From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Back at Huiquan Tower, a group of people lined up to welcome Feng Zhengming's triumphant return.

He Yunqing led the service staff to applaud and congratulate Feng Zhengming.

Faced with such a celebration ceremony, Feng Zhengming was a little flattered.

"Hahaha, I haven't even made it to the trials yet. There's still the last round of competition, and I need to compete with the chefs later. Uncle He, aren't you congratulating me too early?"

He Yunqing smiled and said, "It's not too early. After two rounds of competition, everyone can see the chef's skills."

The head waitress also echoed, "Yes, yes, everyone says the chef's cooking is excellent."

Then another waiter said: "Someone came to Huiquanlou at noon today and asked when the dishes made in the chef competition could be eaten in the restaurant."

Feng Zhengming quickly said, "If we want to eat it in the store, it will probably take some time. Let me prepare it well."

He Yunqing said excitedly: "Look, chef, everyone is looking forward to your dishes, which means you have succeeded."

At this time, Xia Mingye couldn't help but agree: "It has indeed been very successful."

When Xia Hui heard what her brother said, she couldn't help but pat him gently to prevent him from interrupting.

As a result, Xia Mingye said unconvincedly: "Sister, why did you hit me? I am telling the truth. If I participate in the competition and don't get a ranking, I will definitely not be noticed by many people.

But Master Feng is different. After participating in two competitions, the dishes he cooked have already been discussed by many people. "

Feng Zhengming turned his head to look at Xia Mingye and asked, "Did you hear other people discussing this?"

Xia Mingye nodded: "I went to the Jufengde kitchen to practice yesterday, and heard that many people in the Jufengde kitchen were discussing your bright future."

When Xia Hui heard her brother mention this dish, she also said, "Uncle Yang also discussed that dish with us in the kitchen of the dry rice shop yesterday."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "The dish is not complicated, but it takes some thought to design the presentation."

"Uncle Yang also said so." Xia Hui relayed Yang Bin's words, "Uncle Yang said that the key to that dish lies in the plating design. You have to think about how to arrange the dish in advance and design the positions of the ingredients of different colors.

Then it’s a process of showing off your knife skills, cutting the vegetables into evenly thin and thick pieces to better present the dish presentation.”

Feng Zhengming said: "So, when you have time in the future, I will arrange for you to go to the art school for classes."

These words made Xia Hui feel very excited.

“Is it really possible to attend art school?”

Feng Zhengming smiled and nodded: "Of course you can go. Learning some art knowledge will also help us cook."

Luo Qing was a little curious: "Is art helpful for cooking?"

Feng Zhengming said: "Of course, some of the designs when arranging the dishes and some of the carving designs all involve some art knowledge."

At this point, Feng Zhengming emphasized: "The most important thing is to improve everyone's aesthetic ability.

A chef must first have sufficient aesthetic ability to show more beauty in the dishes and let the guests appreciate the beauty in every dish."

Feng Zhengming's words really surprised everyone present.

In the past, no one would associate cooking with aesthetics and art.

But Feng Zhengming is different. He understands cooking as not just about cooking, but also about having sufficient aesthetic display.

If someone else expressed Feng Zhengming's opinion, it might not be convincing enough.

But what Feng Zhengming said was still very convincing.

Because he had already demonstrated his point of view with a dish in the first round of the challenge.

And in today's second round, he made four dishes with one chicken, and each dish also adhered to his point of view.

Feng Zhengming then emphasized: "Of course, we don't want to be artists. If we really want to be artists, we won't choose to be chefs.

We study art to improve our aesthetic taste, and all of this is just to serve our cooking.

So fundamentally speaking, we still have to make our dishes delicious first.”

This statement is another kind of statement.

Feng Zhengming presents his dishes in a more aesthetic way.

They just use aesthetics and art to enhance the flavor of their dishes instead of simply pursuing the beauty of the presentation, ignoring the fact that the essence of food is that it must first taste good.

After saying so much, Feng Zhengming said to everyone with a smile: "To thank you for your congratulations, I would like to invite you to try a new dish I made for the competition tonight."

As soon as these words were spoken, all the service staff present cheered in surprise.

“The chef is amazing.”

“The boss is so nice.”

“I can eat new dishes again.”

"That's great."

"looking forward to."

Seeing that everyone was so excited, Feng Zhengming walked in with a smile and went to the locker room to change into his chef's uniform.

When he stepped into the kitchen, everyone in the kitchen applauded and congratulated him.

"The chef is awesome, it was another perfect day."

"Hahaha, I'm not surprised that Chef won."

"That's right. The other chefs I challenged were obviously not on the same level as me."

The apprentices were quite confident in what they said.

Gu Zhicheng made a calmer analysis: "The main reason is that although many chefs are head chefs, they are still cooking some old dishes without much innovation."

Qi Jiale followed up by saying: “We still have to step out from our hometown and come to the Spring City to see the world, only then can we make progress.”

Bao Feng shook his head and said, "If you come to Quancheng and don't meet a chef like this, you may not be able to learn new things."

Yao Zhenhui couldn't help but praise Feng Zhengming: "So, the chef is really good."

Feng Zhengming saw that everyone was praising him again, so he smiled and said, "Alright, stop praising me. I can't stand it anymore."

Seeing everyone laughing, Feng Zhengming then told everyone a good news.

"I have good news for you. I heard from Master Cui and the others that they will invite some chefs from other places to come for exchanges next year. Then you will have the opportunity to learn more about other places."

These words filled everyone present with anticipation.

At the same time, Xia Mingye, who had just changed his clothes and came in with his sister, was also very excited.

"Really? Will there be chefs from other places coming to exchange ideas next year?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Yes, what Master Cui said should not be false. Of course, we also need to have a good performance in this national competition so that those chefs are willing to come and exchange ideas."

Everyone immediately smiled and told Feng Zhengming to perform well.

"The chef brought back a top prize."

"That's right, at least we have to bring back a few gold medals."

"The chef's good results will let the chefs from other places know how good our Shandong cuisine chefs are."

“After seeing how good we are, their chefs will be willing to come and communicate with us.”

"The chef must be the best. As long as they get the top prize, they will come to us."

Feng Zhengming could only smile and say, "Do your best."

Then Feng Zhengming began to prepare the dishes to be cooked in the competition for everyone.

He asked the kitchen to prepare three chickens specially.

Just like in the competition, a whole chicken bone removal teaching was held in the kitchen, and the apprentices in the kitchen were asked to watch and learn carefully.

"If you cut the thigh here, there will be a dent here. Use the tip of the knife to press against this place. If you tear it like this, will the whole thigh come off?"

"Then here, make a cut on the wing, and then push against here and tear it apart as well."

Feng Zhengming was talking and doing at the same time, and the whole process was smooth and there was no hindrance at all.

It was as if there was a chicken in his hand, and if he wanted to tear that piece off, he could do it with just a light tear of his hand.

The apprentices in Huiquanlou's kitchen really admire Feng Zhengming's methods.

Of course, everyone also took careful note of Professor Feng Zhengming's points.

This was not a competition. In order to pursue speed, Feng Zhengming cut the knife even faster, giving the people watching the scene almost no chance to see and learn clearly.

In the kitchen of Huiquanlou, Feng Zhengming has to be more meticulous and also explains things to his apprentices.

This is so that the apprentices can see clearly and learn roughly.

After deboning the whole chicken, Feng Zhengming removed all the chicken bones in front of everyone.

"The thigh bone is easier. Cut it with a knife. Once it hits the bone, cut it along the bone. Then push it against the edge of the chopping board and gently cut it with the knife to remove it."

Remove the bones from the chicken legs and wings.

Feng Zhengming then peeled off the chicken skin.

After that, he first scalded the chicken in water at about 80 degrees and peeled off the skin.

After blanching, scrape off the fat attached to the chicken skin.

Make sure only a thin layer of chicken skin is left.

Next, Feng Zhengming soaked the chicken skin in hot water and ice water.

Until the chicken skin is mature while maintaining a certain toughness.

Feng Zhengming flattened the chicken skin on the chopping board and cut it into thin strips with a knife.

Then make a salad dressing.

Feng Zhengming added a little lemon juice and a little bit of grated lemon peel to the salad dressing.

After serving, sprinkle some chopped green onions, sesame seeds and crushed peanuts on top to enhance the flavor.

When this dish came out, everyone in the kitchen was surprised.

No one thought that chicken skin could be made in this way?
What Feng Zhengming cooks in the kitchen is naturally more detailed than what he does during the live competition.

Without letting everyone taste it, Feng Zhengming put the cold chicken skin away for the time being.

"Okay, everyone can eat when we eat later, don't worry about it now."

Next, Feng Zhengming used the remaining chicken to make three dishes for everyone: stir-fried diced chicken, shredded chicken with silver sprouts, and stir-fried chicken slices.

Finally, I made a simple egg drop soup with chicken soup for everyone.

Everything was ready. Feng Zhengming invited everyone to come together and brought out several dishes he had made, as well as the work meals prepared by the apprentices in the kitchen. They went to the front hall together and had dinner with the service staff.

Of course, cold chicken skin has become a dish that everyone wants to try.

When everyone was preparing to eat, Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Can you guess what it is?"

Everyone in the kitchen who knew what it was remained silent.

Let the service staff of Huiquanlou eat separately and make guesses separately.

After tasting it, no one present could guess what it was?
The general guess is gluten.

Because in terms of taste, it really does look like gluten.

Wait until everyone says they really can't guess it.

Feng Zhengming then asked everyone in the kitchen to announce the answer.

“Actually, this is chicken skin.”

"Yes, it's cold chicken skin."

The service staff were surprised to find out that it was chicken skin.

“Is it actually chicken skin?”

"This is actually chicken skin? I can't believe it."

“But this doesn’t taste like chicken skin at all?”

"Yeah, how could chicken skin taste like this?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and told everyone the general production method.

"It is very easy to make this kind of taste by making some changes in the production method. First, the fat in the chicken skin must be scraped clean, and then the chicken skin must be scalded and cooled alternately to stimulate it so that the chicken skin can be firm and elastic."

Apparently this cold chicken skin dish is really popular.

On the one hand, after being processed by Feng Zhengming, the chicken skin has a unique taste that everyone likes.

On the other hand, there is Feng Zhengming’s unique seasoning, which can be regarded as a combination of Chinese and Western flavors.

At Huiquanlou dinner, everyone enjoyed this dish.

The judges who tasted this dish during the competition also mentioned it in their discussions after the competition that evening.

"Zhengming always has some surprises for everyone."

"Yeah, that cold chicken skin really has a very special taste."

"He basically used all the seasonings, and the taste was salty, sweet, spicy and fresh, which was really sufficient."

“The addition of sesame and chives is also very classic.”

Master Cui concluded: "Zhengming's seasoning skills are really amazing. He can always find the balance of flavors, which can almost suit the taste of most people."

Master Su is full of expectations: "I am even more looking forward to him going to the national competition and showing more."

After some discussion, the masters decided on a unique assessment method for the final of the challenge.

According to previous considerations, the final goal of the challenge is to allow the challenging chefs to demonstrate the abilities of the master chefs.

Therefore, for the final ten chefs in the challenge, each chef was assigned two assistants.

Then the chef participating in the competition needs to bring two assistants to prepare a banquet on the spot.

If a banquet is to have ten courses, it should consist of at least two cold dishes, six hot dishes and two soup dishes at the beginning and end.

This is also a huge challenge for the challenge chef.

When the master chefs and judges from the Cooking Association discuss the arrangements for kitchen helpers.

Master Cui suggested a solution: "In order to be fair, all the kitchen helpers will be hired by my cooking school. This way, no restaurant in Quancheng will be involved."

Such an arrangement left the representatives from other local cooking associations speechless.

Everyone is still willing to believe in Master Cui's fairness.

Of course, in order to give the chefs time to prepare, we will be given one more day to prepare.

That is to say, there will be two empty days in the middle of the competition, and the first day will be allocated to the ten challenge chefs to help in the kitchen.

Then they were given the time to familiarize themselves with the kitchen helpers, and on the second day they were asked to discuss the ten dishes for the banquet together.

To be fair, they can only prepare it in Master Cui's cooking school. (End of this chapter)