Universe Infinite Canteen-Chapter 591: Still the Coconut

"Um, I really enjoy making fusion dishes," Qi Shanzhu answered.

"But... at the end of the day, this competition is coconut-themed. You indeed added coconut to the dish, but to be honest the flavor isn't very prominent," Rocky Chen commented.

"Now that I recall the dishes I've just eaten, the first thing that comes to mind is the deliciousness of the red snapper. Of course, I cannot deny that you've fried the fish perfectly."

Following Qi Shanzhu, Fan Yixin took the stage, completing her second dish in just 34 minutes—the Mini Green Dragon Laksa.

Although Fan Yixin also pulverized coconut meat with coconut milk, the coconut flavor in her Mini Green Dragon Laksa was much more intense than the coconut taste in Qi Shanzhu's fried dumplings.

Then, the much-anticipated Luo Junkang finally started to get into the groove.

He placed thin slices of coconut meat underneath fried grouper fillets and then drizzled apple vinegar over the top.

Rocky Chen took a golden-brown piece of fried grouper with coconut and put it in his mouth. "Ah, this taste reminds me of a classic Huaiyang delicacy—Squirrel Guaiyu."

Luo Junkang nodded slightly, "My inspiration comes from Squirrel Guaiyu. The sourness comes from apple vinegar, and the coconut provides the sweetness, replacing the original sweet and sour sauce."

"Really nice. The freshness of the grouper and the sweetness of the coconut blend together really well. Thank you, Chef Luo Junkang," Yoshikazu Yoda said.

Sun Mei was the fourth to submit her dish, presenting a sea cucumber dish with the top layer being Sanya's special sea cucumber, paired with fruit tomato, and in the middle was kelp, seaweed, and chicken broth jelly.

The most magical part was the crust; unlike the usual puff pastry, it was made by directly baking the coconut meat until crispy.

Her dish also received unanimous praise from the judges.

Just less than half a minute behind Sun Mei, Chuan Ye Zhengming prepared a Kaiseki cuisine dish of squid sashimi.

Though this dish wasn't very difficult to cook, selecting squid suitable for sashimi was not easy; it had to be very fresh.

Chuan Ye Zhengming also had a hard time finding this prime Chinese squid that was caught early in the morning at the ingredients area.

After making it into sashimi, he sprinkled it with coconut flakes and then served it with a sauce made from pureed squid liver for dipping.

A top-level Kaiseki dish was thus made.

And Ma Lu was the last one to submit in this round, taking a full 45 minutes—adding to his previous 40 minutes, he had already used up a total of 85 minutes.

This positioned him second in terms of time taken among all the contestants.

Although it wasn't as extreme as Qi Shanzhu, with only 35 minutes remaining, it didn't look nearly enough to prepare the remaining three dishes.

But that was a concern for later, as everyone's attention was currently captured by the dish that was being served.

The judges were once again astonished upon seeing what was in the plate, "This is..."

"Coconut."

"But your previous dish..."

"Also called coconut," Ma Lu replied.

"......."

Alright then, everyone compromised.

After all, the competition's evaluation didn't include the dish names. Theoretically, chefs could call their dishes whatever they want, so it wasn't incorrect for Ma Lu to name two consecutive dishes 'coconut.'

Although this dark, unattractive thing didn't seem to have much to do with coconut.

Instead, it closely resembled the Roasted Steamed Bun he made on the first day of the competition, and Ma Lu had thoughtfully provided everyone with another spoon.

Gaggan Anand tapped the black bun's crust with a spoon and immediately sniffed out a coconut scent that was sour, spicy, and slightly seafood-like.

However, as he looked down, he didn't see the contents inside; what he saw was a slightly smaller black roasted steamed bun.

Ah, this…

Perhaps it was because the Roasted Steamed Bun on the first day had brought such an intense shock to everyone.

So now, being hit by the aroma bomb again, the reactions were much more subdued, and most importantly, the sights inside the Roasted Steamed Buns weren't as dreamy as before.

It wasn't until someone cracked open the black steamed bun crust again that this time they smelled the charred oil of red snapper mixing with the scents of mint and camphor.

Mixed in were hints of coconut and bean aromas, though the coconut was less pronounced than before.

You had to sniff carefully to catch it.

Soon, a judge blurted out, "Hey, isn't this the scent of Chef Qi Shanzhu's pan-fried dumplings?

"Smelling this aroma brings back memories of the dumplings I just ate, and my mouth involuntarily starts salivating."

"I feel the same," someone chimed in.

"Wait, I thought it was just my imagination, but when I smelled the first aroma, images of Chef Fan Yixin's laksa popped up in my mind."

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"Is this no coincidence?"

Olette Yupper was deeply shocked again, and she turned to Ma Lu, "Did you do this on purpose?"

"It was intentional!" Ma Lu proclaimed proudly, chest puffed out.

And as if to confirm his words, another chef shattered the third black Roasted Steamed Bun.

This time, the aroma of fried guaiyu, apple vinegar, and coconut flesh wafted out.

"Ah, this works too?"

"How did you manage that?" The judges' common sense was shattered once more, and someone eagerly broke open the next layer of steamed bun crust.

This time it was Sun Mei's creme caramel and Chuan Ye Zhengming's squid sashimi that couldn't escape.

And then… then there was no more.

Breaking the last layer of steamed bun crust revealed nothing but empty space on the plate, yet the judges felt they had just tasted the previous four dishes again.

And it was precisely the absence of ingredients that amazed everyone.

How was it done, to leave no trace of the ingredients, yet so perfectly capture and retain the flavors?

The four judges all lapsed into silence.

The audience on the scene and in front of the TV couldn't smell the flavors; they only saw the judges break open four layers of steamed bun crust, to find nothing inside.

So the scene erupted in amazement.

Until this round of the competition, Boss Ma, who had been performing strongly, was at risk of elimination now.

He had been busy for so long, handing in his work last, only to produce a few steamed bun crusts; where were the coconuts, where were they supposed to be?

Not only were there no coconuts, one could say there was nothing at all; was he expecting the judges to satisfy themselves with just crusts?

Even the other contestants nearby were somewhat perplexed, watching the judges whispering to each other and ultimately completing their scoring.

With that, all the scores were out, still calculated by the staff on site.

However, when the final scores were revealed, the crowd erupted in astonishment once again.

Qi Shanzhu scored 3 points this round, Fan Yixin got 3.25 points, Luo Junkang 4 points, Chuan Ye Zhengming 4 points, and Sun Mei achieved a high score of 4.25 points.

And Ma Lu, once again, scored full marks.