From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

The next day, Uncle San and Luo Qing still had to go about the company's business.

Feng Zhengming took Ding Yuan, Gao Yongfu and Hou Dong, together with several chefs from the Beijing Hotel, and boarded the car that was specially sent from the island city to pick them up.

The group was taken to a seafood restaurant in the island city.

This is a newly built restaurant in the island city.

The overall exterior design and some interior decoration were all done by people from Hongcheng.

Gao Fengyi is the consultant here. The head chefs of the restaurant are a team of chefs from Hong Kong city and a team of Shandong cuisine chefs from the island city.

When Feng Zhengming and his group arrived at the restaurant, people from Gao Fengyihe Restaurant were already greeting them at the door.

People from the island city were also arranged to come and welcome the chef team from the Beijing Hotel.

Before Feng Zhengming got out of the car, he saw the welcoming team in front of the restaurant.

I know in my heart that the island city should attach great importance to this exchange with the Beijing Hotel.

When getting off the car, Feng Zhengming asked the chefs from the Beijing Hotel to get off first.

He led Ding Yuan, Gao Yongfu and Hou Dong out of the car.

When getting off the car, Hou Dong couldn't help but whispered, "Brother Feng, are these chefs from Beijing very good?"

Feng Zhengming nodded and replied in a low voice: "It can be said that they are the top chefs in the country. Even though they are in a Beijing restaurant, their cooking skills are definitely at the level of the chefs of their respective cuisines."

As he spoke, Feng Zhengming also gave a brief introduction to Ding Yuan, Gao Yongfu and Hou Dong.

"Master Zheng, the team leader, is an authentic Huaiyang cuisine master. The Huaiyang cuisine three-head banquet includes a roasted whole pig head. I'm afraid there are not many people in the country who can make it. Master Zheng may be the only master chef in Beijing who can make it."

After hearing this introduction, Ding Yuan and the other two were immediately filled with awe.

"There is also Chef Wang, the successor of Tan's cuisine. He is the third generation successor of authentic Tan's cuisine."

In addition to these two chefs, other chefs from Sichuan and Cantonese cuisine are also quite famous chefs.

After listening to Feng Zhengming's introductions one by one, Ding Yuan and the other two became curious.

"Brother Feng, why does it seem like there are no Shandong cuisine chefs among the chefs from the Beijing Hotel?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and responded: "Since its establishment, Jingcheng Hotel has mainly served Huaiyang cuisine, Tan cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, and Sichuan cuisine.

There were many famous Shandong cuisine restaurants in Beijing at that time, such as the Bada Lou in Beijing, which were all well-known Shandong cuisine restaurants.

Beijing hotels should also seek to differentiate themselves, so they have gathered together the top Huaiyang, Cantonese and Sichuan chefs in Beijing.

As for Tan’s cuisine, it was the Prime Minister himself who arranged for them to enter the Jingcheng Hotel to continue their tradition.”

The three of them suddenly realized that Shandong cuisine had never been served in the Capital Hotel in the first place.

However, in this way, the exchange between Beijing Hotel and the island city seems even more exciting.

It can be regarded as a collision between Huaiyang cuisine, Tan cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, Sichuan cuisine and Shandong cuisine.

Thinking of this, Ding Yuan and the other two were very excited.

After Feng Zhengming got off the car, Gao Fengyi hurried over to pull him.

"Zhengming, why are you the last one to come down? Come here quickly, everyone is waiting for you."

Feng Zhengming smiled as he walked and asked, "Why are you waiting for me? I shouldn't be the protagonist today."

Gao Fengyi looked helpless: "Why aren't you the protagonist? You are one of the protagonists today. You are our top scorer. We will be more confident if you are here."

Feng Zhengming was dragged by Gao Fengyi to meet with the chefs from the Beijing Hotel, as well as some chefs and leaders from the island city.

Seeing this, Ding Yuan, Gao Yongfu and Hou Dong knew that they were not qualified to step forward for the time being.

The three of them were just about to look for a place to rest.

Immediately, a young chef from the Island City Seafood Restaurant came to greet the three of them.

Ding Yuan and the other two felt a little embarrassed when they were called in by a few young chefs.

Through chatting with the young chef of Daocheng Seafood Restaurant.

Ding Yuan and his friends then realized that the young chefs could only watch.

"I really envy you for being able to travel around with the No. 1 Scholar. Did you learn a lot from him along the way?"

The young chefs who were entertained were envious, and Ding Yuan, Gao Yongfu and Hou Dong felt a little proud.

However, although they were proud in their hearts, Ding Yuan, Gao Yongfu and Hou Dong still knew how to keep a low profile.

So the three of them kept a low profile in front of the young chef from the restaurant.

"We are still apprentices now. We followed our chef out here because we want to gain some experience and learn more from him."

"Yes, yes. As apprentices, shouldn't we watch more, listen more, learn more, and practice more?"

"We are just helping the chef on the road. If we really have to cook, we are not good enough."

The three people's humble attitude won the favor of other young chefs.

We are all young people, so it is easy for us to chat with each other.

On the other side, Feng Zhengming was led over by Gao Fengyi.

When the leaders of the island city saw Feng Zhengming, they were very polite and took the initiative to shake hands with him.

"Our top scholar is here too. I heard from President Gao that this is such a coincidence. Our top scholar is here, and several masters from the capital are here too. I believe this exchange in our island city will be very exciting."

After hearing what his leader said, Feng Zhengming couldn't help but glance at Gao Fengyi.

The latter directly avoided Feng Zhengming's gaze.

Gao Fengyi felt somewhat guilty, so he didn't dare to face Feng Zhengming directly.

I saw Gao Fengyi avoiding my gaze.

Feng Zhengming could only respond to his leader with a smile.

"I didn't expect that my plan for this trip was to walk all over our Qilu area. I didn't plan to stay in the island city for too long, but I happened to meet several chefs from the Beijing Hotel who came to communicate with me.

I have great respect for all the chefs of Capital Hotel. The five masters of Capital Hotel back then really supported the culinary arts of our country.

Later, they participated in and hosted state banquets many times. The chefs of Beijing Hotel can be said to be the best chefs in our country.

We have a lot to learn from them, and I am really grateful to President Gao and the city of Daocheng for inviting me to participate in this exchange.”

Feng Zhengming's words were flawless, which made the leaders of the island city very happy.

"You are really too polite. You are already the champion of the national cooking competition at such a young age. You are also the champion of Shandong cuisine. It is an honor for our island city to invite you to participate in this exchange."

Feng Zhengming was humble in front of the chefs of Beijing Hotel.

"The main reason I was able to win the title of No. 1 this year is because none of the chefs at the Capital Hotel made a move. Otherwise, I would have been in jeopardy."

Hearing this, the chefs at the Capital Hotel all burst into laughter.

Zheng Chengsheng even pointed at Feng Zhengming while laughing.

"Look everyone, our number one scholar is deliberately flattering us."

The chefs from the Capital Hotel all nodded in agreement with a smile.

The atmosphere on the scene was suddenly aroused and became very joyful.

In fact, the chefs from the Beijing Hotel present were quite impressed with Feng Zhengming's cooking skills.

After all, when Feng Zhengming participated in the national competition, it was broadcast live on TV.

Afterwards, the chefs of Jingcheng Hotel also got together to watch the video. Several retired chefs of Jingcheng Hotel also praised Feng Zhengming's performance in the national competition.

Just like the master chefs of Shandong cuisine.

The master chefs in Beijing also like chefs who have standard cooking methods and solid basic skills.

And Feng Zhengming really perfectly meets the wishes of the master craftsmen.

Therefore, the chefs who have seen Feng Zhengming cook all have a very good impression of him.

After a round of greetings, Gao Fengyi led everyone into the restaurant's kitchen and let everyone take a tour of the kitchen.

When I stepped into the kitchen, I found that the kitchen of this newly opened seafood restaurant in the island city was even bigger.

There is even a special area in front of the kitchen where guests can choose seafood.

The kitchen is semi-open to the outside.

Customers who choose good seafood can clearly see the chefs’ processing process.

Looking at the various fresh seafood in the fish tank in front of the restaurant's kitchen.

Feng Zhengming was somewhat envious.

I couldn't help but think that cities near the sea are indeed the best, with such a huge advantage of fresh seafood.

At the same time, Feng Zhengming was also thinking in his mind.

Maybe the branch in Yancheng will operate smoothly after it opens.

You can refer to the decoration model of the branch in Yancheng and directly copy it in Daocheng.

As both are coastal cities, they can learn from each other in cooking.

Plus, Gao Fengyi is also here in the island city.

Feng Zhengming felt that this time he was helping Gao Fengyi deal with the chefs of the Beijing Hotel.

He should remember this favor, and Gao Fengyi should help me when I want to open a branch in the island city in the future.

With Gao Fengyi's help, opening a branch in Daocheng should not be much more complicated than in Yancheng.

The key is the right young chef, and with Gao Fengyi, it is easier to find Feng Zhengming.

While visiting the kitchen of the seafood restaurant, Feng Zhengming did not say much.

He was not familiar with this place, and he mainly communicated with the chefs of the Capital Hotel.

Feng Zhengming was mostly standing by, listening to some introductions and exchanges between the two sides.

Then, you can get the information you need from the communication between the two sides.

In the kitchen here, Feng Zhengming saw the team of chefs from Hong Kong City who were invited by the restaurant to run the kitchen.

When the other party saw Feng Zhengming, he immediately took the initiative to greet Feng Zhengming.

After the two sides communicated, Feng Zhengming found out that the chef from Hong Kong City invited by the island city was actually Li Guansheng's apprentice.

And to be honest, the other party's status in the Hong Kong chef industry is slightly inferior.

He can't compare with the people who competed against Feng Zhengming in the National Cooking Competition.

So this chef from Hong Kong might be a bit proud of himself in the island city.

In front of Feng Zhengming and the chefs of the Capital Hotel, he naturally restrained his usual arrogance.

Especially in front of Feng Zhengming, the Hong Kong chef was obviously a little afraid of him.

When Feng Zhengming discovered this, he felt somewhat strange.
While Gao Fengyi was leading the chefs of Beijing Hotel to continue visiting the kitchen.

Feng Zhengming found an opportunity to have a private conversation with the chef of Gangcheng.

After the two of them had this conversation, Feng Zhengming finally understood why the other party seemed to be afraid of him.

It turned out that the other party was worried that today he would be asked to compete in cooking skills with Feng Zhengming and others.

Obviously, the other party was self-aware. Through some chefs in Hong Kong, he was very clear about Feng Zhengming's strength, so he was somewhat worried about competing with Feng Zhengming in cooking.

Feng Zhengming realized that the other party was worried, so he smiled and comforted him.

"Don't worry, I'm just here to keep you company today, so I won't do anything. If I really need to do anything, I should talk to the chefs at the Capital Hotel."

Feng Zhengming then curiously asked, "Chef Lin, are you used to it here?"

Chef Lin shook his head helplessly: "Some of the food I'm not used to."

Feng Zhengming understands this very well.

When the Hong Kong City chef group came to Quancheng for exchanges.

He had also heard about it from Long Kunbao and Jiang Chengzhe.

There are some differences in taste and some eating habits.

So it’s not surprising that you can’t get used to the diet.

Feng Zhengming smiled and continued to comfort the other party: "Chef Lin can cook some meals by himself. I believe the restaurant should take care of you in this regard."

Chef Lin nodded: "Yes, the restaurant takes good care of me. We usually cook our own work meals."

While chatting with Chef Lin, Gao Fengyi called Feng Zhengming over.

Feng Zhengming and Chef Lin apologized, then quickly walked over to Gao Fengyi.

After Feng Zhengming came over, Gao Fengyi immediately introduced him to the chefs of the Beijing Hotel present with a smile.

"Our top scholar has a very good seafood dish, fried conch slices in vinegar and pepper fish soup. The dish was really well cooked by the top scholar."

When Feng Zhengming heard this, he smiled modestly.

"That dish is my own little attempt. It is a combination of two dishes. Maybe the combination is good, so it has been mentioned by everyone."

Feng Zhengming said to the chefs from the Beijing Hotel present: "I am a student this time and I need to learn more from you."

Seeing Feng Zhengming being so modest, Zheng Chengsheng said, "The champion is too modest. I have also heard about your dish of fried snail slices in vinegar and pepper fish soup. I really want to have a chance to try it."

Master Wang, the heir of Tan's cuisine, asked: "What kind of fish do you usually use for your fried snail slices in vinegar and pepper fish soup?"

Feng Zhengming replied: "We usually use silver carp or sea bass to make vinegar and pepper fish. Of course, many people may not like the bones now, so after I improved it, I can also use large yellow croaker."

Master Wang then asked, "Do we need to prepare the fish soup in advance? Do we need to use the fish soup to make fried conch slices?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Yes, after I improved it, I will remove the fish meat in advance, slice the fish meat into slices and coat it with starch for later use. The fish bones and fish heads are used to make soup, and the soup will be seasoned with vinegar and pepper after it is cooked.

Clean the conch slices in advance, cut them into thin slices, and blanch them in water.

When serving the dish to the guests, put the blanched fish fillets underneath and then arrange the conch slices on top.

The vinegar and pepper fish soup will be boiled in a small thermos pot, and when it is served, the soup will be poured in front of the guests to make it boil.”

After listening to Feng Zhengming's explanation, the chefs of Beijing Hotel all secretly admired it.

Gao Fengyi and the chef of Hong Kong City, who were listening nearby, were also secretly amazed by Feng Zhengming's design.

It may not seem like a very complicated dish, but there are actually quite a lot of techniques behind it.

The key is Feng Zhengming's design, which simplifies some complicated processes as much as possible.

The steps he designed for pouring the boiling soup on the table at the end can be said to give the guests a wonderful sense of participation.

It can be imagined that when guests look at the white fish slices, crispy and tender conch slices, and pour the boiling hot vinegar and pepper fish soup, they can truly appreciate the color, aroma, taste and shape of the dish. (End of this chapter)