From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

After dinner in the evening, Feng Zhengming specifically found Jiang Chengzhe.

Jiang Chengzhe also felt a little strange that Feng Zhengming suddenly came to see him after dinner?
"We just had dinner, what do you want to see me for again?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "I'm here to ask you for advice."

Jiang Chengzhe was even more puzzled: "You come to ask me for advice? What do you want to ask me for advice?"

Feng Zhengming was very direct: "I want to ask you how to cook lobster."

"Ask me how to cook lobster?" Jiang Chengzhe was a little surprised.

In his opinion, Feng Zhengming should also know how to cook lobster.

However, while being surprised, Jiang Chengzhe remembered the third dish that Feng Zhengming had already prepared.

He thought for a moment and asked, "Do you want to use lobster to make your Oolong Xizhu?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and nodded: "Yes, I want to add some variety, otherwise I'm afraid if I just do the trick of playing with a pearl, I might be outdone by you guys."

These words left Jiang Chengzhe speechless.

"You know what? You deserve a beating for saying that."

Feng Zhengming was still smiling: "How about it? Chef Jiang, are you willing to teach me?"

Seeing Feng Zhengming's sincere face, he even called himself "Chef Jiang".

Jiang Chengzhe had no choice but to agree.

"Okay, let's go."

Feng Zhengming and Jiang Chengzhe went to the hotel's kitchen together to prepare ingredients for the chefs.

Here, Jiang Chengzhe first introduced the types of lobsters to Feng Zhengming.

"Lobsters are native to the waters of Central and South America and northeastern Mexico. Now, lobsters can be found all over the world. In our country, they are generally found along the southeast coast, and there are many varieties.

The larger ones include our own lobsters, as well as the wavy lobsters, dense-haired lobsters, and variegated lobsters. "

As he spoke, Jiang Chengzhe took Feng Zhengming to the glass cabinet of aquatic products and asked Feng Zhengming to take a closer look.

"The lobsters provided here are relatively large. If you want to use lobsters to cook, I can tell you a very important point, which is to prepare a lot of ice cubes."

Feng Zhengming wrote it down carefully: "Prepare a lot of ice cubes."

Jiang Chengzhe explained: "Yes, ice is very important for cooking lobster, because the lobster meat and shrimp brain need to be cooled with ice, otherwise the taste and texture will be bad if left outside for a long time."

Jiang Chengzhe then introduced some methods of cutting lobsters, and how it is best to cut along the grain when cutting lobsters.

"If you don't cut with the grain, the lobster meat may fall apart, so it's best to cut with the grain."

Jiang Chengzhe hesitated for a moment, but still told Feng Zhengming a more important point about cooking lobster.

“If you make lobster balls and need to fry them, my suggestion is not to coat them with cornstarch, but with flour, which will make it easier for the lobster balls to absorb the flavor later.

Also, when we make lobster balls in soup, we use flour to thicken the soup instead of using water starch.”

When Feng Zhengming heard about using flour to thicken the sauce, he thought for a moment and asked, "Do you want to use flour to thicken the sauce?"

Jiang Chengzhe nodded: "Yes, usually noodles are used to thicken the soup, because the starch in the water will make the soup look a bit sticky. If noodles are used to thicken the soup, it will not be so sticky, and it will not be sticky in your mouth when it gets cold."

Feng Zhengming thought about it carefully and laughed: "You reminded me that the method of thickening with flour can indeed be used in other places. Maybe when I make Oolong Xizhu this time, I can also try to use flour to thicken the sea cucumber juice."

Jiang Chengzhe was a little amused and said, "Really? If you do this, won't it be a bit out of line with Shandong cuisine?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "If I don't say it, no one will know."

Afterwards, Feng Zhengming and Jiang Chengzhe prepared noodles in the kitchen together.

The first step in making noodle soup is to dry-fry the flour in a pan to dry out as much moisture as possible.

After the flour is fried dry, pour out the flour first and then add butter to the pan.

Wait until the butter is completely melted, then add the flour into the pot and slowly stir-fry over low heat until the butter and flour are completely mixed together.

This process requires a lot of patience, and you have to stir-fry slowly over low heat throughout the process.

Under Jiang Chengzhe's teaching, Feng Zhengming was able to master it easily with his basic skills.

After the noodles were fried, Feng Zhengming served them in a small bowl.

Then put the noodles in the basket you prepared.

The two of them studied it together for a long time and then prepared the noodles together.

Before I knew it, it was already getting late.

At this point most of the other chefs who were preparing the ingredients had left.

Feng Zhengming smiled and whispered to Jiang Chengzhe, "I feel a little hungry. How about we eat something?"

Jiang Chengzhe stared at Feng Zhengming after hearing this. After a while, he asked, "What kind of craft do you want to learn from me?"

Feng Zhengming saw that Jiang Chengzhe had guessed it, and said with a smile: "I heard that you have a Typhoon Shelter dish over there, can you show me your recipe? Let me have a taste?"

Jiang Chengzhe was immediately happy: "Typhoon Shelter? Typhoon Shelter Fried Prawns? That's no problem."

After agreeing, Jiang Chengzhe said, "But I heard that there is also a classic dish in your Shandong cuisine, called Chinese Cabbage and Prawns. Can you make one for me to try?"

Feng Zhengming agreed immediately: "Okay, then let's make one each, as an exchange."

Seeing Feng Zhengming agreed so readily, Jiang Chengzhe couldn't help but want to go back on his word.

"I always feel like I'm at a disadvantage. It's still a bit troublesome to build a typhoon shelter."

Feng Zhengming said with a smile, "Okay, you prepare first. It doesn't have to be very standard. We are just having a midnight snack anyway, so it's fine as long as it tastes good. I'll go upstairs and ask my grandfather to come down and eat together."

Jiang Chengzhe was at a loss whether to laugh or cry: "Do you really need to? You need to invite someone to come with you just for a midnight snack?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and responded: "After all, Typhoon Shelter is a very famous cooking method in your area. My grandfather and his family have never eaten it, so they must try it."

Jiang Chengzhe said helplessly: "Okay, then should I ask my master and the others to come over?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Sure, if there are a lot of people, we can make more. There are plenty of things in the kitchen, and we can also do something else by the way."

After the two of them had discussed it, they went back and asked people to come downstairs for a midnight snack.

Feng Zhengming went to Grandpa Situ's room and called all the family members.

Grandpa Situ smiled and said, "Zhengming, you said you were going to ask someone for advice, so why did you think of asking us to go downstairs for a midnight snack?"

Uncle San was also a little surprised: "Eat supper? What are you going to make for us?"

Feng Zhengming explained: "I exchanged experiences with the chef in Gangcheng and planned to ask him to make their more famous Typhoon Shelter dishes for us to taste, so please ask Grandpa Situ, Grandpa, and Third Uncle to come downstairs and eat together."

Mr. Situ nodded and said, "Typhoon Shelter Fried Prawns is indeed a famous dish in Hong Kong."

Feng Jiandong also wanted to try it.

“I have heard of Typhoon Shelter Fried Prawns many times, but I have never tasted the authentic ones. Since it is made by a chef from Hong Kong, I believe it should be very authentic.”

Grandpa asked, "You asked them to teach you how to take shelter from the typhoon. What did you teach them?"

Feng Zhengming was a little surprised when he heard his grandfather ask this.

"Grandpa, how did you guess that I would teach them a dish too?"

Grandpa said cheerfully: "Isn't this obvious? You are communicating and learning with each other."

Feng Zhengming replied: "Azhe wants to try our cabbage and prawns."

Grandpa nodded: "Very good, they are all shrimps." Feng Jiandong smiled and said: "Then you two are evenly matched today. Your cabbage and shrimp stew is a specialty in Quancheng."

What Uncle San said was not wrong.

Feng Zhengming's cabbage and shrimp stew is slightly different from the traditional method.

Therefore, in Quancheng, many customers who dine at Huiquanlou almost always order braised cabbage and prawns.

Many times, customers would even finish the cabbage first when Feng Zhengming cooks the cabbage and shrimp dish.

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "To exchange and learn, everyone should show their real abilities."

Afterwards, Feng Zhengming went to Luo Qing's room and called her over.

The group went downstairs to the kitchen, where Jiang Chengzhe and others were already waiting.

In addition to Jiang Chengzhe, Li Guansheng, Dai Long and Long Kunbao were also present.

It seemed that Jiang Chengzhe did not call several other Hong Kong chefs.

Feng Zhengming first greeted Li Guansheng very respectfully.

Li Guansheng smiled and said, "I heard that Chef Feng's cabbage and prawns are great. We want to try it tonight. In exchange, Azhe will make a more authentic Typhoon Shelter fried prawns tonight."

Mr. Situ said with a smile: "This is good. It can be regarded as an exchange between the northern and southern shrimp cooking."

When Li Guansheng saw Mr. Situ, he also showed great respect to him.

"Mr. Situ is right. Please ask Mr. Situ to be a witness tonight so that both sides can have an open and honest exchange."

Mr. Situ said with a smile: "We are all judges tonight. Let's taste which one is better, the braised prawns with Chinese cabbage from Shandong cuisine or the fried prawns with typhoon shelter from Gangcheng."

Dai Long smiled and said, "Yes, let's have a competition tonight as well."

Next, Feng Zhengming and Jiang Chengzhe began to prepare separately.

Jiang Chengzhe first needs to prepare garlic grains.

When preparing garlic, Jiang Chengzhe explained it carefully while doing it.

"You can't smash the garlic, you have to chop it into small pieces, then wash it with clean water, drain the water, and then fry it in a pan."

The key to the Typhoon Shelter is the generous amount of fried golden garlic.

Jiang Chengzhe carefully and slowly fried the garlic until the moisture was dry, and then fried the garlic until it began to color slightly.

At this time, Jiang Chengzhe poured the breadcrumbs prepared in advance into the pot.

Just turn it over slightly and pour out the garlic and breadcrumbs.

Li Guansheng explained: "In fact, the most traditional way in the past did not use bread crumbs, but fried garlic. However, some improvements have been made to increase the flavor."

Jiang Chengzhe poured out the golden garlic and breadcrumbs, letting the garlic continue to color while draining the oil.

After preparing the golden garlic bread sugar, Jiang Chengzhe began to process the shrimps.

Jiang Chengzhe uses white shrimps from the south, which are relatively large in size.

He did not cut off the shrimp heads, but just cut off the shrimp whiskers and legs. Then he cut the shrimp back to remove the shrimp thread and sliced ​​the shrimp with a knife.

Then marinate the shrimp with onion, ginger, cooking wine, salt and white pepper.

While Jiang Chengzhe was making preparations, Feng Zhengming had also started making preparations on his side.

He chose large prawns from Bohai Bay.

Feng Zhengming handles shrimps much more carefully.

The front end of the shrimp head and the front end of the shrimp cavity need to be twisted off, and the sand bags in the shrimp cavity also need to be picked out. The shrimp whiskers and shrimp legs also need to be twisted off.

Finally, cut off the shrimp head, open the back of the shrimp tail and pick out the shrimp thread.

Compared with Jiang Chengzhe's side, Feng Zhengming still has to spend a lot of effort just to process the shrimps.

After processing the shrimps, Feng Zhengming selects some cabbages closer to the inside and slices the cabbage stalks thinner.

Then rinse the cabbage and tear the leaves into large pieces by hand.

Everything is ready. Feng Zhengming first heats the pan with cold oil and stir-frys the shrimp heads.

Also, press the shrimp head to press out the shrimp brain.

Stir-fry until fragrant and the shrimp head completely changes color.

Add some scallion, ginger and rice wine into the pot, continue stir-frying for a while until fragrant, then add some heated broth into the pot.

The moment the broth is put into the pot, a rich aroma wafts out.

Naturally, it attracted the chefs in Hong Kong to take a look.

Bring the soup to a boil over high heat to bring out the aroma of the shrimp heads.

Then remove all the shrimp heads and set the shrimp soup aside.

The next step is to add new oil into the pot and start stir-frying the shrimp tail. After it changes color, add shredded scallion, ginger and rice wine and continue stir-frying.

When the aroma of scallion, ginger and rice wine comes out, add the cabbage into the pan and stir-fry.

Let the cabbage collapse completely in the pan.

At this time, add the shrimp soup cooked with the shrimp heads into the pot.

After the taste is determined, you can then use the shrimp soup to slowly simmer the cabbage and shrimp.

Seeing this, the Hong Kong chefs present realized that Feng Zhengming's cabbage and prawns were different from others.

He used shrimp heads to cook shrimp soup in advance, and then added the shrimp soup to the prawns and cabbage. The finally cooked cabbage really absorbed the flavor of the shrimp in the soup.

After Jiang Chengzhe marinated the shrimps, he also coated them with flour and then fried them in a pan.

The oil used to fry the shrimp is the same oil used to fry the garlic, so it also adds a garlic flavor to the shrimp.

After the prawns are fried, remove them.

Leave some oil in the pan, add garlic, shallots, dried chili segments and fermented black beans and stir-fry until fragrant.

Then put the fried shrimps into the pan and stir-fry them, seasoning them with salt, chicken powder and white pepper.

Add the golden garlic bread crumbs prepared earlier into the pan and stir-fry evenly.

When it comes out of the pot and served on a plate, it becomes a dish of fried prawns in typhoon shelter.

Jiang Chengzhe finished his dish here, and Feng Zhengming's dish of braised cabbage and prawns was also finished over there.

The entire kitchen was filled with the different aromas of the two dishes.

It really has the unique aroma of fresh shrimp on one side and the very rich aroma of garlic on the other.

Intertwined together, the entire kitchen is filled with fragrance.

Everyone smelled the aroma of the two dishes and couldn't help swallowing.

Feng Zhengming and Jiang Chengzhe finished their dishes and looked at each other. They laughed and invited everyone who were having supper together tonight to taste the food.

"Come on, give it a try. This is a slightly improved version of the fried prawns in the typhoon shelter."

Feng Zhengming also said: "My dish of Chinese cabbage and prawns has been improved to a certain extent. I hope you will like it." (End of this chapter)