From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

In the kitchen of Huiquanlou, several of Feng Zhengming's senior brothers gathered there.

The reason why several senior brothers are here is that everyone is helping Feng Zhengming to make plans and taste the dishes he is going to cook in the competition.

Secondly, Feng Zhengming asked the third and fifth senior brothers to adapt to the kitchen of Huiquanlou.

If Feng Zhengming is successfully selected, he will participate in the national competition as the representative chef of Shandong cuisine.

So Huiquanlou must have a chef to preside over it.

Feng Zhengming originally hoped that his senior brother would come to help manage the kitchen of Huiquanlou.

As a result, the eldest senior brother Li Huidong directly refused.

Several other brothers tried to persuade the eldest brother, but they were still unsuccessful.

Through some connections, Feng Zhengming knew that his senior brother was not having a good time in the brewery cafeteria.

The reason still lies with the deputy factory director Fang Jian.

It is said that Fang Jian has a new backer, so his power in the factory has increased.

Even the old factory manager had some trouble dealing with Fang Jian.

Fang Jian, who had long been eyeing the canteen, arranged a partner for it.

Originally, Li Huidong's elder sister and brother-in-law wanted to refuse.

But Fang Jian got hold of some evidence against Li Huidong's elder sister in the factory.

Senior brother Li Huidong didn't want his elder sister to get into trouble, so he took the initiative to let Fang Jian buy shares in the canteen, in order to help his sister get back the leverage in Fang Jian's hand.

However, after Fang Jian actually acquired shares in the canteen, he immediately arranged for people to manage the canteen.

Even during this period, Fang Jian wanted to take the canteen's purchases over several times.

But they were all rejected by Li Huidong.

But there was an outsider who was always standing in the cafeteria, giving orders to everyone in the cafeteria.

Even though Li Huidong has the support of the old factory manager, he can ignore the other party's instructions.

For the time being, the other party's attempt to take control of the cafeteria has not been achieved.

But as the saying goes: Toads don't bite, but they disgust people.

Fang Jian placed a guy like that in the cafeteria, which often made Li Huidong and others feel annoyed.

Especially now that the canteen has to pay Fang Jian a dividend every month, Li Huidong feels very aggrieved.

It was only after Feng Zhengming learned about these problems that he wanted to call his senior brother to Huiquan Tower.

His idea was that since he was going to go out of town to participate in a national cooking competition this time, he could let his senior brother take his place so that he could get familiar with the kitchen of Huiquanlou first.

Then next year, we can let the eldest brother stay in the kitchen of Huiquanlou.

As for the cafeteria, the eldest brother simply let his two disciples take care of it temporarily.

Anyway, Zhang Lei and Yang Peng’s cooking skills are good enough for the canteen.

Senior brother Li Huidong just needs to go back to the cafeteria from time to time to provide guidance.

From then on, Feng Zhengming gradually asked the senior brother to withdraw from the cafeteria.

By handing Huiquanlou over to his senior brother, Feng Zhengming can now do more things with peace of mind.

But no matter how Feng Zhengming persuaded him, even with the help of several senior brothers, the eldest brother still refused to agree.

Li Huidong said to his fellow students very frankly: "If Zhengming Huiquan Building needs help, I will definitely come to help without hesitation, even if I give up the cafeteria, I will still come to help.

But I know Zhengming's thoughts very well. He just wants me to take over as the chef of Huiquanlou in his place.

I really can't accept this. As the eldest senior brother, if I take advantage of the younger junior brother, what will I become as the eldest senior brother?"

When the younger brothers heard what the elder brother said, they were all a little amused and confused. They didn't understand why the elder brother would think so much.

Facing the misunderstanding of his junior fellow students, Li Huidong said more bluntly: "If I come to Huiquan Restaurant to take over as the head chef, then I will become the one who picks the peaches grown by my junior fellow students."

Feng Zhengming couldn't help but laugh and asked, "Brother, why do you think so?
How could you come here to pick the peaches I planted? When Yanxilou closed down and I had nowhere to go, wasn't it you, my senior brother, who was willing to take me in?

We went to the countryside together to prepare a feast for people, and when we came back you gave me a share of the money, so what is this?"

Feng Zhengming persuaded the senior brother seriously: "We are brothers. I am an orphan and I have no brothers or sisters. In my heart, you are my brothers and you are the people I can trust the most.

Why am I willing to hand over Huiquan Restaurant to you? Because I know that you, my brothers, are skilled in cooking and you will not let Huiquan Restaurant have any problems. "

Several other senior brothers also helped to persuade the eldest brother to listen to Feng Zhengming.

But in the end, the eldest senior brother still did not agree to take over Huiquanlou, and he was unwilling to be the temporary head chef.

Li Huidong just promised: "If you need anything, I will definitely come to help."

The eldest senior brother couldn't persuade her anymore, so Feng Zhengming had to ask the third and fifth senior brothers for help.

This time when Senior Brother Five came back, he was indeed planning to stay in Quancheng for a while.

It just so happened that fifth senior brother Cao Zhiguo didn’t have anything to do for the time being.

Since the eldest senior brother was unwilling to take over Huiquanlou, Feng Zhengming simply let the fifth senior brother take over.

After Cao Zhiguo saw some of the processes in Feng Zhengming's Huiquanlou kitchen.

He felt a little nervous, so he called his third senior brother Yang Bin to come along.

Feng Zhengming also made new arrangements for the dry rice shop.

He asked Qi Jiale to take two apprentices and Sun Hai to the kitchen of the restaurant to replace his third senior brother Yang Bin.

At this dry rice shop, there is Qi Jiale, who is very good at stir-frying.

In addition, there are three more capable apprentices: Sun Hai, Xia Hui and Sun Decai.

Yang Bin can go back and check from time to time, and there shouldn't be any problem.

Of course, the most important thing is Huiquanlou. It requires the cooperation of the third and fifth senior brothers, and with the cooperation of Gu Zhicheng and others, to ensure the quality of the dishes served at Huiquanlou.

In addition, the eldest senior brother also agreed to come and help, so Feng Zhengming could feel completely at ease.

After arranging everything for Huiquanlou and Ganfanpu, Feng Zhengming carefully prepared the dishes for the competition in the kitchen.

Although we don’t know what the requirements will be for the next two games?
But Feng Zhengming still decided to prepare some dishes in advance.

Among them are several more traditional classic Shandong dishes, such as the two most classic Shandong dishes, Jiuzhuan Large Intestine and Scallion-fried Sea Cucumber.

These two dishes can be regarded as the most signature dishes of Shandong cuisine.

These two dishes seem to be very simple and unpretentious after being prepared.

In fact, these two dishes are the ones that truly embody the essence of Shandong cuisine.

The Nine-Turn Large Intestine has all five flavors.

The taste of scallion-fried sea cucumber may be different depending on the chef.

This aspect is often difficult to explain clearly.

But once you eat it, you will definitely taste the difference.

If a Shandong cuisine chef cannot make nine-turn large intestine and scallion-fried sea cucumber well.

Then you cannot be considered a qualified Shandong cuisine chef.

In addition to these traditional classic Shandong dishes, Feng Zhengming also made some of his own innovations.

For example, you can cook sea cucumbers in some special ways, or show off your carving skills and pair them with different dishes.

The reason why we asked the senior brothers to go to the kitchen of Huiquanlou is that we hope that we can ask the senior brothers to help check some innovative dishes, or even let them taste them on the spot.

In the kitchen of Huiquanlou, I accompanied Feng Zhengming to try several of his innovative dishes.

The fellow students were all amazed by some of his wild and imaginative ideas.

Many of Feng Zhengming’s brilliant ideas are considered by his seniors to be “really bold”.

But when Feng Zhengming really made it, his fellow brothers tasted it and felt that it tasted really good.

Moreover, the seniors soon discovered that Feng Zhengming’s innovative ideas were not for the purpose of competition.

He really wanted to make the innovative dishes delicious, and even wanted to promote them in Huiquanlou in the future.

This made the fellow brothers feel a little bit unbelievable.

First, the second brother Chen Zezhi said: "Zhengming, don't you know that many dishes in competitions are actually just made for the competition, and may not taste good in the end, and even if they taste good, many restaurants can't make them."

Fifth senior brother Cao Zhiguo holds the same view.

"Yes, in fact, many competition dishes are probably just for competitions. During competitions, they can be extremely luxurious, but in real restaurants, they basically won't cook like that."

After hearing what his senior brothers said, Feng Zhengming shook his head and said, "No, I think that's meaningless."

"No point?" These words surprised the brothers.

Feng Zhengming said seriously: "Yes, it's meaningless."

After a short pause, Feng Zhengming continued, "If we cook those dishes just for the competition, what's the point? Although the competition is a competition, it should not be divorced from reality.

The dishes we make in the competition should be based on what restaurants and hotels can make, and we should make some more imaginative innovations.

It's not just for the sake of showing off or to satisfy the judges. It's just for once in the competition."

Feng Zhengming's words stunned the other brothers.

This was actually something that the seniors had never thought of before.

Because except for the first two national competitions, it was the old chefs who came out to cook, and the dishes they made were more authentic and could be found in some restaurants and hotels.

Since the 90s, a number of large and small cooking competitions have been held in various places.

Most of the time, it’s chefs from all over the world showing off their skills to each other.

Many dishes are really prepared just for the competition.

You may win a prize in a competition, but after that, that dish will never appear in restaurants or hotels again.

This seems to have gradually reached a consensus.

All the chefs feel that competition is competition, and cooking in restaurants and hotels is normal work.

Among them, several of Feng Zhengming’s senior brothers have gone out to participate in some competitions.

I have also won some awards.

But if you ask them to cook the award-winning dishes in the kitchen, perhaps some of the seniors would not be willing to do it.

Not to mention putting their award-winning dishes on the menu for customers to enjoy.

Because the dishes prepared in competitions are usually quite complicated.

It is not easy to ask them to do it again by themselves.

If it's on the menu and many customers want to order it at the same time, I'm afraid we won't be able to make it.

So the general consensus is that competition is competition, and daily cooking is another matter.

The dishes that Feng Zhengming has to design now must not only be used in the competition, but also must be able to be made in the Huiquanlou kitchen on a regular basis.

Does this make the seniors feel somewhat unbalanced?

Chef Li Huidong also said: "Zhengming, I know what you are thinking, but if you want to cook those dishes for customers in Huiquanlou, you must try to simplify the steps.

But if you simplify the steps in the competition, the dish you make may not win the favor of the judges. "

As soon as the eldest senior brother opened his mouth, all the other senior brothers immediately agreed.

Everyone persuaded Feng Zhengming not to be obsessed.

"Zhengming, you should focus on the competition first. Since it's a competition, sometimes you need to show off your skills. Otherwise, how can you win the favor of the judges?"

"Yes, judges often like dishes that you show off your skills on the spot."

“Moreover, during the competition, you can process the food more meticulously. If you do that when you return to the restaurant, if no customers order, or only one or two customers order, you will definitely lose money.” Third brother Yang Bin analyzed from a profit perspective.

Sixth senior brother Zhang Minghai agrees with third senior brother's point of view.

"Second brother is right. If you launch a dish in a restaurant, you must get customers to order it. If customers order too few, you will lose money just preparing the ingredients for that dish every day."

Despite his fellow students’ constant persuasion, Feng Zhengming still insisted on his own idea.

"Brothers, I know what you mean. You are worried that I will be caught up in balancing the competition and the restaurant, which will result in the dishes I make in the competition not being good, and I may end up losing the competition."

This statement was agreed by the senior brothers.

Feng Zhengming went on to say: "Don't worry, I will definitely not let the game lose, I will plan it out."

Seeing Feng Zhengming say this, the fellow brothers heaved a sigh of relief.

They were really worried that Feng Zhengming would reduce the difficulty of the dish and end up losing to others in the competition.

It was the eldest senior brother Li Huidong who looked at Feng Zhengming and agreed, but he always felt that with Feng Zhengming's character, he might not give up easily and would probably still strike a balance.

Li Huidong could only hope that his junior fellow apprentice wouldn't lose in the competition.

After two days of preparation, Feng Zhengming also made a lot of attempts.

Some of the dishes received unanimous praise from the seniors.

Of course, some of the innovations in dishes were also rejected by the seniors.

Especially some dishes that are not very eye-catching in appearance, the seniors basically rejected them.

Obviously, the seniors still hope that Feng Zhengming will continue to show off his skills in the competition.

Don’t prepare a table of home-cooked meals in the last round like in the previous challenge.

After all, the upcoming competitions will be judged by professional judges.

Moreover, there are still two games left in the qualifiers, and Feng Zhengming's performance in the first game did not have enough crushing advantage.

Finally it was time for the second game.

Feng Zhengming and his team also arrived at the competition venue in the morning.

Then they got the topic for the second game: Sea Cucumber.

Whether it is the chefs participating in the competition or the people watching the competition on site, they can probably guess that the topic of the second round is "Sea Cucumber", which will test the chefs' skills in cooking sea cucumbers.

After all, as a Shandong cuisine chef, if I can’t cook sea cucumber well, how can I represent Shandong cuisine chefs to participate in the national competition?

With the topic in hand, Feng Zhengming and the participating chefs all began to prepare.

There was plenty of food prepared for them on site. There were many different varieties of sea cucumbers alone, and they came in different sizes, which could satisfy Feng Zhengming and his team's needs for making any sea cucumber dishes.

Feng Zhengming and his team did not first select the sea cucumbers, but went to get the various ingredients to flavor the sea cucumbers. (End of this chapter)