From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

The three dishes and a large bowl of soup served were not badly prepared.

However, there were some small details in each dish that were not handled well, so Feng Zhengming had problems as soon as he put the food in his mouth.

After trying every dish, I roughly understood why this restaurant’s business is so poor nowadays.

Feng Zhengming didn't say anything and continued to eat his food slowly.

We waited for about an hour and almost finished the three dishes and the soup.

The fried chicken was finally brought out by the boss himself in the kitchen.

The boss's wife came out with the boss.

Then, the couple apologized to Feng Zhengming and others together.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, this fried chicken took a little longer."

Feng Zhengming looked at the couple and could tell from their faces that they were both honest people.

Then Feng Zhengming looked at the plate of fried chicken in front of him.

Ding Yuan, Gao Yongfu and Hou Dong have already noticed it.

This plate of fried chicken is obviously cooked almost exactly the same as the fried chicken in Yicheng.

This is Fu Shanfu’s bachelor’s fried chicken recipe.

Feng Zhengming didn't say anything, but picked up a piece with his chopsticks and tasted it.

After eating one piece, Feng Zhengming basically had an idea of ​​what was going on.

At his signal, Ding Yuan, Gao Yongfu and Hou Dong also tasted it.

The first three dishes and one soup can only be considered home-cooked.

But this plate of fried chicken is indeed of a certain standard.

Not only does it look similar to Guanggun Fried Chicken, it also tastes almost the same as Guanggun Fried Chicken.

Feng Zhengming looked at the boss and the boss's wife with a smile.

"Boss, did you learn the skill of stir-frying chicken in Mengyin?"

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, the boss was stunned.

Then the boss and his wife looked at each other.

After looking at each other, the boss finally nodded: "Yes, actually I am from Mengyin, and I learned how to make fried chicken there."

Feng Zhengming nodded: "We just came from Yicheng, so the taste of your fried chicken is almost exactly the same as the fried chicken in Mengyin."

The boss and his wife were a little surprised: "You came from Mengyin?"

Then the boss asked curiously: "But your accent is not from Mengyin."

Feng Zhengming explained with a smile: "We are from Quancheng. We are here for a walk. We passed by Yicheng and Mengyin, and we are also passing by your Taicheng. We are going to climb Mount Tai."

The couple understood immediately.

At this point, the couple still didn't recognize Feng Zhengming.

Because there were many people from Taicheng coming to climb Mount Tai, the couple also treated Feng Zhengming and his friends as tourists.

Feng Zhengming hesitated for a moment, but still couldn't help but give the couple some advice.

"Boss, Madam Boss, can I give you some advice?"

These words surprised both the boss and his wife.

Then the couple felt more calm.

The boss apologized first with an apologetic look on his face: "I'm sorry, my cooking skills are really not that good. I didn't learn the skills from my father-in-law, so except for the fried chicken, the other dishes don't taste like my father-in-law's original taste."

At this time, the proprietress realized that these four people could actually taste that her husband’s fried chicken had Mengyin flavor.

She suddenly realized that the four people in front of her might all be able to cook, or at least be good at eating.

Maybe the four of them could give their husband some pointers to make the food in their own restaurant even better.

Thinking of this, the proprietress quickly pushed her husband forward.

"You should be chefs too, right? Can you give us some advice so that my husband and I can continue to run the restaurant my father left behind?"

Ding Yuan couldn't help but ask at this time: "You said that this restaurant was left to you by your father. Since the old man left this restaurant to you, didn't he leave the staff to you?"

When asked this by Ding Yuan, the couple looked at each other, speechless for a moment.

Feng Zhengming did not let the couple give an answer first.

He first pointed to the tofu balls on the plate.

"When making the filling for your tofu meatballs, you need to add a little bit of pepper powder. The pepper powder can remove the beany smell of the tofu and make the meatballs taste better."

Then Feng Zhengming pointed to the fried eggs with strips of garlic and said, "For this dish, don't add soy sauce. It should be a stir-fried dish. You can add some salt when beating the eggs, and beat the strips of garlic and eggs together.

Then when frying, you can add a little bit of lard and mix it with peanut oil.”

After talking about the two dishes, Feng Zhengming talked about meatball soup.

"For this soup, you should use old chicken and pork bones to stew some soup in advance. You can't just boil the meatballs in plain water and think it's soup. This is not called soup, this is called boiled meatballs in plain water."

When Feng Zhengming talked about this, he was no longer as polite as he was with the first two dishes.

"As for the meatballs, they are really good, all made of fresh pork, but you should add some fat to the meatballs, and also chop the meat finer.

Then when you adjust the taste, add some pepper powder and the water soaked with green onion and ginger, and stir it into the meatball filling. Remember to stir the water in a clockwise direction. "

Hearing Feng Zhengming say this, the boss's wife couldn't help but pat her husband: "Hurry up and get some paper and pen and write down what he said."

The boss immediately came to his senses and quickly went to find paper and pen to write it down.

I saw the boss and his wife listening carefully and taking notes.

Feng Zhengming and his three entourages were a little amused and helpless.

Gao Yongfu couldn't help asking, "Didn't you learn these things well when the boss's father was alive?"

Hou Dong added: "Didn't the boss learn to cook from his father-in-law?"

The boss, who was trying hard to recall the records, looked up, and a look of shame appeared on his honest face.

It was the proprietress who explained it to Feng Zhengming and the others.

It turns out that the proprietress has an older brother and a younger brother.

When the boss's father was alive, he always wanted to train his older brother and younger brother to inherit the family restaurant.

The father even spent money and used some connections to arrange for the two brothers to become apprentices of a very famous chef in Thai city.

As a result, the two brothers later became serious chefs.

They all look down on this small restaurant at home.

Neither of the two brothers wanted to come back and inherit the family restaurant.

Even after the two brothers got married, they rarely cared about the father who raised them, and seldom came back to visit their father during the holidays.

As a daughter, the proprietress knew that her father did not want her to learn cooking, nor did he intend to let her inherit the family restaurant.

So she left Taicheng and went to work in Yicheng.

It was also in Yicheng that the boss’s wife met the boss.

After the two got married, they continued to work together in Yicheng.

He didn't even know that his older and younger brothers at home ignored their father.

It was not until my father suddenly had a stroke and collapsed that the chef in the restaurant called the boss’ wife and her husband. At this point, the boss’ wife couldn’t help crying.

"When my husband and I came back from Yicheng, we didn't expect my dad to become like that. My elder brother and I didn't care about him, so my husband and I had no choice but to quit our jobs and go home to take care of my dad in the hospital.

Later, my father's health gradually improved, but he could not walk and had to sit in a wheelchair.

We had no choice but to stay in Taicheng to work so that we could take care of my dad.”

After hearing what the proprietress said, Feng Zhengming and the others were somewhat moved.

From what they said, we can tell that the couple are not very old.

But the sad expressions on their faces made them look a little old.

The subsequent story is that because the boss’s father could no longer cook, the small restaurant had to close down.

But in the end, the boss's elder and younger brothers came to the house to divide the property.

It is said that the money that father earned over the years cannot be given all to my sister, or to my brother-in-law, an outsider.

The two brothers came to the house and made trouble several times, which made the boss's wife and father very angry.

Finally, the boss lady's father agreed to split up the family business.

Both brothers looked down on their father's small restaurant.

The boss lady and her husband are also very strong-willed.

It turned out that they only had this small restaurant, and most of their father’s savings over the years were given to the two brothers.

Even the landlady didn't want the house left by my father.

Hearing this, Ding Yuan couldn't help but praise: "You are really a heroine. Do you want this restaurant to run it again and restore it to the good business status of your father before?"

The proprietress nodded: "Yes, I just want to run the restaurant well and let my elder brother and younger brother take care of it."

The boss took out a handkerchief and wiped the tears from the boss's wife's face.

Then the boss looked apologetic and said, "I am too stupid to learn the craft well. When my father-in-law was still alive, he taught me a lot of things, but I didn't really master them."

The boss's wife quickly reached out and held her husband's hand: "I don't blame you, you have worked hard, and my dad won't blame you either."

Feng Zhengming was deeply moved when he saw the couple.

He asked first: "We've been chatting for so long, but I still don't know what your names are?"

The boss and his wife then realized that they had been chatting with the strange customer for so long without introducing them to each other.

After some introductions, I found out that the boss was Liu Zhongwei and the boss's wife was Liang Fen.

Feng Zhengming also directly told the two of them his name.

The couple were a little surprised to hear the name Feng Zhengming.

They first thought, could it be that they have the same name?

But before the couple could think about it, Feng Zhengming told them directly: "Don't doubt it, I am the champion of Shandong cuisine, Feng Zhengming who won the first prize in the national cooking competition."

This really shocked the couple.

But before the couple got excited.

Feng Zhengming asked seriously: "Do you want to continue running this restaurant?"

The couple nodded immediately: "Of course."

Liang Fen was more direct: "I must manage it well and let my elder brother and younger brother see it."

Feng Zhengming admired Liang Fen's enthusiasm.

"Okay, that's what you need. If you want to run the restaurant well, you need to hire some people first. It's definitely not enough for you two to run the restaurant now. You need at least three or four waiters.

There should be at least one assistant in the kitchen to help with the cutting and preparation work.”

After hearing Feng Zhengming's words, the couple looked at each other.

It was still Liang Fen who made the decision: "Okay, let's listen to the champion and hire someone."

Feng Zhengming and the other three have already seen that Liu Zhongwei is a man who listens to his wife very much.

Liang Fen is indeed good-looking, and with her personality, she has the air of a heroine.

Feng Zhengming also saw some shadows of Xia Hui and Luo Qing in Liang Fen.

They are all equally unwilling to admit defeat. Even if their families favor boys over girls, they still never give up trying.

Next, Feng Zhengming gave the restaurant various suggestions for improvement.

For example, as for the menu, Feng Zhengming said it should be kept simple, and he could take photos of some of his best dishes and hang them on the wall so that customers can see them at a glance.

As for taking photos, Feng Zhengming happened to have a camera with him, and decided to help the couple take photos, develop them, and hang them on the wall.

Then, Feng Zhengming followed the couple into the kitchen and made some adjustments for them.

And in the kitchen, he taught Liu Zhongwei how to smoke pig's trotters.

"To smoke pig's trotters, you must first marinate them until they are cooked, and then smoke them. When smoking, you must brush some honey water on the surface of the trotters. Do not add water to the things you smoke. It is best to use brown sugar and black tea. You can also add some pine branches. Pine branches are very common in your Taicheng."

Then in the kitchen, Feng Zhengming asked Liu Zhongwei to cook a few dishes. He wanted to test Liu Zhongwei's cooking skills.

According to Feng Zhengming's request, Liu Zhongwei cooked several dishes on the spot.

When they saw the dishes cooked by Liu Zhongwei, not only Feng Zhengming, but even Ding Yuan and the other three shook their heads.

Liu Zhongwei may really only be good at cooking chicken, because he learned it from someone in Mengyin, so he is relatively good at it.

When it comes to cooking, Liu Zhongwei is really bad at it.

Feng Zhengming knew it, but Liu Zhongwei had almost no foundation.

This really put Feng Zhengming in a difficult position.

He couldn't stay for too long to teach Liu Zhongwei how to cook step by step.

Besides, cooking is actually the most difficult part of cooking.

Especially some very famous stir-fried dishes, not only those fancy stir-fried dishes, but even some stir-fried seasonal vegetables, those cannot be learned in a short time.

After some thought, Feng Zhengming decided to customize a new menu for Liu Zhongwei.

"Your basics are a bit weak. It's definitely not possible for you to learn cooking from scratch now. I'll make a new menu for you that can help you avoid the technical aspects of cooking. Most of them are based on braising, steaming, boiling, and stewing.

Basically, they are all relatively homely dishes that don’t require too much heat or skill in cooking.”

Hearing Feng Zhengming say this, Liang Fen and Liu Zhongwei were really grateful.

Then Feng Zhengming asked the couple to hire some staff first.

"Even if I teach you how to cook dishes that are mainly roasted, steamed, stewed, and boiled, you still need to have enough manpower. If you want to run a store well, it's definitely not possible with just the two of you."

Liang Fen nodded and agreed: "Don't worry, Mr. Zhuangyuan, we will definitely hire the right person."

Next, Feng Zhengming corrected some of the problems with Liu Zhongwei's dishes.

Let Liu Zhongwei cook all the dishes he can roast, steam, stew and boil to a certain level.

Then Feng Zhengming customized a new menu for Liu Zhongwei.

Basically, the main dishes are those that are roasted, steamed, stewed or boiled.

It can be said that there is almost no stir-fried dish on the menu.

That night, Feng Zhengming and his friends were arranged by the couple to stay in their home in the backyard of their small restaurant.

The couple even went to another restaurant at night to bring food specifically for Feng Zhengming and his friends. (End of this chapter)