Good lord, I’m going to follow his account!”

The judges on the judging panel were all famous gourmets in the industry, especially a few who had met Xu Le many times in other competitions. However, they all had solemn expressions and did not say anything.

Li Qing also noticed that something was wrong with the competition scene. He muttered softly, “Look, those judges look like they were kidnapped.”

“Hmph, don’t cause trouble.”

Xu Le focused on cooking. For the sake of his dignity, he saw that the Master Chef did not use any assistants, so Li Qing and Shen Hui naturally could not help too early. This way, even if they won, it would seem like an unfair victory.

After the duck was deboned, he rinsed the inside with clear water. He added salt, pepper, pepper, and an appropriate amount of cooking wine. Finally, he added ginger slices and onions. He mixed them evenly with his hand and placed them aside to marinate.

He cut the fresh tenderloin, chicken gizzard, golden ham, winter bamboo shoots, salted egg yolk, dried parsley, green beans and shiitake mushrooms into diced pieces.

When the pot was hot and smoking, Xu Le added ginger and onions first.

Then, he poured in the finely diced eight ingredients. Finally, he added shrimp, lotus seeds, and ginkgo. He stir-fried them until they were ripe, scooped them out, and mixed them with glutinous rice. That was the Eight Treasures stuffing.

This was a traditional method given by the system, and the taste was the most authentic. However, Xu Le hesitated at this moment because the chef on the left had already done these steps.

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He turned off the stove.

Because of the different cultures, stuffing and marination methods for the dish vary in many places.

The host noticed Xu Le’s movements and said, “Why did you stop? Little Master Chef, do you need any help?”

“No.”

It was a little rush to prepare the dish. Xu Le closed his eyes and said, “Let the duck marinate for another minute. I can’t really remember how to make it.”

After a casual excuse, he immediately entered the system.

The ingredients needed to make the Eight Treasures Duck were placed on the familiar kitchen counter. Xu Le went forward and quickly followed the process of the competition. After dicing the ingredients, he did not intend to continue cooking according to the traditional method.

This was because the duck had to be fried in the oil pot in the later stages. Based on the amount of time given by the production team, it was impossible to control the oil after it was fried.

There was already the fragrance of oil outside. If it was fried in oil, the finished product would definitely have oil leaking and affect the taste.

Hence, Xu Le added water to the pot. After the fire boiled, he poured the prepared flavoring ingredients into the pot. There was no need for it to be fully cooked. After it was 60 to 70 percent cooked, he immediately fished it out to remove the strange smell on it.

He added glutinous rice, pepper oil, pepper, salt, and a little white sugar. After grabbing and mixing evenly, it can be poured into the marinated duck.

He filled the duck’s mouth and tied it from the bottom to the waist with hemp rope, making it look like a gourd.

After drying the surface and applying a layer of dark soya sauce, he could immediately fry it in oil.

As soon as the duck touched the pot, the skin sizzled and the fragrance almost overflowed.

Just as Xu Le was rejoicing over his improvement, oil splashed out from the pot. He was quick to react and grabbed the lid to cover it.

Obviously, he had made a mistake.

“How could I forget this?” Xu Le immediately realized that there was something wrong. He snapped his fingers and the kitchen counter returned to the time during his previous step.