From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

With Feng Zhengming standing up for the Sixth Senior Brother, Yancheng quickly made a series of responses.

The first thing to do was naturally to recruit Zhang Minghai into the Cooking Association.

And directly assigned Zhang Minghai the position of vice president.

Secondly, at Yancheng Vocational School, with the special approval of the principal, Master Shen, a visiting teacher position was arranged for Zhang Minghai, which was regarded as a recognition of Zhang Minghai's position among the chefs in Yancheng.

Of course, the most important point is the letter of appointment from the city to Zhang Minghai.

The city hired Zhang Minghai as a judge for the Yancheng chef grading examination.

Of course, before Zhang Minghai can get the appointment letter from the city, he still needs to pass the assessment of the provincial grading judges.

Zhang Minghai didn't expect that his junior fellow apprentice would support him and the city would give him so many preferential treatments.

Especially the final letter of appointment from the city.

Cooperate with the vocational school's invitation to Zhang Minghai to be a visiting lecturer.

It can be said that Zhang Minghai will be the teacher of young chefs in Yancheng in the future.

Zhang Minghai was quite excited.

He has studied cooking seriously over the years and has worked diligently to prepare good dishes, and now he has finally gained some recognition.

He knew in his heart that all of this was temporarily brought to him by his junior brother.

If you want to truly gain a foothold and live up to these titles, you need to demonstrate your abilities.

First of all, you must pass the assessment of the provincial grading judges.

Feng Zhengming helped Senior Brother Six to contact Master Cui from Quancheng, and asked Master Cui to send a batch of teaching materials for the assessment so that Senior Brother Six could prepare well.

"Sixth brother, you must prepare well and try to pass the judges' assessment at the end of the year in one go."

Zhang Minghai was really grateful to his junior brother for helping him so much.

"Zhengming, you are obviously my junior brother, but now it is you who is taking care of us."

Feng Zhengming smiled and responded, "Sixth brother, you're welcome. Didn't Master say that we brothers should keep in touch and communicate more no matter where we are in the future?"

Zhang Minghai nodded seriously: "Yes, we brothers should keep in touch and communicate more often."

Then Feng Zhengming shared with his sixth senior brother what he had seen and heard in the streets and alleys of Yancheng in the past few days.

"Sixth brother, I found that some of the local specialties on Yancheng Street seem to be disappearing, and many snacks from other places are slowly filling up your streets.

This is a good thing, as it allows local people in Yancheng to taste the delicious snacks from other places.

But this is not good for your local snacks.

You should preserve your local specialties as much as possible."

Zhang Minghai was puzzled: "Haven't local snacks always been around? It's just that not many locals seem to eat them now, so maybe the business is not good and no one wants to do it."

Feng Zhengming said seriously: "So we have to continue to do this and preserve the local snacks."

Hearing his junior brother’s statement, Zhang Minghai thought about what he was thinking.

"Do you want to keep local snacks in the dry rice shop in Yancheng?"

Feng Zhengming nodded and said, "Yes, the dry rice shop originally only sold braised pork. Based on the tradition, I turned the dry rice shop into a fast food restaurant in Quancheng.

In addition to steamed pork, some stir-fried dishes, as well as various braised dishes and snacks are also added.

I think this can better integrate some of our local characteristics.

When we open a branch in Yancheng, I think we can add your Yancheng specialty snacks into it.

In addition to steamed buns, you can also add seafood from your Yancheng and some common snacks from your local streets.

It should become a dry rice shop with your characteristics of Yancheng, rather than a complete copy of the dry rice shop in Quancheng. "

After listening to Feng Zhengming's plan, Zhang Minghai felt that his junior brother's idea was indeed great.

Such arrangements incorporate the local characteristics of Yancheng.

Dry rice shops would be more in line with the local people's eating habits.

It will also be easier to integrate into the local community.

Only by integrating into the local community can we make it easier for local people to accept it.

Moreover, with this arrangement, although the Fengjia dry rice shops in various places are chain stores, they all have different local characteristics, which can be regarded as a disguised way of promoting the different food cultures of various places.

The most important point is that it can help various places preserve local snacks and delicacies.

Local snacks and delicacies will not gradually disappear due to the entry of snacks and delicacies from other places.

At the end of Feng Zhengming's conversation with Senior Brother Six, he brought up an important point.

"Dry rice shops are always more affordable, and the prices are more affordable, so that street snacks and delicacies will not become luxury goods that can only be eaten in some restaurants at high prices."

Zhang Minghai felt somewhat puzzled by what his junior fellow apprentice said.

"Those snacks can't possibly be sold in restaurants, right? How can they become luxury goods? They're so cheap."

Feng Zhengming saw that Sixth Senior Brother obviously didn't believe that snacks would enter the restaurant and become luxurious delicacies that ordinary people could not afford.

But he couldn't explain this matter clearly to his Sixth Senior Brother.

Because those things happened many years later.

The reason why this happened is that street food stalls are gradually declining.

Many people don’t notice that the snacks and delicacies they are accustomed to are slowly disappearing from the streets.

When you want to get back the taste you once had.

I found that these seemingly luxury goods can only be found in high-premium restaurants.

Feng Zhengming really wants to create high-end cuisine.

I want to show everyone the exquisite techniques and luxurious ingredients of Shandong cuisine.

But he didn't want to make Shandong cuisine a luxury dish with just a little bit of vegetable, a smear of soup, and a piece of grass at the end.

Delicious food should make people eat well and feel full at the same time.

We should also respect and preserve the taste characteristics that ordinary people in each place like.

Feng Zhengming briefly explained some of his thoughts and understandings to his sixth senior brother.

Although Sixth Senior Brother still couldn't understand it, how could those street food and delicacies that locals loved disappear? And how could they be packaged by restaurants and turned into luxury delicacies with a considerable premium?

But Zhang Minghai still agreed with his junior brother's approach. The dry rice shops opened in different places should indeed have some local characteristics.

"It turns out that your idea is right. Different regional restaurants should have different regional characteristics."

With the recognition and support of his sixth senior brother, Feng Zhengming believed that the first dry rice shop branch outside Quancheng would be a great success in Yancheng.

Before leaving Yancheng, Feng Zhengming taught his sixth senior brother how to season some dishes.

As agreed, I also went to Yancheng Vocational School to give an open class.

Some basic skills were demonstrated on the spot to the apprentices who were still learning cooking at Yancheng Vocational School.

I also explained to them some key points of basic skills training.

Afterwards, Feng Zhengming said goodbye to his sixth senior brother and continued his journey with Ding Yuan, Gao Yongfu and Hou Dong.

The next city is Weicheng, which is close to Yancheng.

As both cities are coastal, they have many similarities.

For example, both cities have the specialty dish of sea cucumber rice.

However, the two cities also have their own unique characteristics.

Feng Zhengming and his friends saw a special kind of seafood dumpling soup on the streets of Weicheng.

Use the soup made from seafood stew, add various small seafood and noodle dumplings and cook together.

It tastes very delicious. Weicheng also has something very special, that is, Spanish mackerel dumplings.

There are many shops on the street that specialize in selling Spanish mackerel dumplings.

Feng Zhengming led the three of them to find a small stall on the street and have a meal.

It is served with the deep-fried small yellow croaker which is very characteristic of Weicheng.

The first meal in Weicheng was a very pleasant experience for the four of us.

After a day's rest, the four of them wandered around Wei City together.

This time, Feng Zhengming went to some local markets in Weicheng to take a look.

With his experience in Yancheng, he has decided in his mind that he should learn more about the characteristics of different cities.

Especially some ingredients that are more common in markets around the country.

This way, when we open branches in different places in the future, we can make some adjustments based on the characteristics of each place.

For example, if a branch is opened in Weicheng, Feng Zhengming thinks Weicheng’s specialty seafood dumpling soup must be available.

In Yancheng, people don’t make seafood dumpling soup, but seafood stew.

This will lead to some differences between the two places.

Even if two cities are very close, people can still experience different cuisines.

In the market in Weicheng, Feng Zhengming and his friends still saw a lot of seafood, and all kinds of fish and shrimp were quite cheap.

The Weicheng area is not very large, but the urban areas are quite far apart from each other.

Feng Zhengming and his team walked along the coastline and went to Rongcheng, which was located in the corner of the map.

This is the place where, according to legend, the Beijing roast duck masters passed down their craft.

Feng Zhengming and his friends had never thought of finding the successor of the roast duck master here.

However, when he came here, Feng Zhengming still thought of Sun Decai who is now working in a restaurant.

He also went to Sun Decai's home according to the address Sun Decai told him and visited him.

Sun Decai's father is also a local chef.

Opened his own restaurant in the local area.

Upon learning of Feng Zhengming's identity, Sun Decai's father was quite enthusiastic.

"Oh, the top scholar is here. Is there something wrong with our Jia Decai?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and replied, "Uncle, don't call me that. I'm just an ordinary chef. You can just call me Xiao Feng. Decai is doing very well for me. I came out to travel around our Qilu land this time and came to see you when I passed by here."

Sun Decai's father nodded and said, "I heard from Decai in his letter that he learned a lot from you."

Feng Zhengming still kept smiling and said that he was also optimistic about Sun Decai.

When Feng Zhengming expressed that he also had high hopes for his son, he heard

Sun Decai's father quickly asked: "Feng Zhuangyuan, since you are also optimistic about our Decai, I wonder if he is qualified to be your disciple?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and responded: "Decai is willing to endure hardships, has solid basic skills, and is doing very well under me. However, I don't plan to accept any apprentices for the time being, so Decai may not be able to take me as his master for the time being."

Hearing Feng Zhengming say this, Sun Decai's father was somewhat disappointed.

It can be seen that Sun Decai's father has high expectations for his son.

Otherwise, he would not have sent his son to a vocational school to learn the basics of cooking, and then agreed to let his son go to Quancheng for an internship.

Now my son can stay in Quancheng and work under Feng Zhengming, the champion of the national cooking competition.

It really made my father quite satisfied.

Even in front of some relatives and friends, Sun Decai's parents are quite respected.

Whenever someone asked them about it, they would proudly say that their son was in Quancheng, working in Zhuangyuan's restaurant.

Naturally, all the local relatives and friends praised Sun Decai for his abilities.

Feng Zhengming chatted with Sun Decai's father for a while, and then asked him if he had ever thought about letting Sun Decai come back?
Hearing this, Sun Decai's father was a little excited.

"Come back? Feng Zhuangyuan, do you think Decai is not good enough? So you don't want him to stay with you anymore? Do you want to send him back?"

Feng Zhengming saw that Sun's father was obviously a little agitated, so he hurried to comfort him.

"No, uncle. Decai is really good. I don't mean to dismiss him. I just wonder, you seem to have only Decai as your son. If he doesn't come back, will there be no one to take care of you when you are old?"

Sun's father said seriously: "We don't need him to take care of us. As long as he learns the skills well and becomes a good chef like you, the top scholar, we will be satisfied."

At this time, Sun Decai's mother, who had been silent, also spoke.

"Decai has a younger sister. When we get old, his sister will take care of us. He just needs to do his job well."

After hearing what Sun Decai's parents said, Feng Zhengming naturally had nothing to say.

Obviously, Sun Decai's parents placed great hopes on him.

Especially since Sun Decai’s father is also a chef.

Naturally, he hoped that his son could do better than himself.

His son is now in Quancheng and is much better than him.

Of course, neither of the parents wanted their son to come back.

Feng Zhengming thought about it and felt that maybe he could let Sun Decai bring his parents and sister over in the future.

Of course, it still depends on Sun Decai's future development.

He still has a long way to go before he can truly gain a foothold in Quancheng.

Moreover, Sun Decai is very young, and Feng Zhengming also wants to train him and have him move out of Qi and Lu with him in the future.

So we also need to help Sun Decai arrange his family affairs.

Feng Zhengming thought that maybe in the future he could hand over the dry rice shop branch in Weicheng to Sun Decai's family to help run it.

Of course, it is not possible to say more about this to Sun Decai’s parents for the time being.

Moreover, whether to open a store in Weicheng depends on whether the opening of the store in Yancheng goes smoothly.

I had a conversation with Sun Decai's parents and also met Sun Decai's sister.

She is a very beautiful girl.

From the way she is wearing clothes, we can tell that her parents are very good to their daughter.

In terms of dressing, Feng Zhengming even felt that his sister was more fashionable than Sun Decai.

My daughter is very sensible and will help her parents with work within her ability.

I learned that Feng Zhengming was the top scholar in the country and was my brother’s current boss.

The girl was also very curious about him and asked Feng Zhengming a lot of questions.

Feng Zhengming had a good impression of the girl and tried his best to answer her questions.

Finally, Feng Zhengming asked the girl: "Your brother is already working hard to become a good chef, what do you want to do in the future?"

The girl didn't seem to have thought about what she would do with this in the future.

So when Feng Zhengming asked this question, the girl didn't know how to answer for a moment?

After thinking about it carefully, the girl gave her answer.

"I want to go to university, and after graduation I can get a job here so that I can take care of my parents."

The girl's answer made Feng Zhengming stunned, but he quickly understood what the girl meant by having a job locally after college.

It is obvious that she wants to get a job in the local system so that she doesn't have to leave home like her brother. She can be closer to her father and take care of her parents more conveniently.

Feng Zhengming did not comment on the girl's idea. He felt that everyone's choice should be respected. (End of this chapter)