Erina looked at Liu Ming with annoyance.
She was miserably tasting those awful dishes, while Liu Ming, the official examiner, was leisurely sitting there making a phone call.
Such unfair treatment made it impossible for her to feel balanced internally.
But Liu Ming simply didn't fall for her tricks; her status was completely useless to him.
Didn't she see that even her grandfather's invitation wasn't taken seriously by him?
Feeling angry, she really wanted to find someone to vent on.
However, after being bullied by Liu Ming so many times, she wasn't without growth.
At least in terms of endurance, she could control her emotions very well. Even though many students' dishes didn't satisfy her now, she didn't get angry because of it, but a bit of a sharp tongue was unavoidable.
Alice's group had also finished, but she didn't give her dish to Erina. Instead, she came before Liu Ming.
"Examiner, my dish is complete. Please taste it." Alice looked at Liu Ming with a confident expression.
Liu Ming glanced at her, then reached out and took the plate.
On the plate was a fist-sized piece of meat. The top layer was golden-brown, the middle layer tender white, and the bottom layer light red, all blended seamlessly.
It looked so delicate, plump, and full, exactly like fatty pork belly.
He lightly sniffed it, and a crispy, orange-scented aroma wafted into his nose.
If he didn't know that the theme he gave was 'meat but not meat,' Liu Ming would have thought the meat in front of him was indeed pork belly.
"Hehe, aren't I amazing?" Seeing Liu Ming's surprised expression, Alice immediately became smug.
"Honestly, your 'meat but not meat' is even simpler than yesterday's 'noodle but not noodle.'"
Alice began to explain smugly, "What are 'meats' but a combination of proteins, various amino acids, and carbohydrates?"
"As long as you understand its composition, using my molecular gastronomy, it's easy to extract the corresponding elements from other vegetarian ingredients."
"Then, through an effective formula combination, a highly similar piece of 'meat' can be perfectly created."
Liu Ming raised an eyebrow. What she said seemed to make a lot of sense.
But watching Alice continuously boast about how advanced and amazing her machines were, he couldn't help but secretly shake his head.
The Alice in front of him seemed to have her priorities reversed. External tools are always just external tools. If she always relied on these external things, her culinary skill would only reach a certain height.
However, if he told her these things now, she probably wouldn't listen to him.
It's just that Liu Ming seemed to have forgotten that his current exaggerated cooking skills also relied on external tools.
Perhaps it was because this improvement was both physical and mental, making him believe he was truly that amazing.
Liu Ming began to taste it.
The fork gently pressed down, and the elasticity of the 'meat' was revealed, quickly springing back.
The bouncy feeling had a certain something.
"Hehe~ Isn't it amazing? I added a special ingredient inside to greatly enhance its elasticity and improve its chewiness. It definitely won't disappoint you." Alice couldn't help but jump in again, excitedly explaining.
Liu Ming's face darkened.
He was about to taste it, but Alice was chattering incessantly like a fly beside him.
Seeing Liu Ming glare at her, Alice blinked innocently.
Had she done something wrong?
She was clearly kindly explaining the charm of molecular gastronomy to Liu Ming.
Another person who doesn't understand science.
"Hmph!" Alice huffed softly, turning her head away.
Seeing that she finally shut up, Liu Ming also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He gently bit into the 'meat' piece. The rich 'meat' juices immediately burst in his mouth, and the strong 'meat' aroma spread out.
It gave him the sensation of eating actual meat.
Enhanced by the sweetness of orange, this 'meat' flavor became even more mellow and enticing.
Liu Ming couldn't help but close his eyes, savoring it carefully.
After all, it was her proud creation, so how could Alice truly not watch?
Her peripheral vision was constantly on Liu Ming, and seeing his expression of enjoyment, a smug look also appeared on her face.
After a while, Liu Ming finally opened his eyes. He looked at Alice and praised, "This is a very good dish. I'm very satisfied. Your group has passed."
Advanced machinery combined with superb molecular gastronomy techniques. This 'meat but not meat' dish had reached a level of being indistinguishable from the real thing. It was truly remarkable.
"Hmph, this competition is definitely mine to win!" Alice said, full of confidence.
At this moment, Erina also brought over her group's dish. Upon hearing Alice's words, she didn't even pause, calmly walking towards Liu Ming.
"This is our group's dish, an improved version of 'Crab Mimic'."
As soon as Erina finished speaking, Alice behind her burst into laughter. She laughed and said, "Hahaha, Erina, I never thought you'd have a day like this!"
Erina couldn't help but frown, saying with dissatisfaction, "What do you mean by that?"
"You ask me what I mean? Didn't you even hear the theme clearly? It's 'meat but not meat.' Even fish is considered meat. Don't think I don't know how 'Crab Mimic' is made."
Alice extended her finger, pointing at the dish in Erina's hand, and said word by word, "Your dish fundamentally doesn't meet the requirements. There's no need to even taste it."
Alice had already decided she had won, her expression very smug.
Ever since she followed her father to Denmark as a child to research the most advanced culinary techniques based on molecular food theory, it had been almost ten years. Today, Alice had finally beaten Erina.
Her ultimate dream had finally come true.
All of it felt so unreal.
"Who told you I used fish?" Erina's words were like a sharp needle, fiercely puncturing the fantasy in Alice's heart.
Alice's expression froze for a moment, then she quickly continued, "Even shrimp won't do. In short, any meat won't do."
"Who told you I used meat?" Erina still looked at Alice with a calm expression, utterly composed.
"Impossible! If you didn't use meat, how could you possibly make this 'Crab Mimic'?"
Alice was going crazy. She was clearly about to win, so why was there an unexpected turn?
"Oh, by the way, this dish of yours must not taste good, right?" Although Alice said this verbally.
But with such a statement, Alice herself couldn't convince herself.