From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

The province has also done a lot of preparation for this pre-Spring Festival dinner.

Among them, all the chefs and staff, including Feng Zhengming, were arranged to live in a collective dormitory.

Have them live not far from the banquet hall where the dinner is held.

Most chefs and staff live in dormitories and some even have to sleep on bunk beds.

Only Feng Zhengming and a few masters were arranged to live in single rooms.

Because of this arrangement, Feng Zhengming was able to rush to the kitchen alone early in the morning before the dinner began.

Wait until other chefs and staff arrive in the kitchen one after another.

As soon as they entered the kitchen, they saw a tall and strong figure in chef's uniform busy in the kitchen.

Seeing everyone coming in, Feng Zhengming didn't hesitate and gave orders directly to the chefs who came in.

"Everyone is here, hurry up and prepare. Peel all the bamboo shoots, clean them all, and cut them into 0.8-inch cubes. Also, cut the pork into 1.5-inch cubes."

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, the chefs who had just entered the room were a little confused.

However, Xia Hui and Zhu Xu quickly recovered and started to work as required.

Feng Zhengming took a look and immediately gave Zhu Xu a specific order, asking Zhu Xu to be responsible for guarding the soup pot.

On the other hand, specific orders were also given to middle-aged chefs including Lin Guofu.

As for the tasks of cleaning the bamboo shoots, dicing them, and dicing the pork, they were all left to the remaining young chefs and the chefs in charge of miscellaneous work.

After Feng Zhengming made the clear division of labor, everyone in the kitchen started working according to the requirements.

Not long after, Feng Zhengming asked Zhu Xu, who was guarding the soup pot, "Is the chicken in the soup cooked through?"

Zhu Xu immediately took out the old chicken from the soup bucket and poked it with chopsticks.

"It's cooked through."

Feng Zhengming immediately said, "Okay, take all the chicken out of the soup."

At the same time, he ordered the chef at the water station: "Quick, bring another old chicken over and put it in the soup."

Under Feng Zhengming's order, Zhu Xu took the old chicken out of the soup.

A few more old chickens were immediately brought over and put into the soup bucket.

The soup continued to cook for the next period of time.

Feng Zhengming asked someone to use cold water to cool down the chicken.

"Cool down the chicken quickly, then take out all the meat, and cut all the chicken into 1.2/ dices. Hurry up."

It was obvious that Feng Zhengming noticed the time and knew that there was not much time left in the morning.

However, there were enough staff in the kitchen, and under Feng Zhengming's order, several chefs immediately began to cut the chicken.

Rinse with cold water to quickly cool down the old chicken after taking it out of the soup pot.

Next, use your hands and a knife to remove all the chicken.

During the dismantling process, some people were burned because of the hurry.

Seeing this, Feng Zhengming immediately rushed over and pulled the other person's hand to rinse with cold water.

"Be careful, don't burn yourself."

At the same time, Feng Zhengming asked someone to bring ice cubes and use ice water to cool down the boiled chicken.

"These chickens will need to be fried after being shredded, so you don't need to worry about whether they are clean. If they are too hot, use ice cubes to cool them down."

Then Feng Zhengming shouted to everyone in the kitchen.

"Everyone, listen carefully. We want to ensure that today's three meals are served on time and are delicious, but everyone must remember one thing, that is, even if you are in a hurry, don't hurt yourself. Do you understand?"

Hearing Feng Zhengming's loud question, everyone in the kitchen responded subconsciously: "Understood."

After everyone in the kitchen responded, they slowly realized a problem.

Feng Zhengming, the champion of the national cooking competition, is different from the chefs they have worked with before.

I won’t mention the chef I worked with in the past who had a bad temper.

The key point is that those chefs, in order to save time, often completely ignore the safety of everyone in the kitchen.

Many times, burns and knife wounds occur, but other chefs often ignore them because they are in a hurry.

Feng Zhengming was different. He started by coming to the kitchen to take charge of the banquet.

He kept emphasizing to everyone that safety must be prioritized.

He asked everyone to protect themselves while cooking.

Avoid burns and cuts.

Feng Zhengming also emphasized to everyone: "It doesn't matter if it's a little slow, we can prepare in advance and slow down the speed of serving the dishes to buy time for everyone.

Don’t rush for time without considering your own safety.”

This is something Feng Zhengming repeatedly emphasizes to everyone.

So when someone was rushing to cut the chicken just now, he didn't pay attention and got scalded.

Feng Zhengming did not blame the other person at first, but checked the other person's burns.

Make sure the person who got burned is okay.

Feng Zhengming also asked someone to bring ice cubes directly, mix them with water and pour them into the boiled chicken.

Further cool down the old chicken after it comes out of the soup pot to make it easier for the person who is going to cut the chicken apart.

Soon, the first batch of chicken had been taken out.

But Feng Zhengming did not even let go of the last remaining chicken skeleton. He asked someone to crack open the chicken bones and pick out the chicken marrow.

It really reached the point of "sucking the marrow out of the bones".

Everyone in the kitchen was a little surprised.

However, Feng Zhengming is the chef, and everyone can only do as he asks.

Soon the first batch of old chickens were taken out of the soup pot. Feng Zhengming still had his men take apart all the chicken meat and crack open the chicken bones to pick out the marrow.

After all these operations, you will end up with a large bowl of diced chicken.

There was also a large bowl of chicken bones.

Feng Zhengming looked very excited.

Next, he asked people to stir-fry the diced bamboo shoots, diced pork and diced chicken separately.

"Stir-fry in a big pot. Yes, put all three kinds of diced vegetables in the pot. Cook the soy sauce for a while. Yes, the aroma needs to be cooked out. That's right. Add chicken broth. Add a little chicken broth. Very good. Adjust the taste. Add a little salt. Sugar and pepper. Good, good. Thicken with starch. Thicken with rice broth. Yes, it's ready to serve."

Feng Zhengming stood by, directing Lin Guofu and several chefs to stir-fry diced bamboo shoots, diced chicken and diced pork in a big pot.

The next step is to put the stir-fried diced vegetables in a large bowl and let them cool.

After it cooled down, Feng Zhengming asked the chef in the kitchen to make dumplings with the stir-fried diced vegetables.

When the buns were steamed, Feng Zhengming asked everyone in the kitchen to put some of the buns on a large tray and let everyone in the kitchen taste them.

"Come on, everyone, have a try. You've worked hard all morning and haven't eaten yet. Let's eat first."

Everyone was embarrassed at first.

It was not until Feng Zhengming took the lead that everyone began to take one reluctantly.

But when you take the first bite of the bun.

Feng Zhengming sighed: "The bun skin is well made, noisy."

Then someone exclaimed: "This stuffing is really delicious."

"Yes, it's delicious and smells so good." The second person immediately exclaimed.

Next, everyone in the kitchen exclaimed one after another.

Xia Mingye was also surprised and asked his sister. "Sister, was this bun filling invented by my uncle? Have you eaten it before?"

Xia Hui shook her head while eating the buns.

After swallowing the food in his mouth, he said, "No, Uncle Shi has never made this kind of buns before. I didn't expect that the chicken cooked in soup, added with bamboo shoots and pork cubes and stir-fried together to make the filling, would be so delicious."

Feng Zhengming saw that everyone praised the delicious filling of the buns he made.

He smiled and said, "Don't get me wrong, I didn't invent this bun filling. This bun has its own name. It's called Sanding Bun."

I heard Feng Zhengming say that this bun is called Sanding bun.

Lin Guofu immediately exclaimed: "San Ding Bao? It seems to be the steamed buns in Huaiyang cuisine."

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Yes, it is the Sanding Bao from Huaiyang cuisine, known as the Sanding Bao that can conquer the world."

Xia Mingye couldn't help but yelled, "Master, how can you make this kind of buns?"

Feng Zhengming replied: "I heard a Huaiyang cuisine chef say this at the national competition, and I wrote it down. It just so happens that we have a lot of chickens for the soup at this banquet, and it would be a waste to throw them away directly, so we just made them into stuffing for dumplings."

Hearing what Feng Zhengming said, Kong Xingli, the chef from Jufengde who was also temporarily transferred here, sighed.

"You are still good at coming up with ideas. After the chicken is cooked in soup, you can think of the Huaiyang cuisine's Sanding Bao and learn to make it and eat it."

Feng Zhengming grinned and said in public, "I just think it's a pity to throw away the chicken used to cook the soup."

At this time, the person in charge of receiving invited guests also came to the kitchen.

"Chef Feng, is breakfast ready?"

Feng Zhengming ate the bun in his hand in three bites, and then responded: "It's ready. Do you want to serve breakfast now?"

The waiter waiting outside the door responded: “Yes.”

Feng Zhengming immediately said, "Okay, serve the breakfast."

Soon, breakfast was served to the guests attending the pre-Spring Festival reception.

In addition to the three-spice buns prepared by Feng Zhengming, there are also some more traditional Shandong cuisine breakfasts.

For example, Feng Zhengming prepared some noodle soup and some side dishes that are more suitable for breakfast.

After everything is arranged, they are sent out of the kitchen and handed over to the service staff who are responsible for delivering breakfast to the guests, who then deliver the breakfast to the guests.

This was a reception event organized by the province before the Spring Festival.

Starting from breakfast, the invited guests were quite satisfied.

In particular, the Sanding Buns prepared by Feng Zhengming were highly praised even by some invited foreign guests.

They all said that it turns out that the buns in China are so delicious.

After breakfast, the provincial leaders came to the kitchen to express their condolences.

When meeting Feng Zhengming, the leader also praised today's breakfast for being excellent.

"Xiao Feng, you really deserve to be the champion of the national cooking competition. This breakfast may seem very simple, but it tastes quite delicious."

Feng Zhengming also responded with a smile: "Thank you for the compliment. The leader trusts me to be responsible for the three meals of breakfast, lunch and dinner during the Spring Festival reception. I will definitely do my best to do it well."

The leader went on to say, “Lunch will be simple as well, the main event will be the dinner in the evening.”

Feng Zhengming agreed: "Understood, leader."

Then, Feng Zhengming took the leaders on a tour of the kitchen.

The leader also asked some chefs in the kitchen.

"What's your impression of our top chef?"

Someone immediately stood up and said, "Boss, our top chef is really good."

Others also echoed and praised Feng Zhengming.

"Yes, the chef is not only skilled, but also teaches us a lot of things."

"And the No. 1 chef also told us to be careful when cooking."

"He told us to protect ourselves as much as possible to avoid knife wounds and burns."

“The top chef said that he would rather we cook slowly than hurt ourselves by rushing to meet deadlines.”

I heard what everyone in the kitchen said.

The leader looked at Feng Zhengming with admiration in his eyes.

"Xiao Feng, you are really excellent."

Feng Zhengming quickly said, "Leader, I just thought that during the Chinese New Year, everyone is already so busy, we really need to protect ourselves as much as possible and not get hurt again."

The leader nodded and said: "It's a good idea that you have this idea. In the past, we often ignored humanistic care in order to speed up the progress.

Many times things may be done well, but many people are hurt behind the scenes.

This is wrong, we must not only do things well, but also pay attention to the safety of everyone involved."

Hearing this, everyone in the kitchen applauded.

After the thunderous applause, the leader smiled and said: "Your applause should not be for me, but for your top chef and for yourselves."

This time Feng Zhengming took the lead and everyone in the kitchen applauded himself again.

Next, Feng Zhengming continued to take his leader to carefully look at the various prepared materials.

In particular, let the leader take a look at the hygiene of the kitchen.

The provincial leaders were quite satisfied with the situation in the kitchen.

Feng Zhengming has made very detailed plans for the division of labor in the kitchen.

Therefore, everyone in the kitchen has their own job and their own responsibilities.

Under the leadership of Feng Zhengming, everyone did a great job in the kitchen.

Seeing all this, the leaders were quite looking forward to the dinner.

"Xiao Feng, tonight is your stage. I hope you can bring glory to our Qilu again, so that foreign guests, overseas Chinese, model workers of our province, and representatives from all walks of life can appreciate the charm of our Shandong cuisine."

Feng Zhengming nodded seriously and agreed: "Please rest assured, leader."

After the leader left, the kitchen continued to return to its previous state.

Everyone will complete the task at hand very seriously.

It can be said that all the preparations are for the banquet in the evening.

Everyone in the kitchen is busy preparing.

Feng Zhengming found some quite thin young bamboo shoots.

These bamboo shoots were discovered by Feng Zhengming in the kitchen warehouse.

The person who purchased the materials must have thought he had bought the wrong one as the bamboo shoots were too thin, so they were thrown aside.

But after seeing it, Feng Zhengming quickly thought that it might be useful for the dinner party.

He peeled all the bamboo shoots. It must be said that the bamboo shoots were indeed very thin. The peeled bamboo shoots were almost only as thick as two fingers.

Feng Zhengming cleaned the bamboo shoots, then found a carving knife and slowly hollowed out the middle of the bamboo shoot.

Everyone else was busy, so no one noticed Feng Zhengming at first.

After finishing the work at hand, Xia Hui wanted to find something else to do, and saw a man named Feng Zhengming who was hollowing out bamboo shoots.

"Uncle Master, what are you doing?"

Feng Zhengming saw Xia Hui approaching and immediately said with a smile, "Have you finished your work?"

Xia Hui nodded.

Feng Zhengming continued, "That's just right. Help me hollow out the middle of these bamboo shoots." (End of this chapter)