Although Ding Huan could find his way to the culinary competition hall without anyone's guidance, he still asked a maid and only then arrived at the outer door of the hall.
"Laozi, wait for me outside."
Ding Huan instructed Lao Six and entered the hall by himself.
Eleven people were seated inside the hall, and upon seeing Ding Huan arrive, everyone present cast unwelcoming glances at him.
It is said that the lady only needs one chef, and for each additional person, their chances will be divided by some.
Ding Huan glanced around the hall, noticing that most of the people present had cultivated their power.
This made Ding Huan suspect that there weren't many genuine chefs here. Just like him, he wasn't a chef either.
It is estimated that everyone's purpose is similar to his, which is just to find a spot to enter the cultivation world.
Should we head to the kitchen for a culinary competition soon?
As Ding Huan's spiritual thoughts were still searching for the kitchen, a group of people walked in with various ingredients.
A long table was placed in the middle of the hall, and all the ingredients were piled up on the table.
Shortly after, another dozen or so mobile stoves were brought in and placed on both sides of the ingredients table.
An older woman accompanied by several maids entered, looking at Ding Huan and the other twelve chefs and said:
"Please feel free to use the ingredients here. Each of you will prepare a dish. After the dishes are finished, the lady will personally taste them. Please proceed."
Several chefs stood up, and Ding Huan followed suit.
There are so many ingredients here that even with a dozen chefs, they couldn't use them up, so there's no need to rush.
Several chefs were shocked by this scene, and one of them anxiously said:
"We didn't bring any pots. There are only stoves here. How can we cook?"
The woman disdainfully glanced at these chefs before coldly said:
"As a chef, if you can't even bring a pot, what kind of chef are you? Bring in the chefs who didn't bring pots and send them all out."
"Aaaa..." These chefs who didn't bring pots were all dumbfounded.
Before this, they had entered and seen some chefs who even brought pots, bowls, and spoons, and they had looked down on them.
This is the Qin Family's residence.
To cook in the Qin family, you need to bring your own pots? This is just stupidity.
Now they realized that the idiots were indeed themselves.
Ding Huan found that besides him, only six people had brought pots here.
The few people who were sent out were even looking back at Ding Huan with their eyes, because he too had not brought a pot.
But the next moment, Ding Huan's actions disappointed them, as he took out a pot from his backpack.
This action even earned a nod of approval from the woman.
Only those who are deeply in love with the chef profession would carry their pot with them at all times and on every occasion.
The other chefs have already started selecting ingredients, and Ding Huan found that the meat here was all demonic beasts, and all of high grade.
Ding Huan chose a piece of fragrant rabbit meat, and as he was about to take it, a chef who was closer to the fragrant rabbit meat quickly reached out and took it away.
Ding Huan saw that this chef had already taken a piece of deer meat, and if he were to take another piece of rabbit meat, it would be obvious that he didn't want him to get it.
At the moment, Ding Huan had only two words in mind, idiot.
He didn't use his spiritual sense to scan, but he was certain that the miss was watching everything here.
If he were to entrust his future meals to someone, he would also pay attention to the people who cooked.
Ding Huan didn't bother to fight for that piece of Tianxiang Lou. As he was about to switch meat, he suddenly saw a vegetable similar to cabbage.
Ding Huan recognized the vegetable; it was called "Qianjia Vegetable".
Qianjia Vegetable is the vegetable Ding Huan ate in Jihhe City and he even bought the ingredients to cook it himself.
This vegetable is very cheap. Common people eat the most of it, so it's called "Qianjia Vegetable", which is like cabbage in another world.
The Qianjia Vegetable, like cabbage, has a benefit of neutralizing greasiness and cleaning the intestines.
Unlike ordinary cabbage, this vegetable has a green stem, yellow middle, and white top.
Ding Huan did not hesitate, he picked up the Qianjia Vegetable.
With the conditions of the Jin family, the young miss named Guanyu is definitely eating all sorts of demon beast meats every day.
Eating too much demon beast meat also gets bland. It's better to prepare some vegetables to refresh her appetite.
Among the seven chefs, only Ding Huan chose to use all vegetables.
While the other chefs also chose vegetables, they were mostly dominated by meat with vegetables as secondary ingredients.
In terms of choosing dishes, Ding Huan's choice could be considered successful as he attracted almost all attention.
Cooking with demon beast meat is something everyone does every day, and it gets boring after a while.
While Ding Huan, who only chose simple Qianjia Vegetable, attracted everyone's attention to see what kind of tricks he could pull.
Ding Huan placed the pot on the mobile stove and casually scooped some water to wash the pot three times.
This action earned another nod from the woman who was presiding over the culinary contest.
Among the participants in the culinary competition here, only Ding Huan had washed his pot three times.
Others simply wash their pots lightly with water, while one didn't even wash his pot and just used oil.
It's clear that they are used to survival in the wilderness; they can't possibly be chefs.
Ding Huan calmly separated the Qianjia Vegetable, cut it into sections, and washed it a few more times.
Even the few maids present could see that Ding Huan was more meticulous about cleanliness than the other chefs.
The ones who were preparing meat dishes hardly anyone washed the meat, just cutting directly and starting to cook.
The female servants may not understand, but the woman in charge of the culinary contest did.
If these demon beast meats are to be used in cooking, the most taboo thing is to wash them with water.
Because once washed, their vitality will be lost.
Despite knowing this, the woman in charge still had some disdain for the other chefs.
Food is meant to be eaten, what's the point of preserving their essence?
After doing all this, Ding Huan did not start cooking immediately but instead waited for the Qianjia Vegetable to drain the water on the side.
The real reason is that Ding Huan is very clear that his dish will be finished in the blink of an eye. If the Qianjia Vegetable becomes cold, it will become soft and unappealing to eat.
And the chefs who were preparing meat dishes definitely wouldn't be done so quickly, so he needed to wait a bit.
When he felt the time was about right, Ding Huan then lit the stove and put the pot on.
After the pot was hot, Ding Huan poured in the clear oil and then added the chopped Qianjia Vegetable and began to stir-fry it when the oil was hot.
Now everyone was speechless.
Ding Huan had always been the most eye-catching, but what a finale this was?
Stir-frying vegetables in hot oil and then putting them into the pot?
If this is what it takes to be a chef, then being a chef is too easy.
That's not cooking at all, anyone with hands can stir-fry, isn't that right?
Just one minute, and everyone was staring at Ding Huan as he began to arrange the dishes.
And that's it?
Not counting the time Ding Huan waited, including washing the vegetables and pots and preparing this dish, how long did it take in total?
As the crowd was still in a state of confusion, a young girl with a veil walked in.
"Miss." As the young girl walked in, everyone greeted her with respect.
The girl who walked in was the Miss of the Jin family, Guanyu. It was her who required the chefs to cook for her on the journey to the cultivation sect.
The other chefs quickly accelerated their cooking speed.
Ding Huan had not scanned with his spiritual sense, but he was well aware that the woman had been watching on the side.
She only came in to check on the dishes at the appointed time.
Perhaps it was this woman who inspired the other teachers to speed up their work.
Soon, including Ding Huan, all seven chefs finished their dishes.
"Miss, the dishes are all ready now. Shall I send them up for you to taste?" the middle-aged woman who was hosting the competition asked hurriedly.
Guanyu nodded and said, "Okay, bring it up."
Seven dishes were placed in front of Guanyu, and even the rest of the people couldn't help but look at Ding Huan's dish of stir-fried Qianjia Vegetable.
Although Ding Huan's cooking seemed simple and straightforward, the presentation was actually quite good. The yellow, green, and white colors seemed to be perfectly placed in the dish.
It was translucent and gave a pleasing, aesthetically pleasing feeling.
"That's it, you can all go and wait for the notification."
The middle-aged woman said to Ding Huan and the others.
All the chefs quickly packed up their things and left the great hall, including Ding Huan, who also put his pot into his bag and left.
After everyone had left, Guanyu only then lifted her veil slightly and picked a piece of Qianjia Vegetable to put into her mouth.
Clearly, she had been eager to taste the dish of Qianjia Vegetable cooked by Ding Huan.
As for the dishes cooked by the other chefs, she had long since grown tired of them, none of which were particularly distinctive.
The overseer has really killed it off too cheaply, and he hired such a bunch of bums to apply for the position of a chef.
The Qianjia Vegetable brought a faint fragrance upon entry. A light bite delivered a slight crispness, and a taste that was both familiar and strange completely permeated the taste buds.
Guanyu was stunned, ordinary vegetables could actually make such delicious flavors?
This person's cooking skill must have reached the level of divine inspiration, returning to its most natural state.
Then Guanyu took a few more bites, and soon half of the plate of Qianjia Vegetable was gone.
"Miss, do you want to try these plates of meat?"
The middle-aged woman, unable to resist the urge, said something to the side when she saw that the young miss was only eating Qianjia Vegetable.
Guanyu put down her chopsticks:
"Call the chef who made the Qianjia Vegetable dish in, and send the others away."
The middle-aged woman was taken aback. The young miss had not even eaten the other dishes, yet she had already made her decision?
However, she naturally would not say anything more, and quickly said:
"Yes."
Ding Huan and the other six chefs were still waiting, at this time someone came out.
Everyone could see that it was the woman who was hosting the contest who had come out. Everyone watched this woman nervously.
This woman pointed at Ding Huan:
"You have been hired, follow me in, the rest of you can leave."
Ding Huan let out a sigh of relief, finally making it.
