From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Feng Zhengming learned from Zhang Lei that Fang Jian had actually approached Zhang Lei's brother and sister-in-law to find a chef for the canteen.

After hearing what Zhang Lei said, he couldn't help but laugh: "Why did Fang Jian do this?"

Li Huidong sighed: "He is a person who only cares about his own interests. I didn't expect that he would even want to find a good chef for the canteen. It's a bit difficult to maintain the reputation of the canteen."

Zhang Lei immediately said: "He hired a good chef not for the canteen's reputation, but just to make the canteen continue to make money for him."

Feng Zhengming smiled and nodded: "That's right, otherwise he wouldn't have to contract the canteen."

Yang Peng couldn't help but say, "He squeezed the master out. It's impossible to find a better chef than the master."

Li Huidong was still quite modest: "That's not necessarily true. I'm not the best chef. There are many chefs who are better than me, as long as Fang Jian is willing to spend money."

"He came to my house and wanted me to go back and take charge of cooking, which means he is still reluctant to spend a lot of money to hire a chef," Zhang Lei said confidently.

Feng Zhengming nodded: "He probably wants to spend less money and ask Lei Zi to come back to cook. As long as the dishes taste the same as before, it will be fine."

Li Huidong looked at his apprentice, seeming to be hesitant to speak.

In Li Huidong's opinion, the skills of his two apprentices, Zhang Lei and Yang Peng, are not that good at the moment.

Especially Zhang Lei is not as willing to work hard as Yang Peng.

So Li Huidong was somewhat dissatisfied with Zhang Lei.

However, in front of his junior fellow apprentice, Li Huidong did not directly blame his disciple in the end.

Feng Zhengming suddenly felt a little strange: "Fang Jian asked his brother-in-law to contract the canteen. Doesn't his brother-in-law know how to cook?"

This question stumped Li Huidong, Zhang Lei and Yang Peng, the master and his apprentice.

Zhang Lei and Yang Peng don’t know much about it and cannot answer this question.

Li Huidong hesitated for a moment and said, "His brother-in-law has learned to cook for a while. He has just been working in the cafeteria for a while and asked me for advice. I also tried it and he should have learned to cook."

After a short pause, Li Huidong continued, "But the cooking skills are really not that good. I can only say that the dishes they make may look okay, but the taste is far from good."

Feng Zhengming felt helpless when he heard this: "I originally wanted to challenge them over there.

I want to open a branch of the rice restaurant there to compete with the canteen.

Unexpectedly, Fang Jian's brother-in-law turned out to be a rookie."

I heard Feng Zhengming call Fang Jian’s brother-in-law a “rookie”.

Zhang Lei and Yang Peng couldn't help laughing.

Li Huidong pondered the meaning of the word "rookie" and couldn't help laughing.

"Rookie, this word seems to be quite suitable for Fang Jian's brother-in-law."

Feng Zhengming laughed: "That's right, a vegetable means he has no ability, and a rookie means someone who has no ability but wants to pretend to have ability."

Everyone couldn't help laughing when these words were spoken.

Li Huidong saw that his two apprentices were laughing happily and couldn't help but warn them.

"You two should stop laughing at others. If you don't learn your craft well, you two can be considered noobs."

These words made Zhang Lei and Yang Peng stop smiling immediately.

The two looked at each other and said together that they would definitely learn cooking well.

Feng Zhengming saw that the atmosphere was a little tense, so he smiled and said, "Okay, don't be so nervous. You two should cherish the days you can spend with your master. When the new store is renovated, you will have to go to the shop over there."

Zhang Lei and Yang Peng immediately nodded and said that they would definitely seize this opportunity.

Li Huidong asked his two apprentices to start working quickly.

After the two apprentices left, Li Huidong whispered to Feng Zhengming.

"Zhengming, you don't actually have to take care of them like this. Their current skills are really not suitable for the kitchen of Huiquanlou. You might as well let them go to Laopu and Yang Bin first."

Feng Zhengming said with a smile: "Brother, you are their master after all. I can't ask you to separate as master and apprentice. Let them learn more from you. It's enough for them to get started when they go to the dry rice shop."

Li Huidong also understood his junior brother's arrangement.

Zhang Lei and Yang Peng have been working in the cafeteria with Li Huidong in recent years.

They cook a lot of dishes in their two big pots.

Maybe my skills in stir-frying are starting to decline.

So Feng Zhengming arranged for the two of them to study under the eldest senior brother first.

It is to let Li Huidong give them some extra lessons.

At least the two of them need to get used to stir-frying.

Otherwise, when the two of them went to the kitchen of the dry rice shop, they might really be overwhelmed and completely unable to keep up with the progress of others.

Li Huidong understood his junior fellow apprentice's intention.

He also gave a guarantee: "Okay, don't worry, I will make them improve as soon as possible and will not let them fall behind in the new store."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "I believe in your ability, brother. You are definitely better than me in teaching your apprentice."

During the renovation of the new store, Li Huidong trained Zhang Lei and Yang Peng very strictly.

Starting from the most basic knife skills, the two apprentices were also supervised in the processing of various ingredients.

Let the two apprentices do the most basic work in the kitchen.

Zhang Lei and Yang Peng also gradually adapted.

They also understood the difference between a canteen and the kitchens of restaurants and hotels.

In the cafeteria, many dishes don’t need to be prepared very carefully.

Especially when cooking big pot dishes.

It’s more like stewing in a big pot than stir-frying.

Basically, for a big pot of food, you just add seasonings, stir it slightly and then slowly simmer it in the pot.

Therefore, most of the dishes served in the cafeteria are braised dishes.

Once they arrive in the kitchen, they are no longer needed to make braised and stewed dishes.

They need to be proficient in cooking various dishes.

As for the upgraded cooking skills of stir-frying, Zhang Lei and Yang Peng are still unable to master it for the time being.

Neither of them has the skills to control fire and use a spoon to reach the level required to cook.

Li Huidong is really good at teaching apprentices. He has a very good temper and is quite patient.

Li Huidong would hardly ever get angry even if his apprentice did something wrong.

He would be very patient and explain things to his apprentice step by step.

Tell the apprentice what exactly he did wrong?
For example, when he was training his two apprentices in knife skills, he asked them to make flowery cuts on the kidneys, but the flowery cuts that the two apprentices made were completely unsatisfactory.

If it were any other apprentice in the kitchen, he would definitely be scolded.

Li Huidong would not scold two people.

He would patiently warn the two of them about what to pay attention to.

"Remember, don't try to be fast. You have to cut one knife at a time. At the beginning, try to do it according to the standard. Only when you are familiar with the standard and form a habit, you can slowly speed up and there won't be too much deviation."

After the explanation, Li Huidong personally demonstrated it to his two apprentices.

Li Huidong cut each of his moves very slowly.

With one cut, cut to two-thirds of the kidney.

Then he steadily withdrew the knife, stepped back a little and made the second strike.

Still very stable, still very slow.

Zhang Lei and Yang Peng were watching from the side and couldn't help but think that the master was amazing.

Feng Zhengming saw the senior brother teaching two apprentices, so he asked some of the apprentices to go over and take a look. "Are you all curious? Go over and take a look and see what you guys did wrong when you were cutting the kidneys?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the apprentices immediately gathered around Li Huidong to watch.

Even though he was being watched, Li Huidong's knife remained quite steady.

Each cut was made slowly and stopped precisely where it should stop.

This kind of slowness is actually very difficult.

But it doesn't seem to be difficult for Li Huidong at all.

The people watching nearby looked a little surprised.

Seeing that his senior brother was teaching seriously, Feng Zhengming naturally did not disturb him and continued with the work he was supposed to do.

After teaching, Li Huidong asked his two disciples and apprentice to practice more carefully.

“You must remember to practice more when you have the chance.

In the kitchen, we are not afraid of you making mistakes, but we are afraid that you are unwilling or afraid to try.

For example, if the chef now asks you to cut kidneys, if you don’t dare to take this job, wouldn’t you miss an opportunity to practice?

Take this job first. Even if you are not very skilled yet, it is a rare opportunity to practice by slowly making flower cuts."

Li Huidong's words were recognized by his apprentice and a group of apprentices.

With Li Huidong around, Feng Zhengming, the chef in Huiquanlou, can feel at ease.

The eldest senior brother is not only good at teaching his apprentices.

He is also able to coordinate various matters in the kitchen very well and ensure the quality of each dish.

In this regard, even Gu Zhicheng and others had to admire him.

So when Feng Zhengming is not around, they almost always listen to Li Huidong.

Of course, when Feng Zhengming is around, Li Huidong will also help him deal with some problems.

In the Huiquan Building today, He Yunqing is in charge of the front desk, while the eldest brother is in charge of the kitchen.

Feng Zhengming has more free time, and when some customers order dishes from him, he can concentrate more on cooking.

As time goes by, the decoration of the new Ganfanpu store is nearing completion.

Feng Zhengming made a special trip to Xindian to take a look.

He was quite satisfied with the capabilities of the Liujiacun decoration team.

The Liujiacun decoration team also had the experience of the Fengjia dry restaurant, so the decoration of the new store was smoother this time.

As soon as the renovation of the new store was completed, we started purchasing things for the interior and made final preparations for the opening.

Someone Feng Zhengming didn't expect came to find.

The person who came to see Feng Zhengming was Ding Yuan from the kitchen squad, whom he met when he went to the army to celebrate the New Year with his uncle.

He was discharged from the military late last year.

After retiring from the army, I returned to my hometown.

After the Chinese New Year, he felt that there was nothing suitable to do in his hometown, so he came to Quancheng alone.

When Feng Zhengming saw Ding Yuan, he immediately smiled happily and hugged him.

"Hahaha, Ding Yuan, you're so mean. Why didn't you just come to me after you retired?"

Ding Yuan was a little surprised by Feng Zhengming's enthusiasm.

"I was thinking of retiring and returning home so I wouldn't bother you."

Feng Zhengming immediately said, "Look at you, you are still being distant, aren't you? Didn't we agree before? After you retire from the army, if you still want to continue working as a chef, you must come to me."

Ding Yuan felt a little embarrassed.

"It's mainly because I feel embarrassed. I've only met him once."

Feng Zhengming said, "What's wrong with just meeting once? Can I still not trust your craftsmanship?"

Ding Yuan was very moved when he heard this.

Before coming to see Feng Zhengming, Ding Yuan was worried that Feng Zhengming would pretend not to know him?
Or maybe Feng Zhengming made all kinds of excuses and was unwilling to keep me to work for him?

Ding Yuan even told his family before coming.

No one in his family believed that he had met Feng Zhengming.

Ding Yuan's family thought, who is Feng Zhengming? He is the champion of the national cooking competition.

You, Ding Yuan, have been in the army all your life. How could you possibly know the national top scholar?
It can be said that no one was optimistic about Ding Yuan's visit this time.

Even he himself was a little worried.

But Feng Zhengming's first sentence made Ding Yuan realize that his trip was not in vain.

Feng Zhengming remembered him and was willing to have him work under him.

Ding Yuan was quite excited.

"Thank you, Chef Feng. You are already the top student in the country, but you still remember me. Thank you so much for remembering me and giving me a chance."

Seeing Ding Yuan's excitement, Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Don't be so excited. We had already agreed on this. How could I forget what we agreed on?"

Next, Feng Zhengming took Ding Yuan to take a look at the kitchen of Huiquanlou.

"You may not be able to come to Huiquanlou for the time being."

Ding Yuan looked at the kitchen of Huiquanlou, and he was surprised and took the initiative to express it.

"I know that my ability is not enough, and you have enough people in the kitchen. I can't just come in here casually."

Feng Zhengming laughed and said, "It's not what you think. I now own a dry rice shop and a Huiquan Restaurant. My rule is that no matter who comes, they must work in the kitchen of the dry rice shop for a year first."

Ding Yuan was stunned for a moment, then quickly understood Feng Zhengming's intention.

"You have to try it out in the kitchen of a dry rice shop first? Only when you are sure you have real skills can you be transferred here?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "That's right, but if you want to come to Huiquanlou's kitchen, you have to participate in an internal competition at the end of the year. You have to beat the other chefs in Huiquanlou's kitchen before you can enter."

Ding Yuan was a little surprised after hearing this, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that Feng Zhengming's arrangement was very good.

This can ensure a healthy competitive relationship within the company.

It can also ensure that the chefs in Huiquanlou’s kitchen always have the best cooking skills.

Thinking of this, Ding Yuan couldn't help but sighed: "No wonder everyone is saying that Huiquanlou is the best restaurant in Quancheng. It turns out that it's because of your arrangement."

Feng Zhengming laughed: "Hahaha, I dare not say that Huiquanlou is the best in Quancheng, but Huiquanlou is definitely not inferior to any restaurant in Quancheng. If it is Shandong cuisine, Huiquanlou is not worse than any other restaurant in the country."

Ding Yuan understood that Feng Zhengming said this with absolute confidence and was not bragging to him.

Feng Zhengming added: "I am planning to open a branch of the dry rice shop now. It is just right for you to come. You can go to the new store."

Ding Yuan immediately responded: "Okay, don't worry, I will definitely work hard in Xindian."

Seeing Ding Yuan, he even wanted to salute.

Feng Zhengming quickly stopped him: "Don't be so polite. You just came here today. I will take you to the dormitory and you can stay there first. We are going to Xindian tomorrow and you can go with us then. You can rest today first."

Ding Yuan immediately said, "No, no, I don't need to rest. I can start working today."

Without waiting for Feng Zhengming to speak, Ding Yuan continued, "I know that I can't work in the kitchen of Huiquanlou yet, so I can be a waiter first, or work in your restaurant first."

Feng Zhengming didn't know whether to laugh or cry after hearing this: "No need to be so anxious."

Ding Yuan said seriously: "I can't live and eat for free. I would feel bad if you don't let me work."

Feng Zhengming had no choice but to take Ding Yuan to the dormitory to put his things away. He found him a set of clothes and asked him to serve food at Huiquanlou today. (End of this chapter)