Cute Beast Food Garden

The highlight of the year in Luoxiawan - "Gourmet Challenge" is held on the shoal next to the small river.The small vendors selling hot in Luoxia Bay pushed their own carts and gathered at the final decisive place.

There, the cars were lined up, facing the entire judges' bench by the small river.

At the last moment of the night, Boss Lan finally brought out his most proud work—Pine Nut Shrimp and Herb Rice.This is an "upgraded version" of fried rice with pine nuts and shrimps. It was jointly designed and produced by Boss Lan, Qi Yan and Si Dongmo.

However, before that, Qi Yan didn't know about the existence of the gourmet arena. He only knew that Boss Lan had specially prepared a big dish for tonight's lantern festival.Boss Lan hurried to Luoxia Bay with this freshly made vanilla rice after the restaurant closed, and kept it on the bottom of the pot without selling it to tourists. It turned out that it was for the final selection.

Every year, the gourmet competition is held by the government of Luoxia Town. Representatives from various restaurants, restaurants, and snack shops in the town gather together. appraiser.

There was only room for two or three people to stand next to the participating cars, and the onlookers were isolated several feet away to avoid causing chaos on the scene.It wasn't until this moment that Qi Yan saw the whole picture of the venue clearly, and was shocked by the scale of the competition.

Looking from the carts they were pushing to the left and right, you could see carts bearing their own restaurant signs.Countless colorful signboards and flags are waving in the wind, and smoke from cooking smoke floats into the night sky one after another.

On their left is a steamed stuffed bun shop, and the owner there seems to know Boss Lan.When the two looked at each other, the boss whose face looked like a round bun smiled at Boss Lan and cupped his hands: "Hey, Boss Lan, long time no see."

Boss Lan responded politely: "Boss Yuan, hello."

Boss Yuan laughed, with a naive smile, and the way he squinted his eyes really looked like a cute round bun.He held a cattail leaf fan in his hand, fanned it non-stop, and said to Boss Lan with a smile: "Boss Lan, I remember that this is the first time you have come to participate in the food competition at the Lantern Festival, right?"

Boss Lan nodded and said, "Exactly. The restaurant happens to have suitable dishes this time, so let's try them out."

Boss Yuan shook his head, "Hmm... Boss Lan's restaurant tastes a little bland, but most of the old men in our town like to have a stronger and more fragrant taste. Hey, even I, who makes steamed stuffed buns You have to take this into consideration." He pointed mysteriously at the big steamer in front of him, "It's all spicy and spicy."

Boss Lan smiled slightly: "Boss Yuan's steamed stuffed buns are delicious, and the smell alone is very appetizing."

Boss Yuan said "Hey" twice, "That's not right, the selection of this food competition is also divided into three criteria, namely 'color, aroma, and taste', and the quality of the taste only accounts for [-]% of the final result. Hey, Boss Lan, you don't know this, do you?"

Boss Lan said softly: "I only know that there are these three standards, but I don't know the specific procedures. Can Boss Yuan enlighten me?"

Seeing the beauty's big watery eyes looking at him, Boss Yuan was so excited that he couldn't help but say it all:

"The selection of this food, first of all, is the selection of 'fragrance', that is, the selection of smell. After a while, the officials will cover their eyes and judge the food they want to taste the most according to their noses.

The second step is "color". The bosses bring their delicacies in a random order to the officials and gentlemen, and wait for them to choose another wave based on their appearance.

The last thing is "taste". At the last ring, it is up to the tasters to vote together with the tourists of Luoxia Bay to choose the king of food tonight. "

Boss Yuan's narration surprised Qi Yan who was beside him.Qi Yan originally thought that this competition was just for people to vote for the most delicious food, but he didn't expect that this food competition had a "triple level" of color, aroma and taste.

Boss Yuan paced back and forth next to the steamer, seeming very nervous.Seeing this, Boss Lan smiled and comforted him: "Boss Yuan, don't be so nervous. No one in Luoxia Town knows that your Boss Yuan's Yuan Yuan Steamed Bun Shop is the best in the town? Whether it's sunny or rainy, diners who come here because of the name are always welcome. There are long queues.”

Boss Yuan shook his head sadly and said: "Hey! My buns are good, but I don't know if I can catch the eyes of the officials! In the past two years of food competitions, they were the first to pick the big crab roe from the crab and crab bun shop next door. Bao. The inner core of the big crab roe bun is filled with crab roe, and the price is extremely expensive. My house buys two buns for a copper plate, and his family can only buy one for five copper coins. It is really a 'noble bun'!"

"Noble steamed stuffed bun?" Boss Lan frowned.

"That's right, the shops in this town are also divided into high-end wine shops and ordinary shops like mine. When I came, I saw that many owners of high-end restaurants also came over, and what they brought were delicacies from mountains and seas—what kind of sea cucumbers? Porridge, roe deer meat, flying dragon soup, Buddha jumping over the wall...all of them are rare treats for ordinary people!" Boss Yuan clicked his tongue a few times, a little envious and a little emotional.

"Boss Yuan, don't you think so. The delicacies of mountains and seas are indeed magnificent, but as you said, ordinary people may not be able to afford them. Doesn't the final vote depend on the choices of tourists?"

When he said this, Boss Yuan smiled naively again: "That's right. Boss Lan's health food is the same, the price is not expensive, everyone can afford it, and it sold very well at the stall just now."

While speaking, a young man in official uniform stood out from the judges' seat. He raised his hands, and the noisy venue immediately fell silent.The young official made a short official speech, and then introduced the process of the food competition.

The first level, "taste".

The tasters, who were composed of officials, were blindfolded and held a thin straw stick in their hands.All the contestants lifted half of the lid of the pot one after another, letting the aroma of delicious food overflow.

Si Dongmo also lifted half of the lid of the pot, and the aroma of vanilla rice rose from the pot and spread in all directions.Qi Yan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The fragrant smell of fresh shrimp, fried rice, and fresh pine nuts, wrapped in a faint aroma of herbs, was inhaled through the nasal cavity and circulated smoothly in the body, making the internal organs All warm and harmonious, there is a sense of happiness and satisfaction.

Qi Yan looked at the officials at the table with full confidence, but this food competition is not so simple.Just when everyone lifted the lid of the pot to let the fragrance out, Qi Yan suddenly smelled an extremely strong spicy smell.

"Smells so good, which family's smell is this?"

Le Hong sniffed and coughed a few times due to choking.

Boss Yuan from the steamed stuffed bun shop next door was also sniffing vigorously: "It seems to be the spicy shrimp from Xia Xiangxiang's family... Sigh, their family is too overbearing, why does the aroma spread so far? This time, our steamed stuffed buns It's all covered!"

Si Dongmo is tall and tall. He stretched his neck and looked into the distance for a while, then frowned and said, "There is a big bird squatting on the signboard of Xiaji Spicy Shrimp. That bird flapped its wings and stirred up the wind." , just let the aroma of spicy shrimp spread to a wider range.”

"I see, they're playing tricks over there!" Boss Yuan thumped the table angrily, looking very dissatisfied, "There are such unruly guys in the gourmet arena every year."

Moreover, there is not only one.

After the aroma of spicy shrimp swept across the audience, another burst of familiar smell of smoky and grilled came.Needless to say, it must have been the two foreign men who had kebabs before. They used some method to blow the smoke from the barbecue all over the place, thus attracting the attention of the officials at the judges' table.

The whistling evening wind blew by, and in the venue, "I will come on stage after you sing", all kinds of aromas blew around, vying for and occupying people's sense of smell.Seeing that the situation was not good, several up-and-coming small cars were selected by the blindfolded officials one after another. From the corner of Qi Yan's eyes, he caught a glimpse of the Blowing Beast with its small claws on the back of Boss Lan's shirt, so he stretched out his hand to catch it.

"It can't go on like this. Although the aroma of the food in our restaurant is light, it is also unique. We can't just be robbed of the limelight."

Qi Yan said earnestly to Gufeng Beast's language: "Gufeng Beast, try it, suck the excess fragrance into your stomach, and let everyone compete fairly."

Blowwind Beast blinked its small eyes and hummed.It looked up, looking straight at Boss Lan's hair.

Qi Yan followed its gaze and found that this silly guy didn't listen to him at all, but was only thinking about the hairband tied on Boss Lan's head wholeheartedly, so he couldn't laugh or cry.He stretched out his hand to poke the belly of the wind blowing beast, and persuaded in a good voice: "The wind blowing beast, take another breath!"

Boss Lan heard the movement behind him, rolled his eyes, quietly stretched his hand to the back of the wind blowing beast, and squeezed it hard.

"Aw... gahh!"

The wind beast was pinched by the beauty's evil hand, and its flesh ached. It suddenly yelled, which startled Qi Yan.It opened its mouth wide immediately, and a strong suction came from its belly, which almost deformed Qi Yan's handsome face.

"My God... Wind Beast, don't suck on my face!"

Si Dongmo's eyes were quick, and he snatched the Blowing Wind Beast out of Qi Yan's hands, and adjusted its ball-shaped body so that its wide-open mouth faced the choking scent coming out of the distance. BBQ stand.

"Whoosh-"

The Wind Beast is like a small range hood, sucking all the aroma of delicious food within a radius of [-] meters into its round belly!All of a sudden, the venue was filled with evil winds, and the clothes that Boss Yuan was wearing were almost sucked away by the cart next to the steamed stuffed bun shop!

"Blowing Wind Beast, don't suck it so hard!"

Boss Lan's slender fingers knocked on the head of the wind blowing beast a few times, the silly ball finally stopped going crazy, and the movement of inhaling slowed down.All the contestants in the gourmet arena showed their own special abilities. They used big birds to blow, fans to fan, and a blowing beast that could inhale air. After a while, all the small tricks of each family were canceled out unexpectedly. , the scene returned to calm.

Qi Yan watched as a taster gradually approached, and hurriedly poked the wind blowing beast: "Little guy, help me blow it!"

The wind blowing beast had just sucked its fill, and now it reluctantly opened its mouth to help blow out the aroma of shrimp and vanilla rice that was half hidden in the pot.The taste of fried rice mixed with the fresh aroma of herbs is particularly prominent in the spicy aroma of heavy flavors, which refreshes the tasters who have been fatigued in the aroma tug-of-war just now.

"Well. This is fine!"

The straw stick in the official's hand pointed in this direction, and the fourteen restaurants were selected.

Qi Yan breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled at Si Dongmo.Le Hong jumped up with joy, and hugged the Blowwind Beast, which was bulging into a ball, and kissed it hard.Of course, he regretted it in the next moment - there was black oily smoke around the mouth of Gu Feng Beast, and Le Hong's own mouth was blackened by the kiss, and he wiped it all over his face with his sleeve.

After passing the level of "taste", the second level is "color", that is, the appearance of food.Fang Lan is Si Dongmo's forte. He is very good at making various dishes exquisite and attractive.

This dish of pine nut shrimp and herb rice is the result of Boss Lan's reformation on the basis of the original pine nut corn shrimp fried rice.Eating too much fried rice tends to make your mouth dry, but adding herbs to fried rice can remove oil, reduce calories, adjust taste, and improve freshness.

But when they tried it for the first time two days ago, Boss Lan only added the leaves of the herb to the rice. The large leaves were added to the rice grains, which looked very abrupt. The pink and tender shrimp did not go well with it.

Then, Si Dongmo came up with a way to grind the grass leaves into fine powder, and dotted them with pine nuts and corn kernels among the rice grains.The sweet juice of the herb is squeezed out and mixed into the rice, making the whole rice a light tea-flavored green color.Finally, insert two thin grass blades on one side of the rice bowl to make it a finishing touch.

After this decoration, the rice is dotted with small yellow or light green grains, the white and tender shrimps are looming, and there are two whole vanilla leaves standing on the side.This is a small fresh style that is completely different from other spicy dishes.

During a freely chosen time period, a taster stopped in front of their vanilla rice.

It was a dignified man, dressed in a neat and majestic purple official uniform, he seemed to be of high rank among the group of officials.He is about 30 years old, his long soft hair is tied behind his head and combed meticulously. Although he is young, his sharp eyes give people an unquestionable sense of majesty, which made Qi Yan and Le Hong, who were still talking and laughing before He held his breath and stopped moving.

The official stood still in front of them and looked deeply at the vanilla rice.Noticing that Qi Yan and the others were all nervous and stuck like a stiff block of wood, he smiled reassuringly: "Don't be nervous." He then commented: "Your food is very beautiful."

Qi Yan did not expect that he would use the word "beautiful" to describe a piece of food.When he took a closer look, he suddenly felt that this official looked familiar, but he couldn't remember his identity.The official smiled faintly, glanced over them one by one, paused for two more seconds on Boss Lan's face, turned and left with a chuckle.

Looking at his back, Qi Yan immediately reacted.His figure and outline...much like the owner of the Flametail Dog.

Qi Yan looked at Boss Lan and found that he didn't show any intention of knowing the official, but just watched him leave with a smile.This enigmatic character aroused Qi Yan's curiosity. While he was thinking wildly, the results of the second round were also announced. A total of eight gourmet restaurants entered the final competition, including fourteen restaurants.

"The last test is the taste test."

Qi Yan looked around, and sure enough, the representatives of the high-end restaurants mentioned by Boss Yuan were there, but Boss Yuan himself was lost again, after all, only one Baozipu was shortlisted.He saw the Crab Steamed Bun Shop, Yuanshan Restaurant, Jiuyue Restaurant, etc. in turn, all of which were big-name restaurants in this town.There are also some special snacks, such as the spicy shrimp and crab and skewered meatball shop that were previously popular.

The smoky exotic barbecue stall did not enter the finals, probably because it pays too much attention to taste and likes to cover the barbecue with seasonings, which makes its dark appearance really unacceptable.

There is a high ring in the center of the venue, on which a huge rectangular dining table is placed.Qi Yan and Boss Lan took out the leftover pine nut jujube paste cake, pine nut mushroom ball and other snacks from the pot, put them on plates, and placed them on the table with vanilla rice, forming a complete pine nut-themed gourmet set.

Qi Yan was burying his head in arranging the dishes when suddenly, someone bumped his arm.Originally thinking that the other party was an unintentional mistake, Qi Yan just glanced to the side, but he didn't want to but saw a chubby smiling face with a very exaggerated expression.The man bumped into him and didn't say anything, he looked up and down the boy with a pair of small eyes blinking, and he couldn't stop laughing.

"The winner of the gourmet competition this time can get the order for the official banquet in Luoxia Town." The fat guy from Yuanshan Restaurant whispered to Qi Yan, with a somewhat flamboyant tone, "In the past, our restaurant or the nine Yuejiu Restaurant got the qualification. No wonder, only a big-name restaurant like us can undertake the big order of a banquet for hundreds of people, even if a small restaurant like yours has the time to accept it, it won’t have the time to do it. Hahaha!"

Hearing the fat man's ruthless ridicule, Qi Yan glanced at him with an indifferent expression.His house is indeed a big restaurant, seven or eight of the shop assistants came here, and they all wore uniform clothes, with the words "Yuanshan Restaurant" printed on the front of the clothes, and they all wore gorgeous tall hats. Going up is majestic and imposing.

Le Hong also heard Fatty's words, and he seemed a little nervous: "Every year, the two of them take turns to get orders. It seems that Yuanshan Restaurant does have two brushes."

The fat man giggled at Qi Yan, "What, little brother, why don't you go to our Yuanshan restaurant, you look quite upright, and you can be a welcome mistress or something when you come here. It's better for the dignitaries to meet face to face than to take a nap in a dilapidated restaurant, quack quack..."

Qi Yan's face was neither humble nor overbearing, and he responded lightly: "But having said that, the officials eat the delicacies of mountains and seas from your place every year, and they are almost tired of eating them. Maybe they want to change the taste? The light food in our restaurant is not bad at all. It's greasy, but it's very suitable for old men to keep in good health."

Hearing this, the fat man suddenly changed his face.Qi Yan turned his face away, looked at the judges in front of him, and said to himself: "Who will win this year, let's wait and see!"