From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

When Feng Zhengming and the chef from Beijing entered the kitchen together, they saw that the kitchen of Huiquanlou was so well organized that the chef from Beijing could not find any problems.

Then, Feng Zhengming asked several chefs from Beijing to select the raw materials first.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what do you need? You can use anything in the kitchen."

The chefs in Beijing looked at each other in bewilderment. Of course they couldn't just give in like that.

So after some discussion, several chefs in Beijing decided to show off their real skills.

When Feng Zhengming and the chef from Beijing entered the kitchen, they naturally attracted the attention of everyone in the kitchen.

Some apprentices in the kitchen gathered together, whispering to each other.

"What do you think? Are the head chef and these chefs from the capital going to compete with each other?"

"Of course. Judging from the posture, the chef from Beijing should be challenging the head chef."

"Do you think the chef can win?"

"Isn't this nonsense? If the chef can't win, how can he get the national championship?"

"That's right. If the chefs in Beijing are really that skilled, why didn't they stop the chef from winning the top prize? This shows that the chef is still the strongest."

“I wonder what the chef will cook today?”

"I just overheard that the chef seemed to be making stir-fried shrimp waists."

"Stir-fried shrimp waists? Isn't that too simple?"

"Simple? Why don't you make one for us to try?"

The apprentice who said it simply was immediately stared at by the other apprentices.

He could only quickly explain: "I, I can't do that. When I say simple, I mean simple for the chefs."

In fact, Qi Jiale, who was standing by, heard it and immediately explained it to the apprentices.

"Stir-fried shrimp waist is not simple. Think about it, how many restaurants in Quancheng can make this dish now?"

These words instantly stunned the apprentices.

The apprentices thought for a while and found that there were not many restaurants in Quancheng that knew how to stir-fry shrimp kidneys.

Maybe apart from Huiquanlou, only Jufengde and Taifenglou can do it.

But those two are also famous old restaurants in Quancheng.

Apart from the old restaurant, I haven't heard of any restaurant in Quancheng that cooks this dish.

Thinking about it this way, the apprentices realized that stir-fried shrimp waist is not a simple dish.

Qi Jia was happy to see that the apprentices realized how difficult it was, so he went on to explain the difficulty of the dish.

“The key to stir-frying shrimp kidneys is the knife skills for cutting the kidneys, the timing of cooking the shrimp and kidneys, and the final cooking and seasoning. Don’t think that it’s easy to make a dish by just mixing a bowl of sauce.

Just put the shrimp and kidney in the pot, pour the sauce in the pot and stir-fry, and it's ready to serve?"

This naturally made the apprentices present dare not respond.

They knew very well that if it were really that easy to prepare dishes, they would have been cooking long ago.

Qi Jiale paused for a moment before continuing.

"The key is the heat. Should the sauce be poured into the pot completely or only part of it? And what should the heat be like when pouring the sauce? These are all things you need to learn."

The apprentices are also very clear that these are indeed things they need to learn for a long time.

Many times, even if you just follow the recipe to mix the sauce.

Then let the apprentices follow the instructions, and the dishes they cook may turn out to be a disaster.

It's like the apprentices just entering the kitchen, each of them is eager to try and show off what they have learned in school.

All it takes is one staff meal to bring the apprentices back to their original form.

After a staff meal, many apprentices will find that they seem to have no idea how to cook.

Because in the kitchen, they will find that it is completely different from what they learned in school.

Looking at the chefs in the kitchen, it seems that each dish is not complicated to make.

But when they, the apprentices, started to cook, they found that the stove and the pot seemed to be against them.

In fact, the most difficult part is the fire control.

Knife skills can be honed through constant practice, even if you have never worked in the kitchen, you can hone them through your own perseverance.

But fire control is not something that can be practiced for long hours in front of the stove in the kitchen.

It's really not as easy to master as it looks.

If the fire is not well controlled, the food may not be cooked through, or if the fire is not strong enough, the food may not be cooked through, or if the food is cooked through boiling oil, the food that needs to be fried quickly may be cooked too much.

If the fire is too strong, you may not have enough time to stir-fry, and the food will become burnt in an instant.

The degree of heat is not something you can master just by cooking a few times in school.

And the apprentices will only discover this when they actually enter the kitchen to cook.

If they follow the instructions of their teachers in school step by step, almost any dish will be overcooked or even burnt in their hands.

Because when studying in school, teachers will intentionally slow down the pace in order to explain the details clearly so that students can see clearly.

When the apprentice entered the kitchen, he was not familiar with the stove at all.

Often they simply cannot keep up with the pace, so the dishes are bound to be old or even mushy.

In this regard, it can be said that every apprentice working in the kitchen of Huiquanlou has already experienced this.

The staff meals they cooked themselves were overcooked and burnt.

That might be the best first lesson in the kitchen for these apprentices.

Qi Jiale reminded the apprentices: "Watch carefully, this kind of opportunity is rare. Watch the chef's actions carefully and you will find out why he is the top student in the country."

At this time, Feng Zhengming had already selected the shrimps and started preparing the ingredients.

He peeled the fresh shrimps by hand, opened the backs of the shrimps and removed the shrimp threads.

Then split the pork kidney in half, cut off the inner part with a knife, and then cut and chop the kidney in one go.

The chefs from Beijing realized it just by seeing Feng Zhengming cutting the pork kidneys.

It seems that Feng Zhengming has not been the chef in the kitchen of Huiquanlou for a while.

But his skills are still there, and he looks pretty impressive.

Marinate kidney and shrimp separately.

The young chefs in the kitchen were watching and also reminding the apprentices in the kitchen to pay attention to details.

"Have you seen the kidneys being marinated? You should gently reach into the bottom of the bowl, scoop up the kidneys and stir-fry them. Don't grab them."

"For shrimp, you need to wipe off as much water as possible, then marinate and coat them with a thin layer of batter."

In fact, just sizing is not easy for apprentices.

If you don't control the moisture content of the ingredients well, the paste may be too watery and unable to stick together, or there may be too much of it and it may be completely covered with a thick layer of paste.

Like Feng Zhengming, after marinating and starching, it becomes a thin layer of paste.

This is supported by skilled experience and techniques.

After the battering is completed, the next step is to fry the kidneys and shrimps separately.

The oil temperature must not be too high when putting the kidney into the pan. The kidney should be taken out almost as soon as the oil temperature rises and the kidney changes color.

It will take a little longer for the shrimp to be fried in oil.

Wait until the shrimp and kidney are fried. When pouring out the fried shrimp, rinse the lettuce and carrot cubes carved by Feng Zhengming on the strainer with oil.

All the ingredients are ready, and Feng Zhengming's method is different from the traditional stir-fried shrimp kidneys.

He fried the shrimp heads left over from peeling them in a pan.

And use a spatula to press the shrimp brain out of the shrimp head.

After obtaining the fragrant shrimp oil, stir-fry the chopped green onion and ginger, then pour all the ingredients into the pot, and then pour the juice from the bowl into the pot and stir-fry quickly.

Let the sauce evenly coat the surface of each ingredient, then drizzle some scallion oil before serving.

This is a dish of stir-fried shrimp waist with bright oil and starch.

It was really like Feng Zhengming was announcing to everyone that he was still the national number one culinary talent.

Moreover, his craftsmanship not only did not decline in the slightest, but he was even more proficient than before.

When the chefs in Beijing saw this dish, they were all convinced.

You don’t even need to taste it, just watch Feng Zhengming’s skillful cooking process.

In particular, he actually used shrimp heads to make shrimp oil to make this dish.

The Beijing chefs present could already imagine what kind of flavor the dish would have after adding shrimp oil refined from shrimp heads.

Although convinced, the chefs in Beijing will not give up.

They are still preparing to show off their skills.

There are four chefs from Beijing, one of whom makes the Beijing version of Fu Rong chicken slices, and one of whom makes the Beijing version of Kung Pao chicken.

It just so happened that these two chefs were deboning a chicken. The chef who made the Kung Pao Chicken used two chicken legs, and the remaining chicken meat was given to the chef who made the Lotus Chicken Slices.

There were also two chefs from Beijing, one of whom made a braised hairtail fish dish using hairtail fish from Bohai Sea in the kitchen of Huiquanlou.

The last person made a dish of braised beef brisket in a pot.

When it comes to the cooking skills of several chefs in Beijing, they are indeed impeccable.

The two chefs use chicken to make Kung Pao Chicken and Fu Rong Chicken Slices, and their techniques are also quite unique.

Especially the chef of the Fu Rong Chicken Slices uses a traditional chicken paste and oil.

Pour the chicken puree into the oil at low temperature and fry it in immersion mode to make the chicken slices float.

The chicken slices made in this way are quite tender.

The Beijing chef who makes Kung Pao Chicken uses the Beijing method.

It is somewhat different from Sichuan cuisine's Kung Pao Chicken.

The chicken thighs used are more tender.

Chop all the green onions into small sections.

The smell that comes out makes people feel quite appetizing.

Braised hairtail fish may be the simplest dish among the several dishes.

But the Beijing chef has also made some changes.

After the hairtail fish is braised, it is transferred to a casserole, with onions, garlic and ginger placed underneath. It gives the fish a slightly raw-baked feel, which adds a lot of flavor to the fish.

Beijing chefs handle the hairtail very cleanly and use onions, celery and carrots when marinating it.

The fishy smell of hairtail is almost completely removed by the marinade.

In terms of taste, the taste of braised hairtail fish cooked by chefs in Beijing is sweet and spicy, which is very unique.

If there is one dish that demonstrates the chef’s ability, it must be the braised beef brisket in a pot.

The Beijing chef who cooked this dish demonstrated to everyone how to stir-fry noodles.

Fry the flour, add in tomato paste and fry until it forms lumps.

Then gradually add soup to the pot, and then scoop out the noodles in the pot to dilute them.

Finally, a very smooth and thick soup is cooked, and then the cooked beef brisket is added, with carrots, potatoes, red dates and shiitake mushrooms as the base.

When the dish is finally ready, sprinkle some green garlic and onions on it and drizzle some heated sesame oil on it to bring out the aroma.

The process of the Beijing chef frying the noodles also surprised the apprentices in Huiquanlou's kitchen.

The dishes for several people were ready, and Feng Zhengming and four chefs from Beijing carried the dishes upstairs together.

He also asked the two senior brothers to prepare a few more vegetables and send them upstairs.

Li Huidong and Cao Zhiguo naturally agreed.

As soon as Feng Zhengming and his friends left, the kitchen suddenly became chaotic.

"Wow, the chefs are really good at cooking."

"Yes, yes. When will I be able to have such skills?"

"Practice well. Compared with others, we are really not qualified to cook."

"Just now, I was thinking, I have been working in the kitchen for more than a year, am I qualified to cook? Now I think it's better not to embarrass myself by cooking."

The apprentices once again witnessed the strength of Feng Zhengming and other real master chefs.

So the apprentices understood that they were indeed not qualified to cook.

Not only the apprentices, but also the young chefs in the kitchen were able to witness Feng Zhengming's cooking skills once again.

I also witnessed the unique skills of chefs in Beijing.

Cao Zhiguo quietly asked Li Huidong: "Do you think Zhengming will take the opportunity to steal those dishes?"

Li Huidong asked back: "Do you think Zhengming still needs to steal skills?"

When asked by his senior brother, Cao Zhiguo immediately smiled and said, "Yes, Zhengming really doesn't need to steal the master's skills. He should be able to improve it soon and add a few dishes to Huiquanlou's menu."

In the private room upstairs, Feng Zhengming tasted several dishes prepared by chefs from Beijing.

He also admired them: "You are indeed the chefs in Beijing. Your cooking skills really impressed me."

Hearing what Feng Zhengming said, several chefs from Beijing felt embarrassed.

"Mr. Feng is too modest. Our cooking skills are still a little bit inferior to yours. These dishes are not that difficult for you."

"On the contrary, your stir-fried shrimp kidneys are not so easy for us to come by."

"To be honest with you, Mr. Feng, we had some doubts about you before. We wondered if your cooking skills had declined."

"It seems that we were a little overconfident. Not only has your cooking skills not deteriorated, but it seems to have improved."

Master Hou smiled and said, "Hahaha, it seems you are convinced?"

The four chefs from Beijing nodded one after another, expressing their admiration for Feng Zhengming's cooking skills.

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "There is no need to convince each other between us. I think it is good for us to communicate with each other. The dishes prepared by you today have also given me a lot of inspiration.

For example, hairtail can be braised and then baked in a casserole, the taste is really good.

And this braised beef brisket in a pot is a really great dish for the elderly and children in winter.”

Upon hearing this, Master Su immediately asked, "Zhengming, are you going to take it directly to your Huiquanlou?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and nodded, looking at the chef in Beijing: "I wonder if our Huiquan Restaurant can use these two dishes? I want to let the people of Quancheng eat some food that is more suitable for winter in winter."

The chef from Beijing naturally smiled and nodded to indicate that it was okay to use.

Chef Hou even pointed out: "This braised beef brisket in a pot is actually a dish that often appears in banquets for foreign affairs receptions. It can be said that both Chinese and foreign guests like it very much."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Such a delicious dish should be available to everyone." (End of this chapter)