From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

While the whole family of Grandpa Feng was chatting at his home, Feng Jiandong took the opportunity to make a phone call to Huiquanlou.

Ask Feng Zhengming to reserve the Quancheng private room for the family in the evening.

"Zhengming, your uncle and his family are already home, you don't have to come back, we will go there together in the evening.

Yes, yes, you can keep the Quancheng private room, the whole family will go there in the evening. I will call the company later and ask Xiao Luo to meet us directly at Huiquan Building in the evening.

Xiao Luo must be there. Your uncle is back. Xiao Luo is your fiancée, so you must let your uncle and his family meet her."

After Feng Zhengming received the call from his third uncle, he determined from his third uncle's accent that his grandfather was not angry with his eldest uncle, which made him feel relieved.

After hanging up the phone, Feng Zhengming told He Yunqing to stay in the Quancheng private room that night.

He Yunqing was prepared: "Don't worry, chef, I know that I have reserved the private room a long time ago."

Feng Zhengming was a little surprised: "You also know that my uncle is coming back?"

He Yunqing nodded: "Yes, I heard from the old man a long time ago."

It turned out that He Yunqing had heard Grandpa Feng mention it, so he paid attention to it. Knowing that Feng Zhengming's uncle and his family were returning to Quancheng today, he reserved the Quancheng private room in Huiquanlou in advance.

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Thank you, Uncle He."

Then Feng Zhengming went back to the kitchen to continue preparing tonight's meals.

When my uncle and his family come back, I must cook some classic Shandong dishes for them.

Especially grandma’s favorite four-happiness meatballs are a must.

We also need the pork with steamed buns that my grandfather has passed down from generation to generation.

You must have pork elbow, and you also must have fried sea cucumber with scallion and fried pig’s pig tendon with scallion.

Thinking that his uncle's family had lived abroad for many years, Feng Zhengming also prepared a few dishes with foreign flavors.

Such as fried hairtail in tomato sauce, and the mullet egg soup specially improved by Feng Zhengming.

This mullet egg soup was a dish Feng Zhengming figured out after discussing with chefs from Beijing, Huaiyang, Cantonese and Hong Kong during the national competition.

Different from the traditional Shandong cuisine mullet egg soup which is thickened with starch, Feng Zhengming’s method does not use starch.

Just use clear chicken soup to create a sour and spicy taste similar to vinegar and pepper fish.

When it came to blending the sour taste, Feng Zhengming went through some trial and error during the national competition.

Found a recipe that uses pickle juice instead of vinegar to balance out the sour taste.

After Feng Zhengming developed this soup dish, it has not yet been officially launched in Huiquanlou.

He originally planned to use it at the province's pre-Spring Festival dinner.

Judging from the phone call from my third uncle, grandpa should be very happy that my uncle is back this time.

Feng Zhengming decided to let his family try it first.

In addition to this mullet egg soup, Feng Zhengming also absorbed the Cantonese cuisine of sweet and sour pork and prepared dishes paired with fruits.

These dishes were also prepared by Feng Zhengming for the provincial dinner before the Spring Festival.

It's just right for my family to taste it first and give me their opinions.

At Feng's house, Feng Guofeng talked about his experiences abroad for several years and some of his future plans after being invited back to China.

He curiously asked his family about Feng Zhengming.

"Dad, in the letter Suying wrote to me before, she told me a lot about Zhengming's situation. It can be seen that his family has accepted him. Dad, do you think Zhengming's character is trustworthy?"

Hearing his eldest son's question, Grandpa Feng frowned slightly at first, and then he asked back in surprise.

"You ask this, are you going to arrange something for Zhengming?"

Feng Guofeng did not hide anything from his father and family.

“This time when I return to China, I may go to Shanghai to work with Yunqing, where we may need to deal with some international trade activities.

When dealing with foreigners, sometimes many of our local cultures can provide opportunities for mutual understanding, especially our Chinese cuisine.

I was thinking, if Zhengming is able, can he go to Shanghai and show our Shandong cuisine to foreigners? "

When Feng Jiadong heard this, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "Hahaha, big brother, you guys came back at the right time. Zhengming also wants to go south to Shanghai. He wants to open a restaurant in Shanghai.

We also want to showcase our Shandong cuisine and Chinese food culture to the whole country and even the world through Shanghai.”

Feng Guofeng was a little surprised: "Oh? Zhengming has such an idea?"

This time, Grandpa Feng said: "Yes, he went to Shanghai to participate in the national competition. He saw the delicacies from all over the country and also saw the prosperity of Shanghai. He wanted to open a restaurant in Shanghai to promote Shandong cuisine."

When Feng Guofeng heard this, he felt that he and Feng Zhengming had a common goal.

He became even more curious about Feng Zhengming, the godson adopted by his father.

Grandpa Feng said: "But he may not go to Shanghai so soon. He has a lot of things to do after the Chinese New Year."

Feng Jiandong helped by saying, "He said that after the Chinese New Year, he wants to walk all over our Shandong Province to find the roots of Shandong cuisine so that he can better understand and cook it well."

When Feng Guofeng and his wife heard this, they looked at each other. They were both surprised at Feng Zhengming's advanced ideas.

Even though Feng Guofeng and his wife knew about his ideas abroad, they were still considered quite avant-garde.

So the couple were surprised. Feng Zhengming had been in China all his life, so why did he have such avant-garde ideas?
Feng Yucheng didn't quite understand what his uncle meant, so he asked his mother.

Li Yunqing translated and explained to his son.

Then Feng Yucheng got a little excited: "Great, that brother has a really cool idea."

To Feng Yucheng, Feng Zhengming's thoughts were a bit like what he had always dreamed of.

Feng Guofeng smiled and said, "I am really looking forward to meeting Feng Zhengming more and more."

The whole family laughed at once.

Grandpa Feng glanced at the time and thought it was almost time to go to Huiquanlou, so he simply asked the whole family to go out together.

Feng Guofeng called his son to accompany his old father all the way there.

On the one hand, I wanted to accompany my father, and on the other hand, I wanted to get familiar with the streets and alleys of Quancheng.

Seeing that the eldest brother was going for a walk, the whole family decided to follow him.

Along the way, Feng Guofeng looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar streets of Quancheng with a smile on his face. He kept introducing the streets and alleys of Quancheng to his son and told his son the places where he used to play.

Then Feng Guofeng bought some street snacks from Quancheng and asked his wife and son to try them.

Under the guidance of his grandfather and father, Feng Yucheng quickly became familiar with Quancheng.

It seemed like an innate sense of closeness allowed this child who was born and raised abroad to slowly begin to integrate into the atmosphere of the City of Springs.

The whole family walked to Huiquan Tower.

Feng Guofeng looked at Huiquanlou and was also a little surprised: "Huiquanlou is different from before."

Feng Jiandong said: "Of course it's different. Huiquanlou has been renovated by Zhengming. Don't you think it's very impressive?"

Li Yunqing had been to Huiquanlou with her husband before, and she exclaimed: "This Huiquanlou is really different."

Feng Guofeng said: "It seems that Zhengming's thinking is very advanced."

Feng Zhengming had already received the news in the kitchen and knew that his grandfather, uncle and the whole family had arrived at the door.

He hurried out from the kitchen and walked quickly to the door.

The moment Feng Guofeng saw Feng Zhengming, he was a little surprised.

Before meeting him, Feng Guofeng had an idea of ​​Feng Zhengming based on his family's description. He thought Feng Zhengming should be young, but like most chefs, he would be a little fat.

After meeting the person, Feng Guofeng realized that his imagination was wrong.

Feng Zhengming is very tall and not fat at all. Instead, he is quite strong.

He is tall and strong, and it is hard to imagine him as a chef if he is not wearing a chef's uniform.

Feng Zhengming greeted his grandfather first.

Then he took the initiative to greet Feng Guofeng.

"Hello, uncle. Welcome back, uncle and aunt."

Hearing the greeting, Feng Guofeng came back to his senses and extended his hand to Feng Zhengming with a smile.

After shaking hands with Feng Zhengming.

Feng Guofeng said: "Hello, Feng Zhengming, you have a really strong body."

Feng Zhengming laughed: "Hahaha, uncle, you know I do all the hard work in the kitchen."

Feng Guofeng also laughed, and then he called his son to his side.

"Son, this is the big brother you've always wanted to meet. He's the champion of the national cooking competition. In Chinese, he's the top scholar."

Feng Yucheng looked up and looked at Feng Zhengming carefully.

Then he couldn't help but exclaim in a foreign language.

"Wow, big brother, you are so tall and strong. Are you really the champion of the cooking competition? Then your cooking must be delicious."

Feng Zhengming responded with a smile: "Hello, I am indeed the champion of the national cooking competition. You will know whether my cooking is delicious after you taste it tonight.

Do you have any favorite dishes? Or, do you have any dishes that you don’t like to eat?

Feng Yucheng didn't bother to be polite with Feng Zhengming. He said directly: "I like pork chops, not cauliflower."

Grandpa Feng didn't wait for Feng Zhengming to reply and said, "Pork chops are not as delicious as our braised pork. Try our braised pork tonight."

Feng Yucheng looked at his parents.

Feng Guofeng translated for his son: "Braised pork is also made of pork. Don't you like pork very much? You can try it tonight. You should like it."

Then Feng Zhengming asked everyone to come in quickly.

He personally led the whole family upstairs and into the Quancheng private room.

When I stepped into the Quancheng private room, I saw the various decorations in the room, especially the large photos of Quancheng’s famous scenery hanging on the wall.

Feng Guofeng's family was also surprised.

Feng Yucheng stared at the photo carefully for a while and exclaimed: "It's so beautiful, where is this?"

Seeing Feng Yucheng's surprise, Feng Shengnan smiled and explained: "This photo is of our Spring City. It was taken over by Daming Lake. This is Baotu Spring in our Spring City."

After his sister's introduction, Feng Yucheng couldn't wait to go and take a look.

Feng Guofeng said to his son, "Let's have dinner tonight. Let's have fun tomorrow by letting your uncle drive us."

Feng Yucheng happily agreed, and he also wanted Zhang Hongwei and Feng Shengnan to go together.

He even invited Feng Zhengming to go with him.

It can be seen that Feng Yucheng is very cheerful and willing to make friends with everyone.

Feng Zhengming said embarrassedly: "I'm afraid I can't go with you. I still have to work here."

Feng Yucheng felt a little sorry.

But he then asked, "Can I go to the kitchen with my big brother?"

When Feng Guofeng saw his son asking this, he immediately stopped him and said, "The kitchen is very busy now, don't bother Big Brother. Wait until the kitchen is not busy, then go and have a look."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "It's okay. If you want to go and have a look, you can go with me now."

Zhang Hongwei and Feng Shengnan naturally wanted to go and watch it together.

Feng Zhengming simply led his younger brothers and sisters downstairs to the kitchen.

After the children left, Li Yunqing said with a smile: "Zhengming really acts like an older brother."

Feng Suying said: "Yes, Zhengming takes good care of his younger brothers and sisters. He is just like my eldest brother took care of us when we were young."

Feng Guofeng is very satisfied with Feng Zhengming.

“Only when you see him in person can you feel that he is a sincere and capable young man.”

This has long been recognized by many people.

Grandpa Feng took advantage of the children's absence and asked again, "You said before that you hoped to let Zhengming go to Shanghai and abroad to promote and exchange some food. Do you want him to be responsible for helping you receive foreigners?"

Feng Guofeng explained it in detail.

"No, Dad, I don't want Zhengming to be in charge of reception, I just want him to open a Shandong cuisine restaurant in Shanghai.

Just like some other local cuisine restaurants in Shanghai, a restaurant specializing in Shandong cuisine can help foreigners learn about Shandong cuisine when we communicate with them. ”

Li Yunqing also spoke this time.

"Dad, we were invited back to China. After that, we went to Shanghai to meet with foreign investors and economic and trade delegations."

Because the children were not there, Li Yunqing spoke in more detail.

"Reform and opening up require more contact with foreign countries, integration with the international community, and obtaining foreign capital and technological investment. Naturally, it is also necessary to have some cultural exchanges with them."

Feng Guofeng nodded and said: "Exchange in the cultural field is very important, and our food is also part of our culture."

Feng Jiandong couldn't help but say after hearing this: "Brother, sister-in-law, the more I listen to what you said, the more I feel that it is consistent with some of Zhengming's ideas."

Grandpa Feng also echoed: "Yes, it fits very well."

Feng Guofeng said: "So when I heard from you guys, Zhengming said he wanted to walk all over Shandong to find the roots of Shandong cuisine, I was really shocked by this idea. His idea is very avant-garde and very good."

Li Yunqing also nodded: "We brought Yucheng back from abroad and wanted to keep him in Quancheng to go to school. We also hope that he can find his roots."

Feng Guofeng and Li Yunqing, a couple, have experienced a lot.

So their vision can be said to be more unique.

They have already seen that domestic development will gradually accelerate in the future.

This is a great opportunity for them to return home.

It is also an opportunity for them to truly apply what they have learned abroad over the years to building their motherland.

Perhaps in this era, there are still many people who yearn to go abroad.

But Feng Guofeng and Li Yunqing no longer yearn for it. They believe that there will be more opportunities in the country in the future.

And they attach great importance to the future intersection of domestic and foreign cultural fields.

This kind of intersection will have a huge impact on domestic traditional culture.

Only by truly finding the roots of culture can we maintain our own cultural independence under the impact of other cultures.

Feng Guofeng told his father that he and Li Yunqing would go to Shanghai first, and if Feng Zhengming was ready to go to Shanghai in the future, they would do their best to help Feng Zhengming.

We need to let him gain a foothold in Shanghai and open a real Shandong cuisine restaurant. (End of this chapter)