From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

My first meal in Zhengzhou was a bowl of authentic three-delicacy stewed noodles from Zhou Feng's family.

Feng Zhengming and the others all liked it very much, including the two children who ate quite a bit.

After finishing their bowl of braised noodles, Feng Zhengming and his fellow apprentice Yang Bin went into the kitchen.

Take out some mutton and beef that you prepared in advance.

After some selection, some cuts with a good balance of fat and lean were chosen.

The two brothers worked together in the kitchen to mince the beef and mutton into small pieces.

Use the same method as making Four Happiness Meatballs, but add more scallion, ginger, and peppercorn water, and also add some breadcrumbs.

Finally, the two brothers even demonstrated to Zhou Feng and Sun Hai how to pound the minced meat.

"Remember not to pound it too hard. If you pound it too hard, it will take much longer to cook it thoroughly."

Sun Hai and Zhou Feng carefully observed and memorized Feng Zhengming and Yang Bin's techniques.

After pounding, shape the minced meat into balls and coat the surface with a layer of starch water to ensure a smooth surface.

"Ours are Four Happiness Meatballs, which are different from Lion's Head Meatballs. Lion's Head Meatballs don't usually require a smooth surface. They're like those stone lions, where the surface should have some rough, uneven texture."

Some of the formed meatballs are deep-fried, while others are blanched in water.

"These are two methods. You can try them once they're done."

Feng Zhengming looked at Zhou Feng: "Look at your locals, which one would you prefer?"

Zhou Feng nodded earnestly, holding his notebook and carefully writing down every detail.

Whether deep-fried or poached, once the surface is set, the next step is to stew them separately.

The boiling time should be shorter.

Deep-frying sets the shape, and because of the fried crust on the surface, it requires a longer stewing time.

Feng Zhengming even used different braising broths for stewing.

They also made some adjustments to the flavors so that Zhou Feng could determine which flavor would better suit the locals.

Watching Feng Zhengming and Yang Bin cook together made everyone's mouths water.

I really want to try making Four Happiness Meatballs with beef and mutton.

The first thing to be boiled was the water-boiled ones, and Feng Zhengming ladled one out to show everyone.

When you press the spoon, the broth will come out, and then you can easily break the meatballs apart with the spoon.

It is also filled with a mixture of meat juices and broth.

Feng Zhengming invited everyone to taste the flavor.

Upon tasting it, Zhou Feng was the first to feel that the flavor was fantastic.

"Delicious, really delicious! I never thought that four-happiness meatballs made with beef and mutton could taste so good!"

Feng Zhengming laughed: "All meatballs are the same. Whether they are beef meatballs, mutton meatballs, or pork meatballs, as long as the flavor is right, they will all taste good."

After saying this, Feng Zhengming added, "Also, the meat must be fresh and of good quality."

Yang Bin nodded with a smile: "That's right, the supplier that Senior Brother Hao recommended to us has indeed delivered very good meat."

Feng Zhengming: "Third Brother, how about this, in the future, the braised pork, pig's trotters and hocks in this shop can be made in one pot of broth, so we can make a little less of them. The four-happiness meatballs can all be made with beef and mutton, so we can prepare more of them together with the beef and mutton."

Yang Bin: "Okay, we'll make some adjustments later."

Zhou Feng couldn't help but interject, "Junior Uncle, your adjustments are really good; business will definitely improve."

Feng Zhengming: "Haha, whether business is good or not depends on your efforts to do everything well."

Sun Hai: "Don't worry, Junior Uncle, we will definitely follow Master to make the shop a success."

Then Feng Zhengming asked, "By the way, have you arranged the personnel yet? Have the people from your hometown arrived?"

Yang Bin: "I've already made the arrangements, and they'll probably be coming together the day after tomorrow."

Feng Zhengming: "Have they been assigned dormitories yet?"

Yang Bin: "Don't worry, I've arranged everything."

Feng Zhengming: "Let's go take a look."

Yang Bin nodded in agreement.

The group walked out of the new store and followed Yang Bin toward the rented employee dormitory.

Zhou Feng followed behind and couldn't help but pull Sun Hai aside to ask him a question.

"Senior brother, why does Junior Uncle even need to check out the dormitories?"

Sun Hai: "That's how my uncle is. He always demands the best treatment for us. For example, some of the people transferred from Shandong this time are away from home for a period of time, and may only be able to go home once a year."

Therefore, we must ensure they have good accommodations here, and all conditions need to be guaranteed.

Zhou Feng couldn't help but exclaim, "That's wonderful! I never expected my uncle to treat his employees so well."

Sun Hai: "In our master's eyes, we are not employees, but disciples of the sect."

Zhou Feng thought for a moment and said, "Oh, I understand, we are from the same sect."

Sun Hai nodded: "Yes, in our junior uncle's eyes we are all fellow disciples, so he wants to ensure that fellow disciples can eat and stay well even when they are away from home, so that everyone can work wholeheartedly in the shop."

Zhou Feng exclaimed, "No wonder Junior Uncle was able to build such a large business."

Sun Hai: "This is what makes Junior Uncle different from others. Other bosses try their best to reduce labor costs, recruit local staff as much as possible, and let everyone find their own place to live."

Zhou Feng nodded: "Bosses certainly don't want to provide meals and accommodation so easily."

Sun Hai: "My junior uncle said that there would be a problem: what if we can't recruit suitable people in one place? Especially for people like us who make a living by our skills."

If the skill level is lacking, hiring more people for the kitchen won't improve it.

Zhou Feng: "That's true. If you make a living with your skills, your skills are the most important thing."

Hearing this, Zhou Feng finally understood why the new Zhengcheng store only recruited service staff.

This is because the kitchen staff comes directly to take over.

Therefore, there is no need to recruit chefs from Zhengcheng at all.

At most, they can recruit some apprentices to learn in the kitchen through recommendations from local chefs with whom they have good relationships.

Like the kitchen of the new store in Zhengzhou this time.

To express his gratitude to Hao Zongcheng for recommending suppliers, Yang Bin also recruited a group of kitchen apprentices.

Almost all of them were recommended to Yang Bin by Hao Zongcheng.

While interpersonal relationships certainly play a role, there is also interaction between different cuisines.

They arrived at the dormitory that Yang Bin had rented for them.

This is clearly an old residential compound nearby.

When I entered the courtyard, it was very quiet because most people had probably gone to work by then.

Yang Bin rented three houses for the kitchen staff who came this time.

One set is on the first floor, and the other two sets are on the third floor, facing each other.

All three houses are relatively spacious and have undergone some simple renovations.

Feng Zhengming carefully inspected the house and confirmed that everything in it was complete.

"How many people came with Third Brother this time?"

Yang Bin: "A total of six people came, and the three houses were just enough to accommodate them."

Feng Zhengming nodded; he was very satisfied with his third senior brother's arrangement.

The reason why six people came at once was because Yang Bin and Sun Hai couldn't stay here indefinitely.

Therefore, someone is needed to take over the kitchen duties after Yang Bin left. Someone else is also needed to help support the kitchen operations at the branch.

Most importantly, after these six people have gained experience at this branch, they may be able to smoothly upgrade to restaurant staff when Feng Zhengming and the others open their own restaurant in Zhengzhou in the future.

Feng Zhengming: "By the way, did they all come voluntarily?"

Voluntariness is a point that Feng Zhengming has always emphasized.

If it wasn't voluntary, they were forcibly transferred here, leaving their hometowns behind.

Feng Zhengming felt that there might be some resistance.

With some resistance, the third senior brother and Sun Hai were alright when they were in the shop.

If the third senior brother and Sun Hai leave, the branch stores may no longer be managed properly.

Yang Bin: "Don't worry, they all came voluntarily. Two of them are from Henan Province, and they are quite happy to be back in Zhengzhou."

Feng Zhengming: "That's good. It helps young people grow by getting out and about."

Yang Bin couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.

"Haha, Zhengming, I always felt something was off about what you said, but then I thought about it, and you're already in your thirties with a three-year-old daughter, so you certainly have the right to call others young."

Feng Zhengming sighed, "That's right, I'm already middle-aged."

This time, Uncle Lu Zhongqi spoke up: "Stop spouting nonsense, kid. Compared to me and your third senior brother, you're still young."

Yang Bin agreed: "Yes, you're still a young chef at your age."

Feng Zhengming: "So, compared to Master and the others, Third Brother is also considered a young chef."

While the adults were looking at the house and chatting, Feng Nuanyou dragged her uncle around the house as well.

He would look around in this room for a while, then go to look around in that room.

Just as the two children finished looking around and returned to the living room, they suddenly saw someone peeking in from the doorway.

"Stop! Who are you? What are you looking at?"

Upon hearing Feng Nuanyou's call, her great-aunt was the first to come out of the house.

"What's going on? Is there some bad guy here?"

The people at the door also looked embarrassed.

"Yes, I'm sorry, I'm not a bad person, I just live upstairs."

The aunt sized up the other person warily.

The people at the door were about to explain something when they saw several burly men come out of the inner room.

Among the group, Feng Zhengming and Lu Zhongqi were the tallest and most robust.

Yang Bin and Sun Hai were next, and even Zhou Feng, though wearing a long-sleeved shirt, still had the muscle lines of his arms faintly visible.

This startled the people at the door.

"I, I'm really not a bad person, I didn't mean any harm, I really do live upstairs."

Sun Hai recognized the other person.

"Oh, you live on the second floor."

The people at the door breathed a sigh of relief when Sun Hai recognized them.

"Hello, are you coming to stay here?"

Sun Hai continued to explain, "Oh, we're not planning to come and stay here yet. We'll arrange accommodations here in a few days once everyone has arrived."

Upon hearing this, the person at the door dared not linger and quickly took their leave and went upstairs.

After the other party went upstairs, Zhou Feng whispered a few words to Feng Zhengming.

"Many of the tenants in these old residential compounds are a bit strange people."

Feng Zhengming: "I understand. Judging from his accent, he's clearly not a local. You should be careful in the future."

Yang Bin agreed, "We'll be careful, don't worry."

Feng Zhengming wasn't actually worried.

After all, the apprentices who came later were all tall and strong, and they all went to and from get off work together. Presumably, even some people with ulterior motives would not dare to covet them.

After inspecting the three houses, Feng Zhengming instructed his third senior brother to also improve the environment of his dormitory.

Yang Bin agreed to all of this and assured Feng Zhengming that he would arrange for everyone to go shopping once they arrived.

Feng Zhengming: "I'll pay for the daily necessities."

Yang Bin laughed: "You can't just pay for everything, or you'll spoil those young guys."

Feng Zhengming: "This is just this once. In the future, they will still buy their own things."

Finally, Feng Zhengming gave Zhou Feng a task.

“Xiao Zhou, you’re a local. After the kitchen staff arrive, you’ll be in charge of managing their dorms. Make sure they don’t go out and wander around aimlessly after the restaurant closes at night.”

Zhou Feng nodded earnestly in agreement: "I know, Junior Uncle."

Yang Bin: "Don't we need to be too strict?"

Feng Zhengming: "We'll be stricter at first, so we can't let them run wild and play around outside."

Yang Bin thought about it and nodded in agreement with Feng Zhengming's suggestion to start managing things more strictly.

After visiting the dormitory, Feng Zhengming and the others returned to the hotel together.

The third senior brother originally wanted to stay in the dormitory.

He and Sun Hai have been staying in the apartment on the first floor for the past few days.

Feng Zhengming still called his third senior brother and Sun Hai to the hotel.

He looked at three houses, and many things inside were very basic. He understood that his third senior brother was still a bit harsh on himself, especially when traveling, and tried not to spend too much money.

Because the third senior brother knew that Feng Zhengming would definitely cover the cost for him.

Feng Zhengming forcibly dragged him back to the hotel to stay.

Yang Bin was also somewhat helpless.

“You, you have money now, but you can’t spend it like this. Staying in a hotel for one night is too expensive.”

Feng Zhengming: "That's why I asked you to rent a dormitory. After everyone arrives, you can decorate the dormitory properly and then move in."

Yang Bin was somewhat speechless.

Feng Zhengming: "Third Brother, I have something to discuss with you tonight."

These words finally convinced Yang Bin to stay at the hotel for one night.

Zhou Feng followed him back to the hotel, and then he went home by himself.

Feng Zhengming originally wanted Zhou Feng to stay at the hotel for one night.

But Zhou Feng refused. He didn't even wait for Feng Zhengming to stop him before running out of the hotel and leaving.

Watching Zhou Feng's departing figure, Feng Zhengming couldn't help but sigh, "Third Brother has such good taste; he's taken on another excellent disciple."

Yang Bin: "Haha, for now, his character seems good. Whether he has found a good apprentice or not, we'll have to wait and see how he performs later."

That night, my aunt originally wanted to take the two children to her room so they could sleep together.

But Feng Nuanyou was not happy; she insisted on living in the same room as her father.

Feng Zhengming smiled and said to his uncle and aunt, "It's okay, uncle and aunt, you take Hao Hao back. It's been a long time since the three of you have been together. You should have a good reunion. Youyou can live with me."

After watching her uncle and aunt return to their room, Feng Nuanyou waved goodbye to her uncle with a smile.

Feng Zhengming asked his third senior brother and Sun Hai to come back to his room with him so they could discuss the shop opening further. (End of Chapter)