From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

After the banquet showdown, Feng Zhengming invited the chefs from Hong Kong and the two tycoons from Hong Kong to Huiquanlou for an exchange on squab cooking.

Feng Zhengming brought out his improved braised pigeon.

As a form of exchange, Jiang Chengzhe, at the instruction of Li Guansheng, taught Feng Zhengming how to make Gangcheng's glass-skinned pigeon.

This surprised Feng Zhengming a little.

He knew very well that glass crispy skin pigeon is now a signature dish in Cantonese cuisine.

It can be said that this dish is only available in the real big restaurants in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao.

Moreover, to judge whether a Cantonese chef is top-notch, one has to see whether he can make this glass crispy pigeon.

Feng Zhengming initially refused: "This gift is a bit too much. My braised pigeon is actually an old dish, and the cooking method is not as delicate as the glass crispy pigeon."

Li Guansheng smiled when he heard this and told Feng Zhengming not to feel bad.

“This time we are here to exchange ideas. Since it is an exchange, of course we need to show everyone’s specialties and teach them to each other without reservation.

These days, you have been very open with us and taught us how to cook many classic dishes of Shandong cuisine."

Jiang Chengzhe couldn't help but interrupt: "Didn't you also tell me your original method of making nine-turn large intestine? And you also showed me the recipe of your scallion-fried sea cucumber and scallion-fried sauce.

So as a courtesy, I should also give you some useful information, such as the marinade for glass crispy pigeon, and the recipes for glass skin water and crispy pigeon water. "

Feng Zhengming knew that whether it was the pigeon marinade, the glass skin water or the crispy skin water, they could definitely be called core recipes in this era.

Perhaps ordinary chefs are not qualified to learn these recipes.

Even some restaurant owners who want to open a restaurant and make this glass crispy pigeon dish have to buy these recipes at a high price.

Now, the chefs in Gangcheng have to tell Feng Zhengming the recipe directly.

If the Shandong cuisine chefs knew about this in the previous banquet showdown, they would probably think that the Hong Kong chefs were biased.

However, seeing that Jiang Chengzhe and the chefs from Gangcheng were sincere, Feng Zhengming did not refuse.

The pigeons used are squabs of about 25 days old.

According to the marinade recipe given by Jiang Chengzhe, apply the marinade inside and outside the cleaned pigeon.

In addition to processing the dry ingredients in the marinade, you also need to prepare some wet ingredients.

The wet ingredients are celery, ginger, shallots, garlic, and Erguotou also needs to be added.

Chop the celery, ginger, shallots and garlic, mix them with Erguotou, and stuff them into the pigeon's abdominal cavity.

After the dry and wet ingredients are evenly applied, the pigeons need to be marinated overnight in advance.

After marinating the pigeon, rinse off the marinade inside and outside.

Then blanch it in the pot.

After blanching, the baby pigeons need to be rinsed immediately.

Then hang the pigeon to drain the water inside and outside.

After the water inside and outside has been drained, the next step is to apply crispy water to the surface of the pigeon.

The recipe for crispy water is: white vinegar, Zhejiang vinegar, Erguotou, maltose and baking soda.

After applying the crispy skin water on the pigeon's skin, place it in a cool place and use a fan to dry the crispy skin water on the surface.

After the pigeon's skin is blown dry, you can apply glass slurry on it.

The formula of glass paste is: low-gluten flour, high-gluten flour, baking powder, starch, and baking soda.

First, mix the powder with water to make sure there are no lumps, then let it sit and ferment for 2 hours.

Then add egg white and mix well.

Then you can apply starch to the surface of the pigeon after the water has dried on the crispy skin.

After hanging the glass slurry, place it under a fan to dry.

While Jiang Chengzhe was making it, he reminded Feng Zhengming: "If you have enough time, you can wait until it is dry and then apply a second coat of glass paste. That way it will be even crispier when fried."

When the glass pulp on the pigeon's skin is blown dry, the skin will turn slightly white.

Next, you can fry the squab.

First, the oil temperature should be above 40% before cooking.

When frying, Jiang Chengzhe explained in great detail as he did it.

“After putting the pigeon into the pot, do not use high heat to raise the oil temperature, but use low heat to slowly fry the pigeon for about eight minutes.

After three minutes, the squab begins to color. At this time, you need to gently turn the squab to ensure that the color is even on the surface.

After about five minutes, the squab will basically float and begin to mature, but it is not yet fully mature.

At this time, you need to use a colander to scoop up the squab, then turn the heat to maximum, let the oil temperature rise, and use a spoon to slowly pour oil on the surface of the squab to complete the final frying.

The whole process takes about eight minutes, and then the pigeon can be served. "

Jiang Chengzhe spent two days giving Feng Zhengming a fairly formal demonstration of the production process of glass crispy pigeon.

The fried glass crispy pigeon comes out of the pan with a brown-red surface that looks quite beautiful.

Jiang Chengzhe scraped it gently with a knife, and everyone in the kitchen could clearly hear the sound of the knife scraping the crispy skin.

Jiang Chengzhe waited until he cut the pigeon in half.

The moment the knife cut, a crisp "click" sound was heard.

Feng Zhengming and everyone in the kitchen stared in surprise.

The pigeon skin is really crispy, and just listening to the sound is enough to make people salivate.

Then I looked at the cross-section of the pigeon and found that the pigeon meat inside was still pink and tender, and the skin and flesh seemed to be separated, and the pink pigeon meat was still oozing juice.

Just looking at this made many people in the kitchen drool.

Seeing this, Jiang Chengzhe smiled and cut up a few fried pigeons.

Then Feng Zhengming and the chef from Huiquanlou were invited to give the dish a try.

Feng Zhengming also smiled and invited everyone to try it.

"Come on, everyone try it. If everyone thinks it's delicious, maybe we can try making it in Huiquanlou in the future."

At the invitation of Jiang Chengzhe and Feng Zhengming, everyone in the kitchen of Huiquanlou naturally couldn't wait to choose a piece to try.

Feng Zhengming also asked the service staff in Huiquanlou in front, including Luo Qing who had accompanied him in Huiquanlou these days, to try it together.

He even picked out a pigeon leg specifically for Luo Qing.

When you take a bite, the first thing you notice is the skin that is really thin and crispy like glass.

The "crunching" sound while eating makes everyone feel quite comfortable.

Then there is the pigeon meat inside, which is completely different from the glass crispy skin outside.

The pigeon meat inside is quite tender and full of juice.

It looks quite bland, but actually tastes quite tasty.

Everyone in the kitchen ate a small piece and felt they were still not satisfied.

There's even a feeling that even one is not enough to eat.

Li Huidong ate a piece and couldn't help but sigh: "It's delicious. I've heard that the glass crispy pigeon is very famous. Today I really ate it. This dish is really delicious."

Cao Zhiguo echoed, "Yes, yes, the glass crispy skin is so crispy, and the pigeon meat inside is still so tender and juicy, delicious, so delicious."

This dish really made everyone in Huiquanlou feel delicious.

When everyone tasted the dish, they all praised it.

Feng Zhengming has actually already started making braised suckling pigeon.

This time, Feng Zhengming also used quite tender baby pigeon.

But this time, he also added some pork belly and old chicken.

These are all used to flavor the pigeon. Rinse the pigeon carefully.

After draining the water, apply some honey on the surface of the pigeon.

Then fry the squab first.

However, Feng Zhengming did not want to fry the pigeon until cooked, he just wanted to color it.

When the skin of the squab turns a beautiful yellow-brown color, take it out.

Next, Feng Zhengming blanchs the ingredients, such as bamboo shoots and mushrooms.

Then pour oil into the pan, add scallions and ginger and stir-fry slowly over low heat to bring out the aroma of scallions and ginger.

Then add the sliced ​​pork belly and chopped old chicken into small pieces and stir-fry.

After stir-frying, add the clear soup that has been stewed in advance into the pot.

Then add the fried sugar color to adjust the color.

First stew the pot of ingredients to release the flavor of the ingredients.

Feng Zhengming also carefully cleaned away all the foam on the soup.

Then put the fried pigeon into the pot, along with the bamboo shoots, mushrooms and chestnuts, and stew them together.

The entire cooking time is about more than forty minutes.

As the stewing time increases, a very rich aroma fills the kitchen.

Li Guansheng smelled the aroma and exclaimed: "It smells really good. It looks like this braised pigeon must taste great."

Dai Long, who was also watching the dish, couldn't help but mutter, "Isn't this too complicated?"

Li Guansheng shook his head: "No, the reason why you think it's complicated now is because Zhengming only cooked a few of them. If the kitchen is serving the dishes, you can stew the pigeons in a big pot in advance."

Hearing Li Guansheng's words, Feng Zhengming also explained with a smile: "Yes, if you cook it in the kitchen, you can stew all the squab in advance, remove the squab meat before serving, put it in a bowl, and steam it slightly to heat it up.

Then place it on a plate, thicken it with the original soup, and pour the sauce over it before serving.”

Feng Zhengming's explanation made Dai Long smile and said, "Not bad, not bad. You can make this dish in my restaurant in the future."

Li Guansheng even thought of another way: "If it is made in Hong Kong, you can use abalone sauce when covering it with sauce at the end."

This statement surprised Dai Long, Long Kunbao and other chefs in Gangcheng.

Then everyone thought about it carefully and felt that it seemed possible to do so.

Finally, the dish will be more delicious if it is covered with abalone sauce.

Feng Zhengming and others have stewed the pigeons.

Remove the squab, chestnuts, bamboo shoots and mushrooms from the soup.

Finally, sieve the soup to leave a very clean soup.

As for the pork belly and chicken pieces from stewed pigeon, you can also save them and use them to make other dishes.

Because Jiang Chengzhe's glass crispy pigeon was served at the end.

So Feng Zhengming simply took apart the stewed pigeon meat.

Arrange them in a bowl and put the mushrooms, bamboo shoots and chestnuts on top.

Then put this bowl in a steamer and steam it slightly.

After steaming, turn it upside down on a plate, place the remaining bamboo shoots and mushrooms on top, and surround it with a circle of blanched green vegetables.

Bring the original pigeon soup to a boil in a pot, add a slightly thicker sauce, and finally add some cooking oil.

Spread the soup evenly over the braised pigeon on the plate.

In this way, a dish of braised chestnut pigeon improved by Feng Zhengming is ready.

See the plating after Feng Zhengming finished it.

Li Guansheng couldn't help but smile and pointed out: "Just the presentation of the dish shows that your dish is already valuable enough."

Feng Zhengming explained with a smile: "Isn't this for entertaining you? Besides, there are two big bosses from Hong Kong waiting for us. It would seem too casual if we don't set up the dishes."

Before Feng Zhengming served the dish, Jiang Chengzhe gave a little bit of his opinion.

"Zhengming, I think my master is right. You can also use abalone sauce to cover the sauce, which may make the dish more delicious. Also, when thickening the sauce, would it be better if you use noodles to thicken it?"

Feng Zhengming understood what Jiang Chengzhe meant as soon as he heard it.

"I know that if you use noodles to thicken the dish, the sauce won't coagulate when it gets cold."

Did not reject the advice given by Jiang Chengzhe.

"I will consider making some improvements later to make this dish better."

Jiang Chengzhe felt a little embarrassed after hearing this.

"I'm just giving some advice."

Next, Feng Zhengming brought the dish out to the two Hong Kong tycoons.

In the kitchen, he also left another portion of braised pigeon that was not properly presented.

Let a few Hong Kong chefs in the kitchen taste the food and give their opinions.

The two Hong Kong tycoons just ate the glass-crusted crispy pigeon made by Jiang Chengzhe.

Although the Hong Kong City Tycoon ate a whole one, he still felt a little unsatisfied.

Wait until Feng Zhengming's dish of braised chestnut pigeon is served.

The two Hong Kong tycoons smelled the fragrance and their eyes were attracted to the dish.

This dish exudes the mixed aroma of baby pigeon, old chicken, and chestnuts.

It really surprised the two Hong Kong tycoons.

Feng Zhengming put the dish down with a smile.

"Please try it, I made some improved braised chestnut pigeon."

Looking at the dish in front of them, the two Hong Kong tycoons took a deep breath.

Almost in unison, they said: "It smells good, really good."

In the kitchen downstairs, the chefs in Hong Kong also think this dish is delicious.

The key is that after stewing with a lid on, the sweet aroma of the chestnuts is fully cooked out.

Mixed in the broth of old chicken, pork belly and squab, the aroma is quite tempting.

The two Hong Kong tycoons couldn't wait to start eating.

First, push aside the bamboo shoots on top and pick up the pigeon meat underneath.

The boneless pigeon meat can be eaten directly in a very natural way.

Each person used chopsticks to put the pigeon meat covered with soup into their mouths.

The first thing you taste is the soup.

Although the soup is thickened and looks rich in color, it does not taste too heavy.

It has the sweetness of chestnuts and the meaty aroma of pork belly, old chicken and pigeon.

Chew the tender pigeon meat with the soup.

The taste is completely different from the previous glass crispy pigeon.

The two dishes seem to be equally good when put together.

The glass crispy skin of the pigeon has glass crispy skin, which, combined with the tender and juicy pigeon meat inside, makes it hard to put down after eating it.

Feng Zhengming's dish of braised chestnut pigeon is chestnut-flavored, with pigeon meat that is almost stewed until it's tender.

The two Hong Kong tycoons were also reluctant to put down their chopsticks. (End of this chapter)