Chapter 54 - 54: The Winter Melon That Turned

Into Pork Skin

Translator: 549690339

“Uncle Luo Hui, I’m heading home now!”

Having completed the cooking of the Steamed Bass for the evening, Qin Lang waved a farewell to Luo Hui, who was still busy inside the restaurant.

“Prepare well for the competition day after tomorrow. I’m looking forward to your performance!” Luo Hui also waved back at Qin Lang, but soon got occupied with the customers’ calls.

Releasing his gaze from Luo Hui, Qin Lang stepped to leave the restaurant.

The next moment, his facial expression turned somewhat peculiar.

At the entrance of the restaurant, Qin Lang saw three familiar silhouettes.

“What brings you guys here?” He couldn’t help ask.

“You are worthy of being my rival. You’ve collected the three Food Recommender Badges to participate in the cooking contest so quickly,” Zhao Chen, crossing his arms, displayed an expression stating ‘Only someone like you can qualify as my opponent’. “As such, I need to work harder.”

“In a few days, I’ll give you a surprise!”

He confidently expressed, seemingly brewing some plan in his mind.

“If that’s the case, give it your best shot.” Seeing Zhao Chen’s secretive demeanor, Qin Lang gave him an insincere encouragement, “You came to tell me this?”

“Let me do the talking.” Unbearable to the situation, Qi Xiaoyu on the side interjected, “I managed to get three Inner Circle VIP Tickets for the competition the day after tomorrow, offering the best view in the cooking contest arena!”

She took out the three tickets, shaking them in front of Qin Lang, “Weiwei, a certain chuunibyou dude, and I will be there cheering for you, do your best and don’t get eliminated in the scoring competition!”

“Hey! What chuunibyou dude are you talking about?” Zhao Chen, on the side, couldn’t help but complain, only to be ignored.

Standing beside Qi Xiaoyu, Du Weiwei also spoke out, “Good luck for the competition.”

Witnessing Qin Lang’s name on the contestants’ list, she became increasingly aware of the gap between their culinary skills.

No one knew better than they did how intimidating it was for Qin Lang to get the three Food Recommender Badges at such a speed.

It could be said that they have witnessed Qin Lang morph from registering as a Spirit Chef to reaching this stage in just a few short days.

“Thank you all.” Realizing the intent of the trio, Qin Lang expressed gratitude, “I will try my best not to be eliminated in the first round.”

Remembering the inspiration sparked from Uncle Luo Hui’s words during dinner service time, he overflowed with confidence.

If it’s that dish, it should stand out in the scoring competition.

Qualifying for the top eight shouldn’t be a major issue.

The trio had only come to cheer Qin Lang and inform him that they would be watching the competition from the inner circle.

After a brief conversation, they bid farewell.

Zhao Chen seemed to have some words left unsaid, but Qi Xiaoyu covered his mouth and dragged him away.

Watching the trio disappear, Qin Lang smiled faintly, quickly heading back home with Dan Bao.

“Gurgle?”

Upon closing the door, Dan Bao rubbed Qin Lang’s face, a curious expression on its little egg yolk face.

Due to their heartfelt communication, it had already guessed that Qin Lang had a plan for the dish in the scoring competition.

So, what kind of dish would it be this time?

It was very curious.

“It’s a very special vegetable dish.” Qin Lang cheerfully explained, “It’s sort of hard to describe at the moment. How about 1 prepare it once and you have a taste?”

“It’s just in time, I also need to cook a few times for practice before the competition.”

“Gurgle!”

Sparkling excitement rose instantly in Dan Bao’s eyes.

You can taste it now!

Watching Qin Lang select the ingredients he needed from the refrigerator and head into the kitchen, Dan Bao’s eyes lit up as he hurriedly followed.

Vegetables, this is the best scene for fresh ingredients to shine!

Soon, the man and spirit were busily working in the kitchen.

The ingredients chosen by Qin Lang were not many; the main ingredients were just a large piece of winter melon and a box of tofu. The auxiliary materials included common ones like green onions, ginger, star anise, and cinnamon.

“Hoo~”

Seeing the winter melon placed in front of him, Dan Bao very conscientiously started blowing air towards it.

After so many cooking experiences, the man and spirit’s tacit understanding had already been honed.

While Dan Bao was busy, Qin Lang gently poured a box of tofu onto the chopping board, keeping its shape intact. He then trimmed off the tougher outer part, leaving the softer inside. Using the kitchen knife, he meticulously shaped it into a uniform square shape, then divided it into small square pieces two fingers wide.

After that, he cut them into pieces about five millimeters thick.

Almost at the same time Qin Lang was skillfully preparing the tofu, Dan Bao had also used his Food Skill to get the winter melon, complete with its skin, into the best possible condition.

“Very good.” When he reached out to take the winter melon in front of him, Qin Lang noticed Dan Bao’s little eyes “begging for praise” and gave his encouragement accordingly.

So, Dan Bao’s little head immediately started excitedly bobbing up and down.

He voluntarily flew over the green onions and ginger, continuing to blow air over them.

Qin Lang gently moved the freshly cut tofu to the corner of the cutting board with the blunt side of the knife, placed the winter melon in the center of the cutting board, and started to peel it quickly.

The dark green skin was quickly separated from the winter melon under Qin Lang’s steady knife strokes and dropped into a nearby garbage can. The light green flesh near the skin was also separated and kept by Qin Lang.

After hollowing out the core of the winter melon, the large piece of melon was transformed quickly in Qin Lang’s hands. In just a few moments, it became small square pieces two fingers wide, just like the tofu he had cut earlier. Then, Qin Lang cut it into slices similar in thickness to the tofu.

“Gulp?”

Dan Bao, having already finished with the green onions and ginger, was now curiously looking at the tofu and winter melon slices on the cutting board.

These uniformly sliced pieces of food made him think of a toy called building blocks he had seen a few days ago.

What kind of vegetarian dish is this?

“Wait a moment, and you’ll see.” Qin Lang spoke as he set the sliced winter melon aside and started to deal with the light green winter melon flesh left earlier.

These parts of the melon that are closer to the skin are harder and more resilient than the inner flesh.

After slicing these pieces to about the same size as the tofu slices but slightly thinner, Qin Lang nicked a cross on each piece of the green winter melon and then carefully colored them with dark soy sauce.

The light green color was immediately saturated by the deep color of the dark soy sauce, turning into a deep brown. The faint smell of soy sauce wafting into the air made Dan Bao sniff his nose involuntarily.

He put the pan on and heated the oil.

When the oil was about fifty or sixty percent hot, he added the soy sauce-colored winter melon slices.

“Sizzle-”

In an instant, the water inside the winter melon slices began to boil under the hot oil, turning into numerous tiny bubbles that escaped into the air.

The fried winter melon with a slightly scorched surface wobbled with the movement of the chopsticks picking it up, reflecting an enticing oily sheen under the light.

As the moisture left during the deep frying, the originally hard and resilient green winter melon seemed to have some loose and soft texture.

Dan Bao’s eyes widened.

This somewhat resembles…

Pork skin?!