E Cheng Jun stepped closer to the table of the judges, smiling brightly. “Well, I believe now, it’s time for our first task. Judge Yu, if I was informed right, then each judge is supposed to come up with one task for each episode. That amounts to quite a few tasks for you and Judge Xiao. Do you have a system how to come up with your tasks?”

Since this was the first episode, the format was still new so a lot of the things that she talked about with the judges would be rather general, and aim to introduce the concept of the show to the viewers so they wouldn’t feel lost down the line.

Mister Yu gave a hum and nodded slowly, seeming every bit as unhurried as in real life as if he didn’t know that the show could only run for a given amount of time. “Well, when I was asked to come up with tasks, I tried to think about what is important to me in cooking and what I think that everyone — no matter for which goal they cook — should be able to do. That is both in terms of dishes as well as techniques. Then, I tried to find a task that would allow the contestants to show how well they were able to do this while also giving them a bit of freedom in how they want to go about the task.

“I think that while there are some universal truths in cooking, there are also many things that are very individual. And I think that a show like ‘Golden Spoon’ should allow for both of that to coexist even in the tasks that are set by another person. So I want to see what the contestants believe, not them just cooking according to my beliefs.”

E Cheng Jun nodded, looking as if she had just been completely enlightened. “That is a really interesting philosophy, Judge Yu. Then, I believe the first task for today is yours. Do you want to explain it yourself?”

Mister Yu nodded and then turned to the contestants. “Something that I find important is knowing a few staple dishes. Those stable dishes might be something different for each person but there are a handful that I think every cook should be able to make in our country. One of those is congee.

“There are different ways of cooking it and hundreds if not thousands of variations. For today’s task I want our contestants to choose their ingredients, and cook a tasty bowl of congee for me and the other two judges.” He nodded when he had finished, letting E Cheng Jun take over again.

She turned to the camera that was currently filming from among the contestants. “Well, as usual, there will, of course, be a time limit to your tasks. For this one, you will only have two hours. So, good luck to all of our contestants! I’m curious how it will turn out and I’ll be sure to sneak a taste later on.” With that, she hit a spot in the middle of the judges’ table, making the front light up with a countdown.

Some of the contestants stiffened while some others — the ninjas of the Si clan among them —, immediately went to the areas at the side that had been shown to them beforehand which held the ingredients.

Two hours might seem like a lot of time but especially for congee which needed to cook for a long time, this was a test of their ability to finish on time. Thus, they couldn’t waste even a minute when it was just about choosing the ingredients.

Just as Mister Yu had said, there were many variations on how to make congee. It might be sweet, it might be salty or savory, it might even be a bit spicy. As such, while there might be some similar tastes, there should still be sixty-four distinct variations by the end of this task. Just the ones the ninjas of the Si clan chose to make showed that already.

Si Jin went for a seafood congee that would have a bit of pep but not too much. After watching Bright Yellow Water for so long, he was pretty sure that he knew Xiao Ming’s taste really well.

He was somebody who enjoyed traditional dishes a lot even if they followed the most basic recipes. It didn’t need to be anything fancy. But he was also somebody who was willing to try out new things. When it came to the taste he preferred, then he was pretty sure that he was also someone who didn’t have too many preferences. Every dish could be something that he would like. Maybe he liked things a bit spicy and also a bit salty more than he would like sweet dishes. No, the one with a sweet tooth in Bright Yellow Water was surely Qian Huang. Thus, Si Jin felt this kind of seafood congee to be a good idea.

Meanwhile, Si Yi went for a congee with herbs and chicken. He felt like he had read that this type was the most beneficial for health. He couldn’t guarantee that as it hadn’t been that long since he started to learn how to cook either, but he had at least glanced over some articles that were on the health benefits of certain types of ingredients so he was pretty sure that he should be right.

When it came to cooking for him, then he wanted to make the type of food that would be most beneficial to the person he cooked for. Who would he cook for? Of course, that would be his master! He really couldn’t imagine bothering for anybody else. Well, young master Xiao would, of course, be another exception to that rule. But first, Xiao Ming didn’t need anybody to cook for him, and second, even if he did, that was still quite a ways off and he figured that by that time, they would likely let Si Shi Wu do so since he was the better cook.

Si Qi also had a special person in mind that he wanted to cook for. Glancing at Si Yi just when the task had been announced, his mind raced. Si Yi was somebody who was easy to take care of. Give him food and he would eat it, no matter what it was. If you gave him the choice, he would go for a very balanced diet.

But that was something that he would choose for himself. If he were to make food for him, then it should be something that was still balanced but also a little out of the ordinary to be able to catch his eye. So in the end, he went for a slightly sweetened version that was still healthy enough.

As for the other ninjas, they went about things a little differently. Since Si Er had already known what the task was beforehand, he had looked up a recipe that was pretty easy, and just followed that which would have him end up with a congee that didn’t have many additional ingredients but should not be quite as bland as the traditional recipe would be.

Si San was the adventurous type. He remembered how he had been complaining about congee when he saw the recipe in a book, stating that it was no wonder that this was the most boring food he had ever eaten. As such, he had looked for a more … interesting variation early on. Thus, other than the rice in the water, he mostly rushed back to his working station with a bucketload of spices.

The three judges and the moderator who were watching the contestants couldn’t help but be a little amazed when they saw Si San running around like that. It was really … making them wonder just how this would taste in the end. Something told them that they should be very careful when they tried this dish.

On the other hand, there were also contestants who went exactly the other route. Unsurprisingly, one of them was Zhao Li Yu, the guy who had made the fried shrimp with the cashew nuts last week in the casting. He was clearly a guy who had a huge thing for staple foods and would probably follow the easiest recipe that was available. As for the congee, and his case, it really was only water and rice he brought back.

For this kind of task where they were asked to follow their own philosophy on cooking, this was really not unexpected to happen and also not something that would make the judges be too hard on him. Anyway, for congee, the most important would be the consistency it had at the end. And especially with the short time frame of only two hours, this was the real difficulty of the matter.

The camera had been following the process and E Cheng Jun also stayed close to one of the shelves after starting the countdown, grabbing one of the contestants who had just finished taking out her ingredients.

She had learned everyone’s name before the first episode to make sure that she would be able to address them. “Miss Huyan, while you are starting on your dish, can you tell me a bit more about what you’re going to make?”

The contestant gave a smile, a bit afraid that she would lose time because of this. She wasn’t somebody who could focus on both cooking and speaking at the same time and usually needed everything to be silent without disturbances. For the casting, it had worked out really well but this time, she of all people was the one who E Cheng Jun had to ask and she really didn’t think that she could just say no to the question.

She nodded but dashed back to her cooking station, hurriedly pouring the rice into the water in the pot, and turning on the stove. Only then did she turn back to E Cheng Jun. “Well, I grew up with savory congee in my home. So that is the kind of congee I want to make today as well.”

E Cheng Jun nodded, able to see how nervous she was. She gave her a smile, hoping that it would calm her down somewhat. “In that case, you must be really familiar with the recipe. You probably won’t have a problem doing this, will you?”

Huyan Xia got even more nervous when she was suddenly asked that question. “Oh, well … Normally, I’d have three or four hours to cook the congee. I’m not sure if the consistency will be alright.” Saying so, she turned back to the pot, looking very much like she already regretted some life choices. Really, why had she wanted to take part in ‘Golden Spoon’? This clearly wasn’t the right type of environment for her to cook in.

E Cheng Jun could see that her asking wasn’t really helping. She wondered if she should even continue with her but this wasn’t a good moment to stop. At the very least not if this was supposed to have any chance to get into the episode.

While they wouldn’t use everything, having more content could never hurt. If it was good content, it might at least go online even if it wasn’t in the final episode. And don’t mention more content for the show, this was also something she had to do for herself. After all, she was the moderator. More screen time for her was more time to get more viewers interested in her. Thus, she would naturally give it her all.

Thinking of that, she just tried to calm Huyan Xia down, not rushing her. “Oh, I could imagine that that is difficult but there are probably some ways to speed up the process, aren’t there?”

Huyan Xia looked around, not quite sure what to do until finally, her expression lit up. She didn’t even answer and rushed back to the shelf at the side, leaving E Cheng Jun alone.

The moderator turned back to the camera and shrugged her shoulders. “Well, seems like she just thought of something. Let’s go and check on the other contestants in the meantime. Huyan Xia will probably tell us what she came up with when she’s back.”