The Onion-Cutting Ninja's Secret Crush

109 Sixty-Four Variations of a Staple Dish

E Cheng Jun stepped closer to the table of the judges, smiling brightly. "Well, I believe now, it's time for our first task. Judge Yu, if I was informed right, then each judge is supposed to come up with one task for each episode. That amounts to quite a few tasks for you and Judge Xiao. Do you have a system how to come up with your tasks?"

Since this was the first episode, the format was still new so a lot of the things that she talked about with the judges would be rather general, and aim to introduce the concept of the show to the viewers so they wouldn't feel lost down the line.

Mister Yu gave a hum and nodded slowly, seeming every bit as unhurried as in real life as if he didn't know that the show could only run for a given amount of time. "Well, when I was asked to come up with tasks, I tried to think about what is important to me in cooking and what I think that everyone — no matter for which goal they cook — should be able to do. That is both in terms of dishes as well as techniques. Then, I tried to find a task that would allow the contestants to show how well they were able to do this while also giving them a bit of freedom in how they want to go about the task.

"I think that while there are some universal truths in cooking, there are also many things that are very individual. And I think that a show like 'Golden Spoon' should allow for both of that to coexist even in the tasks that are set by another person. So I want to see what the contestants believe, not them just cooking according to my beliefs."

E Cheng Jun nodded, looking as if she had just been completely enlightened. "That is a really interesting philosophy, Judge Yu. Then, I believe the first task for today is yours. Do you want to explain it yourself?"

Mister Yu nodded and then turned to the contestants. "Something that I find important is knowing a few staple dishes. Those stable dishes might be something different for each person but there are a handful that I think every cook should be able to make in our country. One of those is congee.

"There are different ways of cooking it and hundreds if not thousands of variations. For today's task I want our contestants to choose their ingredients, and cook a tasty bowl of congee for me and the other two judges." He nodded when he had finished, letting E Cheng Jun take over again.

She turned to the camera that was currently filming from among the contestants. "Well, as usual, there will, of course, be a time limit to your tasks. For this one, you will only have two hours. So, good luck to all of our contestants! I'm curious how it will turn out and I'll be sure to sneak a taste later on." With that, she hit a spot in the middle of the judges' table, making the front light up with a countdown.

Some of the contestants stiffened while some others — the ninjas of the Si clan among them —, immediately went to the areas at the side that had been shown to them beforehand which held the ingredients.

Two hours might seem like a lot of time but especially for congee which needed to cook for a long time, this was a test of their ability to finish on time. Thus, they couldn't waste even a minute when it was just about choosing the ingredients.

Just as Mister Yu had said, there were many variations on how to make congee. It might be sweet, it might be salty or savory, it might even be a bit spicy. As such, while there might be some similar tastes, there should still be sixty-four distinct variations by the end of this task. Just the ones the ninjas of the Si clan chose to make showed that already.

Si Jin went for a seafood congee that would have a bit of pep but not too much. After watching Bright Yellow Water for so long, he was pretty sure that he knew Xiao Ming's taste really well.

He was somebody who enjoyed traditional dishes a lot even if they followed the most basic recipes. It didn't need to be anything fancy. But he was also somebody who was willing to try out new things. When it came to the taste he preferred, then he was pretty sure that he was also someone who didn't have too many preferences. Every dish could be something that he would like. Maybe he liked things a bit spicy and also a bit salty more than he would like sweet dishes. No, the one with a sweet tooth in Bright Yellow Water was surely Qian Huang. Thus, Si Jin felt this kind of seafood congee to be a good idea.