Huayu Chef

099 Self-Assessment Lowest Score

"Before the formal self-evaluation, let me ask our food critic, Reba, to give it a score," Zhang Jinxuan asked. "Reba, what score would you give this braised carp noodles we ate today?"

"Is it out of 10?"

"right."

Dilraba smiled cutely and said, "I give it 9.8 points. I'm deducting 0.1 points so that you won't get arrogant, and I'm also deducting 0.1 points so that the audience won't get arrogant."

"You copycat! Can't you come up with some new words? You just copied and pasted my words."

"Where did you copy and paste it? I changed several words."

Zhang Jinxuan made a six with both hands, "666, Dilraba, you are simply invincible."

Dilraba smiled and asked, "What score would Brother Xuan give himself?"

"The general method of making braised carp with noodles is correct. The dish was approved by the food critics and the filming team. Several people ate a six-pound Yellow River carp until only the skeleton was left, which means the taste was acceptable. Based on these two points, my braised carp with noodles did not turn out badly and can be considered acceptable. Therefore, I give this dish a score of 6."

Reba exclaimed in astonishment, "So low?"

The first episode of "Wild Kitchen" has been released, and one more episode is being filmed. The lowest score I gave myself was for the first episode, where Zhang Jinxuan gave his Peking duck a score of 6 to 7. The fifth episode only got a score of 6, setting a record for the lowest score in the five episodes.

Zhang Jinxuan said earnestly, "Actually, I'm not satisfied with how I made this braised carp with noodles today. I made too many mistakes, and my skill level is far from up to par."

"First, let's talk about the ingredients. If you're looking for the best flavor, you can't use a six-pound Yellow River carp. Yellow River carp that have been growing for more than two years have too firm flesh and don't taste as fresh and tender as a one- or two-pound Yellow River carp."

"Secondly, there's the dragon beard noodle. When we were eating it, Dilraba also said that it would be better if the dragon beard noodles were thinner. Strictly speaking, only noodles that are stretched to more than fourteen turns are true dragon beard noodles. I only stretched it to nine turns, so calling it dragon beard noodles is a bit of self-aggrandizement."

"Then there's the sweet and sour sauce. Because the carp was large, we made a lot of batter, and consequently, a lot of sweet and sour sauce. What problem does this cause? The sweet and sour sauce masks the freshness of the fish. This is a fish dish! If you can't taste the freshness of the fish, can it still be called a fish dish?"

Reba pondered for a moment, then nodded slightly: "The flavor of the fish is indeed not very prominent."

"Finally, the problem lies in the overall cooking philosophy of the dish. I compromised on the selection, and the shortcomings in technique greatly reduced the quality of the dish."

"Braised carp with noodles is a dish that only appears at high-end banquets. It requires a high level of cooking skills from the chef, and secondly, it requires a concept of 'moderation and harmony'."

"The middle" refers to being neither east, west, south, nor north, but in the middle of the four cardinal directions; it is neither too sweet, nor too salty, nor too spicy, nor too sour, but seeks the middle, the balance, and the blandness among sweet, salty, sour, and spicy.

"Harmony is the unity of sweet and sour braised fish and baked noodles, a fusion of sweet, salty, sour and spicy flavors into one, seeking harmony."

"It sounds mysterious, and it actually is."

Dilraba smiled broadly, thinking, "What kind of nonsense is this?"

"Those who know, know; those who don't, won't understand even if you explain. There's no need to force it. Everyone should just eat their own food."

"My cooking skills are still not perfected; I still need to work hard."

"After self-evaluation, this episode of 'Wild Kitchen' is coming to an end. Now, food critic Dilraba will announce three key pieces of information for the main course in the next episode."

Dilraba addressed the camera with perfect pronunciation: "The main course guessing game for next episode is about to begin! Let's guess together if you want to know what's going to happen in the next episode!"

Here are three pieces of useful information for you.

"The first piece of valid information is that it refers to a type of poultry."

"The second piece of useful information is that we are number one in the world."

"The third piece of useful information is the ten famous dishes."

Zhang Jinxuan continued, "Last time, I provided everyone with three useful pieces of information, and many netizens complained in the comments section of my Weibo post that the question was too difficult and they couldn't do it. This time, I've lowered the difficulty, and the direction is already very clear."

"If you guess the answer, please leave a comment under the latest Weibo post of the account @《Wild Kitchen》Season 1 at the bottom of the screen. I will forward the comment of the first person who guesses correctly and give away a set of autographed photobooks. The photobooks of the winners of the last round have already been sent out. We welcome everyone to participate."

"Alright, that's all for this episode of 'Wild Kitchen.' We'd like to say goodbye to everyone. A big thank you to food critic Reba for participating in the filming of this video. Thank you to Uncle Liu, Brother Yushan, and Sister-in-law Shan for providing us with the filming location, ingredients, and guidance on net fishing techniques. Thank you to the 'Wild Kitchen' filming team, thank you to the staff of various scenic spots in Kaifeng, and thank you to all the passersby for your understanding and support."

"Let's go wild together, see you next Saturday at 10 am, bye-bye." Zhang Jinxuan waved to the camera.

Dilraba waved and said, "Goodbye everyone, tune in next Saturday at 10 a.m. sharp! Dilraba's bodyguard is with you all."

"All done, wrap up." Zhang Jinxuan smiled at Dilraba with a relaxed expression, "After filming 'Wild Kitchen,' you can enjoy a delicious seafood feast to your heart's content."

"expect."

"How was your day? Did you have fun?"

Dilraba put her finger to her lips and smiled in a way that was both alluring and adorable: "I had a great time eating, playing, and filming. I was happy in every way, but it just felt like time flew by and it was over in a flash."

"Still not enough fun?"

"I haven't had enough fun yet," Reba said, still wanting more. "I want to cast the net a few more times and try to catch a Yellow River carp."

Zhang Jinxuan joked, "Tsk tsk, you have a strong competitive spirit. Catching a small crucian carp is already pretty good. At least you didn't come back empty-handed, right?"

Reba said coquettishly, "Brother Xuan, you're making fun of me again. Next time, I'll definitely catch a seven-pound Yellow River carp and surpass you."

"Go for it, girl! Let's go, mantis shrimp!"

Dilraba gave Zhang Jinxuan a push and called out in a girlish voice, "Go, Pikachu!"

"There's work to be done, and the voice is nice."

"I can also imitate the voices of Chibi Maruko-chan and Crayon Shin-chan."

Show off your skills.

Dilraba imitated Chibi Maruko-chan: "Happiness is being poor, but everyone being healthy."

"666, it's not just exactly the same, it's incredibly similar."

Dilraba continued imitating Crayon Shin-chan: "I'm just a little kid, why are you taking me so seriously?"

"Ha ha."

Back in their seats, everyone burst into laughter at Dilraba's Crayon Shin-chan voice.

Zhang Jinxuan admires her ability to voice young girls and boys. She is particularly good at this and has a great talent for languages. In her previous life, she won the championship of "The Voice".

Amidst laughter and chatter, Liu Yushan came over to announce that dinner was ready. The seven people, who hadn't had enough of the braised carp noodles, quickly tidied up the table to prepare for the feast.

It was supposed to be a grand feast, but it was really just a bunch of home-style dishes made with river fish and wild vegetables: braised fish in soy sauce, boiled fish offal, river shrimp with chives, sweet potato balls, wild vegetable balls, fried mushrooms...

There were eight dishes, both meat and vegetables, hot and cold, and the portions were huge. Zhang Jinxuan and his family had been eating in Kaifeng all day and were not too hungry. They knew they couldn't finish all the food, so they invited Liu San and Liu Yushan's family to join them for dinner.

The senior from the directing department had ulterior motives; he kept pestering Liu San to inquire about his ancestors. Liu San, feeling obligated to help, started to boast enthusiastically.

Before 6 p.m., dinner ended, and Zhang Jinxuan and his seven companions said goodbye to Liu San's family, boarded the minibus that had come to pick them up, and returned to Zhengzhou.

After returning the filming and recording equipment in the city, we went directly to the airport to wait for our flight.

Yao Yao and Reba booked their tickets earlier than Zhang Jinxuan and the others, so they flew ahead of them and parted ways at the airport.

Around 11 p.m. that night, Zhang Jinxuan and his group of five flew to Beijing Airport. He got home after midnight, took a shower, went to bed, and fell asleep with his aunt's little niece, Nazha.

The night was quiet, and the two did nothing.