From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Feng Zhengming slept until the evening and sat up in bed in a daze.

Just as the sun was setting outside, a golden red color shone in through the window.

Then he got out of bed and walked to the window.

Standing by the hotel window, you can just see the Huangpu River under the sunset.

The setting sun dyed the surface of the river golden red, which was really beautiful.

Feng Zhengming immediately formed a scene in his mind.

Just at this moment, the door of the room was opened.

Lin Bosheng and Li Zhifeng walked in together and saw Feng Zhengming standing in front of the window.

"Is Zhengming awake?"

"How was it? Did you sleep well? Have you recovered?"

Feng Zhengming turned around and looked at the two of them, smiling: "I slept well. How was your banquet communication? Did the banquet we prepared receive any positive reviews?"

Li Zhifeng smiled and said, "Very good. During this banquet, our Shandong cuisine has received a lot of praise from people."

Lin Bosheng also echoed: "That's right, many people said that after eating the Shandong cuisine we cooked, they really understood that the previous stereotypes about Shandong cuisine were somewhat biased."

Li Zhifeng went on to say: "Especially foreigners, they all like our Shandong cuisine very much."

Lin Bosheng nodded: "Yes, especially the sweet and sour carp, braised prawns, nine-turn large intestine and scallion-fried sea cucumber. By the way, the Confucius Mansion imitation bear paw you made also received a lot of praise."

Listen to Li Zhifeng and Lin Bosheng recounting many people's praises for Shandong cuisine as if they were telling it like the back of their hand.

Feng Zhengming's face was also full of smiles.

As a Shandong cuisine chef, I feel very proud when I hear others praise Shandong cuisine.

This is a banquet exchange at a national competition.

It really had a very good effect and changed many people's stereotypes about Shandong cuisine.

Shandong cuisine is not heavy in oil or salt, nor is it black and sticky.

Shandong cuisine has its own set of techniques.

It includes many different dishes.

Each dish has a unique flavor and characteristics.

Many people misunderstand that Shandong cuisine uses a lot of oil and salt, but in fact, Shandong cuisine is very restrained in the use of salt and oil.

In Shandong cuisine, many dishes are cooked with soy sauce without adding salt.

In addition to stir-frying with oil, Shandong cuisine also has the technique of stir-frying in water, which is a dish that does not require the use of oil at all.

Not every Shandong cuisine dish is thickened with starch, and there are many semi-soup dishes that do not require starch.

Sichuan cuisine emphasizes the diversity of flavors, and requires that each flavor be highlighted.

Cantonese cuisine emphasizes bringing out the original flavor of the ingredients as much as possible.

Huaiyang cuisine showcases the characteristics of different ingredients in a light and elegant manner.

Shandong cuisine is more about blending various flavors and presenting them to diners in a softer way.

Although they both have a sweet and sour taste, the sweet and sour taste of Shandong cuisine is not exaggerated.

The seasoning will be relatively milder, making it palatable to everyone.

The spiciness in Shandong cuisine is not as strong as the spiciness in Sichuan, Hunan and other places.

The spiciness in Shandong cuisine is mostly the spiciness of pepper.

It is also softer and easier for most people to accept.

But precisely because Shandong cuisine has a moderate and peaceful flavor, without any very prominent taste stimulation, it often does not leave a deep impression on people.

In addition, the northern dishes that are influenced by Shandong cuisine are mostly improved upon Shandong cuisine based on local conditions.

Many chefs who have not received systematic training in Shandong cuisine use a lot of oil and salt to cover up the shortcomings of their cooking methods.

This will gradually be transmitted back to Shandong cuisine, causing some misunderstandings among people who don't really understand Shandong cuisine.

Lin Bosheng said at this time: "Don't we have stir-fried kidney? Many people were very surprised when they saw our stir-fried kidney. They didn't expect that stir-fried kidney could be made so neatly."

Li Zhifeng laughed when he heard this: "Yes, many people always think that stir-fried kidney is a very oily dish, but when stir-fried kidney is cooked well, the sauce evenly covers each piece of kidney, and there is no oil on the plate."

Feng Zhengming shook his head and smiled, saying: "There is no other way. It is actually very difficult to make the sauce clear and the starch evenly coated with the kidney without any oil on the plate.

Just like the Cantonese dish of stir-fried beef noodles, which requires a lot of skill, the noodles should be evenly coated with soy sauce and oil, and the dish should not be filled with oil. It is not something that any chef can do.”

Lin Bosheng said directly: "It's still because the basic skills are not good enough. Nowadays, more and more young people are learning to cook. They learn a little bit in vocational schools and then start thinking about cooking.

But in fact, their basic skills are not up to standard at all, and they don’t care about many details at all.”

Li Zhifeng echoed, "That's right. Many young chefs, after all, lack basic skills and always like to do things based on their own assumptions, which results in the dishes not looking good."

Feng Zhengming has slightly different views from Li Zhifeng and Lin Bosheng.

“I don’t think we should force young chefs to do a certain thing. We should encourage them more and give them some room to develop their talents. Of course, basic skills are the foundation of cooking.

You can express yourself, but first of all, you must have a solid foundation and be able to cook classic dishes well.”

Hearing what Feng Zhengming said, Lin Bosheng laughed and said, "Hahaha, I forgot, Zhengming, you are also a young chef. You definitely don't want to be commanded by us older guys."

Feng Zhengming also laughed: "No, you are all my senior brothers, you must have more experience than me, I still want to hear your opinions."

Li Zhifeng followed up by saying, "You just said that the basic skills must be solid enough. How many young chefs nowadays have such solid basic skills as you?"

Lin Bosheng nodded: "That's true. Young people have too many ideas, and few are willing to work harder on basic skills."

Feng Zhengming thought for a moment and said, "I hope this national competition can make everyone realize the importance of basic skills."

At this point, Lin Bosheng asked, "Zhengming, you slept all afternoon. Are you hungry? Do you want to go downstairs and eat something?"

Li Zhifeng also said, "Yes, yes, go downstairs and have something to eat. You don't know that many people are looking for you this afternoon. TV stations and newspapers all want to interview you."

Lin Bosheng nodded: "No one could find you, and in the end it was Uncle Su and the others who helped explain it."

Hearing that many people came to see him in the afternoon, Feng Zhengming felt a little embarrassed.

"Thank you so much for troubling you. I am really tired after my work at noon, so I came back to sleep first."

Li Zhifeng smiled and responded, "Why are you being polite? You got up very early in the morning, and you were the one who did the most work during the banquet cooking process. It was indeed a bit too hard."

Lin Bosheng said, "Okay, let's stop chatting. Zhengming, go downstairs and eat something."

Feng Zhengming agreed, went into the bathroom to wash his face, then changed his clothes and walked out of the room.

After Feng Zhengming left, Lin Bosheng said to Li Zhifeng, "Zhengming is really capable. I didn't expect that he could do so many chores by himself."

Li Zhifeng also sighed: "This is because of his solid basic skills. Not every young chef can have such solid basic skills."

Lin Bosheng smiled bitterly and said: "Not to mention young chefs, many chefs who have been in the kitchen for many years may not have the ability he has."

Feng Zhengming walked out of the room and took the elevator directly to the hotel restaurant downstairs.

When he stepped into the restaurant, the restaurant manager came to greet him. "Chef Feng, have you rested well? Do you want to eat something?"

Feng Zhengming was somewhat surprised to be greeted by the restaurant manager.

"Oh, yes, I just woke up and came down to eat something. Do you have instant rice in your restaurant? Give me one portion of instant rice."

The restaurant manager immediately responded: "Yes, Chef Feng, please take a seat first. I will go and notify the kitchen staff."

Feng Zhengming didn't hesitate and just found a seat in the restaurant to sit down.

Not long after he sat down, the restaurant manager brought Feng Zhengming a bowl of rice soup.

Paofan is literally soaked rice.

It’s the leftover rice from lunch, soak it in boiling water.

However, in addition to the rice porridge, the restaurant manager also brought Feng Zhengming four side dishes in small bowls.

One bowl contained the local dish of Eight Treasures Spicy Sauce, two bowls contained local stir-fried side dishes, and one bowl contained a piece of braised catfish.

Seeing the side dishes in these four bowls, Feng Zhengming said with a smile: "You guys have prepared too much."

The restaurant manager smiled and responded: "This is what our boss told us to do. We need to make sure Chef Feng has enough to eat. Chef Feng has worked really hard today."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "It's OK. It's not that hard. I just woke up a little early in the morning, so I felt very sleepy after I finished my work. That's why I went back to my room to catch up on some sleep."

The restaurant manager quickly said, "I understand. Chef Feng must have worked very hard to prepare such a large table of dishes today."

Feng Zhengming immediately said, "No, no, I didn't cook all the dishes on that table. I was mainly helping my fellow apprentices today."

The manager didn't know how to respond to this.

Fortunately, at this moment, another voice sounded and resolved the embarrassment for the restaurant manager.

"Can't you accept compliments from others?"

Hearing the voice, Feng Zhengming raised his head with a smile and greeted the person who spoke.

"Good evening, Grandpa Situ."

The person who came was Mr. Situ.

The restaurant manager also quickly greeted Mr. Situ.

Then the manager took the initiative to leave.

After the manager left, Mr. Situ sat down at Feng Zhengming's table.

"He performed very well today. He did look very tired."

Feng Zhengming smiled and responded: "It's OK, the work is not very tiring. I just got up too early in the morning, so I went back to catch up on my sleep after finishing the work."

Mr. Situ said with a smile: "It's okay for you to catch up on some sleep, but it has made many people anxious."

Feng Zhengming was puzzled: "Why did it make so many people so anxious?"

Mr. Situ replied: "Because no one knows what your situation is. They are worried that you are working too hard or are not satisfied with your performance. There are also TV stations and newspapers who want to interview you, but they can't find you."

Feng Zhengming scratched his head embarrassedly: "It seems that I have caused trouble for everyone."

"Hahaha, don't always be like this, you're not causing any trouble to anyone, you're here to participate in the competition, and now that you've done your job, you can do whatever you want."

After all, Mr. Situ has been abroad for many years, so he would rather see Feng Zhengming not follow the so-called rules.

After hearing what Grandpa Situ said, Feng Zhengming thought about it and felt that this was the truth.

"Okay, I'll eat first."

Mr. Situ nodded: "You eat yours."

Feng Zhengming was no longer polite. He picked up the bowl of rice, picked up the food in the small bowl with chopsticks, and quickly started eating in front of Mr. Situ.

After eating a bowl of soaked rice, Feng Zhengming felt very comfortable with the feeling of fullness.

Mr. Situ didn't say anything, just sat there watching Feng Zhengming eat.

After Feng Zhengming finished eating, Mr. Situ asked, "Are you full? Do you want to eat something else?"

Feng Zhengming waved his hand: "No, I'm full."

Seeing that Feng Zhengming had finished eating, Mr. Situ began to ask.

"Why are you doing all that work today?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and replied, "Someone has to do those jobs."

Mr. Situ then asked: "Have you ever thought that a time like today is an opportunity for you to better showcase yourself?"

Feng Zhengming replied: "Being a waiter can also show myself."

Mr. Situ laughed and said, "Today, many people are disappointed that you are going to play the dealer."

"No way? Someone has to do the work of the porter. Others can do it, and I can do it too."

Feng Zhengming does not discriminate against any work in the kitchen.

Even if he was just working as a waiter, he wanted to do his best.

Mr. Situ also roughly understood some of Feng Zhengming's inner thoughts.

"You can see the work in the kitchen so thoroughly. No wonder you have such solid basic skills at such a young age. You are willing to choose to work for other chefs when faced with such an opportunity to show yourself."

Feng Zhengming laughed: "Grandpa Situ, please stop praising me. If you praise me like this, I will become arrogant."

Mr. Situ was amused: "You can float? I really want to see how you float."

As we were chatting, reporters from TV stations and newspapers received the news and came to the restaurant.

Seeing Feng Zhengming and Mr. Situ, a group of people quickly gathered around them.

When facing Feng Zhengming, the reporters asked their curious questions one after another.

"Chef Feng, why did you leave the scene right after you finished cooking today?"

"Did you leave the scene because you were assigned to do those odd jobs today?"

"Is it because you didn't have the opportunity to perform at the kitchen?"

“Are you being bullied by other chefs?”

Faced with these strange questions from reporters, Feng Zhengming was a little bit amused and helpless.

"You guys are so bold. I just woke up too early in the morning, and after preparing a large banquet, I felt very sleepy, so I went back to my room to catch up on some sleep."

Without waiting for the reporters to speak, Feng Zhengming continued, "I came to participate in the competition and completed the content of my participation in the competition. Can't I choose to catch up on some sleep?"

The reporters were a little surprised when Feng Zhengming said this.

Isn't this different from what they had guessed before?

But from Feng Zhengming's expression, the reporters felt that these answers did not seem like he was hiding something? (End of this chapter)