From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Feng Zhengming selected the ingredients and returned to his stove.

When Lin Bosheng saw the winter melon and white radish he brought back, he couldn't help but feel curious.

"What are you going to make with winter melon and white radish?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "I'm going to use the winter melon to carve bear paws, and as for the white radish..."

After a brief pause, Feng Zhengming whispered to Lin Bosheng what he wanted to make with white radish.

After hearing this, Lin Bosheng's face suddenly showed surprise.

But after being surprised, I looked at what Feng Zhengming had prepared.

In particular, Feng Zhengming specially prepared abalone sauce.

Thinking about what he was going to make with white radish, Lin Bosheng couldn't help but give him a thumbs up.

"You really have an idea. I'm afraid your creation will surprise everyone. It will definitely be a dish that is even more incredible than your Oolong Xizhu."

Hearing Lin Bosheng say this, Feng Zhengming quickly smiled and said, "It's not that exaggerated. It's just that since it's a competition, we have to come up with something different, otherwise how can we convince our opponents."

Hearing what Feng Zhengming said, Lin Bosheng was stunned at first, and then he looked at someone he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"It's really not a good choice to be your opponent."

"Brother Lin, what you said is a bit exaggerated."

Lin Bosheng said confidently: "I don't think it's an exaggeration at all."

Without waiting for Feng Zhengming to speak, Lin Bosheng continued, "I think many of your creative ideas are very advanced. If I hadn't heard you, I would never have thought of them."

Lin Bosheng stared at Feng Zhengming seriously: "I'm really curious, how did you come up with these ideas?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and answered, "I was a little famous before, and many people from all over the country wrote to me. I got some inspiration from some old recipes they sent me."

Lin Bosheng agreed with Feng Zhengming's statement.

“Sometimes, it is really worth studying some old recipes carefully to get inspiration from the wisdom of our predecessors.”

At this time, Lin Bosheng suddenly thought of something.

He looked at what Feng Zhengming was holding in his hand, and thought of some of Feng Zhengming's ideas for designing new dishes.

"You're not going to serve the dishes from this competition in Huiquan House in the future, are you?"

Feng Zhengming nodded immediately: "Yes, I have this plan. I think food should be tasted by people. The more people taste it, the more the true beauty of food can be revealed.

If it's just for the competition, make some flashy dishes.

After the game, no one can taste it anymore. I don’t think such food can be called gourmet.

Food should be prepared so that people can enjoy its beauty.”

Hearing Feng Zhengming say this, Lin Bosheng couldn't help but sigh: "You are really a very idealistic person."

Obviously, in Lin Bosheng's view, using the dishes made in the competition in restaurants and hotels is a thankless task.

In Lin Bosheng's opinion, in order to win the favor of the judges, the dishes prepared in the competition must contain some flashy elements.

Moreover, the ingredients used in the dishes in the competition are often very expensive.

If it is launched in a restaurant or hotel.

If the price is too low so that more people can eat it, then you may end up losing money.

However, the price is too high, resulting in few people ordering dishes. So if we prepare one or two dishes at a time, the cost will also increase.

So no matter from which perspective, the dishes in the competition are not suitable for being served in restaurants.

What’s more important is that Lin Bosheng doesn’t think that everyone can appreciate the beauty of food.

"It is clear that when guests are served in restaurants, they are more subjective when tasting each dish. They may not evaluate the dish based on its color, aroma, taste, or the careful design of the chef.

They often judge based on whether the food tastes good or not.

So you should also know that the stir-fried dishes and braised pork in your dry rice shop are more popular.

Because those dishes are more palatable to people who go to dry rice shops.

In Huiquanlou, traditional classic Shandong dishes are often more popular.

It is also because those dishes are often eaten by many people in Quancheng, and they also think that they are delicious.”

Having said this, Lin Bosheng paused for a moment.

He looked at Feng Zhengming with a somewhat helpless expression and said, "You should still separate the competition from your normal restaurant and hotel business. You can't always want to let ordinary people other than the judges enjoy your creativity."

Feng Zhengming was not unaware of Lin Bosheng's words.

Of course he knew that most people would still prefer to eat dishes that they were familiar with and that were tasty to them.

However, Feng Zhengming still believes that everyone has a pursuit of delicious food.

So he still insisted with a smile: "Thank you, Senior Brother Lin, for reminding me, but if ordinary people can't taste and like the creativity I brought out in the competition, I still think my creativity will lose its meaning."

Seeing Feng Zhengming was so persistent, Lin Bosheng could only shake his head and smile bitterly.

"Well, you have your own ideas. Before coming to the national competition this time, Master told me not to interfere too much with your ideas and to let you show yourself to your heart's content in the national competition."

Feng Zhengming laughed: "Hahaha, Uncle Cui is really a good master. He has such great trust in me."

Lin Bosheng said: "Master and others are optimistic about you. They hope that you can reverse the decline of Shandong cuisine in recent years in the national competition and win the first prize for Shandong cuisine."

Feng Zhengming nodded and responded: "I will definitely do my best."

After chatting with Lin Bosheng, the two continued to prepare.

Although Feng Zhengming had selected the winter melon and white radish in advance, he did not officially process these two things today.

However, he made some attempts today, using some stewing methods to try to make the winter melon and white radish flavorful?

Especially white radish, which has a radish flavor.

If it is not handled properly, the taste may be unacceptable to some people.

Although winter melon and white radish are both equivalent to molds, since they are part of the dish, both the winter melon and the white radish must be seasoned.

A dish that is truly perfect in terms of color, aroma, taste, shape and presentation.

Every part of the dish must be edible and part of the whole dish.

So Feng Zhengming was watching over the stove, cooking soup and making abalone sauce.

I am also trying various methods to remove the peculiar smell of white radish and then add flavor to the winter melon and white radish.

Feng Zhengming was busy with his own research and gradually became immersed in it, constantly stewing winter melon and white radish in various ways.

Sometimes it is stewed with big bones, and sometimes it is cooked with a sweet and sour sauce.

Later, Feng Zhengming will cook it with the vinegar and pepper flavor of vinegar and pepper fish.

Simple winter melon and white radish are transformed into various flavors by Feng Zhengming.

Especially after the soup was cooked, Feng Zhengming used several stoves to cook it together, and even brought a small charcoal stove to try some flavors on it.

The result is a bunch of winter melons and white radishes with a variety of flavors.

Some of them don’t taste like winter melon or white radish at all.

Feng Zhengming felt that it was not good to eat this kind of experiment alone, so he simply shared the prepared winter melon and white radish with others. Lin Bosheng, Kong Xingli and Lin Guofu, the Shandong cuisine chefs, were the first to taste Feng Zhengming's experiments.

They were really surprised by the taste of the winter melon and white radish made by Feng Zhengming.

Because if you didn’t know in advance that Feng Zhengming used winter melon and white radish to make it.

You really can't tell that it's winter melon or white radish.

Kong Xingli asked in surprise while eating: "Zhengming, have you been studying this thing all day?"

Lin Guofu was a little surprised: "Why do you make winter melon and white radish taste like this?"

Are other Shandong cuisine chefs also curious?

But everyone can probably guess that Feng Zhengming is going to use winter melon and white radish to cook.

After seasoning the winter melon and white radish, they should taste like meat.

Lin Bosheng helped explain: "Zhengming probably wants to make a dish with winter melon and white radish. The taste should be more complex, with a fusion of multiple flavors, and it can't have any bad taste."

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Yes, I plan to use winter melon to carve a bear paw mold. Although it is a mold, it should also have flavor. Otherwise, if it only looks good, it can't be considered a dish."

A group of chefs nodded, and everyone agreed with Feng Zhengming's words.

Moreover, the winter melon and white radish made by Feng Zhengming were also very delicious.

At this time, one of the Shandong cuisine chefs said: "This white radish is really delicious. I think it would be a good dish if we can stew the white radish in broth so that the white radish can absorb the flavor of the broth."

Kong Xingli smiled and said, "Use the broth of pork belly to stew the radish."

This proposal has been recognized by many chefs.

Lin Bosheng said: "It doesn't have to be so strong. In fact, as long as the flavor of the white radish is processed well, it can also be stewed in clear soup."

After hearing what Lin Bosheng said, Lin Guofu suddenly said, "Is it the mutton casserole that Zhengming made when he was working at the food stall at the train station in the winter before?"

Lin Bosheng immediately looked at Feng Zhengming: "So you have already done it?"

Feng Zhengming responded with a smile: "Indeed, I have done it before, but for this competition, I still want to make the white radish more delicious."

Everyone suddenly became excited.

"Sure, it's clear that your cooking skills can make the white radish more delicious."

"That's right. After your cooking skills, white radish tastes better than meat."

As they were chatting, Long Kunbao and Jiang Chengzhe also came over.

Long Kunbao smiled and took the initiative to greet the Shandong cuisine chefs.

"Hello everyone, I see you guys are talking and laughing here, and it seems like there are some delicious food, so we'd like to come over and try some too."

Lin Bosheng smiled and asked back: "Why don't you bring some of your leftovers for us to try?"

When Long Kunbao heard this, he immediately gave Jiang Chengzhe a look.

Jiang Chengzhe took out a large plate from behind him.

"We definitely brought something we prepared for you to try."

On the large plate that Jiang Chengzhe took out, there were rows of shrimp dumplings neatly arranged.

Shrimp dumplings are a very famous dim sum in Cantonese cuisine.

The shrimp paste that Jiang Chengzhe brought over had a crystal clear skin, and you could even clearly see the whole shrimp inside through the thin skin.

Seeing the shrimp dumplings they brought made everyone's appetite whetted and they wanted to try the famous shrimp dumplings in Cantonese dim sum.

Jiang Chengzhe asked with a smile: "Brother Bao and I brought some shrimp dumplings. Do you have any delicious ones?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "I'm experimenting with some dishes here. Now that you're here, it's a good opportunity for us to try them together."

As he spoke, Feng Zhengming scooped out tasty winter melon and white radish cooked in different broths from the pots one by one.

Seeing what was in the bowl, Long Kunbao and Jiang Chengzhe were also a little surprised.

"What is this?"

"It looks a bit like potatoes or yams?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "You two can try it."

Long Kunbao and Jiang Chengzhe looked at each other, and then tasted it separately.

But when they used chopsticks to pick it up, they found that it fell apart with just a little force.

Looking at the things scattered in the bowl, Long Kunbao was able to quickly determine what it was from the broken cross-section.

"It looks like a winter melon, right? And is this a radish?"

Long Kunbao can make judgments through cross-sections, which makes Feng Zhengming and Shandong cuisine chefs look at him differently.

Feng Zhengming found a clean spoon and handed it to Long Kunbao and Jiang Chengzhe respectively.

"Use a spoon. It has been stewed for quite a long time, so it is not easy to pick up."

Long Kunbao and Jiang Chengzhe took the spoon, then scooped a spoonful each and put it into their mouths to taste it.

As soon as they entered the mouth, they were a little surprised.

The winter melon is already very soft and melts in your mouth without much chewing.

White radish is also very soft and does not require much effort to chew.

But what was most incredible to Long Kunbao and Jiang Chengzhe was.

After taking a bite like this, they couldn't even taste what was in that spoonful for a long time.
It has a rich meaty aroma and you can hardly taste the flavor of winter melon and white radish.

The soup is quite filling but not too salty.

The salty and slightly sweet taste really made Long Kunbao and Jiang Chengzhe feel delicious.

After taking a bite, Jiang Chengzhe couldn't help but lick his lips with his tongue.

"It's delicious. Is this really winter melon and white radish?"

Long Kunbao thought about it carefully and made his own judgment.

"It should be winter melon and white radish, but you did a great job, removing the taste of the white radish, and then stewing it so that the winter melon and white radish have absorbed the flavor, so it tastes completely different."

Then Long Kunbao made another judgment: "In your soup, there are old chickens, big bones, hams, and pig feet.

Some pig skin should also be added to increase the gelatinous texture of the soup.

The winter melon and white radish stewed in this way will taste more like meat.”

Feng Zhengming was a little surprised. He didn't expect that Long Kunbao could actually taste the ingredients he used to stew the winter melon and white radish soup.

He said to Long Kunbao with some admiration: "Chef Long is really amazing."

Long Kunbao smiled and responded: "I just like to cook and eat it. I can get a rough idea of ​​it after eating it more."

Jiang Chengzhe raised the plate in his hand and said, "Come on, everyone, try our shrimp dumplings."

Feng Zhengming and the others also picked up a shrimp dumpling each.

When you bite through the thin skin, you can clearly see the whole big shrimp inside the shrimp dumpling. (End of this chapter)