From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Feng Zhengming did not think about Chang Zongfu's return for the time being. He gave He Yunqing some instructions and then returned to the kitchen.

This time when he came back from the national competition, he learned a lot of new things through what he saw and heard in other places, especially through communicating with chefs from other places at the national competition.

So after returning to Quancheng, Feng Zhengming immediately began to make some changes to the kitchen.

When I returned to the kitchen again, I saw everyone there was still studying what they had left behind.

Feng Zhengming walked forward with a smile: "How is it? You still haven't figured it out?"

Seeing the chef coming back, the young chefs looked worried.

"Chef, is this a bit difficult for you?"

"Yes, you want us to create something new based on traditional dishes. This is really difficult."

"The key is that since it is a traditional classic dish, it must have been thoroughly studied and passed down by generations of chefs. It must be the best solution. How can it be so easy to innovate?"

"Chef, this is a bit difficult for us."

"Yeah, it's too high."

Seeing the young chefs complaining, Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "You guys backed out so quickly? If I were like you, how would I go to the national competition? How would I win the top prize?"

These words immediately left the young chefs speechless.

Qi Jiale said, "Chef, how can we compare with you? You are definitely good at innovation, but we may not even be able to cook many traditional dishes well."

After Qi Jiale said this, the other young chefs nodded in agreement.

As for the apprentices in the kitchen, they had no say at all at this time.

Feng Zhengming saw that no one really could come up with any good ideas.

He could only say: "Well, after New Year's Day, we will start an internal competition. At that time, each of you will come up with a small and innovative dish. Is that okay?"

When Feng Zhengming said this, the young chefs looked at each other in bewilderment.

Although I think small innovations are not easy, I thought of it as an internal competition between the kitchens of Huiquanlou and Ganfanpu.

The result will determine whether I can continue to stay in the kitchen of Huiquanlou next year.

The young chefs naturally perked up and were willing to give it a try for the internal competition.

I see that everyone is willing to try, and everyone is willing to prepare well for the internal competition.

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "That's right. Everyone should cheer up and strive to participate in the next national competition."

Young chefs still have aspirations to participate in national competitions.

Maybe in the past they wouldn't have dreamed of the national competition.

After all, those who can participate in the national competition must be the best chefs from all over the country.

Although the young chefs are also at an age full of vigor and vitality, they do not think they can beat the master chefs of Shandong cuisine.

But this time Feng Zhengming went to participate in the national competition and won the top prize.

This immediately gave the young chefs in the kitchen an idea.

They know they are not good enough yet.

But if you study with a top scorer in a national competition, won’t you be able to participate in the national competition sooner or later?
Even if he cannot participate in the national competition in the next session, he can at least learn from Feng Zhengming, the top scorer, for a few years.

He was able to win first place in the provincial young chef cooking competition.

In the following time, before Huiquanlou opened for business, Feng Zhengming explained to the young chefs some of the things he had learned in the national competition.

“In the past, we often cooked the Shandong cuisine soup over high heat, and then swept the soup after it was cooked.

This time at the national competition, I saw the way Huaiyang cuisine chefs and Cantonese cuisine chefs cooked soup, and I think we can learn from them.”

Hearing this, Qi Jiale quickly asked: "Chef, what is your method of cooking soup?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Cook the soup at low temperature."

"Cooking soup at low temperature?" This left the young chefs present a little confused.

Feng Zhengming went on to explain: "Boiling soup at low temperature is used in both Huaiyang cuisine and Cantonese cuisine. Simply put, it means not letting the soup boil, that is, the soup cannot boil."

This time, all the young chefs present understood.

Gu Zhicheng thought for a moment and asked, "Chef, if the soup isn't boiling, can the flavor of the ingredients really come out?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Of course, as long as the time is extended."

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. For a moment, they really didn't understand Feng Zhengming's method.

Seeing that everyone still didn't quite understand, Feng Zhengming continued to explain in detail.

"Think about it, once the soup starts boiling, won't the blood and dirt from the various ingredients used to cook the soup come out all at once?

In fact, when we are sweeping the soup, we cannot let it boil. The method is actually the same, because once the soup boils, it will become turbid. "

Feng Zhengming then introduced a method used by some chefs of Huaiyang and Cantonese cuisine.

"For example, at some banquets, we always prepare a clear chicken soup, just like the Eight Treasures Bag Chicken we make, which also uses clear chicken soup.

In the past, we would boil the chicken soup first, and then use white slop and red slop to sweep the soup separately.

Finally, you get a clear chicken soup, and then put the Eight Treasures Chicken in it. "

The young chefs present were all very clear about this.

They followed Feng Zhengming to make Eight Treasures Bag Chicken many times.

They are quite familiar with this process.

Feng Zhengming went on to say: "But the soup after the soup is swept is not as clear as water, but has a tea color."

Bao Feng continued: "There's nothing we can do about it. It will be like that after the soup is cleaned."

Feng Zhengming nodded: "So after learning from the national competition this time, I think I can use the methods of Huaiyang cuisine and Cantonese cuisine.

When cooking soup, we don’t let it boil, but simmer it slowly over low heat for a long time, slowly bringing out the flavor of the ingredients and letting those flavors blend into the soup without making the soup cloudy.”

Feng Zhengming then mentioned a method for cooking clear soup: "Another way is to steam it."

I have to say that some of the things Feng Zhengming brought back from the national competition really gave a lot of inspiration to the young chefs in the kitchen.

This method of cooking soup without letting it boil is indeed a somewhat unique method.

In addition to cooking soup, Feng Zhengming also introduced some seasonings he brought back from the national competition to everyone.

"Sichuan cuisine has a very good taste, a sweet, sour and spicy flavor. I think the taste is actually quite unique. We can also learn to cook a few dishes like that."

Hearing what Feng Zhengming said, Gu Zhicheng immediately asked, "Is that the taste of Kung Pao Chicken?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Yes, it tastes like Kung Pao Chicken, but I ate Sichuan cuisine chefs at the national competition, and the taste is a little different from that of Sichuan cuisine chefs in Beijing.

We can learn from it and make some changes to make the taste more suitable for the tastes of people here."

Qi Jiale thought for a moment and asked, "If we change it to suit our taste, wouldn't it be fried chicken cubes with soy sauce?"

Feng Zhengming laughed and said, "It doesn't have to be just chicken. You can also use that flavor to make shrimp balls or other ingredients." Hearing this, Guan Wei, who usually doesn't talk much, asked, "Chef, if this is the case, will people say that our Shandong restaurant serving Sichuan cuisine doesn't fit the image of our restaurant?"

Feng Zhengming laughed: "Restaurants and restaurants are for people to eat. Why do people go to restaurants? It's to taste different flavors. As long as it tastes good, we should try it.

To provide customers with a different experience, we cannot always offer the same old traditional taste. After a long time, customers will definitely start to get bored.

So we must continue to innovate.”

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, everyone in the kitchen thought it made sense.

In fact, many restaurants and hotels are gradually becoming unpopular among people.

This is because most of the time, restaurants and hotels always serve the same old dishes.

After eating it for a long time, customers may start to feel disgusted with it.

Naturally, there will be a decline in business.

Of course, this kind of innovative attempt in taste cannot result in drastic changes, and it cannot completely copy the taste of other places.

After all, every place has its own taste.

A dish may be liked by many people in other places, but not many people like it in another place.

This is the difference in taste between people from different places.

Feng Zhengming said seriously: "When we introduce dishes from other places, we have to make some changes. We can't just copy the taste of other places. We have to change it according to the taste of our local people so that the dishes taste better to the local people."

Qi Jiale suddenly said, "I remember now, is it like the braised pork you made, chef?"

Braised pork is a common dish in all places.

However, the braised pork varies from place to place.

For example, the braised pork in some places is sweeter, while in other places it is salty.

In some regions, braised pork may be added with some chili peppers.

The braised pork made by Feng Zhengming is actually a combination of flavors.

It doesn't taste too sweet, but it's not completely salty either.

The most important thing is that the braised pork made by Feng Zhengming is more suitable for the taste of people in Quancheng.

So everyone in Quancheng knows that Feng Zhengming’s specialty is braised pork.

You can actually order braised pork in Huiquanlou.

However, there are still some customers who book private rooms every night and will specifically order a plate of braised pork made by Feng Zhengming.

In the words of some gourmets who have tasted Feng Zhengming's braised pork.

“If you don’t eat a few pieces of Huiquanlou’s braised pork, your evening meal at Huiquanlou will always feel a little lacking in flavor.”

When Qi Jiale mentioned the braised pork, Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "In fact, the braised pork I make, to put it simply, is to preserve the aroma of the meat as much as possible, and the seasoning is also salty, but also has a little sweetness."

Taking advantage of this, Feng Zhengming continued, "So when we learn dishes from other places, we can't just copy them blindly. We need to make some improvements to suit the local tastes."

Yao Zhenhui suddenly asked: "Chef, if we have an internal competition and we take out-of-town dishes and improve them, would that be considered our creativity?"

When everyone heard what Yao Zhenhui said, their eyes lit up.

That’s right, it is indeed difficult to make a completely innovative dish.

But if we could incorporate flavors from other places and blend them with some of the flavors of Shandong cuisine, wouldn’t that be a lot simpler?
Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "It can be considered as such. If you can incorporate some flavors from other places into our traditional dishes, it can definitely be considered as an innovation."

It's obvious that everyone is waiting for this.

After receiving Feng Zhengming's affirmative answer, everyone became excited.

Qi Jiale even said: "This is much simpler."

Gu Zhicheng reminded: "Don't think it's easy. We need to incorporate other people's flavors into our dishes. If we don't do it well, we might mess it up."

After being reminded by Gu Zhicheng, the young chefs became alert.

As we all know, it is not easy to truly achieve a fusion of flavors.

After all, the most difficult part of cooking is seasoning.

It may take many chefs most of their lives to really get the seasoning right.

Not to mention that master chefs may make mistakes, even experienced chefs may make mistakes in seasoning.

So incorporating flavors from other places into Shandong cuisine is indeed a good idea.

But how to integrate?
What flavor do you want to highlight?
How to preserve the characteristics of Shandong cuisine?

These are stores that are more difficult to balance.

That's why Gu Zhicheng reminded us that if we don't do it well, we might mess it up.

Feng Zhengming saw that everyone's fighting spirit, which had been ignited, was now somewhat retreating.

He quickly said, "Don't back down. This is our own internal competition, not for us to cook for customers. Even if we mess up, we can analyze the reasons ourselves and discuss it. Maybe we will come up with new ideas."

With Feng Zhengming's encouragement.

And everyone also realizes that no matter whether the work is done well or poorly, it is all the internal people who eat it.

There will be no problem for customers due to food being cooked poorly.

Thinking of this, the young chefs naturally rekindled their fighting spirit and were eager to give it a try.

After guiding the young chefs.

Feng Zhengming then said to the apprentices, "You must also work hard. You must also participate in the internal competition. I have said that the last one will definitely be transferred to the back kitchen of the dry rice shop."

Then Feng Zhengming gave the apprentices a serious reminder.

“But don’t think that just because you are being transferred to a dry rice shop, you can still continue to work there.

Don’t forget that there will be new people graduating from vocational schools next year. If your skills cannot be improved, I may not keep you in the kitchen, because the new graduates can replace you at any time.”

Feng Zhengming has a different attitude towards young chefs and apprentices.

This is because the young chefs still have a certain level.

Moreover, they are all chefs who are willing to follow Feng Zhengming and are ambitious and want to cook good dishes.

There are still certain differences among apprentices. Especially after returning, Feng Zhengming discovered that some apprentices were just hanging around in the kitchen.

This is not what he wants to see.

So taking this opportunity today, Feng Zhengming also wanted to warn his apprentices.

I hope they can all wake up and stop wasting time in the kitchen.

Otherwise, Feng Zhengming would have fired him directly. (End of this chapter)