From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

When Feng Zhengming led the brother and sister Xia Hui and Xia Mingye, they pushed the prepared chicken tofu pudding to the private room on a cart.

Everyone in the private room was already waiting for them to arrive.

I saw Feng Zhengming leading his sister and brother in, pushing a food delivery cart.

Everyone's eyes were on the three of them, and they also looked at the small cups on the cart.

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Sorry to have kept you waiting for a long time."

After saying that, Feng Zhengming gestured, and he and the Xia siblings brought a small cup to each person one by one.

After the small cup was placed in front of everyone, Feng Zhengming and the Xia siblings also sat down.

"I was a little rushed, so it may not be completely done. It's not that the ingredients that Senior Brother Xia prepared were bad, but that I didn't prepare enough. However, with the ingredients that Senior Brother Xia prepared in the kitchen, I believe it should not be bad."

Hearing what Feng Zhengming said, Grandpa Feng smiled and pointed at the small soup bowl in front of him: "Then let's uncover it together and see."

Then the three old men took the lead and everyone opened the lids of the small soup bowls in front of them.

The moment you open the lid, you will be greeted by a rich and fresh aroma.

You can clearly see that the soup is as clear as tea.

In the soup, there is a sea cucumber, accompanied by a small baby cabbage heart and a large piece of white tofu pudding.

Zhang Hongwei stared at the contents of the small cup and was the first one who couldn't help but speak.

"Wow, brother, you really made monkey brains out of tofu?"

Hearing Zhang Hongwei's words, Feng Zhengming smiled and shook his head: "This is not some monkey brain made of tofu. This is a soup that combines Sichuan cuisine and Shandong cuisine."

These words stunned everyone present.

Master Xia gently scooped the soup with a spoon and took a look.

"Is this the chicken tofu pudding from Sichuan cuisine?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Yes, it's chicken tofu pudding."

The Xia family members who had watched Feng Zhengming cook in the kitchen were all curious about the chicken tofu pudding in the small bowl.

Feng Zhengming immediately called everyone: "Come on, let's start the meal. Let's try my bowl first."

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, everyone naturally started to taste his dish first.

Use a spoon to scoop up the chicken tofu pudding and put it carefully into your mouth.

It really feels like eating tofu pudding when you put it in your mouth, it is very tender and smooth.

But in this tenderness and smoothness, you can also taste the delicious flavor.

Paired with the clear soup prepared by the Xia family, it is a delicious dish that is light yet tasty.

There are also baby cabbages and sea cucumbers in the soup bowl, which also have unique flavors.

Although the sea cucumbers are cooked in this way, the sea cucumbers themselves will not absorb any smell.

But eating sea cucumber in this way with clear soup does have a unique flavor.

The best part of the soup is probably the baby cabbage with only the heart part left.

The baby cabbage has been steamed until soft, and is served with chicken tofu wrapped inside.

It tastes like the sweetness of baby cabbage, the freshness of the clear soup, and the tenderness of the chicken tofu inside, giving it a unique flavor.

After drinking this small cup, everyone present felt very comfortable.

After finishing the cup, Master Xia waited for everyone to calm down before picking up the wine glass.

"Well, let's all raise our glasses together, toast to the new year's gathering, and also to tasting this delicious cup of our champion."

After Master Xia said this, everyone raised their glasses.

We all drank the first glass of wine together.

With a cup of delicious tea as a base, everyone feels more comfortable when drinking.

After finishing this cup, everyone started to eat the food.

Taste the Confucius Mansion cuisine that the Xia family spent a lot of effort to prepare.

I have to say that the Xia family's craftsmanship is indeed excellent.

Almost all the dishes follow the old craftsmanship and taste delicious.

In particular, the Xia family also used boneless pig trotters to make a dish imitating bear paw.

The cooking method used is the very traditional method of the Xia family.

There is rich soup on the surface, and it doesn’t taste like just meat.

Apparently the Xia family had done some processing to make this Confucius Mansion imitation bear paw taste like bear paw.

In addition to this imitation bear paw dish, the Xia family also made classic Confucius Mansion dishes such as Carp in the Arms and Scallops Going to Court.

Grandpa Situ tasted the food and exclaimed: "Confucius cuisine is indeed unique. It is part of Shandong cuisine, but it is somewhat different from Shandong cuisine."

Master Xia nodded and said, "Confucius cuisine does have its own unique features, but many people don't understand them."

Grandpa Situ took over the conversation: "So it's better to let people know more about it."

Grandpa Feng also agreed: "Yes, more people should know about it."

At this time, Xia Hui and Xia Mingye's uncle suddenly spoke.

"Feng Zhuangyuan, when you were chopping the chicken, I noticed that you seemed to have put a piece of pig skin underneath. Why is that?"

This question expressed the curiosity of the other members of the Xia family in the kitchen.

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Putting a piece of pig skin under it is to prevent the chicken paste from smelling bad."

“Don’t let the chicken paste have any smell?”

This explanation surprised everyone.

Feng Zhengming continued to explain: "Yes, this method is what I heard from the chefs of Huaiyang cuisine when I was communicating with them at the national competition."

Everyone present was full of curiosity and wanted to hear about this method in detail.

Feng Zhengming continued speaking seriously.

"Master Xia should know that there is a soup dish in Huaiyang cuisine that is also made with chicken paste, called chicken congee."

After hearing this, Master Xia suddenly realized: "Oh, yes, there is indeed such a dish. There is a little bit of allusion to that dish. It is about making chicken into porridge.

In the past, the salt merchants and water transport officials along the Grand Canal were extremely wealthy.

At that time, they came up with all kinds of unique ways to eat the dishes.

At that time, the private chef in their house was even better than the imperial chef in the palace."

After hearing this, Zhang Hongwei finally couldn't help but speak.

"Grandpa Xia, how could the private chefs of those officials and merchants be better than the imperial chef? Isn't that, that, usurping the throne?"

Master Xia laughed when he heard this: "Hahaha, not bad, you even know the word usurpation."

Zhang Hongwei smiled embarrassedly: "I just suddenly remembered it."

Master Xia explained: "In ancient times, especially during the Qing Dynasty, cooking skills had already developed to a relatively mature level, so gourmet food became a pursuit for some wealthy families.

Especially the wealthy salt merchants along the Grand Canal and the officials who managed the canal transport, they were all very wealthy.

So they have more financial resources to pursue the enjoyment of gourmet food.

Only they can afford to feed them and provide them with all kinds of delicacies from land and sea, so that their private chefs can cook all kinds of delicious food for them. "

Master Xia paused for a moment and continued to talk about the imperial chefs in the palace in the past. "Why are the imperial chefs in the palace not as good as those private chefs? That's because in the palace, the most important thing for the imperial chefs is not to make the dishes delicious, but to ensure that the dishes are cooked in accordance with the rules.

Just like the Confucius Mansion cuisine in the past, it is divided into various banquets, and the rules of each banquet are different.

In the palace, the imperial chefs have to abide by more rules and must also ensure the food safety of the royal family members who come here.

Therefore, when the imperial chefs cook, it is impossible for them to let go and pursue deliciousness.

When safety must be ensured as a priority, there naturally won’t be much technological innovation.

The safest way is to follow the techniques passed down from generation to generation by royal chefs."

After listening to Master Xia’s introduction, Zhang Hongwei and those who didn’t understand at the scene suddenly understood.

Feng Zhengming added with a smile: "So if you go to the capital to eat Fangshan, you may not necessarily think it is delicious, because if you really cook it according to the methods used in the past palaces, the taste may not be very good."

Then Feng Zhengming brought the topic back to the production of chicken tofu pudding.

"In Huaiyang cuisine, chicken porridge is made in the same way as chicken tofu pudding. The chicken is minced, egg white and some starch are added, and then the mixture is sieved and then thickened in a clear soup to create a chicken porridge-like soup.

If you chop the chicken on a chopping board, the chicken paste will pick up some strange smells from the chopping board, and the resulting chicken will not taste as good.

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Therefore, in Huaiyang cuisine, good chefs will put a piece of pig skin that has been scraped clean of fat underneath before chopping. "

Feng Zhengming explained the reason clearly, and then related it to what Master Xia had just said about the power of the private chefs in the merchants' houses in the past.

Everyone has a deeper impression.

Master Xia smiled and said, "You never tire of fine food, and you never tire of delicate details. Often, delicious food presents completely different effects in some details."

Feng Zhengming looked at Zhang Hongwei and said, "I really can't carve brains out of tofu and then add flavor to make monkey brains, but I think this chicken tofu dish should satisfy you."

Zhang Hongwei nodded: "Satisfied, this is delicious. If you didn't tell me, I wouldn't be able to tell it's chicken."

Feng Shengnan agreed: "Yes, it really is like eating tofu pudding."

The youngest Feng Yucheng no longer had time to talk and just wanted to eat the delicious food in front of him.

If there were some dishes that he couldn't reach, Luo Qing would help him put them in his bowl.

The banquet prepared by the Xia family was indeed delicious and luxurious.

Feng Zhengming was not in a hurry to give a review, but instead enjoyed the food with everyone.

By the time this table of food was finished, everyone had finished eating.

Then, Master Xia asked Xia Hui and Xia Mingye, brother and sister, to take the children out to play with Luo Qing.

Xia Mingye naturally understood that the next step would be for his family to ask Feng Zhengming for advice.

He thought about it and couldn't help wanting to stay: "Master, I want to stay and listen too."

Master Xia smiled and waved his hand: "You don't have to stay. Aren't you going back to Quancheng with your sister after the New Year? If you have anything you want to ask, go back to Quancheng and learn from your Uncle Feng slowly."

Upon hearing what his grandfather said, Xia Mingye immediately felt that this was indeed the truth.

At this time, no one in the Xia family said much.

It is obvious that the Xia family has agreed to let Xia Hui and Xia Mingye continue to go to Quancheng to study with Feng Zhengming.

Grandpa Feng also spoke up at this time: "Brother Situ, how about we join the children and go visit the Confucius Mansion in winter?"

Grandpa Situ stood up with a smile: "Okay, I want to go and see it too."

Then the Xia family and Xia Hui and Xia Mingye's peers all left together.

In the end, only Master Xia and his children, as well as several of Master Xia's apprentices, were left, and they are considered the real backbone of the Xia Family Restaurant.

Everyone stayed together to have a good communication with Feng Zhengming.

Prepare for the improvement of some dishes in Xia Family Restaurant in the future.

After all, if the Xia family wants to take back the reputation of Confucius cuisine, they do need to make some improvements.

Feng Zhengming also understood the Xia family’s expectations.

So after everyone left, he began to analyze the Xia family seriously and in detail.

"Master, fellow brothers and sisters, your cooking skills are beyond reproach and you have indeed inherited the Confucius Mansion cuisine very well, but your dishes are still too traditional.

I am not saying that tradition is bad, but with the development of the economy, people's pursuit of food will gradually increase.

Many times, a dish not only needs to taste good, but also requires more effort in presentation.

And as I reminded you before, we also need to make some special preparations for the utensils.”

Next, Feng Zhengming gave the Xia family a lot of advice from a business management perspective.

This is very different from simply giving advice on cooking techniques.

The suggestions on cooking techniques are more about making the dishes better and ensuring the quality of the dishes.

However, even if the food is good enough, without proper commercial promotion, it may lose the attention it deserves.

Feng Zhengming didn't want the Xia family to make the Confucius Mansion cuisine more commercial.

The goal is to allow the Xia family to restore some of the core elements of the original Confucius Mansion cuisine as much as possible.

For example, in the selection of utensils, or in some innovations in the presentation of dishes.

You don't need to reduce the amount of food, but add more embellishments.

Of course, the main points of some of the solutions proposed by Feng Zhengming are still the same.

"We must have several sets of tableware for banquets of different specifications. In many people's impressions, the Confucius Mansion may become a symbol of their study, but at the same time, there will be corresponding banquets in the Confucius Mansion cuisine.

Restoring Confucius Mansion cuisine does not mean hosting banquets strictly in accordance with the ancient specifications.

But some distinction can be made by using different tableware.

For example, there is one set of tableware for the graduation banquet, another set of tableware for the wedding banquet, and also for other banquets.”

The Xia family was a little surprised to hear Feng Zhengming say this.

“How many sets of tableware do we need to prepare?”

Feng Zhengming smiled: "It doesn't have to be very good, the key is that the size and pattern are consistent. I don't think it will cost a lot of money. It will look more formal if we prepare different tableware."

After hearing Feng Zhengming's words, Master Xia and Xia Zhennan fell into deep thought.

The father and son are the ones who make the final decision.

Other people’s opinions may often just be for reference.

After some thought, the father and son reached an agreement.

Everyone agreed with Feng Zhengming's suggestion.

On the one hand, both father and son hope to make Confucius Mansion cuisine truly well-made and in line with people’s expectations of it.

On the other hand, and most importantly, the father and son hope to make the Kongfu cuisine famous.

If you want to build a brand, you must make certain efforts.

You need to show something different from others.

Just like what Feng Zhengming said, if you only purchase in large quantities and only seek consistent size and pattern, it may not actually cost much.

After the tableware was determined, Feng Zhengming also gave some suggestions on the dishes.

Let the Xia family prepare different menus, and different menus should be used for different banquets.

It can be said that Feng Zhengming’s suggestion is a simplified version of the rules of Confucius cuisine.

It can give people a feeling that the Kongfu cuisine is indeed very exquisite, and it does not require the Xia family to invest more to make the restaurant more commercial while ensuring the quality of the dishes. (End of this chapter)