From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Feng Zhengming scored first with his second fish, which indeed surprised many people.

Although Feng Zhengming's fish dish is indeed very exquisite.

He used cucumber cuts to separate the two sides of the plate, making it look like a dam on a riverside.

Then he made the fish meat on one side into a chrysanthemum-shaped fish, and paired it with a small bird made of fresh shrimp tails and shrimp paste, which looked like chrysanthemums on the riverside embankment.

He sliced ​​the other half of the fish into thin slices, rolled it with conch slices, shredded mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and ham, and tied it up with shredded green onions.

In the vinegar and pepper fish soup, white little boats are arranged like little boats.

It really feels like a golden autumn scene by the river.

In particular, Feng Zhengming specially poured a little bit of sweet and sour tomato sauce on the chrysanthemum fish.

It creates a very artistic conception of the orange-red sunset shining on the river.

The whole dish is really cleverly designed.

The TV station gave a close-up during the live broadcast, which amazed many viewers watching in front of the TV.

“This dish is really beautiful.”

"Yeah, how can someone cook dishes so beautifully?"

“It’s just a work of art.”

“It really is like a picture of the sunset by the river.”

"This chef is really amazing. He must have studied painting in art school, right?"

"Yeah, it really looks like she learned how to paint. It's really beautiful."

But even though Feng Zhengming's plating was indeed exquisite, everyone was still a little curious about how he could get first place?
Curious why some of the other chefs' dishes are just as beautifully prepared.

For example, the Green Pearl Fish Flower made by Huaiyang cuisine chef Zhang Quande is also a fish that is cooked quite beautifully.

There is also Jiang Chengzhe who made half of a fish into the shape of a dragon and the other half into a small fish, separating the two with a carved dragon gate, making a dish that looks like a fish leaping over a dragon gate.

Including Dai Long's salmon, a beautiful sashimi platter on one side, and grilled fish that has been slightly charcoal-grilled on the other.

It also looks very beautiful, and the whole dish gives people a feeling of freshness and wildness.

So everyone still doesn’t quite understand why Feng Zhengming got such high scores?
The TV station seemed to understand why people wanted to know the score.

Therefore, we interviewed Mr. Cai from Hong Kong and Master Hou, a professional judge from Beijing.

When facing the TV interview, Mr. Cai smiled and asked Master Hou to give an explanation from a professional perspective first.

Chef Hou smiled and spoke first: "From a technical point of view, Chef Feng Zhengming's dish uses the traditional Shandong cuisine method of deep-frying and soup-frying, and also demonstrates his ability as a Shandong cuisine chef to make soup.

As for the skill in plating and carving, I believe you can already see it when you see this dish.

So all in all, Chef Feng Zhengming's dish really deserves the highest score."

Master Hou gave an explanation from the perspective of professional techniques.

The next thing the TV station naturally did was to interview Mr. Cai from Gangcheng.

Mr. Cai is quite famous in Hong Kong and even in the Southeast Asian food circles.

At one point, he traveled all over the world in order to taste delicious food.

He also opened a factory that specialized in producing a kind of seasoning sauce.

It can be said that Mr. Cai's taste in food is still very convincing.

Mr. Cai also gave his explanation with a smile.

"I don't have as professional an opinion as Chef Hou, but in my opinion, Chef Feng Zhengming's dish deserves the highest score because his presentation of the dish is very innovative. This unique presentation really adds a lot of points to him.

Secondly, when we tasted his dishes, we found something very unique, which is why he received such a high score.”

Hearing this, the TV reporter was naturally very curious.

At the same time, many people watching the live broadcast on TV were also attracted by this sentence.

What is so special about the taste of Feng Zhengming's fish dish that earned him the highest score?

The chefs participating in the competition were equally curious, so many of them listened carefully.

Mr. Cai did not keep us in suspense and continued: "When we tasted his dish, it was actually cold. As we all know, cold fish often has a fishy smell and may taste worse.

However, when we ate Chef Feng Zhengming's fish after it cooled down, we still felt that it tasted very good.

Not only does it not have the slightest fishy smell, but it even has a unique flavor when eaten cold.”

Reporters, participating chefs, and people watching on TV were all shocked to hear Mr. Cai say this.

Have you ever heard that a fish dish tastes better when eaten cold?
Seeing that everyone was surprised, Master Hou smiled and helped explain.

"Have you ever eaten fish jelly? Chef Feng Zhengming cooked one piece of fish in two ways. One side looks like a soup dish, but after it cools down, the soup solidifies, giving you the feeling of eating fish jelly. His chrysanthemum fish is also crispy when eaten cold."

Mr. Cai then added.

"The key is the vinegar and pepper seasoning. The unique combination of sour and spicy gives people a very unique taste experience. The fish meat is very thin and is stir-fried in soup, so it is really tender and smooth.

When you put the fish roll into your mouth, the outer layer of fish meat is as smooth as silk. When you bite it open, you will find very crispy and tender conch slices inside, followed by fresh mushrooms and winter bamboo shoots. With the salty aroma of ham, it is really delicious. It is also very good and blends well with the vinegar and pepper fish soup. "

Having said that, Mr. Cai couldn't help swallowing his saliva.

"It may be difficult to imagine the unique taste unless you taste it yourself. I really admire Chef Feng Zhengming's seasoning."

Seeing Mr. Cai swallowing his saliva, he was very determined that he had to taste it himself to experience it.

This made many people at the scene curious, and the audience in front of the TV even more curious.

What does the fish made by Feng Zhengming taste like?
Master Hou also noticed that the reporter's curiosity was aroused.

He simply smiled and said to the reporter: "You can try it yourself, and you can try it on behalf of the audience watching the live broadcast in front of the TV."

The reporter was actually a little flattered, but she didn't put it off.

Follow Master Hou to Feng Zhengming's dish.

The reporter scooped up a spoonful of vinegar and pepper fish rolls from the plate.

Mr. Cai also picked up a piece of chrysanthemum fish for her.

Reporters can try it separately or eat it together.

When scooping up the vinegar and pepper fish soup, the reporter also found that the fish soup in the plate had condensed and it really looked like fish jelly.

The reporter followed Mr. Cai's instructions and scooped up the fish soup with a spoon and put it into his mouth together with the fish rolls.

When you take a bite, the sour taste of the vinegar and pepper fish soup first stimulates the tip of your tongue, and you start to secrete saliva crazily instantly.

Then, the sour taste is mixed with the spicy taste, and the salty taste blends together.

At the same time, it also has the unique deliciousness of fish soup.

This deliciousness is neither the freshness of marine fish nor the freshness of freshwater fish, but it is a bit like the combination of the two flavors.

Just as Mr. Cai said, the fish meat on the first layer of the fish roll is tender and smooth, and when you bite it, you will find crispy and tender conch slices. Paired with shredded mushrooms, bamboo shoots and ham, it really tastes different.

Perhaps if the reporter hadn't tasted it himself, he would have had no idea what it tasted like.

After taking this bite, the reporter then tried the chrysanthemum fish topped with sweet and sour tomato sauce.

"Click."

The reporter was surprised when he took a bite that it was still crispy after being stored for so long.

After biting it open, the reporter was even more surprised.

Because inside the crispy shell is very tender fish meat.

And if you chew it carefully, you will taste the flavor of the fish.

The sweet and sour taste is matched with the flavor of tomatoes and the deliciousness of fish.

The crispy shell of this chrysanthemum fish also gave the reporter a different flavor.

Finally, the reporter followed Mr. Cai's instructions and dipped the chrysanthemum fish in the vinegar and pepper fish broth jelly and ate it together.

This way, the taste is very unique.

The reporter finally understood why Feng Zhengming's fish dish received the highest score.

"It's really unique. One dish can taste three different flavors. I have to say that Chef Feng Zhengming's cooking skills are really amazing."

Mr. Cai said: "Yes, a chef with some amazing skills."

Mr. Cai gave such an evaluation in front of the live camera, which shows his appreciation for Feng Zhengming's cooking skills.

Many of the chefs participating in the competition congratulated Feng Zhengming.

Jiang Chengzhe was even more excited: "That's amazing. I didn't expect that the fish you cooked would receive such high praise from Mr. Cai."

Feng Zhengming smiled modestly and said: "Luckily, I just combined the traditional Shandong cuisine techniques, and the flavoring method is also relatively traditional."

A chef asked curiously: "Did you know in advance that the food tasting would take a long time during the competition and your dishes would be left to cool down, so you made the fish jelly in advance?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Yes, because there are so many people competing on site, it will definitely take time for the judges to taste each dish one by one.

So when I was cooking, I considered that the dish might have been cooled by the time the judges tasted it, so I simply made the vinegar and pepper fish soup in advance using the fish jelly method. "

When the chefs present heard Feng Zhengming say this, they were all very surprised.

Being able to think of this in advance and make corresponding designs has surpassed most of the chefs present.

Dai Long smiled and took the initiative to get close to him: "Chef Feng is amazing, he is worthy of being the top young chef in the mainland."

At the same time, another middle-aged chef from Hong Kong said to Jiang Chengzhe, "Azhe, it seems that you are no match for him now."

Jiang Chengzhe was naturally dissatisfied when he heard this.

"We've only competed for two dishes, and my last dish scored higher than his. The outcome between us is still uncertain."

This made the other chefs at the scene laugh.

Everyone prefers to see the two young chefs Feng Zhengming and Jiang Chengzhe compete with each other.

At Feng's house, the family saw that Feng Zhengming's fish dish got the highest score in the end.

I also saw the comments given by Master Hou and Mr. Cai on TV.

After tasting it, the TV reporters were also amazed.

The whole family is really happy for Feng Zhengming.

"That's great, brother is first." Feng Shengnan cheered first.

Zhang Hongwei smiled and said, "Brother is indeed the best."

Feng Suying said with a smile: "Zhengming is really extraordinary. He was able to think of turning the fish soup into fish jelly during the competition so that the judges would not taste bad when eating it. He is very creative."

Feng Jiandong laughed happily: "Hahaha, he is indeed my nephew, he is so awesome."

Grandpa Feng had a smile on his face. Although he didn't say anything to praise, there was a pride in his smile that was hard to conceal.

In Feng's dry restaurant, everyone gathered in front of the TV to watch the show.

Seeing Feng Zhengming win first place, the people in the food shop cheered excitedly.

Whether it was the waiters in the dry restaurant, the customers in the restaurant, or even the people busy in the kitchen, they all cheered with joy.

Xia Mingye shouted, "Wow, hahahaha, Master Feng is so amazing, he actually got first place."

"Master uncle is really good, otherwise how could he represent Shandong cuisine to participate in the national competition?" Xia Hui admired Feng Zhengming as always.

Gu Zhicheng, who is now the chef in the kitchen of the dry rice shop, was also happy that Feng Zhengming won first place.

"The chef is worthy of being a chef. He considered in advance that it would take time for the judges to taste the dishes and the dishes would get cold if left there, so he designed the fish jelly in advance. This forward-thinking idea is incredible."

These words also made everyone in the kitchen admire him very much. They already felt that Feng Zhengming had some extraordinary skills.

In Huiquan Building, senior brother Li Huidong brought his family to watch the live broadcast on TV.

Although Huiquanlou is still in business, everyone is very happy for Feng Zhengming.

Li Huidong was really happy for his junior fellow apprentice.

He actually has such thoughts and creativity.

This can be said to be the pride of all their fellow brothers and sisters.

The third brother Yang Bin was even more happy when he heard the news in the kitchen. He was busy and shouting.

"Hahaha, Zhengming is really amazing. He got first place in no time."

Fifth senior brother Cao Zhiguo also said: "It's amazing. It's not easy to get first place in the national competition."

Yang Bin said: "That's because those people don't understand Zhengming. Zhengming seems to be quite good at all kinds of dishes and cooking techniques, but in fact, his best dishes are fish and shrimp."

After a short pause, Yang Bin continued, "He is really good at cooking fish and shrimp. He knows how to make good use of the characteristics of different fish and shrimp."

As he said this, Yang Bin recalled the various fish and shrimps that Feng Zhengming had cooked.

I have to admit that Feng Zhengming’s skills in cooking fish and shrimp are truly amazing.

Not only are they delicious, but he always has great ideas and can cook fish and shrimp in unique and creative ways.

Moreover, cooking fish and shrimp is quite difficult.

That is to do everything possible to remove the fishy smell of the fish, and Feng Zhengming can be said to have done a very good job in this regard.

Otherwise, he wouldn't dare to make the vinegar and pepper fish soup into fish jelly.

The first game came to an end amidst the praises from the audience.

Combining the scores of the first game, Feng Zhengming is currently ranked second in total points.

The one above him is Dai Long from Gangcheng, the one below him is Zhang Quande from Huaiyang cuisine, the fourth is a Sichuan chef, and the fifth is Jiang Chengzhe. (End of this chapter)