From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

At nine o'clock in the morning, the banquet cooking exchange finally began.

The hotel made special arrangements in its largest banquet hall.

A fairly large cooking area has been planned for each chef team from across the country.

A wide range of cooking utensils are also provided on site.

At the same time, there were more than 30 large round tables set up on the scene, each with a sign of the corresponding province.

In order to avoid waste, we would not let a banquet carefully designed and prepared by chefs from all over the country go unappreciated.

Today, the city of Shanghai has specially invited representatives from all walks of life to come and taste the food.

In addition to local Shanghainese, there are also some people from other places who come to Shanghai.

Also invited were compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, as well as overseas Chinese representatives and many foreigners.

We even invited some foreign chefs to come and taste the food on site.

Among the overseas Chinese representatives, Feng Zhengming saw Grandpa Situ.

Mr. Situ also saw Feng Zhengming.

The old man walked towards him with a smile, and then encouraged him: "Zhengming, you must perform well."

Feng Zhengming responded with a smile: "Grandpa Situ, I know."

Mr. Situ wanted to chat with Feng Zhengming for a few more words when a young girl suddenly came over.

The girl's appearance is 70% Western and 30% Eastern.

With delicate facial features and fair skin, she is a very beautiful mixed-race beauty.

The girl walked up to Feng Zhengming and asked softly, "Grandpa Situ, do you know this young chef?"

Mr. Situ did not look at the girl, but responded calmly: "He is my brother's grandson, so he is my great-nephew."

The girl was a little surprised: "Grandpa Situ, don't you have no family anymore?"

When Feng Zhengming heard the girl's words, he immediately frowned.

"How can you talk like that? Grandpa Situ is like my own grandfather. How can you say that Grandpa Situ has no family? Let me tell you, I am Grandpa Situ's family."

When Mr. Situ heard what Feng Zhengming said, a smile appeared on his face.

The old man was very satisfied that Feng Zhengming was willing to come forward and admit that he was his family member.

The girl also realized that what she said was wrong and quickly apologized to Mr. Situ.

"I'm sorry, Grandpa Situ, that's not what I meant."

Mr. Situ did not blame the girl. Instead, he introduced the girl to Feng Zhengming.

"Zhengming, her name is Lin Moli. You can see that she is of mixed race. She grew up abroad. This time she came back with her grandfather and was invited to observe the National Cooking Skills Exchange Competition.

Her grandfather is the president of the North American Chinese Cuisine Association and a well-known Chinese chef in North America.

Feng Zhengming was somewhat surprised by the other party's grandfather's name.

I didn’t expect there is a Chinese Cuisine Association in North America.

Mr. Situ guessed that Feng Zhengming probably didn't know about the Chinese Cuisine Association of North America.

He smiled and explained: "The North American Chinese Cuisine Association was established very early, in the 1970s, when China and North America established diplomatic relations, and a Chinese cuisine craze swept across North America."

After Grandpa Situ’s explanation, Feng Zhengming finally understood.

Lin Moli once again sincerely apologized to Mr. Situ.

Then she looked at Feng Zhengming: "Hello, Chef Feng, I know you are the top Shandong cuisine young chef. Grandpa said that the two dishes you made in the first round were amazing, especially the fish jelly, which was very delicious."

Feng Zhengming also smiled and responded: "Thank you."

At this time, the banquet preparation was about to begin. Feng Zhengming said goodbye to Grandpa Situ and turned back to the Shandong cuisine chef team.

Mr. Situ smiled and turned around, calling Lin Moli and said, "Let's go back too."

Lin Moli followed behind Mr. Situ, and when she left, she couldn't help but look back at Feng Zhengming.

Follow Mr. Situ back to the invited overseas Chinese.

Lin Moli immediately approached a woman.

"Mom, I just went with Grandpa Situ to meet Chef Feng."

Lin Moli's mother Lin Qinghui smiled and asked, "What do you think of the young chef Feng?"

After thinking carefully, Lin Moli replied, "He is very tall and strong. Didn't my grandfather say that his cooking skills are very good?"

Lin Qinghui nodded: "Grandpa said that his cooking skills are very good. Let's see how he performs today."

The event started with a speech by the president of the Culinary Association.

All the chefs immediately got busy.

Many of the invited guests at the scene immediately turned their eyes to the busy chefs.

Many people were looking for Feng Zhengming among the chefs.

Even several cameras were looking for him.

Obviously everyone has a deep impression of Feng Zhengming.

Therefore, in this kind of banquet cooking, everyone hopes to see more of his culinary skills.

But when everyone found Feng Zhengming and saw what he was busy doing, some people who had high expectations were inevitably somewhat disappointed.

As many people expected, Feng Zhengming did not become the head chef of the Shandong cuisine chef team and direct other participating chefs to cook.

Instead, among the Shandong cuisine chefs, he became the one who was mainly responsible for cutting and preparing, and assisting other chefs in cooking.

When starting to prepare for the banquet, the first thing Feng Zhengming does is to cut and prepare the various ingredients.

For example, slice, shred, or mince onions and ginger.

There is also pre-processing of various main ingredients.

And cut the auxiliary ingredients and match them with the main ingredients and small ingredients.

Lin Moli couldn't help but express the doubts that many people had after seeing Feng Zhengming doing his work.

"Why does he have to do those jobs? I remember in my grandfather's restaurant, those were the jobs that the apprentices had to do."

Whether it was people at the scene or watching on TV, did they all have the same doubts in their minds?

Feng Zhengming’s cooking skills are so amazing. Isn’t this kind of banquet cooking exchange a good opportunity for him to better showcase himself?

Just like in the Hong Kong city’s chef team, Jiang Chengzhe was given many opportunities to show himself.

Jiang Chengzhe was cooking almost independently, and the other chefs seemed to be cooperating with him.

But as for Feng Zhengming, he didn't even stand in front of the stove.

Just doing all kinds of very simple auxiliary work.

Help other chefs complete various preparations before cooking.

Naturally, many people were somewhat disappointed when Feng Zhengming did these jobs.

Many people still think that Feng Zhengming should be the one standing in front of the stove and cooking.

When Mr. Situ heard what Lin Moli said, he smiled and said, "Those jobs always need someone to do them. They have no apprentices to help with the cooking of the banquet this time, so they must distribute the work.

The fact that he took the initiative to take on those odd jobs just shows that he and the other chefs participating in the competition have enough confidence in his basic skills.

If you look carefully, you can easily find that Zhengming doesn't need anyone to tell him how to cut the small ingredients.

Even if he was cutting small ingredients, he was still leading the entire cooking process." After being reminded by Mr. Situ, everyone who heard it also carefully observed Feng Zhengming again.

It is easy to notice that although Feng Zhengming was not standing in front of the stove, he did seem to be giving orders.

He cuts and prepares the main ingredients, auxiliary ingredients and seasonings needed for each dish on his own.

If it is a general apprentice, he may need some guidance from the chef.

But Feng Zhengming didn't need that. Instead, when he submitted the materials, he would also give some guidance to the chef in charge of cooking.

Between the water table, the working table and the stove, the Shandong cuisine chefs take turns cooking.

Feng Zhengming is not only very standard in cutting and preparing the food, but also in washing it at the sink.

For example, if he has a live carp, he will kill and clean it very neatly on the water platform, and will also clean the scales, gills and teeth.

After that, he wiped off the water inside and outside the carp, placed it on the chopping board, and Feng Zhengming began to cut it into pieces.

When Feng Zhengming was cutting the carp, the camera also gave a close-up.

Mr. Situ couldn't help but stand up and said to the others around him, "Look carefully, Zhengming is cutting the carp with peony-shaped cuts. This step is a display of his knife skills."

After hearing what Mr. Situ said, many people nearby stood up and looked.

Feng Zhengming held the knife and started about one finger below the fish gills.

The knife was cut very neatly, directly into the bone, and then the knife was pushed in along the bone. After the blade was pushed in, some arcs were added on both sides.

In this way, the cut fish meat presents an arc shape.

Feng Zhengming continued to cut, one cut after another, without any hesitation, and his cuts were absolutely smooth and neat.

After both sides of the fish were cut, Feng Zhengming still lifted the fish up by its tail.

Everyone saw it clearly the moment he lifted the fish up.

The whole fish has been pierced through with a fancy knife, and the fish has become completely hollow.

Each piece of fish meat really looks like a peony petal.

Lin Moli couldn't help but exclaimed: "This flower knife is too beautiful, isn't it?"

Mr. Situ smiled and said, "This is a standard peony flower knife."

The camera also gave a close-up so that people watching the live broadcast on TV could see it clearly.

In front of the TV, some people who were previously disappointed with Feng Zhengming doing odd jobs.

It was amazing to see a carp being carved with such beautiful peony flowers by his hands.

At this moment, many people realized that doing these auxiliary cooking jobs also requires skills.

The first step for the cut carp is to marinate it.

While marinating, Feng Zhengming also quickly prepared the fried batter.

Looking at the fried batter he made, he immediately won praise from many professional chefs.

"It's really good to be in harmony with each other."

"It's silky, really silky."

The so-called layman looks at the excitement and the insider looks at the doorway.

To outsiders, Feng Zhengming's job is just helping other chefs.

But in the eyes of other chefs, the work he does is the one that truly tests one's abilities.

While marinating the carp, Feng Zhengming can also quickly prepare other ingredients.

There is hardly any time wasted.

It is also because Feng Zhengming can make full use of his time.

There are 20 dishes in total in the Shandong cuisine banquet, but the efficiency of preparation is not slow.

After the carp is marinated, the next step is to coat it with batter and fry it.

Feng Zhengming carefully placed the fish in the prepared paste and carefully smeared the paste all over the carp inside and out.

Even the cut edges are coated with fried batter.

After smearing the paste all over the carp inside and out, Feng Zhengming took the fish head and tail and started frying them in the pan.

During this process, in full view of everyone, he held the fish head and tail with both hands, bent the carp over, and first rinsed it in a pan of oil to make the batter covering the surface of the carp harden.

Then he pinched the fish head and the tip of the tail with both hands and slowly immersed the whole carp into the oil pan.

At this moment, everyone felt as if Feng Zhengming's hands were immersed in a frying pan.

Lin Moli couldn't help but exclaimed: "Oh my God, isn't it hot to do this?"

When others heard what Lin Moli said, they were also very worried about Feng Zhengming.

But Mr. Situ said: "This is also a kind of skill. It seems that his hands are about to be immersed in the hot oil, but in fact his hands are still some distance away from the hot oil. This actually tests one's ability.

His fingers were almost touching the oil surface, which was done to allow the carp to be shaped by frying and to make the carp look better.

Finally, Feng Zhengming was sure that the carp had been fried into shape, and he slowly loosened his hands.

Then the chef next to him handed him a pair of long chopsticks.

Feng Zhengming continued to gently stir the carp in the pan with chopsticks.

Slowly use chopsticks to open the incision of the carp, the opening of the chest, the gills and the mouth of the fish.

This will allow the carp to be fried more thoroughly inside and out.

While the carp is being frying, the chef next to it starts frying the sweet and sour sauce for the sweet and sour carp.

Wait until the whole carp is fried in the pan until it is almost completely crispy inside and out.

Feng Zhengming carefully scooped the carp out of the pot with a strainer.

Drain the oil on the side and place the carp carefully on the plate.

Then the chef who had prepared the sauce nearby quickly poured the sweet and sour sauce on the carp on the plate.

This is a pretty standard sweet and sour carp dish.

Many people who were staring at the dish couldn't help but applaud it.

Lin Moli said to her mother beside her: "Mommy, this dish is really beautiful. It turns out that sweet and sour carp can be made so beautifully."

Mr. Situ applauded the sweet and sour carp and said with a smile: "This is the most standard sweet and sour carp, which is not something every Shandong restaurant can make."

After each dish is completed on site, there are also professional photographers to take pictures of the dishes.

These photos will also be specially preserved and will be used as illustrations for recipes produced by the Culinary Association.

The Shandong cuisine dishes are completed one by one and served on the Shandong cuisine banquet table.

At the same time, chef teams from other places also began to serve their dishes one after another.

Jiang Chengzhe also noticed that this sweet and sour carp was almost made by Feng Zhengming himself.

The carp with sweet and sour sauce on the plate really looks like it is coming alive and leaping into the clouds.

Jiang Chengzhe couldn't help but mutter in the busyness: "Can the sweet and sour carp be made so exaggerated?"

Long Kunbao said, "This is his skill. It looks like a very ordinary dish, but starting with the fancy cuts on the carp, it really shows Feng Zhengming's ability."

Other chefs from all over the world also realized through this sweet and sour carp that Feng Zhengming was more capable than they thought. (End of this chapter)