From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

When Huiquanlou closed in the evening, Feng Zhengming invited the ten challenged chefs and the people from Huiquanlou to go to Fengjia Dry Rice Shop for a midnight snack.

The chefs were a little embarrassed at first, but were eventually persuaded by Feng Zhengming.

A group of people came to Feng’s dry restaurant.

I saw various small tables and chairs placed in front of the door, and so many people gathered together to eat.

This also surprised the ten challenging chefs.

This kind of scene has never been seen in their respective hometowns.

When the ten challenge chefs saw the dishes served on the table in the dry rice shop, they were a little surprised.

"Can a dry rice shop like this one in Quancheng cook so good food?"

"Yeah, the shredded pork in this osmanthus meat is really good."

"And these three stir-fried dishes are cooked to the perfect temperature, and the sauce is so beautiful."

"Is this braised fish with sauce? It's really good, definitely not inferior to the big restaurants."

“The braised pork belly, pork elbow and four-happiness meatballs are all really great.”

After everyone praised him, the oldest Liu Dewei suddenly said, "Did you forget? This is Feng's dry rice shop?"

Qiu Zhonghui spoke up before anyone understood.

"This is also Chef Feng's restaurant, and the braised pork is the specialty here."

The other chefs who were challenging the challenge suddenly realized and remembered everything at once.

Everyone looked at Feng Zhengming.

The latter smiled and said, "Here are some home-cooked dishes. We have been practicing in Huiquan Building until so late today. Come on, don't be polite. After you are full, go back and have a good sleep, and have a good game tomorrow."

Liu Dewei picked up the tea in front of him and said, "We have a competition tomorrow, so we won't drink tonight. Let's drink tea instead of wine. Thank you, Chef Feng, for the hospitality."

Feng Zhengming picked up the teacup and said with a smile: "Uncle, you are welcome. Next time you come to Quancheng, remember to find me for a gathering."

Everyone took a sip of tea together, and then stopped being polite.

After all, although these are home-cooked dishes on the table, they also smell very tempting.

So everyone picked up their chopsticks and picked up the dishes they had their eyes on.

When challenging chefs, they usually pick up the pork belly first.

Obviously, everyone wants to try it. What does Feng Zhengming’s famous Baozirou taste like?
A large piece of meat was placed in a bowl and I took a bite first.

The moment the teeth touched the slice of meat, it was almost effortless, as if they had not touched anything, and they cut the slice of meat easily.

Then you take a sip of the rich aroma of soy sauce and meat, which is salty and fresh with a hint of sweetness on the aftertaste.

The key is that the whole piece of meat is stewed until it is very soft and mushy. The fat seems to melt in your mouth, and the lean meat is also very tender and crispy.

After taking a bite, the chefs who are challenging themselves feel simply: satisfied.

Even some chefs felt that it was such a blessing to be able to eat such braised pork every day.

In addition to the braised pork, the other dishes are also quite delicious.

Especially on a night like this, every dish is really perfect to go with rice.

The ten challenge chefs were extremely satisfied with this meal.

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they insisted on discussing how to pool money for Feng Zhengming, saying that they had to pay.

Feng Zhengming saw the honest looks of the chefs.

He finally refused everyone's money.

“I know it’s not easy for you to come to Quancheng to participate in this competition, especially with so many people signing up. Everyone has to pay for their own travel expenses, food and accommodation. This meal tonight will be my way of giving you some extra spice.

I hope that everyone can gain something from this competition, even if we cannot represent Shandong cuisine in the national competition.

In the future, we can all improve our cooking skills, and if there is a chance, we can exchange cooking skills again.”

Feng Zhengming's words were quite sincere.

There are more than 1000 chefs in this challenge, and many of them are from other places. It is really not easy for them to make this trip.

Not only do they find it inconvenient for many people to take the bus to Quancheng.

More importantly, their own income is limited, and they have to spend money on food and accommodation during this trip to Quancheng.

After paying so much, many people may leave after the second round.

But obviously, all kinds of difficulties still cannot stop them from pursuing the improvement of their cooking skills.

Feng Zhengming admires these people from the bottom of his heart.

If his current abilities were not limited, Feng Zhengming would even like to treat all the chefs to a meal.

Feng Zhengming feels that with such a group of chefs willing to work hard to improve their cooking skills, the future of Shandong cuisine will definitely be better.

Although Feng Zhengming spoke sincerely, Liu Dewei and others still gave him the money.

"Chef Feng, you are a good chef, a very good chef. You represent our Shandong cuisine in the national competition. We believe you are qualified."

Qiu Zhonghui continued, "So we must pay for this meal tonight. After all, we will be opponents tomorrow."

After hearing what Liu Dewei and Qiu Zhonghui said, Feng Zhengming smiled and accepted the money they gave him.

After receiving this money, they can feel at ease, and no one will have any burden in tomorrow's game.

Feng Zhengming saw them out and watched them return to their respective residences.

Standing in front of Feng’s dry restaurant, at this moment Feng Zhengming was really looking forward to tomorrow’s game more and more.

The next day, the competition started at 9:30 in the morning.

A special area was set up on site for the chefs to kill, pluck and clean the chickens.

And each challenge chef was given a separate sink.

The chefs participating in today's competition were obviously well prepared.

Most of the chefs yesterday had already been familiar with each other.

So during the process of killing the chicken today, nothing went wrong.

Of course, if you look closely, you can see that some of the chefs still have tape on their hands.

Obviously, some chefs also practiced yesterday in preparation for today's live chicken-killing competition.

Kill, pluck and clean the chickens on hand.

Feng Zhengming carefully rinsed and arranged all the chicken innards.

Some chefs don't pay attention to this small detail.

Wait until everyone has finished cleaning their chickens.

They all returned to their respective desks.

The next step is to time each chef individually and have them debone a whole chicken on the spot.

After Feng Zhengming wiped the water off the chicken, he immediately started to debone the chicken.

Throughout the whole process, Feng Zhengming's work was smooth and seamless.

Even the person standing nearby and keeping time was a little dazzled by what he saw.

This is not to say that Feng Zhengming's hand speed is very fast.

But the location of his knife was very precise.

It's basically easy to cut the chicken with just one cut, and you can cut exactly where you need it.

To Feng Zhengming, the bone removal process seemed like an easy task.

Feng Zhengming even carefully put the disassembled parts back in order.

Then he asked the person who was timing next to him to stop it.

At this time, the person in charge of timing saw that it only took 50 seconds.

So when Feng Zhengming finished deboning the whole chicken and even laid out every piece, the others were still deboning it. Naturally, there was a burst of applause at the scene, which was regarded as an affirmation of Feng Zhengming.

No one on site even thought to check it out.

Because Feng Zhengming removed the bones too cleanly, he also removed the bones from the chicken legs and wings.

Especially the very tiny bones at the tips of the chicken wings, all of which were removed by Feng Zhengming.

The veteran masters watching on site were actually also calculating the time.

When Master Su saw Feng Zhengming finish the dismantling, he also applauded.

"Okay, this is what a chef should be like. Zhengming really didn't disappoint everyone. Our Shandong cuisine chefs should have this kind of skills."

Some other restaurant chefs who served as judges and some people from the Cooking Association couldn't help but blush when they heard what Master Su said.

Master Su’s words and Feng Zhengming’s performance at the scene were like a slap in their faces.

It's like pointing at their noses and telling them.

See? What a chef looks like?
I, Feng Zhengming, will do it for all of you to see.

When it comes to the processes of killing the chicken, depilating, cleaning, and deboning the whole chicken, the chefs present are all capable of doing it.

However, since they haven't done it for many years, it would be impossible for them to do it as skillfully and efficiently as Feng Zhengming if they were asked to do it themselves now.

Seeing Feng Zhengming's craftsmanship this time can be regarded as a wake-up call to some master chefs that they must not forget the basic skills.

Master Yan smiled and said to Master Su, "Master Su, you are so excited."

Master Su's voice was still loud and clear: "Good is good, why am I so excited? I am just telling the truth. Zhengming can do the basic skills so well and remember his roots. This is good."

When Master Su said this, some people at the scene knew what he meant.

Cheng Guosheng understood it all at once.

Master Su was taking the opportunity to indirectly criticize himself.

However, Cheng Guosheng did not refute it.

After all, Master Su is our elder.

In Cheng Guosheng's heart, he never felt that there was anything wrong with some of the changes that had taken place between him and the owner of Jubinyuan.

Traditional dishes are gradually becoming less popular, and many newer things from abroad are entering the country.

Moreover, with the development of the economy, some dishes from the south have gradually flowed into the north and have become more popular than traditional Shandong cuisine.

Cheng Guosheng felt that we should not continue to be conservative and should try more.

Of course, while thinking this in his heart, Cheng Guosheng also had some of his own ideas.

He has decided to give up this selection.

Cheng Guosheng does not want to continue representing Shandong cuisine in national competitions.

On the one hand, he had seen Feng Zhengming's skills, and in his heart, Cheng Guosheng had already admitted defeat.

He was still unwilling to admit that he would lose to Feng Zhengming.

But admitting defeat in his heart made Cheng Guosheng feel that it was no longer important whether or not he participated in the national competition.

He wanted to work with the owner of Jubinyuan to use the time at the end of the year to go out and visit other places, learn some of the characteristics of other places, and make some changes to Jubinyuan.

Cheng Guosheng discussed this with his boss last night and obtained his consent.

In fact, Mr. Du of Jubinyuan had already had the idea of ​​going out for a walk.

In Boss Du’s view, Jubinyuan’s attempt to change this time is just the beginning.

Next, Boss Du wants to travel around the country to find some more fashionable things and bring them back to add to Jubin Garden.

Now that even Chef Cheng Guosheng is willing to cooperate with him, Boss Du is naturally even bolder.

Several old masters also heard that Master Su was making a veiled criticism.

Master Yan reminded Master Su: "Old Su, Old Wang is still here, you'd better not say anything too extreme."

Master Su glanced at Master Wang.

Coincidentally, Master Wang also looked at Master Su.

The two masters exchanged glances.

There was almost no need for any extra verbal communication, as Master Su understood that Master Wang did not blame him.

Master Wang also hopes that Master Su's words can make Cheng Guosheng stop in his tracks.

Although Master Wang has left Jubin Garden, he has also said that he will no longer be involved in anything related to Jubin Garden.

But after all, Jubin Garden is where he has worked for half his life.

Cheng Guosheng is also a disciple that Master Wang likes very much.

Otherwise, Master Wang would not have let Cheng Guosheng take over the kitchen of Jubinyuan.

Therefore, Master Wang hopes that even if Cheng Guosheng tries to make some changes, he will not forget his roots.

Master Su didn't say anything else, and everyone continued to watch the live competition.

Master Wang glanced at Cheng Guosheng's back. He hoped that his apprentice would listen to him and stick to the roots of Shandong cuisine.

At the scene, Feng Zhengming removed all the chicken skin from the chicken.

He also carefully scraped the oil off the chicken skin.

Then Feng Zhengming prepared boiling water and ice water.

After blanching the chicken skin in hot water, immediately put it in ice water to chill it.

Repeat this process several times until the chicken skin becomes elastic, tender and firm.

Many people at the scene saw Feng Zhengming's approach and felt a little strange about the way he handled chicken skin?
Afterwards, Feng Zhengming showed off his knife skills and cut the chicken skin into thin strips.

The next step is to use some ingredients to mix the shredded chicken skin into a cold dish.

After mixing it cold, put the shredded chicken skin on a plate.

Finished his first dish.

Many people at the scene were a little surprised. If they hadn’t seen Feng Zhengming make it with their own eyes, it would have been difficult to guess that the cold dish was a plate of chicken skin.

Then Feng Zhengming threw all the chicken bones into the pot to make soup.

As for the remaining chicken, Feng Zhengming also divided it up a little.

The chicken wings and chicken feet are placed together, and it looks like they are prepared to be cooked together.

In addition, a piece of chicken breast was smashed into meat paste by Feng Zhengming with a knife on the spot.

There was also a piece of chicken breast that Feng Zhengming sliced ​​and cut into chicken shreds.

Feng Zhengming simply cut the boneless and skinless chicken legs into chunks after making some cuts.

After some preparation, Feng Zhengming processed the different parts of the chicken after deboning it.

Seeing that Feng Zhengming had dealt with everything first, the old masters on the scene nodded frequently.

It is obvious that the master chefs still approve of Feng Zhengming's approach.

Since Feng Zhengming was the only one working on the scene, he also had to make several different dishes out of the whole chicken.

So he has to think clearly about what dishes to cook? After thinking clearly, he has to prepare them one by one.

Prepare the ingredients for each dish in advance.

In this way, Feng Zhengming can do it more smoothly later.

His approach may not be something that ordinary chefs would think of.

But if you are the chef of a large restaurant, you must think these things through in advance.

Because only by thinking clearly in advance can the kitchen be better prepared to avoid sudden impulses that lead to chaos in the kitchen.

When the chicken soup made from chicken bones had started to taste good, Feng Zhengming finally started to cook. (End of this chapter)