From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Because he was going to participate in the national competition, Feng Zhengming still had to make some arrangements for his two restaurants.

First, according to the previous plan, let Gu Zhicheng bring his two apprentices and Chen Anbang to exchange with the third senior brother Yang Bin.

The third senior brother Yang Bin came to take charge of the kitchen of Huiquanlou, and the fifth senior brother Cao Zhiguo stayed in Quancheng temporarily.

The third and fifth senior brothers are in charge of the kitchen of Huiquanlou, and the eldest senior brother Li Huidong will also come to help, so Feng Zhengming naturally feels relieved.

On the other side is Feng’s dry restaurant.

Gu Zhicheng brought two apprentices with him and they also needed to adapt to the rhythm of the restaurant's kitchen.

Feng Zhengming took advantage of the time before he left and went to the kitchen of the dry rice shop at noon every day to work with Gu Zhicheng.

At first, Gu Zhicheng thought that he had worked in a restaurant kitchen for many years.

After arriving in Quancheng, he followed Feng Zhengming and worked in the kitchen of Huiquanlou for more than half a year.

He felt that he could easily handle the kitchen of Feng's dry restaurant.

But when he really entered the kitchen of Fengjia Restaurant and started working, Gu Zhicheng found that it was different from what he had imagined.

The kitchen of the dry rice shop does not need to make many more exquisite dishes like the kitchen of Huiquanlou.

But the cooking speed in the kitchen of the dry rice shop is much faster.

If a customer places an order in front of you, then the entire process from cutting, marinating, battering to stir-frying should be completed within a few minutes.

And in this process, the quality of the dishes needs to be guaranteed.

Especially for customers who order food in dry rice shops, almost all of them order stir-fried dishes.

It can be said that it is a great test of the chef's knife skills, spoon skills, and fire skills.

Gu Zhicheng almost had an accident at noon on the first day because of his haste.

Fortunately, Feng Zhengming was nearby and stepped in in time to help him save the situation.

When the dish was taken over by Feng Zhengming, he re-fried it and served it to the guests.

There was even a hint of confusion on Gu Zhicheng's face.

He never expected that the stir-fry dish that he thought he could easily handle would almost fail today.

Feng Zhengming saw that Gu Zhicheng looked a little dejected.

He smiled and encouraged: "Don't be discouraged, it's okay to occasionally stir-fry dishes. This place is not like Huiquanlou, where you don't have to rush to cook, and you will have more time to prepare.

As for the dry rice shop, because there are more people at meal time, the food must be cooked quickly, which makes it easy to overturn. "

Despite Feng Zhengming's encouragement, Gu Zhicheng was still a little depressed.

"Chef, I didn't expect that I couldn't handle the intensity of the dry rice shop."

Xia Mingye, who was already staying in the kitchen of the dry rice shop, heard what Gu Zhicheng said.

He couldn't help but say, "Chef Gu, you're already great. You almost flipped over, but at least you discovered the problem in time and didn't really flip over."

Xia Mingye was already crying as he spoke: "I am the one who is really hit hard. I feel like I am not even qualified to cook in the kitchen of the dry rice shop."

Hearing Xia Mingye's words, Gu Zhicheng also looked at him, feeling somewhat amused and helpless about Xia Mingye's situation.

Since Xia Mingye stayed in Quancheng, Feng Zhengming arranged for him to work in the kitchen of the dry rice shop with his sister.

His nightmare began.

Xia Mingye thought that the kitchen of the dry rice shop was just busy because of the booming business.

Then he thought about cooking with his sister.

With my craftsmanship, I can definitely compete with my sister.

After actually getting started, Xia Mingye quickly discovered the problem.

It turns out that cooking in the kitchen of a dry rice shop is more difficult than cooking in the kitchen of a big restaurant.

The most fundamental reason is that the kitchen of a dry rice shop pursues "speed".

If the dishes need to be served to the guests quickly, the stir-frying process in the kitchen must also be fast.

Because they are all stir-fried dishes, the chef is required to be fast.

But this "fast" is exactly what Xia Mingye is not good at.

This is also related to his experience in learning cooking.

His family cooks Confucius cuisine, and Confucius cuisine is not about speed but about being polite and decent.

To cook Confucius Mansion cuisine, one must be extremely meticulous.

Therefore, there is no need to serve Confucius cuisine quickly.

Since childhood, Xia Mingye has watched his grandfather, father, uncles and brothers prepare Confucius family cuisine in their own restaurant.

What you see is the slow and leisurely cooking process.

This is why Xia Mingye always cooks slowly and methodically.

So when Xia Mingye entered the kitchen of the dry rice shop, he was completely unable to adapt to the "speed" there.

After messing up several dishes in a row, he finally realized that he was really not good enough.

So these days Xia Mingye no longer went to the kitchen, but instead did the work of cutting and preparing food.

When Xia Hui heard what her brother said, she smiled and said, "This is exactly why Grandpa asked you to stay here, so that you can start from the basics, learn and practice from the beginning step by step."

Looking at his sister, Xia Mingye showed helplessness on his face: "I understand, I will study hard and practice well."

Feng Zhengming saw the look on the brother and sister's faces, he smiled and said, "We still have to acknowledge that Xiaoye is very capable and talented. Think about it, he is several years younger than me, and he has already won the second place in the provincial young chef competition."

Gu Zhicheng also agreed: "Yes, Xiaoye is very talented."

Being praised like this, Xia Mingye's face immediately lit up with smiles, and he even showed a hint of pride towards his sister.

When Xia Hui saw her brother's look, she felt helpless and even a little embarrassed.

"Can't you see? Are the uncles and the others deliberately saying that you are wasting your talent? Think about it, you were the second-best young chef in the province, but now you are doing odd jobs in the kitchen of a restaurant."

These words made Xia Mingye's smile freeze.

Then he looked at Feng Zhengming and Gu Zhicheng.

Feng Zhengming and Gu Zhicheng looked at each other, and they didn't know how to tell Xia Mingye.

I wanted to comfort Xia Mingye, but it seemed that Xia Hui’s words were indeed very hurtful.

And as an elder sister, Xia Hui was telling the truth.

A very heartbreaking truth.

But after a while, Xia Mingye smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. Although I am the second place young chef, everyone always only remembers the first place, so there is nothing wrong with me starting from the beginning."

Then Xia Mingye looked at his sister and said, "I will definitely win first place in the next provincial youth chef competition."

Xia Hui curled her lips: "You are only confident in words."

Xia Mingye did not accept his sister's evaluation this time. He said seriously: "No, Uncle Feng will definitely not be able to participate in the next young chef competition. I will definitely get first place then."

After hearing what Xia Mingye said, Feng Zhengming and the others thought about it carefully and it seemed to be true.

Feng Zhengming will definitely not be able to participate in the next youth chef competition, even though he is young in age.

But he has already participated in the national competition, so he definitely cannot participate in the provincial youth chef competition.

Maybe Feng Zhengming will become a judge in the youth chef competition at that time.

In the next competition, although Gu Zhicheng and his friends’ skills will improve, they may not be able to participate in the youth chef competition due to their age.

So from this perspective, Xia Mingye is indeed the most likely candidate to become the next top scholar.

However, when Xia Mingye was feeling complacent and felt that his studies at the Ganfanpu were promising.

Feng Zhengming suddenly smiled and said, "Although we can't participate in the next Youth Chef Competition, your sister and the others can participate then."

These words immediately perked up Xia Hui, and she patted her brother's shoulder with a smile.

"I will definitely not lose to you in the next Young Chef Competition."

Seeing his sister's smug look, Xia Mingye didn't dare to say anything harsh in front of her.

Gu Zhicheng was amused by Feng Zhengming's words and the appearance of the Xia siblings.

He also cheered Xia Mingye on.

"Xiaoye, I am more optimistic about you. Work hard and you will definitely win the first prize."

After hearing Gu Zhicheng's encouragement, Xia Mingye looked at his sister who was watching him eagerly. He finally gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, I want to be the champion of the next Youth Chef Competition."

Seeing Xia Mingye's confident declaration, Feng Zhengming and Gu Zhicheng both laughed.

Xia Hui looked at her brother with eyes full of expectations for him.

After all, in Xia Hui's heart, she hopes to see her brother be so confident.

If my younger brother can become the top young chef in the province next time.

It will be very helpful for my younger brother's future development in the culinary industry.

With the support of her capable uncle Feng Zhengming, Xia Hui felt that her younger brother would be able to smoothly take over the cooking of Confucius Mansion cuisine.

Xia Hui knew that was what her grandfather and father most wanted to see.

However, although Xia Mingye made the declaration with full confidence, he still had to continue cutting and preparing food in the kitchen of the dry rice shop.

Feng Zhengming also took the opportunity to correct some of his not-so-good habits while he was working.

"Xiaoye, you should be used to this slower but more orderly cutting method in your own kitchen.

That practice cannot be said to be wrong, but in fact, let alone in a dry rice restaurant, it is inappropriate even in the kitchens of some large restaurants.

In the cutting process, you have to be precise and fast.

Only when you can practice to be both fast and accurate, it means that you have mastered your sword skills well enough. "

Xia Mingye listened to Feng Zhengming's instructions and tried to speed up.

But once he speeds up, deviations always occur.

Whenever there was a deviation in his knife skills, Xia Mingye would stop unconsciously.

Feng Zhengming shook his head and said, "You don't have to be so nervous. You can't stop and try to make up for it as soon as there is a deviation. If you do this, it will only slow you down.

You have to finish the work first, then check your problem, and then make adjustments when cutting and matching. "

Under Feng Zhengming's repeated teaching, Xia Mingye slowly began to adapt to the fast pace.

Of course, it is not easy to change some habits that have been developed over many years in a short period of time.

Feng Zhengming didn't expect Xia Mingye to change quickly.

After all, he is still very young and has time to study here.

At the Ganfanpu, Gu Zhicheng gradually adapted to the rhythm and, together with his two apprentices, he also cooperated well with Xia Hui, Sun Decai, Xia Mingye, Chen Anbang, and the original owner of the shop, Shen Rongsen.

On the other side, in the kitchen of Huiquanlou, third senior brother Yang Bin and fifth senior brother Cao Zhiguo were gradually regaining the feeling of working in a restaurant kitchen.

The most important thing is to let the third brother Yang Bin regain his feeling and adapt to some of the work in the restaurant kitchen.

In this regard, Fifth Senior Brother Cao Zhiguo actually has more experience than Third Senior Brother.

So on some things, Cao Zhiguo handled them better than Yang Bin.

For example, when coordinating the work in the kitchen, Yang Bin sometimes has a bit of the anxious mentality of a worker in the kitchen of a dry rice shop.

The result was that many tasks in the kitchen could not be completed smoothly.

At this time, Cao Zhiguo would come forward to better coordinate the atmosphere in the kitchen.

Assign different tasks to everyone to do together.

It also avoids some quarrels.

Let everyone complete the kitchen work together.

After Feng Zhengming learned about the situation, he also had a special chat with his third senior brother Yang Bin.

"Third brother, I know you may not be used to the kitchen when you first arrived. I think you really don't need to worry. You know, the kitchen of a restaurant is not like the kitchen of a dry rice shop. The dishes need to be served quickly.

Huiquanlou is mainly focused on doing things well, so you can’t be impatient. Allocate the work well and let everyone work together to complete each step.”

Yang Bin also understood that sometimes his anxiety was a little unreasonable.

"I just can't help it sometimes. I always feel like the progress is too slow."

After saying this, Yang Bin suggested to Feng Zhengming: "Why don't I go back to the dry rice shop and ask Xiao Gu to come back. He and Lao Wu should work well together."

Feng Zhengming held down his third brother and said, "Third brother, don't be discouraged. You were able to handle things on your own in the kitchen of Yanxilou before."

Yang Bin said helplessly: "In the past, in Yanxi Tower, there was a master. Even if the master was not there, there was still the senior brother."

Feng Zhengming couldn't help laughing: "Hahaha, you wouldn't say that if the eldest brother is not here, there is still the second brother, right?"

Yang Bin was stunned for a moment, then continued: "Yes, there is also Second Senior Brother."

After saying this, Yang Bin couldn't help laughing.

"So, now that Master, the eldest and second senior brothers are gone, you are the third senior brother. Shouldn't you shoulder the responsibility of being a senior brother?"

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, the third senior brother was speechless.

Feng Zhengming continued to encourage his third senior brother.

"Third brother, you must be brave and believe in your own abilities. Fifth brother will help you. Now you are the head chef and deputy chef in the kitchen of Huiquanlou. You can give orders to everyone."

After hearing this, Yang Bin still felt a little unsure.

"Really? After all, they have been with you for more than half a year. I think they are familiar with all the procedures in the kitchen. Sometimes I feel like I am a little out of place in the kitchen."

Feng Zhengming encouraged his third brother again: "No, Third Brother, you have to be more confident. Didn't we agree on this? During my participation in the national competition, Huiquanlou will not introduce any new dishes. We will only make the existing old dishes.

You and Brother Five are very familiar with those dishes, Third Brother. You made them with me when I was preparing for the competition before.

Moreover, you, third brother, and fifth brother have both done it yourselves, and the quality of your work is no worse than mine.

So you have to be more confident and believe that you can control everything in the kitchen of Huiquanlou."

Finally, with the repeated encouragement of his junior fellow apprentice, Third Senior Brother Yang Bin gradually regained his confidence. (End of this chapter)