From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

After sleeping all night in the Huiquan Building dormitory, Feng Zhengming woke up before dawn the next day.

Today is the 29th day of the lunar year.

There is only one day left until New Year’s Eve.

These days he has been busy with the provincial banquet, unlike last year when he could not prepare many New Year's items for his family.

But the New Year still has to be celebrated, and fortunately he told his uncle and asked him to buy everything in advance.

This year, my uncle's family came back, as well as Grandpa Situ, Master Xia, and brother and sister Xia Hui and Xia Mingye.

There are obviously many more people than last year.

Fortunately, the Fengjia Dry Restaurant has completed its expansion, and Huiquanlou also has enough space.

Anyway, it’s closed during the Chinese New Year.

You can celebrate the New Year at Fengjia Restaurant or Huiquanlou.

There is a place.

Feng Zhengming thought of taking advantage of today to prepare various dishes.

Tomorrow, New Year’s Eve, we can all get together happily and have a good reunion dinner.

Thinking about these things in his mind, Feng Zhengming turned his head and glanced at Xia Mingye who was sleeping next to him.

Everyone was very tired after coming back last night, and in the end they didn’t separate the beds and rooms, so Xia Mingye and Feng Zhengming slept together.

I looked at Xia Mingye’s somewhat strange sleeping posture.

Feng Zhengming didn't disturb him and quietly prepared to get up.

Just when Feng Zhengming had gotten out of bed and was about to turn around and walk out of the room.

Xia Mingye suddenly woke up in a daze.

"Uncle Master, where are you going?"

Feng Zhengming heard the sound, turned around and saw Xia Mingye rubbing his eyes and had woken up.

"Today is the twenty-ninth day of the lunar calendar. I plan to go to the market again to see if I can buy something to prepare for New Year's Eve tomorrow."

Xia Mingye immediately said, "Master, you don't have to go. My grandfather and Grandpa Feng are all ready."

Feng Zhengming was a little surprised when he heard this: "Are you all ready?"

Xia Mingye sat on the bed and told the story.

It turned out that in order to prevent Feng Zhengming from being distracted, Master Xia, Grandpa Feng and the family started making various preparations for the New Year in advance.

Master Xia also wanted to stay in Quancheng to celebrate the New Year, so he cooked and made various preparations himself.

Such as the braised dishes eaten during the Chinese New Year, such as braised beef with soy sauce, braised pork elbow, and four-happiness meatballs.

There are also crispy pots that need to be prepared in advance, as well as various fried meatballs, fried fish, egg dumplings and other things that need to be prepared in advance. Master Xia and the Feng family made them all in advance.

Later, even the senior brother Li Huidong came to help.

Xia Hui and Xia Mingye, brother and sister, knew about this, but they never told Feng Zhengming.

Because Master Xia and Grandpa Feng don’t allow us to say it.

Xia Mingye listed the names of all the dishes to Feng Zhengming as if they were his own treasures.

After listening for a while, Feng Zhengming realized that most of the things for the New Year had been prepared.

It seemed as if he had nothing to prepare.

"It seems that, apart from cooking two hot dishes for everyone on New Year's Eve, I no longer have the opportunity to help out."

Xia Mingye quickly said, "No, Uncle Master, you don't have to cook. We have discussed it with Grandpa. My sister and I will be responsible for cooking hot dishes during the New Year."

When Feng Zhengming heard that everyone had made arrangements for the New Year, he didn't know what else he could do.
He stood by the bed for a long time, then nodded and said, "Okay, I'll take a break this New Year."

Xia Mingye smiled and said, "That's right, Uncle Master, you should take a break during the New Year. It can also be considered as a test to see if my sister and I have made any progress?"

Feng Zhengming laughed after hearing this: "Why? Are you still not convinced? You didn't participate in the competition this year, so you want to compete with your sister at the New Year's Eve dinner?"

Xia Mingye smiled and nodded: "I have that idea a little bit. Mainly because I think that I have made great progress recently and should be a little better than my sister."

Hearing this, I saw the little pride on Xia Mingye's face when he spoke.

Feng Zhengming couldn't help but say, "Maybe your sister thinks so too."

The smile on Xia Mingye’s face froze.

"My sister thinks so too?"

Feng Zhengming said: "I think that's right. She must also think that she is a little bit better than you, so she tried her best to stay and go to the provincial banquet with me, and she also took the initiative to pay for everyone's New Year's Eve dinner."

Xia Mingye was surprised at first.

Then he thought about it carefully.

"So that's how it is. My sister deliberately urged me to go with her to beg Grandpa so that we can stay because she thinks she is better than me. She wants to go to the provincial banquet with her uncle to learn well, and then make a New Year's Eve dinner to prove herself during the New Year."

Feng Zhengming laughed after hearing this: "You two siblings are quite interesting."

Without waiting for Xia Mingye to speak, Feng Zhengming continued, "You both actually care about each other very much, but when you are face to face, you will try to tear each other down."

After hearing this, Xia Mingye immediately said, "I didn't ruin her career. I always hoped that my sister could inherit the Confucius cuisine with me."

In fact, Feng Zhengming also knew that in Xia Mingye’s heart, he never felt that he and his sister were in a competitive relationship.

He hopes that he and his sister can pass on the Confucius family cuisine.

Especially after the national competition, Xia Mingye stayed in the kitchen of the dry rice shop and worked hard with his sister every day. In the evening, the siblings would consult and discuss with other chefs in the kitchen.

Xia Mingye could see that his sister really loved the job of chef.

It can even be said that in Xia Hui's heart, she never regarded being a chef as just a job.

In her heart, she has always wanted to see more, learn more, and study more, and learn all kinds of cuisines from different factions.

Then she combined various cooking techniques to create her own menu.

With this idea in mind, Xia Hui has always been very serious whether studying or cooking.

Xia Mingye witnessed his sister's seriousness with his own eyes and was filled with admiration.

"I want my sister to go back with me in the future. Together, we can inherit and promote the Confucius Mansion cuisine, so that more people will take a new look at it, just like the Tan family cuisine in Beijing, which is always talked about with relish."

After hearing what Xia Mingye said, Feng Zhengming laughed again.

"I didn't realize you were so ambitious."

Xia Mingye also laughed: "If there is no ambition, how can there be motivation?"

Feng Zhengming asked again: "Do you know why Confucius' cuisine is not as famous as Beijing's Tan's cuisine?"

Xia Mingye thought for a moment and said, "Because Confucius cuisine is not popular in Beijing, and many of the rules of Confucius cuisine seem too complicated, giving people a feeling that form is more important than content."

Feng Zhengming nodded and said, "It seems that you have also discovered some problems with the Kongfu cuisine."

Xia Mingye was a little embarrassed: "These are what grandpa said."

Feng Zhengming went on to say: "The three major official cuisines are Tan cuisine, Confucius cuisine and Suiyuan cuisine. The reason why Tan cuisine is the most popular is that it is indeed unique, especially the bird's nest and shark's fin banquet, which is well-known.

Secondly, the Tan family invited many dignitaries to the banquet, so they naturally won the recognition and admiration of those dignitaries. "

Xia Mingye said: "Yes, after all, Tan's cuisine is in the capital, so it is easier to get in touch with those dignitaries."

Feng Zhengming smiled and nodded: "So, it is not easy for Confucius cuisine to gain a higher reputation." Xia Mingye agreed: "Grandpa also said so. Nowadays, Confucius cuisine is indeed about to be forgotten. Our Xia Family Restaurant's business is not as good as before. Many people don't order many old dishes."

Feng Zhengming said: "So we need to keep pace with the times and make some improvements instead of sticking to tradition."

Xia Mingye nodded again: "Yes, my sister and I have talked about this before, and we both think that many traditional Confucius Mansion dishes are no longer suitable for today. Most people can't afford them, or the taste is not liked by many people nowadays."

Feng Zhengming asked: "Although you have been in the Ganfanpu for a short time, you should know how popular the Ganfanpu business is, right?"

Xia Mingye responded immediately: "Yes, yes, Uncle Master, your restaurant business is really booming."

Feng Zhengming added: "I can tell you that in terms of profitability, Huiquanlou cannot compare to a dry restaurant."

This made Xia Mingye a little surprised at first: "Is Huiquanlou's profit not as good as that of a dry rice shop?"

But soon Xia Mingye figured it out.

"The cost of each dish at Huiquanlou is too high, and many dishes take longer to cook, so it is difficult to have a turnover rate as fast as that of a dry rice shop. It is indeed difficult to compare the profits with those of a dry rice shop."

Feng Zhengming asked: "So do you understand? What kind of dishes do people prefer?"

Xia Mingye thought for a moment and asked, "Is it a dish that is fast and has a heavier taste like in a dry rice shop?"

Feng Zhengming shook his head: "No, most people like dishes that are tasty and reasonably priced and that they can easily afford."

Xia Mingye was stunned for a moment, but soon understood.

"Master uncle is right."

Feng Zhengming continued, “But I am not saying this to ask you to turn Confucius Mansion cuisine into a cheap roadside stall, but you should grasp everyone’s taste preferences and make some adjustments to the seasoning.

It is also necessary to remove some of the relatively cumbersome elements in Confucius Mansion cuisine.

We want customers to be able to experience the cultural charm of Confucius cuisine while tasting delicious food.”

Finally, Feng Zhengming said: "You must remember that food should not be more about form than content."

After saying this, Feng Zhengming opened the door and said, "Okay, you sleep for a while, I'll go out for a walk."

Feng Zhengming quickly washed up in the dormitory.

When I changed my clothes and went out, it was already light outside.

It is still a bit cold in the city of Quanzhou in the early morning of the Spring Festival.

Feng Zhengming walked along the road for a while and soon saw lights and decorations everywhere on the street.

The atmosphere of the New Year is still very strong.

From time to time, you can hear the sound of children setting off firecrackers in some alleys.

Listen to the sound of cannons and smell the gunpowder.

It really has a special Chinese New Year flavor.

Feng Zhengming walked all the way to the shop where he would occasionally come to have breakfast.

Seeing that the shop door was locked, he couldn't help but murmur to himself, "You knew that the New Year was coming, why did you still want to come here for breakfast?"

But at this time, Feng Zhengming really felt a little hungry.

After thinking it over, I simply turned around and walked towards Huiquan Tower.

Arriving at the door of Huiquan Building, Feng Zhengming took out the key and opened the door.

After entering the door, he went straight to the kitchen of Huiquanlou.

I opened the refrigerator in the back kitchen and saw a lot of things inside.

It seems that Master Xia and Grandpa have been shopping these days to prepare for eating during the New Year.

I stir-fried some in the refrigerator, found a few eggplants, and also found a piece of pork belly in the freezer.

Then I found a few potatoes and added some onions, ginger and garlic.

Feng Zhengming started to get busy in the kitchen alone.

The eggplants are not peeled, but cut into small cubes directly after washing.

Peel the potatoes and cut into small cubes.

A strip of pork belly was also cut into fat and lean cubes.

Finally, Feng Zhengming chopped all the onions, ginger and garlic into small pieces.

Pour oil into the pan, turn on the fire to heat the oil, and fry the diced eggplant and diced potato in the pan separately.

After frying, take it out, then add onion, ginger and garlic to the pan and stir-fry until fragrant. Then add the diced pork belly and stir-fry until the fat is released. Fry until the diced pork becomes very small.

Next, add the sweet bean sauce and cook it until it’s cooked, then add the soy sauce and vinegar.

After the aroma comes out, add the diced eggplant and potato into the pan and stir-fry.

When they are almost all browned, add water to the pot.

Cover the pot and stew the potatoes and eggplants in the pot over high heat.

At the same time, Feng Zhengming used this time to start kneading the dough and rolling noodles.

The noodles are rolled out and the soup in the pot is almost thickened.

Finally, season it to taste.

Add a thin starch sauce, retaining most of the soup, and add vinegar before serving.

Add vinegar flavor to this pot of diced eggplant stew.

After serving, Feng Zhengming found a small pot to put the food in.

Then he walked out of Huiquanlou with the small pot of diced eggplant stew and the cut hand-rolled noodles.

Braving the cold wind, I hurried back to the dormitory.

When Feng Zhengming returned to the dormitory, almost everyone was awake.

He carried the things into the dormitory kitchen and put them down.

Then he went to each room and knocked on the doors to wake everyone up.

Not long after, Xia Hui, Xia Mingye and Zhu Xu, as well as everyone else who lived in Quancheng and were going to attend the provincial banquet with Feng Zhengming, got up.

Everyone saw Feng Zhengming cooking hand-rolled noodles in the dormitory kitchen.

At the same time, I could also smell the aroma of diced eggplant being heated on another stove.

"Go brush your teeth and wash your face, eat this bowl of noodles, go home and have a good New Year's Eve. Remember to come back to work on the sixth day of the first lunar month."

Xia Hui was a little surprised: "Uncle Master, did you make these yourself this morning?"

Feng Zhengming responded: "Yes, I wanted to buy some breakfast for you guys, but when I got to the breakfast shop, I remembered that tomorrow is New Year's Eve and everyone is closed today."

This made everyone laugh.

Feng Zhengming said as he cooked noodles: "I had no choice but to go to Huiquan Restaurant and make some stewed eggplant and some hand-rolled noodles for you in the kitchen. You can have some."

Zhu Xu took a closer look, smelled the aroma of the stewed eggplant and said, "Master, you can't just eat this casually."

Feng Zhengming laughed: "Hahaha, there's nothing we can do. The food in our own restaurant didn't cost us any money. Hurry up and brush your teeth and wash your face before eating. After you're full, we can go home to celebrate the New Year."

Feng Zhengming urged everyone to wash up again.

A meal of hand-rolled noodles with diced eggplant and marinated meat warmed up the people who had been busy with the provincial banquet with Feng Zhengming this morning. (End of this chapter)