From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Although I don’t know what new things Feng Zhengming has prepared?

But Jiang Chengzhe felt that since Feng Zhengming asked him how to cook lobster, it meant that he was already planning to pile some ingredients on the final dish.

So Jiang Chengzhe also planned to have a dish with equally expensive ingredients as his last dish.

His last dish is called: Golden Soup Abalone, Fish Maw, Chicken and Shark's Fin.

It can be said that several quite expensive materials were used.

This is actually a classic old dish, evolved from golden soup fish maw chicken.

Jiang Chengzhe chose a very tender three-yellow chicken and deboned the whole chicken. He then prepared to stuff all the other ingredients into the chicken's belly and then add it to the golden soup.

Of course, this dish is not as simple as just stewing it.

Instead, different ingredients should be stewed separately to make them tasty.

In order to ensure the freshness and tenderness of the chicken, the Three Yellow Chicken must not be stewed for a long time.

Therefore, the ingredients to be stuffed into the chicken's stomach need to be stewed in advance.

Jiang Chengzhe was also in the kitchen preparing ingredients, using several large and small casseroles to cook fish maw and abalone separately.

Marinate the fish maw and abalone separately in advance, then stuff them into the chicken's belly.

This will prevent the food from not being mature and tasteless.

Originally, Jiang Chengzhe had no plans to join shark fin.

But because Feng Zhengming was eating lunch, he suddenly ran to the kitchen to prepare new things.

Jiang Chengzhe felt greatly threatened, so he decided to join Shark Fin.

The whole chicken also needs to be deboned and then various ingredients need to be stuffed into the chicken's belly.

Doing this, on the one hand, makes the whole dish look more complete.

On the other hand, after the chicken's belly is opened, people can see the various ingredients inside, which is also a visual shock.

What's more, deboning a whole chicken on the spot is also an opportunity to show off your skills in public.

After these days of competition, Jiang Chengzhe felt that he always watched others show off their skills, so he must show off his own skills to attract the attention of the judges and some of the audience.

In particular, Jiang Chengzhe felt that he was filmed too little by the TV station.

This is the last dish of the day, so he has to show his face well so that everyone can remember him.

Of course, the most crucial point of showing off his skills is that Jiang Chengzhe hopes to overshadow Feng Zhengming.

We can't let him take the spotlight all the time.

Today is the last dish, and I must steal the limelight from him.

With this in mind, Jiang Chengzhe also made some final preparations.

Jiang Chengzhe was preparing, and soon he saw other chefs coming to the kitchen one after another to prepare ingredients.

Obviously everyone had lunch and came over to make final preparations for the afternoon game.

For the last dish, many chefs are ready to show off their best skills.

So when they came to the kitchen to prepare the ingredients, no one was as relaxed as before, and there was almost no communication between each other. Everyone was making their own final preparations.

As all the chefs came in one after another, the spacious kitchen where ingredients were prepared began to look a little crowded.

Although almost no one was talking, the entire kitchen was filled with the sound of kitchen utensils colliding as ingredients were prepared.

The CCTV, Shanghai TV and Hong Kong TV stations also came to the kitchen.

Film the chefs busy preparing the last dish.

This time there was no live broadcast, but the intention was to record the chefs’ preparations for the final dish.

The TV stations in the three places are preparing to make a special documentary after the national competition.

The photographers watched each chef busy in the kitchen and couldn't help but sigh at the chefs' hard work.

It’s just a dish. During the competition, the chefs on site may just go through some seemingly simple cooking processes to complete it.

But in fact, every chef has to go through a very tedious process of preparing ingredients.

Such as stewing broth and preparing various oils and ingredients.

Even some ingredients that need to be cooked must be as fresh as possible, so the chefs need to kill them on the spot in the kitchen where they are prepared.

The entire processing process is also a test for every chef.

Because if it is not handled properly, the final dish may taste bad.

It can be said that the National Cooking Competition is truly an all-round test of every chef’s ability.

At some other competitions, chefs may often bring helpers.

A lot of the preparation process can be handed over to helpers.

However, in the national competition, each participating chef has no assistants and has to complete the entire process by himself.

If a chef lacks some skills, it may be really difficult to complete cooking a dish.

The cameraman at the main station whispered to his colleagues: "I didn't expect that these chefs look so hard-working."

My colleague nodded and said, "It's very hard work. It's winter now, but you can see them in the kitchen, everyone is sweating profusely. You can really feel their hard work."

In fact, after filming the live broadcasts these days, we can see how hard it is for the chefs participating in the national competition.

Perhaps apart from themselves, only the photographers shooting for the TV station understand.

Every dish can be cooked so beautifully, which is inseparable from the sweat and dedication of the chefs in the kitchen.

Today is the last dish, and the chefs are given enough time to prepare.

Therefore, the start time of the game was even delayed a little.

When the chefs entered the venue, there was applause for all the chefs.

Even some people who were watching the live broadcast on TV seemed to be infected by the atmosphere and applauded the chefs through the TV screen.

Because the last game was on the weekend, there were a lot of viewers watching on TV.

I have only heard before that people who can only watch news reports every day will naturally use their weekend rest time to watch in front of the TV.

Everyone is looking forward to the final competition, in which the best chefs in the country will present a real feast to everyone.

“I’m really looking forward to it. I wonder what they will cook for the last dish?”

"Seeing that the live broadcast time has been postponed today, the chefs may have been very hard at work preparing."

"It should be fully prepared. It's going to be a big dish."

“This is truly a feast for the eyes.”

"It's a pity that I can only look but not eat."

There was no time wasted on the scene. After the chefs came in, they walked to their respective stoves, and then the cooking on the scene began.

Feng Zhengming first took out the lobster meat from the ice water and cut it along the grain.

Instead of using the earlier design to divide it into several parts, Feng Zhengming finally divided it into only four parts.

After dividing, still place it in ice water.

Next, Feng Zhengming took out the shrimp paste that he had prepared in advance, mixed it with some fresh scallops, rolled it into balls, pressed a hole in the ball with his thumb, and put the prepared lobster brain in it. After that, he used his thumb's mouth to shrink it a little bit, rolled it into a ball again, rolled it with a layer of scallop shreds, and then wrapped it with a layer of shredded vegetables.

The shredded vegetables include yellow shredded carrots, dark green shredded cabbage leaves, white shredded bamboo shoots, green shredded lettuce, and even golden shredded pumpkin.

After the vegetables were shredded, Feng Zhengming soaked them in salt water in advance, then washed them and simmered them in broth.

It already has enough flavor, and wrapping it around the scallops and shrimp balls not only adds color but also enhances the flavor.

Roll the balls one by one with your hands, making sure each vegetable shred is wrapped around the ball.

Then place it on the prepared plate and then steam it.

During the steaming process, Feng Zhengming took out the sea cucumbers that had been simmering and seasoning.

At this point the sea cucumber is already very flavourful, and Feng Zhengming then fills the sea cucumber with the prepared fillings.

Then start cooking the sea cucumber in the scallion sauce in the pot.

While roasting the sea cucumber and steaming the hydrangea, Feng Zhengming also processes the lobster meat.

Coat the lobster meat with flour and fry it in a pan.

According to the method Jiang Chengzhe taught Feng Zhengming before.

It's not that dry starch is applied on the surface of the lobster, but that the lobster meat is coated with flour.

According to Jiang Chengzhe, if the fried lobster balls are coated with starch, it will not be easy for them to absorb the flavor.

Therefore, when making lobster balls baked in soup in Hong Kong, they are usually coated with a thin layer of flour.

Feng Zhengming also decided to learn from this method, coating the surface of the lobster meat with a thin layer of flour and then frying it in a pan.

After the oil is cooked at high temperature, the lobster balls are almost shaped, and Feng Zhengming then takes them out.

Because the lobster balls will then need to be simmered in broth.

At this time, Feng Zhengming's sea cucumbers, lobster balls and hydrangeas were all prepared.

Put the lobster balls into the prepared golden soup and simmer until they are well-flavored.

The next period of time is just a matter of waiting.

Wait until the hydrangeas are steamed and the soup from the sea cucumbers and lobster balls thickens.

Of course, it is definitely not enough to just taste the three things separately.

Next, Feng Zhengming also specially prepared a sauce to cover the entire dish at the end so that the flavors of the whole dish can be blended together.

As time went by, the soup gradually thickened.

Feng Zhengming took out the sea cucumbers, lobster balls and colorful hydrangeas respectively and placed them one by one on a large plate.

In the middle of the plate are four large lobster balls, and around the outside are scallops.

Further out are shiny black sea cucumbers.

Feng Zhengming also puts a fried golden scallion segment in the middle of each sea cucumber.

Add some blanched green vegetables for garnish.

After the whole dish is arranged in this way, it needs to be steamed again.

This process allows the flavor of the whole dish to blend together.

At the same time, the steaming process is actually also for the purpose of disinfecting the dish.

During the steaming time, Feng Zhengming thickened the scallion sauce and golden soup.

Pour out the soup from the steamed scallops, add some stock, bring to a boil, and then add the prepared pumpkin puree.

Wait until the whole soup turns golden and then add a relatively light seasoning.

Add flour to thicken.

Finally, add some chicken fat to enhance the flavor.

After the dishes are steamed, they are taken out of the pot. First, the scallion sauce is poured on the sea cucumber, and the golden soup is poured on the lobster balls in the middle and the hydrangeas on the outer circle.

Finally, pour the prepared sauce evenly into the entire dish.

Feng Zhengming's improved Oolong Playing with the Pearl is now complete.

He raised his hand to indicate that he was done, and the TV station's camera immediately gave him a close-up shot.

The brothers and sisters who were watching the live broadcast at Huiquanlou in Quancheng all applauded when they saw Feng Zhengming's trick of playing with a pearl.

"Great, that's really good. Zhengming's participation in the national competition was not in vain. He has really made progress again."

"Yes, his dish of Oolong Xizhu is better than the one he makes at home."

"The lobster ball in the middle, a circle of colorful hydrangeas on the outside, and shiny black sea cucumbers on the outside. This dish is really great. It is definitely the best dish among the three courses."

The three senior brothers really praised Feng Zhengming's dish.

His dish is indeed very delicious.

In addition to the original scallion-roasted seafood with scallops, Feng Zhengming also added baked lobster balls in the middle.

It is really a dish that blends the north and south very well.

It can be said that this dish clearly reflects the results of Feng Zhengming's exchanges in national competitions these days.

Others prepare for the competition with all their might.

Feng Zhengming studied while competing.

In just a few days, he really made great progress.

Today's dish of Oolong Xizhu really brings together high-end ingredients from the north and the south, and makes good use of the techniques of Shandong cuisine and Cantonese cuisine from both the north and the south.

Especially at the end, pour sauce on the sea cucumber and lobster balls separately, and cover the whole outside with a layer of golden soup.

It really adds more vibrant colors to the whole dish and also adds a sense of depth.

The three brothers all felt that with this dish, Feng Zhengming should have a very good chance of competing for the top spot.

Similarly, Master Yan watched the live broadcast with his family today.

Seeing Feng Zhengming's unique dish, he was quite satisfied with Feng Zhengming's performance.

"Zhengming has made great progress. Through these days of communication, he has learned how to bake lobster balls from the chefs in Gangcheng, and also learned how to stir-fry noodles.

It also combines the Southern lobster recipe, which is a really creative dish.”

After hearing his father's praise, Yan Jianxing couldn't help but ask, "Dad, if we add some cheese to the baked lobster balls in the middle of Zhengming, would it be better?"

Master Yan looked at his son, smiled and said, "It is indeed possible to add cheese, but that method is still a bit Western-style. Now Zhengming's method is to be more Chinese.

But then the master said, "When he comes back this time, you can have some discussions with him. If he figures out a way to add cheese, you can make this dish yourself in the future."

Yan Jianxing also felt that when Feng Zhengming came back this time, he must learn from him and they could communicate more.

"Don't worry, Dad. When Zhengming comes back, I will come to ask for advice in person."

Master Yan laughed: "Hahaha, when he comes back, I'm afraid his door will be broken down by people."

Obviously, Master Yan is already looking forward to the scene of his young apprentice being sought after after his return. (End of this chapter)