From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Feng Zhengming and his team took turns on stage. Each head chef led their team onto the stage, and an introduction was given before they stepped onto the stage amidst applause.

Feng Zhengming was the last to take the stage, and he was the one who received the most attention.

"The last chef of the annual top ten restaurants is Mr. Feng Zhengming, one of the most famous top chefs in China and the champion of our national cooking competition, and his team."

Chef Feng Zhengming uses Shandong cuisine as his foundation and continuously integrates the characteristics of different Chinese cuisines.

Furthermore, it incorporates unique Western cuisine elements to create its own distinctive culinary style.

His old-style restaurant in Shanghai has become a benchmark for Chinese restaurants.

The evaluation given to him by the international gastronomical association members was as follows:

An ordinary yet extraordinary restaurant, located on a bustling city street, nestled among sycamore trees and a bamboo grove, in a unique three-story building.

It has a unique homey feel, paired with some delicious dishes that retain the taste of home and are quite layered.

It will make you feel as if you are in the host's home, enjoying a warm and sumptuous family meal.

The International Gastronomy Association's assessment of Feng Zhengming is considered appropriate by many.

The food critics' association also gave the restaurant's dishes extremely high praise.

"Although it was a family banquet atmosphere, each dish reflected Chef Feng Zhengming's dedication, allowing each of us judges to enjoy authentic Chinese cuisine and experience the unique flavors of different regions."

Therefore, we have decided to name Chef Feng Zhengming's Old House Restaurant as one of the top ten restaurants of the year.

I recommend this to food lovers worldwide, hoping that more people can enjoy this delicious treat.

Feng Zhengming led Xia Hui and his five apprentices, along with Fu Jun, Cai Tao, and other kitchen staff, onto the stage.

His culinary team was probably the largest in terms of the number of people present.

When Master Xia saw his granddaughter follow Feng Zhengming onto the stage, a smile spread across his face.

However, the happiest person was actually Master Su.

"Haha, that kid Fu Jun looks quite promising."

Hearing Master Su's undisguised praise.

Master Xia looked at Master Su with some surprise.

Master Yan, who was standing nearby, explained to Master Xia in a low voice.

"Fu Jun is Old Su's grandson."

These words made Master Xia realize something immediately: "Hey, this old Su, he was hiding something so well."

Master Yan: "Old Su's grandson is indeed quite secretive. He hasn't helped his grandson much. It was all thanks to the young man's own efforts that he went to Dezhou on his own and later became my second apprentice, Chen Zezhi."

Master Xia understood: "So that's how it is. I was wondering why I hadn't heard any news about it before."

Master Su overheard the conversation between Master Yan and Master Xia.

He smiled and looked at the two of them: "Old Xia, didn't your granddaughter Xia Hui also go to Zhengming to become his apprentice? I haven't interfered with my grandson either. He's been following me since he was little and he really enjoys cooking."

Later, I told him to go to Senior Brother Cui's place to learn the basics first. After graduation, he didn't contact me. Instead, he went to Zhengming's place to sign up for an internship.

He was assigned to the branch in Dezhou and studied under Chen Zezhi for a while. Later, Chen Zezhi felt that he was quite hardworking and had the idea of ​​taking him on as an apprentice.

This kid didn't even ask me before agreeing to become Chen Zezhi's apprentice.

Master Yan joked, "What? You, Old Su, aren't happy? You look down on my second apprentice?"

Master Su: "No, I know Xiao Chen's skills. Among your apprentices, Lao Yan, apart from Zhengming who is in a class of his own, the other apprentices are all master chefs who can stand on their own."

I think it's a good idea for Fu Jun to become Xiao Chen's apprentice. Besides, he's now working for Zhengming anyway.

Master Xia: "Old Su, if we count from the master's perspective, my Xia Hui should call you her grandson, senior brother."

Master Su: "Alright, alright, I don't care about the affairs between the younger generation."

At this moment, the president of the International Gastronomy Association and Chef Hou took to the stage together, and people from Shanghai also came up on stage.

Together, they presented Feng Zhengming with the trophy and medal for this year's Top Ten Restaurants in the World.

A custom-made plaque recognizing him as one of the world's top ten restaurants of the year was also presented to Feng Zhengming and his team.

After the awards ceremony, it was naturally time for Feng Zhengming to give his acceptance speech.

The first nine chefs all said a lot of high-sounding words.

Feng Zhengming stepped forward, holding the trophy, and first bowed to everyone present.

"First and foremost, I should thank the International Gastronomic Association for giving me this award. It is an affirmation of me, my team, and our restaurant."

Secondly, I would also like to thank Shanghai for giving us such a great stage, allowing an ordinary chef like myself to have the opportunity to better showcase my skills to diners around the world.

I also want to thank my team. Without their trust and tremendous support, I couldn't have run the restaurant so well on my own.

I am especially grateful to my master. Without his guidance, I would not have the skills I have today and would not have achieved what I have today.

Finally, I would like to thank my senior classmates and my family.

At this point, Feng Zhengming paused slightly.

"Many people may not know that I am an orphan. In my heart, my master and fellow disciples are also my family. They are equally important to me."

But now I have my own family. I have a grandfather, uncles, aunts, fathers-in-law and mothers-in-law, wife and children.

I consider myself a very happy person, so I want to use my food to share that happiness with others.

After expressing his gratitude, Feng Zhengming then expressed his own gratitude to the country.

"I think the fact that I can receive this award today is proof of the prosperity and strength of our country. My motherland has become better and better, and everyone's life has become better and better as the motherland has developed and grown stronger."

As we all strive for a better life, I hope to use my culinary skills to give everyone more to pursue in life.

On behalf of our domestic chefs, I would also like to welcome renowned overseas chefs to open their restaurants in China.

We will welcome you in an inclusive manner, so that we can communicate better and offer more delicious food to every food lover in the world.

Feng Zhengming's words made everyone feel his true nature.

It can be said that he didn't use any high-sounding platitudes; he simply said what he truly thought.

This kind of expression was actually appreciated by many people present, especially those from abroad.

The other nine chefs who won the Top Ten Restaurants award also smiled on stage.

They could say they really liked Feng Zhengming.

He said whatever came to mind and even extended an invitation to them directly.

This made the nine chefs even more eager to open a restaurant in Shanghai.

They felt that opening a shop in the same city as Feng Zhengming's should be a very interesting thing.

Everyone is a competitor, but at the same time, there can be a lot of communication between them.

Of course, the most important thing is that everyone feels that communicating with Feng Zhengming will greatly improve their skills.

After Feng Zhengming finished his speech, the awards ceremony smoothly moved on to the next stage.

Next, the Shanghai authorities reached a cooperation agreement with the International Food Association. Specifically, a branch of the International Food Association will be established in Shanghai.

It will also attract some domestic food enthusiasts to join.

Another example is the recommendation guide magazine represented by Huang Tao, which has also successfully obtained authorization from the International Gastronomy Association. This allows the recommendation guide magazine to publish some international food information.

It can also publish articles written by food associations offering unique insights into food.

This can be seen as giving the recommendation guide magazine, which Feng Zhengming commissioned Huang Tao to run, a kind of official recognition.

This can be said to have enhanced the authority of the recommendation guide in China.

There were also some live performances following the awards ceremony.

Invited singers performed on stage to entertain the guests.

During this time, Feng Zhengming and the nine head chefs left the venue first.

Because their ten chefs are preparing a lunch banquet.

This was something we had discussed with them beforehand.

Furthermore, in the kitchen, various ingredients were prepared according to their requirements.

Ten head chefs entered the kitchen, led their respective teams to quickly change into chef uniforms, and immediately began cooking.

The ten chefs cooking together also revealed many of their different habits.

The other nine chefs are all Western cuisine chefs, so when they cook, they mostly follow various Western cooking habits, using a lot of butter and sugar, and their dishes are mainly composed of various meats.

Of course, some of the chefs also have dishes featuring various kinds of raw fish and shrimp.

In contrast to them, Feng Zhengming insisted on his own Chinese cooking methods.

Moreover, the dishes he made today combine the characteristics of different regional cuisines in China.

Combining different regional cuisines in terms of seasoning is a rather difficult task.

Because there are still significant differences in taste across different regions.

Therefore, Feng Zhengming made some preparations in advance. He did not want to integrate the flavors of different regions into one, but rather to preserve the different flavors of each region so that everyone could taste different flavors when they tasted them.

Whether it was Xia Hui, the five apprentices, Fu Jun, or Cai Tao, they all diligently followed Feng Zhengming's instructions and did their respective tasks.

They worked together seamlessly, just like the landscape painting of the motherland that Feng Zhengming made at the state banquet.

As per Feng Zhengming's request, they also created a dish that best represents the local cuisine, based on the regional flavors of each region.

When all these side dishes are combined, they form a complete picture of the motherland's landscape.

This time, however, Feng Zhengming did it more meticulously.

Especially in terms of taste, Feng Zhengming personally adjusted the seasonings, meticulously distinguishing the flavor characteristics of different regions.

Whether it's the four basic flavors of sweet, salty, sour, and bitter, or the spicy, numbing, and unusual flavors.

Feng Zhengming meticulously highlights the unique characteristics of different regions.

Just considering the spiciness alone, Feng Zhengming meticulously differentiated between Jiangxi, Hunan, and Sichuan provinces.

Furthermore, the sweetness of Shanghai and the sweetness of the surrounding Jiangsu province are also differentiated.

These unique seasonings truly demonstrate the skill of top chef Feng Zhengming.

He was also the last one to finish cooking.

However, once Feng Zhengming finished cooking, he led everyone to bring this main dish to the lunch table.

The moment it was unveiled left everyone present in awe.

Someone at the scene immediately exclaimed, "Is this the same 'Landscape of the Motherland' painting from before?"

Hearing this, Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "This is a low-budget version. The previous 'Landscape of the Motherland' was a collaboration between me and top chefs from various regional cuisines."

Without the help of the chefs today, I could only make a smaller, lower-budget version based on my own ideas.

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, some of the domestic food critics present took a closer look.

"Why do I feel that Scholar Feng's work is actually more meticulous?"

"Yes, although it's small, look at how the rivers and lakes are all represented, and the iconic mountains are also clearly depicted."

"Look here, our capital's specialty roast duck has been specially made."

"The most classic dish in Shanghai is this smoked fish."

"Mapo tofu is very famous in our Sichuan and Chongqing area."

"Is this sweet and sour pork, a Cantonese dish?"

"Xinjiang Province is most famous for its Dapanji (Big Plate Chicken). Is this Dapanji?"

"And there's also roasted mutton from Inner Mongolia, served as the spine."

Wow, can Northeastern Chinese sweet and sour pork be made in so many different ways?

When Feng Zhengming presented this dish, it naturally shocked everyone.

He also gave a detailed introduction to his dish to the people of the International Gastronomy Association.

The members of the Food Connoisseurs Association were all taken aback.

Then everyone shared and tasted Feng Zhengming's "Landscape of the Motherland" dish.

After taking a bite, everyone was once again shocked.

"I thought it just looked pretty, but I didn't expect it to taste so good."

"It seems that the local specialties of each place are truly made to reflect the local characteristics, and the flavors of these dishes do not overpower each other."

"They should be made one by one and then assembled."

"But isn't that even more difficult? To recreate the unique characteristics of dishes from different regions, and to make the taste almost identical to the local ones, is not something that just any chef can do."

The president of the Food Critic Association looked at Feng Zhengming.

"Feng, you really surprise us. How did you come up with the idea of ​​cooking these dishes this way?"

Brooks also remarked, "It's a really beautiful dish, and it's also very delicious. Every part of it has its own unique character."

The nine chefs from the world's top ten restaurants were already impressed by Feng Zhengming's exceptional skills as he prepared each dish. When they saw this particular dish being presented, they were equally amazed.

It cannot be said that Feng Zhengming was better prepared than them.

After all, everyone had about the same amount of time to prepare.

It can only be that Feng Zhengming has more ideas and can come up with such a unique design.

The nine chefs once again expressed their respect to Feng Zhengming.

Meanwhile, after the Feng Zhengming awards ceremony, this dish at the lunch banquet was photographed by a professional photographer and soon appeared on the cover of the International Gastronomy Association's annual top ten restaurant recommendation magazine.

Feng Zhengming has truly become an internationally renowned master of Chinese cuisine. (End of Chapter)