From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Watching the two fried chicken chefs making fried chicken, the crowd gradually split into two groups.

"The Guanggun Fried Chicken is still the most authentic. Our Yicheng fried chicken should be like that."

"Who said that? I think the one made by Fatty's Fried Chicken is the most authentic. The fried chicken I've eaten since I was a child has always been like that."

"That's definitely not right. The fat guy put so much soup in the fried chicken. Is that still fried chicken? It's clearly stewed chicken."

"Yes, I've tried Fatty's Fried Chicken. They also add mushrooms and vermicelli. The authentic fried chicken definitely doesn't have those things in it."

"But the fried chicken made by Fatty is delicious when those things are added. Besides, the fried chicken made by Fatty Xu has soup, and the steamed buns are delicious when soaked in that soup."

"That's right, the soup from Fatty's Fried Chicken is delicious whether you soak it in steamed buns or cook noodles with it."

"The ways you eat it are not our Yicheng fried chicken."

"That's right. Yicheng Fried Chicken is simply fried chicken, just like the ones at Guanggun Fried Chicken Shop. It's dry fried and uses big roosters from Yimeng Mountain. That's what we call authentic."

"No matter if it's authentic or not, I think Fatty's Fried Chicken is still the best."

Hearing the two factions arguing in the crowd, it was obvious that neither side could convince the other.

On the issue of authenticity, both sides are unwilling to give in.

As complete bystanders, Feng Zhengming and his friends found it quite interesting.

Ding Yuan, Gao Yongfu and Hou Dong, in particular, found the lively scene before them very interesting.

Ding Yuan looked around with a smile, then moved closer to Feng Zhengming and the others.

"The people here are quite enthusiastic. They all started arguing about whether the fried chicken is authentic or not."

Hou Dong immediately agreed with a smile: "It's really interesting. I think we can hold such a competition in Quancheng in the future. Everyone cooks the same dish and see who has a higher level, right on the street."

When Gao Yongfu heard what Hou Dong said, he looked at Feng Zhengming and asked, "Can this kind of activity be held in Quancheng? It always feels like they are deliberately trying to cause trouble."

Feng Zhengming smiled and responded: "It should be possible, but it can't be done this way. We must make some changes."

Fried chicken takes a long time to cook, so the onlookers kept arguing about it.

Both stores seemed to know that fried chicken requires waiting.

So they even prepared some cold dishes for the people watching on the scene.

Feng Zhengming and his friends came along to eat and drink for free, and they all thought that these two stores were quite good at doing business.

Ding Yuan grumbled as he ate some cold dishes: "By doing this, they have won a lot of attention. After today, no matter which of the two families is authentic, they will be famous."

Hou Dong nodded: "Yes, if they do this, they will definitely become famous in Yicheng. When outsiders come to Yicheng in the future, they will definitely be recommended to these two families."

Gao Yongfu thought for a moment and asked in a low voice: "Brother Feng, do you think the two families did this on purpose?"

"Intentional?" Hou Dong looked confused.

Ding Yuan explained: "Xiao Gao meant that the two families deliberately competed with each other and took the opportunity to advertise."

Feng Zhengming looked at the large crowd of onlookers and said, "We cannot rule out the possibility that this was done intentionally."

Feng Zhengming then gave some of his own judgments.

“Even if they did it on purpose, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with doing so. At least after this commotion, the reputation of Yicheng Fried Chicken can be made famous.

Among the people watching today, there are definitely more than just a few outsiders like us. There will definitely be other outsiders attracted here.

As long as the two restaurants really have the right craftsmanship, outsiders will remember it after eating it and will spread the word when they return.

Then the reputation of Yicheng Fried Chicken will spread more widely, more people will know about it, and Yicheng will also attract many people to come.”

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, Ding Yuan asked in a low voice: "Brother Feng, you seem to support their approach?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and nodded: "Of course I support it, their approach is very good."

After nearly an hour of stewing, the fried chicken from both families was finally ready.

When Chef Fu lifted the lid of the pot, a slightly burnt aroma wafted out.

Just by smelling the aroma, you know that the chicken used for stir-fry must be very good.

Chef Xu also opened the lid of the pot.

Unlike Chef Fu, Chef Xu keeps a certain amount of soup in the pot.

You can also smell the very rich aroma of fried chicken.

After opening the lid of the pot, Chef Fu poured the chopped green pepper into the pot, stir-fried it and then served it on a plate.

Chef Xu poured the prepared pine mushrooms and rice noodles into the pot and cooked them again.

By the time the pine mushrooms are cooked through, the rice noodles will also be completely transparent.

Also when serving, add the chopped green pepper and stir-fry before serving.

The final addition of green pepper adds a bit of fresh pepper flavor to the fried chicken.

It also makes the color of the fried chicken more beautiful.

Feng Zhengming looked at the two fried chicken restaurants and couldn't help but feel that the quarrel between the two families was meaningless.

It is obvious that both restaurants do a great job. Just smelling the fried chicken from both restaurants is delicious.

It looks like it should be a very flavorful fried chicken.

However, the two companies continued to compete.

After preparing two plates of fried chicken, they let the people waiting on the scene taste them.

"Come on, everyone, have a try."

"Yes, everyone come and try it and see which of our two is more authentic."

"That's right, let's see whose one tastes better."

"Yes, whichever restaurant everyone thinks is delicious is the authentic one."

Ding Yuan, Gao Yongfu and Hou Dong also went to queue up, wanting to try how the fried chicken from the two restaurants tasted.
At the scene, the two families prepared several pots of fried chicken so that everyone onlookers could have a taste.

So next, more pots of fried chicken came out of the pot.

Everyone at the scene had smiles on their faces. They stared at the plates of fried chicken with gleams in their eyes. Some even kept swallowing their saliva.

Feng Zhengming did not queue up. Instead, he walked slowly to the stoves of the two houses.

I observed it carefully and also took a look at the big roosters prepared by the two families.

The big rooster is a very good chicken indeed.

It looks quite majestic and powerful.

And from the claws, it can be clearly seen that it is indeed a pheasant that forages for food in the mountains.

Feng Zhengming had come to Yicheng once with his master, and they also came here to purchase big roosters.

At that time, he knew that the pheasant in Yimeng Mountain was indeed very good.

These pheasants were raised by people living in the mountains in the past.

People in the mountains don’t know anything about scientific feeding.

There is a mountain behind my house, so I just raise the chicks I bought in the mountain.

When they were young, they were fed some food.

When they grow up, these chickens will run around in the mountains on their own and dig for food.

Therefore, the legs of this kind of chicken will appear very thick, and the claws will be thicker than those of farmed chickens.

Especially on the sole of the paw, there will be a thick callus.

Thinking of this, I looked at the few big roosters left in the two houses in front of me.

Feng Zhengming suddenly felt that these big roosters could become an industry in Yicheng.

Just develop the habit of raising large roosters in the mountains.

After raising them, they can not only be used to make fried chicken locally, but also be sold to other places. Just as Feng Zhengming was thinking about it, he suddenly heard a somewhat excited and quite respectful voice in front of him.

"Excuse me, are you Chef Feng? Our number one Shandong cuisine chef?"

Hearing the voice, Feng Zhengming naturally knew that he should be recognized.

He looked up and saw that it was Chef Xu who recognized him.

"Hello, Chef Xu, I'm Feng Zhengming."

Chef Xu immediately became very excited. He rubbed his hands on his apron before reaching out to Feng Zhengming.

"Welcome, welcome the top chef to our Yicheng."

Feng Zhengming smiled and stretched out his hand to shake hands with Chef Xu.

Then Chef Xu turned around and shouted to the apprentices and service staff in his store.

"Come here, come and see who this is."

After hearing Chef Xu's shout, not only the apprentice waiters in his shop, but also the people in Chef Fu's shop looked over here.

Soon, someone from Chef Fu's side also recognized Feng Zhengming.

After all, Feng Zhengming had been on TV, and the provincial TV station also interviewed him specifically after he won the top spot in the imperial examination.

Although Feng Zhengming looks different after being exposed to wind and sun for some time.

But his eyebrows and eyes have not changed, so he can still be recognized.

Chef Fu also led his apprentices over here.

Then he pushed aside the people from the Fatty Fried Chicken Shop and came to Feng Zhengming.

Chef Fu also took the initiative to extend his hand to Feng Zhengming.

"Hello, Chef Zhuangyuan. I didn't expect you to come to Yicheng. Today is a good opportunity. Please taste our fried chicken and judge which one is more authentic."

Feng Zhengming could see that Chef Fu was a very straightforward person.

At this time, he was still thinking about which one was authentic.

After hearing this, Feng Zhengming looked at Chef Fu and then at Chef Xu.

Let’s take a look at the apprentices from their two families on the scene.

Everyone was eagerly waiting for him to give a judgment.

Feng Zhengming smiled and asked, "Is it really that important to you two families which family is authentic?"

These words surprised both Chef Fu and Chef Xu.

The two also looked at each other.

Chef Fu was quite firm: "It's important. Our fried chicken is the earliest fried chicken in Yicheng, so ours must be the most authentic."

Then Chef Fu didn't give Chef Xu a chance to speak, and he rushed to continue complaining to Feng Zhengming.

"He went to Mengyin to learn how to make fried chicken, and then opened a shop in the city. Then when we opened a shop in the city, he insisted that his was the authentic one.

A few days ago, he even asked a TV station to interview him, and he insisted on TV that his family’s food was the most authentic.

Isn't his method a bit too despicable?
So I have to compete, I want to restore the reputation of our bachelor fried chicken. "

After listening to Chef Fu's complaints, Feng Zhengming could understand his resentment.

After all, Chef Xu’s Fat Man Fried Chicken restaurant learned his cooking skills from someone else.

Although he added some improvements of his own, he still insisted that his was the most authentic one.

This practice is to promote their own store.

But it is indeed wrong to suppress other people's practices and promote your own.

Feng Zhengming looked at Chef Xu and asked, "Is what he said true?"

Chef Xu couldn't help but smile bitterly: "I didn't actually want to advertise how authentic my restaurant is. I didn't advertise whether it was authentic or not when I opened a store in the city, but later they came to the city to open a store.

They advertised everywhere that their fried chicken was the authentic one and all others were not.

In order to keep my business, I had no choice but to promote my own fried chicken as the most authentic.”

When Feng Zhengming heard Chef Xu say this, he also looked at Chef Fu, wanting to hear his direct rebuttal.

But Chef Fu did not refute, but just shouted: "Ours is the most authentic."

After listening to this, Feng Zhengming roughly understood the situation of the two families.

The issue of authenticity has indeed affected the business of both companies.

That's why the two families insist on arguing over the authenticity of the product.

Chef Fu then accused Chef Xu: "You even appeared on TV. You asked the TV station to interview you. Isn't it just to promote your authentic food and make people think that ours is not authentic?"

Chef Xu smiled helplessly again: "I just said that our fried chicken is authentic Yicheng fried chicken, I didn't say yours is not authentic."

Feng Zhengming heard this and asked Chef Fu, "Did he say yours is not authentic? It was on TV."

Chef Fu thought about it carefully, but he didn't seem sure either.

Feng Zhengming then asked the apprentices from the two families.

"Do you guys watch TV? Tell me, have you ever seen anything on TV saying that bachelor's fried chicken is not authentic?"

The apprentices looked at each other in bewilderment.

In the end, several apprentices said that they had not seen anything on TV that said Guanggun Fried Chicken was not authentic.

Chef Fu was still adamant: "He didn't say we are not authentic, but he said he is the most authentic, doesn't that mean we are not authentic?"

Chef Xu looked helpless: "I really can't tell you this."

Feng Zhengming couldn't help laughing when he heard this.

"Hahaha, okay, okay. I think that both of you have your own unique cooking methods, and there is no saying that one is more authentic than the other."

Then Feng Zhengming asked: "I smelled the fried chicken made by your two families. The sauces you two families use should be different, right? That is the main sauce you use."

When this question was asked, everyone in the two families was stunned.

Chef Fu and Chef Xu were also a little stunned.

The two chefs who had been cooking fried chicken for many years did not expect that Feng Zhengming could tell that the sauces they used were different just by smelling them.

Chef Fu spoke first: "Master Chef, you are amazing. You can tell that the sauces we use are different just by smelling them."

Feng Zhengming smiled and then asked, "Not only do you two families use different base sauces, but the base sauce you use should also not be available outside. It should be considered a secret between you two families."

This time, the fried chicken chef really had to admit defeat.

Chef Xu praised: "You really deserve to be the national champion. You are really amazing. I can tell the taste just by smelling it without even eating it."

Chef Fu then explained: "For our Yicheng Fried Chicken, each store uses a different sauce. Sauce is the key to Yicheng Fried Chicken. In the past, each store used its own sauce to fry the chicken."

Chef Xu took over the conversation: "So in the past, every family here made fried chicken, and the taste was different in every family."

Feng Zhengming smiled and asked the two: "This is your specialty, so can you say that different sauces are not authentic?"

Being asked this question, the two chefs were speechless.

Feng Zhengming then looked at Chef Xu and said, "You added some southern sauces and more spices to your cooking. Have you been to the south?"

Chef Xu nodded in surprise: "Yes, I have been to the south before, and then I came back from the south and opened a store in Yicheng."

"I said that it's not authentic enough. He added a lot of southern sauces when making fried chicken." Chef Fu immediately seized on this point and started attacking Chef Xu for being non-authentic.

Feng Zhengming did not let the two sides quarrel, but took the initiative to stop them.

"Okay, let me try your fried chicken first, and then I'll give you a fair judgment."

After hearing this, both sides stopped arguing and quickly surrounded Feng Zhengming to taste the food. (End of this chapter)