Chapter 491: Chapter 491: Unlucky (2 chapters combined into one)

He made such a low-level mistake because he was distracted; it was really humiliating.

The fishbone was stabbed in directly, not just a simple prick.

Joseph Tanner endured the pain and quickly pulled the fishbone out.

His finger was trembling from the pain.

“Have the doctor wrap it up for you,” said Michael Greene in a deep voice.

Eleanor Ward had already run over.

This small injury was about the size of a pinhole.

After disinfecting Joseph Tanner’s wound, Eleanor applied a band-aid, and he was fine.

But Joseph still felt that he had wasted a lot of time. As soon as the wound was dressed, he immediately went back to processing the fish.

However, his finger was still throbbing with pain, which made his movements considerably slower.

“What bad luck!” Joseph muttered angrily under his breath.

He glared fiercely at Cindy Clarke.

If it weren’t for Cindy meddling, he wouldn’t have been distracted!

At this time, Cindy was focusing on her cuisine, completely unaware of Joseph’s gaze.

Finally, the cooking time was almost over.

Michael Greene reminded, “There is one minute left.”

Joseph’s fish was still steaming in the pot.

His finger being injured and time spent on wrapping the wound made his movements slower.

It took much longer than he anticipated putting the fish on the steamer.

Now, he couldn’t be sure if the fish was cooked thoroughly.

But there was only one minute left.

He still had to plate it.

Joseph clenched his teeth and hurriedly took the fish out of the steamer.

He opened the pot, and hot steam was still coming out.

Joseph didn’t have time to care about wearing heat-resistant gloves.

He took a piece of cloth to hold the scorching hot plate.

The cloth couldn’t completely block the heat, and Joseph’s finger was hurting and burning at the same time.

Adding to that, the steamer’s white steam poured out of the pot.

His hand turned red as soon as he reached in.

Joseph quickly took out the fish.

“Bang!”

Due to being burned, Joseph’s hand slipped, and the plate fell.

Joseph’s heart raced.

Fortunately, the plate wasn’t too high above the table and didn’t tip over.

The fish inside wobbled twice and almost fell out.

Although the fish didn’t topple out, a lot of the soup inside splashed out.

Joseph was so angry he wanted to flip the table.

He hadn’t had a single moment of smooth sailing during this competition!

This was such bad luck!

He quickly wiped the plate clean and rearranged it.

Finally, everything was handled just in time.

He just didn’t know if the fish was cooked through.

Joseph calculated the time it took to steam the fish, feeling it was a bit risky.

“Now, let’s taste the dishes according to the draw numbers,” said Wesley Gordon, “Number 1, Parker Honi, Wayne Tanner.”

As expected, Parker Honi won.

“Number 2, Kai Dawson, Aiden Huxley,” Wesley continued.

Ultimately, Aiden Huxley triumphed.

As the numbers were called one by one, it finally reached number 6.

Cindy and Iris Doone each brought their dishes in front of the judges.

Iris Doone spoke first: “I made the Soup of Abundance. I stewed abalone, fish maw, bird’s nest, dried scallop, sea cucumber, matsutake, black truffle, and noodles together. I used silver fungus to thicken the soup, and I removed the fishy smell from the fish maw, dried scallop, sea cucumber, and abalone.”

Michael Greene tasted it and said, “I remember you took shark fin before?”

Iris stiffened awkwardly and said, “Before the competition, when I was designing this dish, I didn’t think too much. But when I heard what Cindy said about shark fin just now, I thought it made sense, and there was no need to use it.”

“So, I changed the shark fin I originally used as the base to noodles,” Iris explained.

Michael Greene nodded and motioned to the other four judges.

The other four judges tasted it one after another.

“This Soup of Abundance is fresh, sweet, and not fishy; it tastes good,” said Wesley Gordon. “However, I didn’t see anything special about the technique or seasoning, other than putting these expensive ingredients together and stewing them.”

Iris’s face tensed.

“This time, your Soup of Abundance is a dish I haven’t seen in any of the restaurants I’ve been to. You must have spent a lot of time thinking about it, wanting to prove that you could also have unique ideas,” said Rosaline Parker, in a relatively polite tone. “However, there’s still some gap to be bridged. At least having the idea is good. Keep working hard.”

Charles Dean’s evaluation was also relatively polite: “The soup tastes good. Keep up the good work.”

Hunter Clarke didn’t have a good impression of Iris. After taking a bite, he said, “This soup has a luxurious taste, but that’s all it can be described as. You could find any random person, throw these ingredients into a pot, and they could stew it too. Why would customers pay for a dish with such low technical content in a restaurant?”

Iris could no longer conceal her gloomy expression.

The five judges turned their attention to Cindy’s dish.

“I made Yellow Croaker in Soup,” Cindy introduced.

Wesley smiled, “This dish is Michael Greene’s signature dish. We four have all tried Michael’s version.”

“Let’s not talk about us four for now,” said Hunter Clarke, “Even just Michael’s requirements for this dish must be much stricter than for others. To get his approval, unless the dish really has something unique.”

“Why did you choose to make this dish?” Michael also asked.

“I know it’s your signature dish. If I can get your approval on this dish, then I must have succeeded,” said Cindy. “And, I really wanted to challenge myself.”

“I don’t like to be just conventional when I cook. Today’s theme is ocean, and I chose seafood as my main ingredient, which is already a very safe approach. That’s why I wanted to add some challenges and difficulties within that safety.”

“I chose this dish at first without realizing it was your signature dish. It was only after I decided to make it that I realized it was your signature. But once the inspiration hit, I didn’t want to change it, so I insisted on sticking with this dish.”

“The reason I chose this dish at the beginning was that the Yellow Croaker in Soup has endless possibilities. It’s like the food chain of marine life. Big fish eat small fish, and small fish eat shrimp.”

“The Yellow Croaker in Soup is filled with a variety of ingredients within the fish’s belly, which is quite like the food chain. And it fits the ocean theme even better,” explained Cindy.

“Your idea is quite interesting,” Michael chuckled.

Charles suggested, “Since this is your signature dish, why not let you make the first cut?”

“Alright,” Michael agreed, “But you can’t use a knife for this dish.”

Charles was a foreigner after all, and his forte was Western cuisine.

Although he had spent a few years in Hearth Nation, his mastery of Chinese cuisine was still lacking.

“The most challenging part of the Yellow Croaker in Soup is not only the seasoning but also mastering the knife work and heat control,” Michael explained.