From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

On Tuesday at noon, Feng's dry lunch shop was still doing good business, but when it closed at 1:30 p.m., a closing sign was hung in front of the dry lunch shop.

Everyone who comes to Feng’s dry restaurant will see what is written on the sign.

"We will hold an internal competition in the afternoon. All chefs in the kitchen will go to compete. We will resume business after 6pm."

Everyone in the kitchen of Feng's dry restaurant packed up their things and went to Huiquanlou.

Zhu Xu and Xia Mingye, who did not have to participate in the competition, also went.

Originally, Zhu Xu and Xia Mingye had volunteered to continue staying in the kitchen of Fengjia Restaurant to ensure business.

But Yang Bin called them all together.

Yang Bin said, "Both of you go, even though you two won't be participating in the competition, you can still take a look ahead of time and help with strategies. We at Ganfanpu can't lose to those guys at Huiquanlou."

Being asked by Yang Bin to go together, Zhu Xu and Xia Mingye had no choice but to follow.

On the way, Zhu Xu couldn't help but ask, "Uncle Yang, if the chefs in the back kitchen of the dry rice shop perform well, won't they be transferred to Huiquanlou? Why do you seem to be looking forward to it?"

Yang Bin laughed after hearing this: "Of course I am looking forward to it. If all the people in the kitchen of the dry rice shop are transferred to Huiquanlou, doesn't that mean that my ability to train apprentices is better than your Uncle Feng's?

Although he is the champion of the national cooking competition, he is not as good as me in teaching apprentices, so I, his senior brother, can be better than him. "

Hearing this, Xia Mingye laughed beside him: "Hahaha, it turns out that Uncle Yang has such a plan in mind."

Yang Bin looked at the people at Fengjia Restaurant.

Zhu Xu and Xia Mingye who cannot participate in the competition will be removed.

The remaining apprentices include Xia Hui, Shen Rongsen, Chen Anbang and Sun Decai.

In Yang Bin's opinion, the lineup in the kitchen of Fengjia Ganfanpu is quite strong.

This made him sigh: "It seems that our team at the Ganfanpu is also very strong."

Everyone looked at each other when they heard this.

They also found that the lineup was indeed very strong.

For example, Zhu Xu, Xia Hui and Xia Mingye all participated in last year's Young Chef Cooking Competition.

Moreover, Zhu Xu and Xia Mingye both ranked very high.

Shen Rongsen has learned a lot of skills during this period of time following Yang Bin.

Chen Anbang was transferred back to Ganfanpu from Huiquanlou, which was considered a considerable improvement.

Among the new apprentices, Sun Decai has the most solid basic skills.

So overall it seems that their lineup is much stronger than that of ordinary restaurant kitchens.

Shen Rongsen suddenly smiled and said, "Master Yang, could it be that the chef's team of chefs is stronger? The chef has gathered the best young chefs."

When Yang Bin heard what Shen Rongsen said, he immediately laughed: "Hahaha, it's true."

The fact is just as Shen Rongsen said, Feng Zhengming has indeed gathered the best young chefs under his command.

These young chefs have good skills, but they still lack experience.

However, with Feng Zhengming, the national champion, many different customers can be attracted to Ganfanpu and Huiquanlou.

This also gives all young chefs the opportunity to improve their experience.

Such an opportunity may only be available to these young chefs from Feng Zhengming.

If it were in some other big restaurants, because there are those master chefs and chefs who are older than the young chefs, the young chefs may have limited opportunities to cook.

When Feng Zhengming won the first place in the national competition.

Yang Bin once heard his master sigh.

“It is a misfortune for many young chefs to be in the same era as Feng Zhengming, but it is also a fortune for many young chefs to be in the same era as him.”

Now Yang Bin could understand what his master meant by that sentence.

Unfortunately, no matter what achievements the young chefs make, they will be compared with Feng Zhengming.

When compared, he may appear inferior to Feng Zhengming.

This is also where our luck lies, because we have a national champion like Feng Zhengming who we can compare with.

Young chefs will have a benchmark to catch up with.

If you are a young chef who is willing to work hard to improve yourself, then you can definitely make continuous progress by choosing to keep chasing Feng Zhengming.

Maybe he may not be able to surpass Feng Zhengming, but at least his cooking skills are definitely better than many of his predecessors.

Thinking of this, Yang Bin said: "You all have to work hard. If you can all go to the kitchen of Huiquanlou, then I can be considered a group of people trained by Huiquanlou."

Xia Hui said seriously, "Uncle Yang, rest assured, we will definitely perform well."

Seeing Xia Hui's serious expression, Yang Bin was worried that she was too nervous.

So I just joked with Xia Hui.

"Uncle Yang knows that you have long wanted to go to the kitchen of Huiquanlou and follow your uncle Feng, right? It's true, we have been together for half a year, but in the end, I still can't keep your heart."

Yang Bin's joke made everyone in his group laugh.

Xia Hui's cheeks instantly turned red after hearing what she said.

"Uncle Yang, what are you talking about? I just want to show my progress in the past six months. I don't have to follow you."

But this explanation made it sound even more strange to everyone.

Xia Hui didn't know what to say for a moment.

She was a little impatient and annoyed.

Fortunately, Grandpa Feng, who was going to Huiquanlou with everyone, spoke up.

"Xiao Yang, what you said is wrong. Xiao Xia is a girl. You said that as if Xiao Xia has some feelings towards Zheng Ming. It's not right to say that about a girl."

When Yang Bin heard what Grandpa Feng said, he immediately realized that he had been a little too outspoken.

"I'm sorry, Xiao Xia, it was Uncle who said the wrong thing. Don't take it personally. Uncle apologizes to you."

Being rescued by Grandpa Feng, Xia Hui slowly calmed down.

Yang Bin's apology also stopped others from making trouble.

Especially since Grandpa Feng was there, naturally others were even more afraid to speak nonsense.

Xia Hui said seriously: "I will prove to you that even though I am a girl, I can also be a good cook."

Seeing Xia Hui say this, Yang Bin smiled and said, "That's right, good chefs are not divided by gender. Xiao Xia works so hard, she will definitely become a good chef."

As they chatted, everyone came to Huiquan Tower together.

When I entered the door, I happened to meet Li Huidong who was accompanying his master.

When Yang Bin and others saw Master Yan, they naturally took the initiative to step forward and greet him.

Master Yan smiled and said, "Don't be nervous. I'm not here to be a judge today. I just came to take a look."

Hearing that Master Yan would not be a judge, Xia Hui and others felt slightly relieved.

Having Master Yan as a judge does put a lot of pressure on them.

Yang Bin smiled and said, "Master, now that you are here, isn't it a bit presumptuous for us to be the judges?"

Master Yan looked at his third apprentice and said with a smile, "When did you become so modest? Old Third Yang was not like this in the past. Didn't you always think that you were a great cook?"

Yang Bin felt a little embarrassed when his master said this. He had said these words when he was bragging with his fellow apprentices in the kitchen of Yanxilou.

When his master told this to him today, Yang Bin felt extremely embarrassed.

"Master, please stop talking. I was too young at the time. I didn't realize that there are always people who are better than you. When it comes to cooking, my junior brother is better."

At this time, Feng Zhengming and fifth senior brother Cao Zhiguo also came out.

"Master, Senior Brother, Third Brother, you are all here, please come in."

When Master Yan saw Feng Zhengming, he also smiled and said, "Our number one scholar is here to welcome us personally. Let's go in first."

Feng Zhengming responded: "Master, how dare I act like a top scholar in front of you? In front of you, I will always be your little disciple."

Master Yan said: "Don't be so modest. You are past the time of modesty. Now is the time for you to show your abilities."

When Feng Zhengming heard what his master said, he immediately nodded and agreed: "Okay, Master, I will definitely show my skills."

The group entered Huiquan Building, and the competition took place naturally in the kitchen of Huiquan Building.

Although there are a lot of people today, the kitchen of Huiquanlou is large enough.

Feng Zhengming also made some arrangements and set up a special table for the judges to sit down.

When the master came, Feng Zhengming also arranged a special seat for him.

After entering the kitchen, Feng Zhengming said to the people who came with Yang Bin: "You guys should go over there and stand with the others."

Then Xia Hui and Shen Rongsen walked towards the young chef.

Chen Anbang, Sun Decai and several apprentices walked towards the apprentices.

As for the judges, we will follow the previous arrangements.

The professional judges were Feng Zhengming’s three senior brothers, plus his grandfather and He Yunqing.

Master Yan and Feng Zhengming were watching and guiding from the sidelines.

Everyone was seated, and Master Yan said to Feng Zhengming, "You are almost ready, can we start? Which side should we start with?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Everything is ready. Let's start with the apprentices."

Master Yan nodded: "Okay, let's start with your batch of apprentices."

Feng Zhengming said to the apprentices: "Your assessment items today are very simple. The first item is to kill the fish. The live fish must be butchered, gutted and cleaned. The fish scales must be scraped off, and the fish must also be cleaned. Remember there is a time limit, and you must not exceed the time limit."

Let’s start with killing the fish. Master Yan was very satisfied with his apprentice’s arrangement.

Killing fish can be said to be a task that tests a chef's basic skills.

First of all, killing a fish requires great skill. Secondly, the process of cleaning the fish, from descaling to gutting and cleaning, can be said to be a test of the chef's ability at every step.

Whether a fish can be cleaned within the specified time can be said to be a test for a chef.

This group of apprentices at Huiquanlou and Ganfanpu have been working there for more than half a year. With Feng Zhengming's intentional rotation of positions, it can be said that everyone has received training in various positions.

Therefore, this first task of killing fish can be regarded as a test of their learning in the kitchen.

Feng Zhengming held a stopwatch in his hand and asked the apprentices to divide into two groups, with the first group standing in front of the water platform first.

"Okay, you guys are ready to catch your respective fish, set, go."

Following Feng Zhengming's order, he pressed the stopwatch and the first batch of apprentices had already started.

Feng Zhengming retreated back to the side of his master and grandfather.

Accompanying the master and grandfather to watch the apprentices' movements.

Among the first batch of apprentices, the most outstanding one was naturally Sun Decai.

His hand movements were quite skillful.

First, grab the fish's tail and hit it with the back of a knife to stun the fish, then kill it quickly.

He cleaned the scales very carefully, especially around the tail and under the gills.

Then the fish is gutted and the contents of the belly are taken out. The belly is then rinsed clean with water, the gills are cut off with scissors, and the teeth are picked out by hand.

Of course, in the end, Sun Decai also removed the fishy smell line.

So Sun Decai should have been the first to finish, but because of the extra step of removing the fishy smell line, he was not the first to finish.

However, Sun Decai was still very efficient and cleaned the whole fish very well.

Especially the black film inside the fish chamber, which was removed very cleanly by him.

All the fish for the first batch of apprentices were slaughtered and cleaned within the specified time.

Feng Zhengming asked them to bring the fish on a plate.

Master Yan watched the first batch of apprentices slaughter and clean the fish.

A smile appeared on his face: "Not bad, it seems that you are all very serious about learning in the kitchen."

Then the second batch of apprentices also completed killing the fish within the specified time.

Feng Zhengming saw that everyone had done well, and he praised them with a smile: "It seems that you have all prepared well. From this point of view, you will all be left behind."

The apprentices were naturally very excited to hear that they would be kept.

Feng Zhengming saw the apprentices' little movements and then said, "Don't be too happy, there are still two more items to come."

The next task Feng Zhengming asked the apprentices to cut into cubes.

"Dice the potatoes, three kinds of dices. This is what you were supposed to be tested on in the exam. Go prepare for it and then get started. Remember there is a time limit, so don't exceed the time limit."

Cut into dices, there are three types of dices, from large to small, 1.5, 1.2, and 0.8 respectively.

However, the apprentices will be tested not only on the dicing but also on their standing position.

Standing at the counter can be said to be the most basic skill for a chef.

Stand in front of the chopping board, about a fist's distance away from it, and spread your feet almost level with your shoulders. You must slightly tighten your stomach and straighten your chest, and lower your head to focus on the knife blade and the ingredients.

When holding the knife, you need to hold it like you are grabbing a tiger. You cannot hold it too tightly, but you cannot completely let go of force either.

Only when you stand at the counter to a standard level can you get twice the result with half the effort when working in the kitchen.

You won't be too tired from standing, and you can complete the cutting and preparation in a standard way.

Still at Feng Zhengming's command, the apprentices lined up in a row in the kitchen and started dicing.

By having the apprentices stand in a row, it is possible to see at a glance whether each apprentice is standing in the correct position.

The apprentices are quite standard and they have indeed learned a lot in the kitchen during the past six months.

When standing at the table, everything is really neat and tidy. During the process of cutting and preparing, the neat and uniform look is really pleasing to the eye.

Within the allotted time, the apprentices completed the dicing very well.

Feng Zhengming asked each of them to take three bowls, fill them with water, and put the chopped cubes in the bowls.

Then it is brought to the judges for inspection to see if the cubes they have cut meet the requirements.

All the apprentices passed this stage successfully.

For the last item, Feng Zhengming decided to add some difficulty to the apprentices.

"The last item is to cut the fish you just slaughtered into flower patterns. The flower patterns for sweet and sour carp, peony patterns, or corrugated patterns are all fine. Please prepare them." (End of this chapter)