Chapter 329

One Hundred and Thirty-Eighth Chapter: Cooking Battle (Part One)

[November 30th / Saturday / 14:10]

[The Circular Plaza of the Balance Night Market]

With only half of the twenty-minute limit gone, two dishes of egg rice with completely different styles were placed before the judges after being shown to the surrounding audience.

One was Apollo’s Sun God Egg Rice.

The other was the shopkeeper’s French-style seafood egg rice.

“This is tough to choose, they seem even closer in strength than the first round…”

As Tuo Hai had said, no matter which dish of egg rice one looked at, they seemed very impressive. It was hard to distinguish between them just by appearance alone.

The maid in pajamas handed me several plates and spoons, saying, “Miss Ling Meng, please distribute the egg rice to the other judges.”

“Hey hey, shouldn’t the organizers do this before serving the dishes?”

“We’re a spontaneous program, and experiencing the moment of flipping the egg skin is an important part of enjoying the egg rice. This must be done by the judges.”

Since I was sitting in the middle as a judge, this troublesome task fell onto my shoulders.

After a brief hesitation between the two dishes of egg rice, I made a decision.

“Then let me try this… Sun God Egg Rice.”

Is it called “Sun God” because it was made by “Apollo”?

Unlike the usual long oval shape of egg rice, this space maid somehow rolled the egg rice into a perfect circle, truly like a golden sun. The entire egg skin was bright yellow, with no brown spots. Given that the competition used a difficult-to-control induction cooker, any carelessness could ruin everything.

She’s a master.

Thinking this, I poked the plump egg rice. Hey, the egg skin was not only thick but also elastic. A sharp chopstick tip couldn’t pierce through… Was something gel-like mixed into the egg liquid?

“What ingredients are in this Sun God Egg Rice? Is it liquid inside?”

I looked at Apollo with a questioning gaze.

“Do you need to explain this to us before we eat?”

She shook her head twice, pointing at the Western dining knife on the table, indicating that I should cut open the egg rice directly.

I pursed my lips and turned to Xia Lu, “Does your Peach Cat still hire deaf and mute maids?”

“Watch your words! She can speak, she’s just too shy to. After all, she’s a new recruit who just arrived this morning.”

“…What? Just recruited today?”

I didn’t quite understand. Could such skilled cooks be found so easily on the street? Underneath that spacesuit, could it be some one-eyed scarred old boss?

Xia Lu shrugged and said, “She was loitering at our door early in the morning, so we invited her in for an interview. When she mentioned she could cook, Ziye asked her to show her skills in the kitchen, and nearly caused our head chef to lose his job.”

“…Let’s just say that’s how it is.”

It sounded like bragging, and I wasn’t entirely convinced.

I asked again, “So what about her nickname?”

“She’s quite shy. Among the maid outfits, she chose this one no one else wanted. Ziye was happy and gave her the name ‘Apollo.'”

The overly absurd reason made me roll my eyes.

“Then she should be named Armstrong.”

Apollo choosing this space maid outfit was abnormal, but Lin Ziye, who ordered this outfit, was also questionable.

“Do I have to know all this? Hurry up and distribute the food.”

Xia Lu urged me, and I refocused on the Sun God Egg Rice.

“Then I’ll cut it?”

The knife tip broke through the thick egg skin, and a golden, thick liquid oozed out, emitting a gentle aroma of spices.

“Huh, it’s curry?”

The Sun God Egg Rice contained not the standard fried rice but a rich Japanese curry. Considering the Indian background of curry, perhaps it would be better called Surya Egg Rice?

Curry egg rice itself wasn’t rare, but to completely enclose the curry sauce and rice within the egg skin, without leaking a drop until I cut it, this was a technique seen only in “Cooking Champion!”

It was no less impressive than Senior Longkui’s “Copper Coin One-Stroke Style,” and the audience began to murmur again.

But, it was curry…

At noon, I had seen curry in the tea room but couldn’t taste it. The scent of spices had stimulated my appetite, and the dormant craving had been reignited…

Gurgle—

I was hungry, and that’s what my stomach was saying.

Indeed, tea-soaked rice wouldn’t last through the afternoon.

I rubbed my belly and asked, “How did Miss Apollo manage to make this? Even with just ten minutes to cook the curry?”

“That bag of instant curry in the ingredients, she adjusted it a bit.”

Apollo, determined to stick to her silent persona, covered her hood and refused to answer. The shopkeeper, Shenyang, explained, “The technique of stuffing the curry into the egg skin is clever, but unfortunately, that instant curry can’t surpass my seafood egg rice!”

He then pushed his French-style seafood egg rice forward.

I pushed it back.

“No, although seafood egg rice sounds good, as judges, we should taste this side first.”

Completely peeling off the golden egg skin, the golden curry emitted steam, the rice grains distinct without any stickiness. The thick curry oozing from the opening flowed like lava, gradually filling the plate.

A visual masterpiece!

Distributing the egg rice to Xia Lu and Elder Tuo Hai, I finally got to take the first bite of curry egg rice.

Beef, potatoes, and carrots are standard in packaged Japanese curry. Adding Southeast Asian flavors like coconut milk and lemongrass transported the diner from Hokkaido to Kuala Lumpur… Before I knew it, I had finished it.

“Sigh, despite being just reseasoned packaged curry, it’s so delicious. It lives up to Apollo’s name, doesn’t it?”

I couldn’t help but感慨.

Curry, indeed, is a wonderful cuisine.

“Miss Ling Meng seems to really enjoy the Sun God Egg Rice?”

Only when I put down the spoon did the maid in pajamas raise the microphone and say, “To avoid being influenced by the seafood egg rice, please give a score for the next dish!”

Elder Tuo Hai wiped his mouth and asked first, “Oh, is it out of ten points?”

“Yes, out of ten points.”

“The technique of completely wrapping the curry rice in the egg skin is surprising, but according to my taste, this curry is a bit too sweet. Although this is an inherent issue with instant curry, since you chose it, you shouldn’t add sugary coconut milk… Eight points.”

Elder Tuo Hai’s response was fair, but since Apollo represented “Peach Cat,” Xia Lu naturally showed favoritism.

“It’s sweet? I think it’s fine! Ten points! Absolutely ten points!”

I sneered, “So loud, didn’t you just tell me to be impartial? Can’t you be neutral yourself?”

“Huh, then what fault can you find?”

She was annoyed, but I wasn’t going to nitpick just because I disliked being told what to do.

“Seven points. The egg rice suits my taste, and its perfectly round shape is impressive, but I need to deduct three points from you personally. I expected explanations, which you never provided.”

“Lower than what Elder gave? Hey! Aren’t you just looking for faults? You’re here to evaluate the egg rice, not to date!”

Next to me, the firecracker started complaining and even grabbed my collar.

“Oh, Xia Lu, can’t you let me finish?”

Her long-term life as a delinquent had made her rough, lacking any ladylike qualities. To act so aggressively in front of everyone was inappropriate.

Moreover, I’m not Xiao Kai anymore.

The collar I was holding automatically slipped off, and before she could react, I grabbed her head and forced her back into her seat.

Xia Lu looked at my counterattack with surprise.

“Cough, Miss Apollo.”

I didn’t care what she thought, and I looked back at the space maid.

“If you’re willing to remove your hood and say two more words, there might be room to discuss those three points. How about it? My conditions are simple, right?”

She covered her round hood and shook her body.

Hmph, still unwilling?

I pressed harder, “The shopkeeper’s seafood egg rice looks very appetizing. If you only get twenty-six points in total, you might lose, you know?”

I said this while holding the microphone, and the audience around the plaza were curious about the person in the spacesuit, echoing my proposal.

A fool couldn’t sit still.

She ran up and said, “Chairman, why are you making things hard for her?”

“Fool, don’t cause trouble! Isn’t this a reasonable request?”

“You’re weird! If the egg rice is good, does it matter whether we see the chef or not… Ah!”

I tapped my forehead, and Xiaole became a mouth-open, eye-closed expression.

“Fool, Xia Lu definitely won’t give the shopkeeper high marks. If I give her ten points, then ‘Kamehameha’ will lose this round! Is that okay?”

Xiaole glared at Xia Lu, who denied it immediately.

“Hey, don’t talk nonsense! I’ll score fairly!”

“But now it’s up to me to give the score, Miss Apollo. Whether you get these three points depends entirely on yourself, okay?”

Even if the fool didn’t say anything, I felt a bit guilty.

But I was genuinely curious about what kind of person could make such a level of cuisine.

By the way, Lin Ziye sat aside without interfering, even though Apollo looked at him several times, he just smiled.

“Mmm—”

Finally, some sound came from the hood, though it wasn’t exactly a sentence.

Apollo tried to unzip the hood and her clothes, but the spacesuit’s flexibility was poor, making it hard to reach the zipper behind her head.

“Let me help.”

The maid in pajamas stepped forward and said, “But don’t scare them.”

“Scare them?”

Could it be that she was ugly?

Or did she have some unsightly scars?

Unzipping the hood, the headgear separated from the collar. With the maid’s help, the hood slowly lifted.

In the next moment.

Apollo’s long, black hair, like a vast galaxy, slid out of the round hood.

“…Huh? Sister Fei!”