Soup pot?

In this era, people used open pots. There were simply no pots with a round mouth like this one. Yet, this girl used such a pot, which was truly strange!

Who exactly is she?

The plain girl blinked her lively, large eyes and decided right then that she must pay a visit to this unusual Princess Pingxi.

After the pot heated up, Lin Yuan did not add oil but directly tossed in the smoked pork and pork fat she had prepared earlier and started stir-frying.

Actually, it would have been best to have bacon at this time, as it has a unique smoked flavor and crisp texture. Unfortunately, preparing bacon is a bit troublesome, and Lin Yuan did not have it ready on short notice, so she had to make do with smoked pork and fat.

Even though it couldn’t completely replace bacon, the oil rendered from the stir-fry was very flavorful.

Once all the meat in the pot had rendered its fat, Lin Yuan used a small strainer to remove the meat, leaving behind a thick, charred-looking layer of oil residue.

Ignoring the residue, Lin Yuan then added pieces of beef into the pot to sear.

Sun Qian, who had prepared water to clean the pot, was shocked and carefully glanced at the judges and the citizens below, whispering, "Boss, the pot is burnt, we can’t use it anymore, let’s clean it quickly!"

Gao Xuan was also very worried. Their boss must have been scared by the grand setup; after all, she was just a teenage girl, how could she have witnessed such a scene before?

Seeing the worried looks on their faces, Lin Yuan paused for a moment and suddenly burst into laughter.

As she added beef to the pot, she shook her head and reassured them, "Don’t worry, this dark oil residue is not burnt.

It’s all the essence of the meat. Just relax, you’ll witness a miracle soon! "

Sun Qian and Gao Xuan looked at each other puzzledly, wondering what kind of miracle she meant. As long as Lin Yuan remained normal, that was all that mattered to them.

However, seeing her resolute expression, they refrained from commenting further, even though they were quite convinced that the black substance in the pot was burnt. But they still had confidence in Lin Yuan.

Even if this dish turned out bad, it didn’t matter. They could simply concede the first competition; there were two more rounds to go, and they would strictly monitor those.

The amount of beef in the pot shouldn’t be too much; otherwise, it would not be easy to stir and ensure that each piece was seared to release its fragrance.

Thus, only a single layer of beef was placed in the pot, searing it to a golden brown before removing it to make room for the next batch, and this way, all the beef was seared and set aside for later use.

After searing the beef, some of that black, oily residue had been reduced.

Sun Qian and Gao Xuan looked at each other again, originally thinking the beef would taste burnt. However, not only was there no burnt taste, it was unexpectedly fragrant, different from the usual seared beef, it was exceptionally aromatic.

Not just Sun Qian and Gao Xuan, but even some citizens standing closer to the stage could smell the fragrance and couldn’t help but salivate.

After searing the beef, it was time to stir-fry the sides.

The sides for the red wine braised beef were simple, comprising carrots, onions, and some fresh green celery for garnish.

Carrots are a common vegetable seen in winter and not surprising, but onions and celery are much less common.

However, Lin Yuan did not signal Sun Qian to open the large box Liu Siliang had sent over because it wasn’t the right time yet.

Although the onions and celery had been seen, the surprise was not overwhelming as every restaurant has its greenhouse where off-season vegetables are grown.

These off-season vegetables are not something just anyone can afford; only those with status or sufficient funds could enjoy them.

Seeing the crowd’s reaction, Lin Yuan was not disappointed, as these few off-season vegetables were not abundant. During the preparation of the second dish, she was sure to astound everyone.

The carrots, onions, and celery had been pre-cut by Sun Qian.

Once the oil in the pot was hot, Lin Yuan first added the onions, and after stir-frying them to release their flavor, added the carrots.

When the vegetables were nearly done stir-frying, Lin Yuan introduced her secret weapon, the red wine.

The red wine had been brewed by Liu Limin this year and was not yet available for sale, so when Lin Yuan poured that jug of wine into the pot, it immediately caused quite a stir among the onlookers.

Some were shocked, some fearful, others began speculating.

"Oh my goodness, what is she pouring? Pig’s blood? Chicken’s blood? Dog’s blood?"

"What dog’s blood! It’s your dog’s blood!"

"I bet it’s some juice?"

"What kind of juice is that red? It has to be blood, I bet it’s pig’s blood! Definitely pig’s blood!"

"Wait a minute! Do you guys smell that? It kind of smells like wine!"

"Hmm? Really, it smells like wine! Could that be wine?"

"How could it be? What kind of wine is this vivid red?"

"But I’ve heard that outside the town, Liu’s Brewery specializes in wines of various colors, like hawthorn and fruit wines. Could this be Liu’s Brewery’s hawthorn wine? But, it doesn’t quite look like it, it’s so red?"

"Ah, whatever kind of wine it is, after the competition, we can just go to Dong Tian and ask around. The workers at Dong Tian are very approachable, surely we can find out."

Before the crowd could get more agitated, another topic replaced their chatter.

"This smell, so delicious! Why did the dish suddenly become so aromatic after Princess Pingxi added that red thing?"

"So strange, so strange!"

Even Lao Fan, who had been chatting with Zhuang Kangping, was drawn by the aroma, his nose twitching as his eyes shone with a look of surprise.

He knew this girl would not let him down!

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