From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

After the judges were seated, six cold dishes were served to them first.

Among them are the yam puree that Feng Zhengming first made in Quancheng, white-braised pork elbows, amber pig's trotters, and three combinations of meat and vegetables, forming a variety of cold dishes.

After these six cold dishes were served, both the professional and non-professional judges understood instantly.

In a young chef competition, if you encounter cold dishes, how should you judge them?

There is no need to look for any other reference, just follow what Feng Zhengming had at Huiquanlou tonight.

Whether it is mashed yam, braised pork elbow, amber pig's trotter, or three cold dishes with a combination of meat and vegetables.

It can be said that the presentation of the dish alone is enough to be called a work of art.

If you taste the food, you will find that even the cold dishes with both meat and vegetables are full of flavor.

You can clearly taste that every dish has been seasoned in advance.

Especially some vegetables, they should be blanched in clear soup until cooked.

So you can taste some flavor when you eat it.

Of course, the most important thing is that Feng Zhengming covered the dish with a thin layer of sauce before serving it.

This makes the cold dishes taste more delicious.

After these six cold dishes, the next dishes to be served were stir-fried dishes.

Each dish is a classic Shandong stir-fry.

Both his knife skills and fire skills can be called textbook level.

When tasting it, everyone can taste the flavor.

This means that before Feng Zhengming stir-fries each dish, he first infuses the ingredients with the base flavor before coating them with batter.

This way, when you eat it, you won’t feel that the taste is just in the sauce on the surface.

Feng Zhengming arranged non-professional judges and professional judges to sit together in an alternating manner.

So at this time, the professional judges will give some explanations of appreciation and judgment to the non-professional judges.

For example, when the stir-fried kidney was served at the table of sponsors’ CEOs, Chef Hou gave a careful explanation.

“To stir-fry kidney, the first thing is the knife skills. You can turn it over and have a look. You can clearly see the knife marks on the back. This shows that the knife skills are really good. It can cut to the deepest part without cutting through it.

Then pick it up with chopsticks and look at it while holding it. Every flower on the kidney is almost exactly the same.

And there was no breakage, which means the marinating and battering and subsequent cooking were very precise.”

After the introduction, Chef Hou asked everyone to taste it while it was hot.

The CEOs of the sponsors picked up a piece and put it into their mouths.

After taking one bite, all the bosses could immediately taste its deliciousness.

“So tender, like tofu.”

“It’s crispy and tender, and there’s not a single bad taste.”

"If you didn't tell me it was pork kidney, I wouldn't be able to tell it was pork kidney."

"It tastes salty, a little sour, and has a strong pepper flavor, but it doesn't taste numbing."

"It should still have the umami flavor of the broth. It's really delicious."

After Master Hou and others had eaten and expressed their feelings, he then began to explain with a smile.

"This is about the control of the heat. One degree more will make it overcooked, one degree less may make it undercooked."

Another chef from Beijing also said, "In the past, when stir-frying kidney, you had to leave a little bit of blood, otherwise people would say you cooked it too well. Now, in pursuit of health, you can't leave any blood."

Luo Jinliang asked curiously, "Is Feng Zhuangyuan's stir-fried kidney the best?"

Chef Hou exchanged glances with the chefs from Beijing.

Finally, it was Chef Hou who spoke up: "It's already top-notch. It's probably hard to do better than our champion. You can wait and see during the competition. I don't think anyone will be able to challenge this dish."

Chef Hou's words were unanimously recognized by chefs in Beijing.

After all, this dish may only be prepared during exams or when the chef goes to a restaurant and wants to show off his skills.

In some small restaurants, people usually don’t dare to try this dish.

Even some big restaurants would not easily prepare this dish nowadays.

For example, in Beijing's restaurants famous for Shandong cuisine, this dish is not on many menus.

After a few difficult stir-fried dishes, the next dishes served were some soups.

Soups are actually relatively easier to make.

However, Feng Zhengming still demonstrated his strength.

Among the soup dishes, Feng Zhengming served a dish of bag chicken, which showed his strength.

And then he served a dish of mullet egg soup without starch.

Finally, we had a dish of fried snail slices in vinegar and pepper fish soup.

This was another demonstration of his ability to create his own signature dishes.

Each of the three soups had its own unique characteristics, leaving the judges with impeccable taste.

Then there are some stews and braised dishes.

Feng Zhengming also served everyone scallion-fried sea cucumber and nine-turn large intestine.

These two dishes are the most famous ones in Shandong cuisine.

When it was served, everyone tasted it carefully.

While eating the scallion-fried sea cucumber, Luo Jinliang asked again: "I heard that different Shandong cuisine chefs make scallion-fried sea cucumber differently?"

Chef Hou smiled and nodded, "Yes, the key to scallion-fried sea cucumber is the scallion-fried sauce. Different chefs use different ingredients for this sauce, and the seasoning is also different, so Shandong cuisine chefs cook this dish differently."

After listening to Master Hou’s explanation, several sponsoring CEOs suddenly understood.

Soon, the bosses, including Luo Jinliang, tasted a different flavor.

"It's really different. The scallion-fried sea cucumber here at Feng Zhuangyuan is different from what I had at Jufengde."

"Yes, it's different from Taifeng Building."

"The difference in taste here at Feng Zhuangyuan is really obvious."

“It’s obviously a different flavor.”

Luo Jinliang had eaten scallion-fried sea cucumber in many places before, but today he felt that Feng Zhengming's dish was indeed unique in taste.

It's rich but not greasy, and you can taste a hint of sweetness, but if you taste it carefully you won't be able to detect that sweetness.

Then Luo Jinliang couldn't help but ask the waiter for a small bowl of rice.

The waiter brought it up immediately.

Luo Jinliang was a little surprised to see it happen so quickly.

The waiter immediately explained: "Each serving of scallion-fried sea cucumber will be served with rice, but some customers may not want it, so we will not serve it together with the rice. We will wait until the customer asks for it before serving it to the table."

After hearing this, the chefs in Beijing couldn't help but sigh.

"As expected of our top scholar, the service at Huiquanlou is also very good."

"Yes, this kind of service is better than many restaurants in Beijing."

"It seems we need to come more often in the future to learn more from our top scholar."

"Learn more and ask more questions to make better progress."

Master Hou also nodded: "This trip to Quancheng was not in vain. I really learned a lot of new things."

After the traditional Shandong dishes of scallion-fried sea cucumber and nine-turn large intestine, Feng Zhengming once again served everyone a dish that many people might not expect.

Yellow croaker in soup.

When the dish was served, Luo Jinliang was a little surprised.

“So there really is such a dish?”

As a boss from Hong Kong, Luo Jinliang certainly knew that there was such a dish in the previous Hong Kong movies.

But in fact, many restaurants in Hong Kong cannot make this dish at all.

So Luo Jinliang always felt that this dish might be fictional in the movie.

Seeing the stewed yellow croaker dish served at Huiquanlou today really opened Luo Jinliang's eyes.

Chef Hou explained with a smile: "This dish has indeed been around for a long time. It is also a Shandong dish. The cooking method is somewhat different from that in the movie."

As he spoke, Master Hou gently poked a hole in the fish's belly with chopsticks, allowing the soup in the fish to flow out.

Instantly a rich fragrance filled the private room.

When everyone went to take a look, they saw that the soup flowing out of the fish's belly contained all kinds of fresh and dried goods, and the soup was golden in color.

After seeing this, Master Hou laughed again: "Hahaha, our No. 1 dish combines some Cantonese cooking methods. The soup poured into the belly of this yellow croaker is made with the Cantonese dish Golden Soup Buddha Jumps Over the Wall."

Hearing this, Luo Jinliang became even more curious.

Then the waiter will divide it for everyone.

A piece of fish is added to each person’s bowl, along with the soup from the fish’s belly.

Luo Jinliang sniffed it and said, "It really tastes like Buddha Jumps Over the Wall."

After scooping up a spoonful to taste, Luo Jinliang immediately shook his head: "It doesn't taste like Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, but it's also very delicious. This soup tastes great, and the ingredients are really solid."

As a boss in Hong Kong, Luo Jinliang is quite skilled in tasting this stew.

Feng Zhengming's stewed yellow croaker made him once again admire Feng Zhengming's cooking skills.

Because the stewed yellow croaker was on the menu, Feng Zhengming did not serve the dish that won him the first place in the imperial examination today: Oolong Playing with a Pearl.

But the meal was so delicious that the judges were speechless.

Then Feng Zhengming brought some snacks.

When they saw him come to the private room after finishing his work, almost all the judges applauded him.

The non-professional judges used all kinds of words to praise his cooking skills.

Luo Jinliang had already made a decision in his mind.

With Feng Zhengming's cooking skills, Luo Jinliang felt it was worthwhile to cooperate with him to set up a factory.

With Feng Zhengming advertising for his seasonings, he will surely open up new markets across the country.

Luo Jinliang had even decided that in the future he could give Feng Zhengming a maximum of 70% of the shares in the Qilu branch.

After all, even if it was just giving him a factory.

Using Feng Zhengming's fame to open up the national seasoning market, will there still be a lack of opportunities to make money?

Thinking of this, Luo Jinliang has even begun to imagine that his own seasoning brand could become the most well-known brand in the country in the future.

Of course, Luo Jinliang knew the specific details and he still needed to consider them carefully and then discuss them with Feng Zhengming in private.

This time, Master Hou and the chefs in Beijing were completely convinced.

They could tell from the dishes Feng Zhengming served them tonight that they were definitely cooked by Feng Zhengming.

Because just by looking at the knife skills used to cut each ingredient on the plate, you can tell that it is not something that an ordinary apprentice can do.

This made Master Hou and the chefs in Beijing admire him even more.

Feng Zhengming is here tonight to set an example for the judges.

He does everything himself, from cutting to preparing the food, which is something not ordinary chefs can do.

The several chefs who came from Beijing this time are all capable of doing things on their own.

But in fact, in some restaurants in Beijing, many chefs no longer know how to cut and prepare the food themselves.

Even in the kitchens of some large restaurants in China, the chefs don't know how to cut and prepare food at all.

Feng Zhengming is doing it himself tonight, which is also a way of showing his attitude to all the judges.

At the young chef competition starting tomorrow.

All young chefs must be able to cut and prepare food by themselves.

If your cutting and preparing skills are not up to standard, then no matter how delicious the dish is, it will not be able to stand out in the competition.

Of course, in reality, the young chefs who have entered the top 100 have basically eliminated those who don’t have knife skills.

From knife skills to spoon skills, fire skills, and then to the seasoning of each dish.

Chef Hou, the chefs from Beijing, and all the other masters can taste the personal characteristics of Feng Zhengming, the top scholar.

Of course, the other judges may not be able to taste it.

This is mainly because the other judges may not eat many dishes from different chefs on a regular basis.

Especially because most of the time, you may not be able to taste the most authentic seasoning.

So naturally you can’t taste the unique flavor of Feng Zhengming’s personal seasoning style.

The non-professional judges were more curious about the last dish, the stuffed yellow croaker.

"Feng Zhuangyuan, the yellow croaker soup should be different from the one in the movie, right?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "It's different. It should be said that in order to make the film look good, they actually didn't cook the yellow croaker in soup from the beginning."

Without waiting for anyone to ask, Feng Zhengming gave the answer directly.

"In fact, to make soup with yellow croaker, you must not gut the fish first, but make sure it is intact. Then you must take out the bones and internal organs from the fish's mouth, and make sure that water does not leak out when you pour it into the yellow croaker's mouth."

"what?"

The non-professional judges present were stunned.

I never thought that stuffed yellow croaker in soup would be cooked this way.

Feng Zhengming continued to explain: "After that, we need to marinate the fish to remove the fishy smell, then pour the prepared soup into the fish belly, and finally seal the fish throat with shrimp paste.

There are several ways to cook it afterwards. One is to fry it first and then stew it, and another is to fry it first and then steam it.”

Naturally, someone will ask: "What did the champion do for us today?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and replied: "Time is limited, so I used the simpler method of frying first and then steaming."

After listening to Feng Zhengming's introduction, the judges present were all quite impressed.

In fact, it is not an easy task to prepare this dish as it is to remove the internal organs and bones from the fish belly without breaking the skin.

Therefore, no major restaurant in Beijing would cook this dish.

There's really no need to go to all that trouble.

Maybe after eating this dish made by Feng Zhengming at Huiquanlou today, it will be difficult to eat it again in the future.

Finally, the judges all said that tonight’s meal had already left everyone with a general impression and they knew how to judge tomorrow.

Feng Zhengming added: "Please don't judge based solely on the dishes I prepared tonight. After all, the contestants are all young chefs and their skills may be lacking. If you judge them based on my performance tonight, the scores may be too bad."

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, the judges present couldn't help laughing.

Master Yan even laughed and said, "Who told you to whet our appetite all of a sudden? If the scores in tomorrow's competition are generally too low, you will definitely be responsible."

Feng Zhengming could only helplessly say: "Then I can only ask the judges to show some mercy." (End of this chapter)