The Onion-Cutting Ninja's Secret Crush

137 Trust in Their Skills

Chu Yu An turned back to the side where Xiao Ming and Mister Yu had started to taste the other dishes, waiting for them to take over.

By now, after having gone through one round of all of this, the three judges had already fallen into a routine. There was no question anymore about who would speak when. Instead, just one glance was enough to determine who would go next. They were even able to switch from one person to another and then back again if one of them thought of another point they'd like to make after hearing what the other person mentioned.

For Xiao Ming and Mister Yu, this was something they would profit from for the rest of the season. Actually, thinking about it, they felt that it was a pity that Chu Yu An would leave after this episode.

Getting along for just the three tasks would be enough to make them get familiar with each other but next week, the two of them would need to establish a connection with the next temporary judge. That was making things more difficult for them.

Xiao Ming didn't think too much about it but Mister Yu couldn't help but ponder by himself that he should bring this up to producer Bian or his assistant later on. They had asked him to give feedback whenever he encountered something on the show that could be done better or that he thought might be a problem.

But then, today was only the first day of filming the regular episodes and he didn't want to be too rash. Maybe it would turn out that as long as he and Xiao Ming had enough experience next week, they would make the next judge comfortable with the process from the very beginning. Then, they wouldn't need to worry about this. He'd just wait and see.

With Mister Yu being distracted by what he was thinking about it, Xiao Ming was the one who picked up where Chu Yu An had left off.

He motioned at the cabbage stir-fry right next to the wonton soup. "Judge Chu did highlight that you made two vegetarian dishes and I think all three of us are in agreement that you did well by organizing them this way. It gives the setup a logical component that just makes this feel very well thought-out.

"The cabbage stir-fry is a very simple dish but I think it's a good way to use up the cabbage that you had left over from the other dishes. Regarding the taste, I think you've done really well once again. For this dish, the most important thing is to control the heat and timing to make sure the cabbage won't wilt too much and lose all its texture. I don't see any problem in that regard."

The other two judges nodded but didn't add anything else. Instead, Mister Yu motioned at the other side where Si Jin had plated the Sichuan beef, the Cantonese steamed chicken, and the oyster sauce chicken in the three small bowls. "Well, since we've talked about the two vegetarian dishes, let's get to the meat dishes.

"Something I have to say is very consistent throughout all your dishes is that the seasoning is very on point. This might be affected by personal taste but I think they are very well-rounded with none of the seasonings dominating too much.

"Other than that, for the steamed chicken and the oyster sauce chicken, the meat is also very tender. It was the same for the Shanghai stir-fried noodles before so this is something you are also able to do well. Now, I have a bit of a problem with this dish though." He motioned at the Sichuan beef, his brows furrowing slightly.

Si Jin glanced at the bowl before looking up again, feeling that he had a rough idea of just what the problem might be. Since he had substituted the beef with chicken for this dish, maybe he had failed to take that into account while cooking. There might be a difference in how to handle it that he didn't know about.

Just when he thought so, Mister Yu already confirmed his suspicions. "Contrary to the others, I feel like you fried this for too long. It was actually a bit charred on the outside and overall quite dry. I don't think that was the outcome you intended."