Chapter 259: Witnessing the Sea God Fated Blind Date Festival
The lunchtime business went smoothly, likely due to the boost from the two precious 3 Star dishes. All four employees were full of energy, which noticeably increased operational efficiency.
After the lunch service concluded, Qi Han, as usual, saw the four women off, comforted Pururu, and then turned to enter the training space.
With the completion of the Jade Dragon Tendon, Qi Han now had six 2 Star recipes left and one final 3 Star recipe: Dinghu Shangsu.
With only about a week left until the Shrek Food Festival, attempting to train for the Dinghu Shangsu would likely take at least a week, if not longer. After all, this dish was priced at 2,000 gold coins, indicating a significant level of difficulty.
This meant that beyond Wensi Tofu and Jade Dragon Tendon, Qi Han wouldn't be able to introduce any additional new dishes at the festival.
With the completion of the Jade Dragon Tendon, Qi Han had now successfully mastered five 3 Star dishes: Fish Belly Stuffed with Lamb, Boiled Cabbage in Clear Broth, Qing Dynasty Blessed Pork Meat, Wensi Tofu, and Jade Dragon Tendon.
These five dishes already fulfilled one of the prerequisites for advancing to an intermediate chef. Adding one more 3 Star dish wouldn't have much immediate impact.
Thus, it wasn't a difficult decision. Without much hesitation, he clicked on the 2 Star recipe Spicy Fish Head with Chopped Peppers and dove into the training space.
The reason for choosing this dish first was simple: Qi Han hadn't had authentic Spicy Fish Head with Chopped Peppers in a long time. Just hearing the name made his mouth water with the desire to indulge.
Over the next week, mastering all six 2 Star dishes shouldn't be a problem.
This way, at the food festival, Qi Han could introduce a total of eight new dishes.
He had already gained a preliminary understanding of the Shrek Food Festival's competition rules.
While the rules varied slightly each year, the competition format generally remained the same.
The Shrek Food Festival lasted three days.
Any operational restaurant or stall could pre-register their dishes with the festival organizers. The registered dishes would then be published and entered into a public vote.
Both locals and visitors could participate in the voting by claiming three voting tickets, allowing them to vote three times.
Each person could claim tickets only once, and they could cast only one vote per dish.
At the end of the three-day festival, the dish with the most votes would be crowned as "The Diners' Favorite Dish."
Don't underestimate this seemingly ordinary title.
With the Shrek Food Festival's growing influence, this unique event, exclusive to Shrek City, had garnered attention across the entire Douluo Continent. A dish crowned as "The Diners' Favorite" would become known to at least half the continent's population.
Even if it was just the name of the dish, such a wide-reaching impact on half the Douluo Continent was no small feat.
To ensure the festival's success, there were specific requirements for the registered dishes:
Any dish that had been registered in previous festivals could not be registered again.
This rule aimed to prevent recurring entries from causing extra workload for the organizers while encouraging cooks to innovate and create new dishes to keep the festival fresh and exciting.
This requirement posed no issue for Small Shop's menu, as Qi Han had only been in this world for a little over three months.
Nonetheless, Qi Han wanted to surprise Shrek City diners at the festival by preparing some new dishes in addition to the existing ones from Small Shop.
Spicy Fish Head with Chopped Peppers, a classic dish from Hunan cuisine, was one such candidate.
Qi Han initially thought, given his skills, he could master it in a single afternoon without much trouble.
When Qi Han finally started working on the dish, he realized it was far more complex than anticipated.
This was his first time tackling Hunan cuisine.
As one of the Eight Great Cuisines, Hunan cuisine is characterized by its rich use of oil, vibrant colors, and focus on sour, spicy, fragrant, and tender flavors. Emphasis is placed on infusing the ingredients with flavor, and the seasoning techniques elevate the dish based on the quality and freshness of the ingredients. Spiciness is dominant, with a subtle tanginess. Additionally, the use of vegetable oil is a hallmark of Hunan cuisine, with cooking methods like simmering, stewing, curing, steaming, and stir-frying taking the spotlight.
For Qi Han, who had never worked with Hunan cuisine before, it took a long time to grasp its unique nuances.
Although he didn't finish mastering Spicy Fish Head with Chopped Peppers that afternoon, he made significant progress. If everything went smoothly, he should be able to complete it by the next morning.
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After the bustling dinner service ended, the four women left Small Shop together. Just as they reached the front door, Fu Ya suddenly stopped in her tracks.
She turned to Qi Han, hesitation flickering in her eyes, before asking, "Boss, will you be attending the Sea God Fated Blind Date Festival tonight?"
"Sea God Fated Blind Date Festival?" Qi Han looked puzzled. Over the past few days, he had been completely absorbed in perfecting the Jade Dragon Tendon and overwhelmed by the restaurant's busy hours. He hadn't heard about this event at all.
However... The name sounded somewhat familiar.
Wasn't this the matchmaking event held by Shrek Academy's inner court?
"Sea God Fated Blind Date Festival is an annual grand event for the inner court," Fu Ya explained, noticing Qi Han's confusion. "This year marks the two-thousandth anniversary of Shrek Academy's founding, so this year's Sea God Fated Blind Date Festival has lifted its restrictions—anyone can attend as a spectator."
"This is a matchmaking event hosted by the inner court. It's said that couples who join hands during the Sea God Fated Blind Date Festival receive the Sea God's blessing!" Fu Ya's face lit up with anticipation as she spoke.
In previous years, outer court students could only hear stories about which couples held hands after the event. This year, they had the chance to witness the spectacle firsthand, and Fu Ya was brimming with excitement.
She wasn't alone—Ying Shuang, Ji Yunruo, and Ping Xinyan were equally thrilled.
Although Ji Yunruo and Ping Xinyan weren't students at Shrek Academy, the lifted restrictions allowed non-students to attend as well. They had long planned to go with Fu Ya and Ying Shuang.
Ji Yunruo, having grown up in Shrek City, had always dreamed of seeing the legendary Sea God Fated Blind Date Festival. Unfortunately, she'd never had the chance—until now.
As for Ping Xinyan, her boyfriend was an inner court student. Naturally, she wanted to attend and see him participate.
It was said that the first task for male participants in the Sea God Fated Blind Date Festival was to vie for lotus leaves on Sea God Lake. Only those standing on a lotus leaf could compete for the inner court's female students.
If Silly Zhu dared to join the fray…
Ping Xinyan would seriously consider breaking both of his legs.
<+>
So it really was a matchmaking event?
Qi Han nodded, but then a thought struck him, and he quickly turned to Fu Ya. "Does this event... require all inner court students to participate?"
The inner court's senior disciple... she counted as an inner court student, right?
Would she be participating too?
"Well..." Fu Ya hesitated. Most outer court students only knew about Sea God Fated Blind Date Festival through rumors and hearsay, so she wasn't entirely sure. "I can't say for certain, but many inner court students participate each year."
"What time does the event start?" Qi Han asked, his tone growing more urgent. An inexplicable unease had begun to stir within him.
"Eight o'clock tonight..."
One hour left.
"Alright, I'll definitely be there." Qi Han's expression turned serious as he looked at Fu Ya with determination.
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