Back at the cooking arena, the students were done with their prep and started cooking their fried rice. Since fried rice was a simple dish that even home cooks could be done easily, the judges' expectations were higher this time. How would they able to present a simple home-cooked meal as a restaurant-quality one?
Each student would need to present five plates for judging: four for the judges and one for the owner of the dish being recreated.
Lu Xinyi started to get busy. After chopping the vegetables on her preferred thickness and size, she started working on the shrimps. Pinching off the head, and de-shelling the body, Lu Xinyi made sure to keep the tail on and tried to retain the shrimp oil from inside the head on top of the body. After that, she deveined each piece and set it aside.
Next, she checked the steamed rice the academy provided for them to use. It was a fragrant jasmine rice variant. The rice was a little dried which was good for it wouldn't get mushy or clumped together when she stir-fried it later.
Satisfied with the rice, Lu Xinyi moved on to the next step: making her own prik nam pla. Along with the fried rice itself, the most essential component of Khao Pad Goong was this condiment. A perfect balance of heat, sweetness, tang, and salt—it's an ideal accompaniment to a variety of dishes.
Prik nam pla was really nothing more than diced chilies mixed with fish sauce and—sometimes—a squeeze of lime juice, and that's it. Lu Xinyi was able to finish it in minutes. She then peeled two cloves of garlic and just finely minced them. Taking a quarter the size of a sweet white onion, she cut it into medium-sized strips.
Turning on the stove to medium-high, she heated up the wok and added about one tablespoon of oil. Once the oil was hot, she added the garlic and stir-fried it continuously for about fifteen seconds until it gets nice and fragrant. Next, she tossed in the shrimps and fried it for about thirty seconds until the shrimp started to turn pink and had a firmer texture.
Once the shrimps started to change its color, Lu Xinyi tossed in a quarter amount of her jasmine rice on the wok and stir-fried it together with the shrimps. By doing so, she'd let the rice soak up all those delicious shrimp juices and oils. This was one of the well-known tricks to keep the fried rice nice and dry.
After stir-frying it for a few seconds, she scooted all the rice to one side of the pan and then cracked in the eggs into the empty side, swiftly stirring and cooking it before stirring it with rice and shrimp.
Lu Xinyi continued to stir-fry for about a few more seconds until the eggs were fully cooked before adding in the rest of the rice and gave it a quick stir. She then added an equal amount of soy sauce and oyster sauce and a pinch of sugar to adjust the seasoning.
Satisfied with her fried rice, Lu Xinyi tossed in the chopped vegetables and stirred everything for another thirty seconds until the vegetables were wilt, still crisp to bite but not overcooked.
She just finished on time when Huo Meili started to count down, asking them to start plating.
Lu Xinyi easily dished in the fried rice into the plates, sprinkling some freshly ground black pepper on top before pouring the prik nam pla she made earlier into saucers. She made sure that each plate was visually flawless before lifting her both hands in the air.
"Time's up!"
Following Huo Meili's voice, the thirty students of the special class stopped cooking and put their hands in the air, officially ending the cooking part of the first dish. Now, it was time to face the verdict of the judges.
Meng Jiao felt like pulling out her hair from her scalp from frustration. This damned double-egg fried rice was driving her insane!
How did Lu Xinyi make this fried rice before? Although during the entrance exam, Lu Xinyi revealed using two kinds of eggs on her fried rice which were chicken and duck eggs, she never explained each step to cook it.
The only thing she could remember was Lu Xinyi's fried rice having a viscous creamy egg yolk with some shredded duck meat and chopped green onions on top. As for the flavor and other secrets, Lu Xinyi didn't reveal anything aside from using the chicken yolks for giving the rice its color while using the duck fat to give it a different flavor.
Lu Xinyi was aware of her ex-best friend's frustration. Meng Jiao might know the ingredients she used, but did she know the steps to make her double egg fried rice? The heat, the number of seasonings, and the perfect time to serve it would affect its flavor and quality. From the looks of it, Meng Jiao's double-egg fried rice would be a shame to compare to the original.
"All of you may now start serving your dishes," Huo Meili said excitedly.
There were already some students who stepped forward and served to the judges. Now, the commoner's dish and a usual takeout meal of the locals would decide if they could advance and stay in Silver Leaf or not!
On the screen, the judges were shown giving the fried rice score meticulously. Some were rejected on the spot while the other hailed for improving the original's version. Some students earned enough points to advance to the next term while a few slumped on the cold floor for they knew they'd failed this time.
As for Lu Xinyi, all her feelings were kept inside, focusing on what's ahead of her. She wasn't nervous, unlike Meng Jiao who was desperately thinking of a way to earn the points she needed.
"En. This is the most satisfying fried rice I've tasted today. The rice is nice and dry, not soggy and wet unlike the first plates I had. The seasoning is done right, and the flavors complement each other. Congratulations, Mister Ye. You surpassed Mister Yan's fried rice," Qu Shaowei commented. The other judges agreed with his opinion and hadn't found any issues with Ye Xieren's dish.
Ye Xieren gave them a boyish grin before going back to his counter.
Next, it was Meng Jiao's turn to present her fried rice.
Meng Jiao nervously served the four plates to the judges while one academy staff brought the fifth plate to Lu Xinyi. Lu Xinyi glared at the double-egg fried rice served to her and begrudgingly took a spoonful of it.
At the same time, the four judges scrutinized Meng Jiao's dish especially Jun Simin and Qu Shaowei. Both had high expectations on Lu Xinyi's double-egg fried rice since it was one of the signature dishes of the Lu family.
However, the fried rice that presented to them… was far inferior to Lu-Style Double-Egg Fried Rice. Meng Jiao's rice was soggy and sticky which wasn't caused by the duck's egg yolk on top. The strong scent of duck's fat reached their nose, but unlike their previous experience with Lu Xinyi's fried rice which had an aroma that made them salivate and their stomach growled in hunger.
Meng Jiao's version wasn't able to make them experience it at all. Taking the visual appearance and aroma aside, the judges knew they couldn't be partial. All four took a spoonful of the fried rice and chewed slowly, their eyes fixated on Meng Jiao's face.
The flavors were in a mess and contradicted each other! With Meng Jiao using the duck's fat and egg yolk, the fried rice was oilier and richer than Lu Xinyi's.
It was truly a subpar version compared to the original.