Chapter 137 Joking Internationally—Four Ounces of Pork Loin Can Yield 3.7 Ounces?
The ten-minute ti limit was almost up. So had just finished filling out their tasting feedback and let out a sigh of relief. So had been frowning throughout the tasting process, treating it as if they were answering a college entrance exam, even sweating on their foreheads.
This made Lu Qin wonder—wasn’t this just helping out with a dish tasting? If you could provide feedback, great; if not, then just don’t. Or were they afraid that with so many people present, not coming up with sothing insightful would make them lose face?
Thinking about it, Lu Qin figured that might actually be the case. At that mont, Rongxuanji Restaurant’s manager, Zhu Li, ca in and collected the fourteen feedback forms. Then, she led everyone to the kitchen.
The kitchen had been cleaned, leaving only a long table in the center, with fourteen cutting boards placed on it. Each cutting board had a piece of pork loin. Lu Qin had initially thought there would be more dishes to taste, but judging from the setup, were they supposed to cut at?
What was Fang Ya up to?
A staff mber set up two tripods at opposite corners of the kitchen and mounted two DV caras. Lu Qin suddenly realized—they were recording the at-cutting process?
Showing off skills?
That was the thought that ca to his mind.
Sure enough, Zhu Li spoke, “Second task—knife skills.”
“The pork in front of you weighs four ounces. Please demonstrate your knife skills.”
After saying that, Zhu Li left the kitchen.
Lu Qin glanced at the others, everyone had a serious expression. Typically, showcasing knife skills involved carving radishes into flowers, slicing potatoes into thin threads, or cutting cucumbers into paper-thin slices. However, cutting pork into fine strips was far more challenging.
And since this was a skills demonstration, the at strips had to be far more refined than what one would normally cut for cooking. The requirents included length, thickness, uniformity, and even quantity—how many strips could be cut from four ounces of pork loin? This was the real difficulty.
A few people picked up their knives, checked the blades, then scooped up so water with their hands and sprinkled it over the blade before starting to cut.
Well, since he had agreed to help, Lu Qin switched into serious mode and prepared to showcase his knife skills. Pork loin, also known as pork tenderloin, is the at located along both sides of the pig’s spine, running the entire length of the vertebrae.
This part of the at is tender, with distinct muscle fibers, and contains so fat and connective tissue. If knife skills were being tested with at strips, pork loin was the perfect choice.
With his maxed-out cooking skills, cutting at into strips was second nature to Lu Qin. As expected, he finished the fastest. And, of course, his cuts were top-notch. Once again, the others glanced at him in unison. Lu Qin finishing so quickly seed to put pressure on them.
After everyone finished cutting, they placed their at strips into individual stainless steel bowls filled with water. With the at strips floating in water, their quality was clear at a glance. Zhu Li instructed two staff mbers to take down the DV caras and film close-up shots of each bowl of at strips.
The participants also observed each other’s work. Zhu Li examined each batch—there was a wide range of skill levels. So participants weren’t trained in traditional Chinese cuisine and had barely practiced knife skills.
So were self-proclaid fusion chefs, blending Chinese and Western techniques but mastering neither. Their knife skills were weak. So focused on creative fusion cuisine and hadn’t invested much ti in honing their knife skills.
As a result, so had only managed to cut two ounces of at into strips, wasting half of the at—if they were working in a restaurant, the owner would go bankrupt from such losses!
So had cut the strips too thick—they weren’t strips but at chunks. So had inconsistently sized cuts, many of which were broken or uneven. Zhu Li shook her head in disappointnt.
Knife skills are a fundantal part of Chinese cuisine, representing a chef’s expertise. For Rongxuanji to earn a Michelin three-star rating, it couldn’t rely solely on fusion dishes—it needed to incorporate technically demanding Chinese cuisine.
Clearly, just based on knife skills, 70% of the participants would be eliminated. The remaining ones were barely passing. Zhu Li arrived at the last participant. She took a look and imdiately recognized him—it was Mr. Lu, the last one to arrive.
Handso, with a casual deanor, yet his gaze was firm, giving off a sense of reliability. When Zhu Li saw the at strips in Lu Qin’s stainless steel bowl, her eyes widened.
Visibly, the strips were uniform in thickness and length, with an even texture. The strips floated in the water, making their consistency unmistakable. His knife skills were incredibly refined. Zhu Li suddenly felt a surge of excitent.
She turned to a staff mber and said, “Bring a digital scale.”
Lu Qin smiled slightly and said, “Four ounces of pork loin—removing 0.2 ounces of connective tissue, yielding 3.7 ounces of at strips.”
Zhu Li’s body stiffened, and she looked at Lu Qin in shock.
Was he joking?
Four ounces of pork yielding 3.7 ounces of strips with almost no loss?
Impossible!
Under normal circumstances, according to the high standards of Shandong cuisine, four ounces of pork loin, after removing connective tissue, could yield about 3.4 ounces of at strips—that was already exceptional.
3.7 ounces!
That was an insane difficulty level—only about 0.01% of chefs could achieve that!
It was nearly impossible!
The others murmured among themselves.
“Four ounces of pork loin yielding 3.7 ounces of strips? That’s a joke! I trimd off 0.3 ounces just removing the connective tissue!”
“I’ve practiced knife skills for six years—3.2 ounces is my limit!”
“I don’t know… I glanced at that handso guy while he was cutting. His hands were ridiculously steady, and his knife work was incredibly fast! It made feel imnse pressure!”
“No way he got 3.7 ounces. I know a top chef who’s been practicing for over 20 years, and the best he can get is 3.5 ounces. There’s always so loss—just what sticks to the knife is more than 0.2 ounces!”
The digital scale arrived.
The at strips were drained and placed on the scale. Everyone held their breath. The result—precisely 3.7 ounces!
Four ounces of pork loin, with 0.2 ounces of connective tissue removed, yielding 3.7 ounces of at strips!
Good grief!
This was god-tier knife work!
This…
This was outright insane!
Zhu Li’s heart pounded. She took a deep look at Lu Qin—this young man was a rare talent!
His knife skills were extraordinary!
All eyes in the room were on Lu Qin—so were in shock, so in envy, so in admiration, and so in disbelief…
This guy was a master!
An absolute top-tier expert!
With him here, why were they even bothering to compete?
They were just extras at this point!
Only Lu Qin remained clueless—he still thought this was just sothing Fang Ya had set up in advance. To confirm, he had even ssaged Fang Ya midway through, and she replied, Room 3092. So, there was no mistake.
Zhu Li suppressed her excitent and announced the third task.
“Prepare a Sichuan dish—Mapo Tofu.”
Lu Qin rubbed his nose and thought, Well, this is easy. My Mapo Tofu skills are maxed out.
This was his specialty!
With limited stovetops, the fourteen participants were split into two groups. Of course, the second group had to wait outside while the first group cooked—no peeking. Unsurprisingly, Lu Qin finished first again.
Zhu Li paid special attention to him. He completed the dish in about eight minutes with three rounds of thickening—a sign of true expertise. The rich aroma made her involuntarily swallow. It slled incredible!
The taste had to be phenonal!
As soon as Lu Qin plated the dish, Zhu Li had it sent to the chairman’s office for evaluation.
Lu Qin remarked, “This Mapo Tofu isn’t perfect.”
Zhu Li asked, “Why? Did sothing go wrong?”
“The doubanjiang isn’t quite right.”
“But it’s all Pixian doubanjiang.”
“There are different grades of Pixian doubanjiang—the taste and saltiness vary.”
Zhu Li: “…”
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