From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Feng Zhengming's bold creativity really surprised the masters present.

Even several old masters in Quancheng were surprised that he dared to come up with such a new idea in today's reception work.

After seeing this, several masters from Beijing also looked at several masters from Quancheng.

Master Cui understood what the people in Beijing meant.

He smiled and said, "We didn't know about this dish beforehand. He just told us that the dishes he would make today include braised pigeon and shark fin.

But we didn’t know he was going to do it this way.”

The Cantonese chef from Beijing asked Feng Zhengming with a smile.

"Chef Xiao Feng, it seems that you know how to cook pigeon wings?"

Feng Zhengming nodded and replied, "I went to other places with my master to participate in cooking exchanges before, and saw Cantonese chefs making this dish."

The Cantonese chef nodded and said, "No wonder, your method is very novel. You should braise the pigeon in yellow sauce, right? You used the pigeon wing swallowing technique and incorporated it into the braised pigeon method."

Master Yan added: "His method of preparing shark fins is considered the braised shark fin method in Shandong cuisine."

Feng Zhengming nodded and said, "Master is right. I used the Shandong cuisine method to process shark fins. After pre-processing the shark fins, I stuffed them into the pigeon's stomach, and then braised the pigeon."

The Shandong cuisine master chef from Beijing suddenly burst into laughter.

After laughing, the master said: "Zhengming's dish can be called our Shandong version of pigeon wings."

This made the other masters present stunned at first, and then everyone burst into laughter.

Master Su even said with a smile: "Let the people from Jufengde come and learn this dish. We should promote this dish more."

Feng Zhengming quickly said, "Uncle Su, I don't deserve this. This is just an experiment, and I don't dare to promote it casually. Besides, shark fin is quite expensive."

The old chefs also said that such a dish could be put on the menu first, and then gradually introduced as people's income increases.

After watching Feng Zhengming cook a few dishes, the Shandong cuisine master chef from Beijing suddenly spoke.

"Zhengming, you have great skills, your basic skills are quite solid, and you have your own understanding and creativity. Have you ever thought about developing in Beijing?"

The Shandong cuisine master from Beijing said this, causing the people from Quancheng present to look at each other in bewilderment.

Then everyone turned their eyes to Feng Zhengming.

At this moment, even the kitchen of Huiquanlou seemed to be suddenly quiet.

While they were busy, the other chefs were also quietly observing Feng Zhengming.

What the Beijing-based Shandong cuisine chef said actually meant that he had already extended an invitation to Feng Zhengming.

This master chef can be considered a master among Shandong cuisine chefs in Beijing.

It was rare for him to personally extend an invitation to Feng Zhengming.

And from the way the old master looked at Feng Zhengming.

He may have the intention of having Feng Zhengming go to Beijing, stay by his side, and then inherit his skills and become the future "leader" among Shandong cuisine chefs in Beijing.

After a moment of silence, Feng Zhengming smiled and thanked the other party.

“Thank you for your liking to me. Actually, considering my age and experience, I am still just a student among Shandong cuisine and Chinese cooking chefs. I still have a lot to learn.

So I might have to reject your invitation. I might not go to Beijing. I might go south to experience more diverse food and more abundant ingredients.

Watch and learn, and one day in the future, I can use my own abilities to combine a more unique food menu.”

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, the masters present looked at each other in bewilderment.

For a moment, everyone seemed speechless.

After a long while, the Beijing-based Shandong cuisine chef said with a smile, "Okay, okay, Zhengming is indeed more idealistic than most chefs.

This is what young people should be like, they should dare to think and dare to do. It is not difficult to see from many of your creative dishes that you are already moving in your own direction.

Then we look forward to seeing your success, and looking forward to seeing a chef who can integrate different cuisines from all over China."

Feng Zhengming said quickly: "I, I dare not say that I can integrate different cuisines from all over China. China is vast and the tastes of different places are different. A chef cannot make dishes that everyone likes.

I can only try my best to cook the dishes well, and try to absorb the characteristics of other cuisines as much as possible based on Shandong cuisine.

Let the taste of Shandong cuisine become more diverse, and you can taste the different flavors from different places. "

After listening to Feng Zhengming's words, the old masters nodded in agreement.

The old masters understood that Feng Zhengming was a more down-to-earth person.

He didn't intend to completely fuse different cuisines, nor did he think about making a dish that would taste delicious to everyone.

He wants to base Shandong cuisine on it, integrating the characteristics of different cuisines from all over the country to make Shandong cuisine more diverse and rich.

After understanding Feng Zhengming's thoughts, several old masters from Beijing no longer forced him to go to Beijing.

Several master chefs visited the kitchen again.

Looking at the kitchen of Huiquanlou, all the chef apprentices were working intensively, especially Feng Zhengming's command and dispatch were very reasonable.

It seems that everyone is busy, but in fact the work intensity is not very high.

This made the old masters present quite appreciative.

The chefs who have worked in the kitchen are all very clear about the hard work that is involved.

If the work in the kitchen is not well coordinated, it will only make the people in the kitchen more tired, and the efficiency and quality of the dishes will not be adequately guaranteed.

Therefore, several old chefs in Beijing are very clear about the importance of a good chef to the kitchen.

Several master chefs in Beijing also sighed when looking at the kitchen of Huiquanlou.

"Nowadays, it is different from the past. The chefs in the kitchens want to keep some skills to themselves and keep their skills to make a living. They will not easily pass them on to their apprentices."

"Yes, now we emphasize efficiency first, and we must ensure the quality and speed of serving the dishes."

“So it’s more of a test of the chef’s coordination ability, whether he can get the people in the kitchen to follow his instructions.”

"The key is to break down the process well and let different people in the kitchen be responsible for different processes."

"Hahaha, you guys in the kitchen of the Great Hall do have a say in this."

"The Great Hall's kitchen mainly relies on the human wave tactic, but if there is a large-scale reception event, our workload is also very heavy."

Some young apprentices in the kitchen heard the conversation between the masters and had various guesses about their identities.

Although I couldn't guess the other party's identity at once, I roughly knew that the people who came to the kitchen today must be of extraordinary status.

After the visit, the masters chose to leave first.

"Zhengming is really sorry to bother you guys."

"Yeah, don't blame us old guys for interrupting your cooking."

“I hope you won’t be affected and can cook the dishes well.”

After several other Beijing chefs left, the Beijing Shandong cuisine chef spoke to Feng Zhengming alone.

"Zhengming, I heard that you wanted to go south. Seeing your attitude towards going to Beijing today, I probably know that you really want to go south to Shanghai to compete with more chefs of different schools at home and abroad."

Feng Zhengming nodded and acknowledged his idea.

"Yes, I want to go south and open a Shandong cuisine restaurant in Shanghai."

The other party nodded: "Nowadays, going south is indeed a better development direction. Shanghai, as a bridgehead of commerce, is indeed worth going to. If you need it, you can find me. I hope you can make Shandong cuisine gain a foothold in Shanghai."

After hearing what the other party said, Feng Zhengming probably understood the other party's expectations.

The other party also hopes that after Feng Zhengming establishes Shandong cuisine in Shanghai, Shandong cuisine can be known and understood by more people with the help of Shanghai.

Feng Zhengming nodded very seriously and agreed: "Please rest assured, I will try my best to do it well."

The other party smiled and said: "First, you have to get good results in the national competition."

Feng Zhengming also laughed: "I will try my best."

After seeing off the Shandong cuisine master chef from Beijing, Feng Zhengming quickly began serving dishes to the private rooms upstairs.

Several masters returned to the private room and met an old man from the province who had come to Quancheng specially for this trip.

When the old man saw the masters coming back, he asked about the situation with a smile.

The old masters all talked about what they saw and felt in the kitchen.

After hearing this, the old man probably understood that the masters were very satisfied with Huiquanlou and also with Feng Zhengming.

The Shandong cuisine master chef in Beijing also told Feng Zhengming about his idea of ​​moving south to Shanghai.

The old man smiled and agreed with Feng Zhengming's development ideas.

"Shandong cuisine needs to go abroad, not just to the north, but also to the south, to compete well with Cantonese cuisine, Sichuan cuisine and other southern regional cuisines."

The old man then asked, do the masters think Feng Zhengming’s craftsmanship can win a good result in the national competition?
After observing this, the old masters all unanimously recognized Feng Zhengming's ability.

“He should be able to shine in the national competition, and it’s possible to get a result.”

"He has many innovative ideas, which are full of creativity, but he has not lost the techniques of Shandong cuisine."

“He is an excellent young chef who dares to think and try.”

After listening to the masters’ comments, the old man looked at the accompanying personnel from the province.

"Such outstanding young people still need more support. They can become youth representatives of your province. If they can successfully win awards in the national competition this time, they should be able to become a role model."

All the accompanying personnel from the province nodded seriously and said that they would make arrangements for Feng Zhengming later.

The old man nodded and said: "We should trust young people more and give them more opportunities to display their abilities."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Afterwards, the door of the private room opened and Feng Zhengming was already waiting at the door for the food to be served.

Feng Zhengming was in front of the door and even saw Chen Zhiheng outside the door.

It looks like he is going to serve as a service staff for today.

Chen Zhiheng went in first to notify, and soon Feng Zhengming was also invited in.

This surprised Feng Zhengming a little.

Unexpectedly, he was invited in.

Feng Zhengming pushed the dishes on a cart and walked slowly into the private room.

When passing by Chen Zhiheng, he resisted the urge to ask Chen Zhiheng who was inside.

Feng Zhengming still gritted his teeth and entered the private room.

After entering the private room, Feng Zhengming met an old man.

That was the old man Feng Zhengming had only seen on TV before.

The old man looked at Feng Zhengming with energy.

Then he smiled.

"Chef Xiao Feng, can we serve the dishes now?"

Feng Zhengming came to his senses as soon as he heard it, and quickly said respectfully: "Okay."

The old man nodded: "Okay."

Then Feng Zhengming began to serve the dishes, starting with the yam puree he had specially prepared and the cold dish platter he had made during the competition.

One plate is a platter of various marinated dishes, and the other plate is a platter of various vegetarian dishes.

There is also a platter of various fruits.

Feng Zhengming uses delicate knife skills to slice or shred each dish, and arranges different flowers of the four seasons on the plate.

Seeing these four cold dishes, the old man and the accompanying personnel from the province were a little surprised.

Several old masters showed approval in their eyes.

Cold dishes like this one from Feng Zhengming really show that he is very attentive.

The old man's face was also filled with a smile.

With such delicious food in front of you, who wouldn’t feel happy?

After the cold dishes were served, Feng Zhengming then served other dishes one after another.

Among them were the braised pigeon shark's fin and the Oolong Playing with Pearls dish that Feng Zhengming won in the competition.

The remaining dishes are mostly traditional and classic Shandong cuisine.

Feng Zhengming prepared almost all the dishes and brought them up all at once on a cart.

This is to ensure that the dishes are almost all served and do not have to be sent back and forth several times.

Affects the dining experience of everyone in the private room.

More importantly, this is also a provincial requirement.

I don't want to reveal too much during the serving process.

Feng Zhengming served the prepared dishes one by one on the table, which was truly a dazzling sight with all kinds of delicious food competing with each other.

Looking at the table of dishes in front of him, the old man sighed: "Lu cuisine is indeed the best of all cuisines."

After the dishes were served, Feng Zhengming said respectfully, "Please enjoy your meal."

The old man smiled and said, "There is delicious food in front of us, let's eat first. Chef Xiao Feng should have guests to entertain. When you are done, can we chat again?"

Feng Zhengming naturally nodded in agreement; "Okay."

The old man nodded: "Okay, then we will wait for Chef Xiao Feng."

Feng Zhengming said goodbye respectfully and walked out of the private room.

He exchanged glances with Chen Zhiheng at the door.

Chen Zhiheng even smiled, as if to say, are you scared?

Feng Zhengming also smiled and pushed the cart away.

After Feng Zhengming left, several chefs in the private room still carefully introduced each dish to the old man.

It also introduces some of the techniques used by Feng Zhengming.

The chefs are indeed full of appreciation for every dish made by Feng Zhengming.

Similarly, the elderly also appreciated these dishes.

The old man thought that perhaps Feng Zhengming could really go south to compete with those Hong Kong chefs who went north.

The competition stage prepared for them would be very suitable to be placed in Shanghai.

We need to put a dent in the prestige of some of Hong Kong's famous chefs. (End of this chapter)