From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

A few days later, the Texas Chefs Association and some master chefs in Texas received the news that Feng Zhengming's branch was recruiting young chefs in Texas, and they all recommended their best disciples to him.

Most of the young chefs recommended to Feng Zhengming are related to the chefs who recommended them.

Including Song Jinsheng, although he sent his nephew Liang Xiaocheng away.

However, his wife's cousin had a nephew who also worked in the kitchen of Liang Xiaocheng's restaurant for a period of time. After learning about the situation, he asked Song Jinsheng's wife to help recommend him.

After listening to his wife, Song Jinsheng thought that he already had a recommendation spot.

He did a favor and recommended his wife's nephew.

Feng Zhengming saw that there were many young chefs recommended from Texas.

He simply conducted an assessment in the Texas branch.

Second senior brother Chen Zezhi also accompanied Feng Zhengming to assess these young chefs.

The assessment was very simple, Feng Zhengming only tested these young chefs on two dishes.

One dish is the quite common stir-fried shredded pork tenderloin.

Another dish is the fried double crispy dish.

After learning that Feng Zhengming only tested these two dishes, the chefs in Dezhou were very impressed by this top scholar.

The assessment of these two dishes can be said to reflect Feng Zhengming's ability.

First, stir-fry shredded pork tenderloin, which is a very classic dish in Shandong cuisine.

This dish is also a key dish that can definitely test whether a chef is qualified.

Because it is stir-fried, you must ensure that each piece of pork tenderloin is plump and tender.

At the same time, the soup of stir-fry will be larger, but there should be no oil in the soup.

Finally, a dish that seems innocent must also have flavor.

Among these, knife skills, fire skills and spoon skills all test the chef's basic skills.

As for the fried double crispy?

This is an advanced test of knife skills, fire skills and spoon skills.

Usually, for people who don’t know much about the industry, it may not be easy to tell the level of a chef from these two dishes.

But for Feng Zhengming, the top scholar, he could tell the chef's level at a glance.

On the agreed day of the assessment, quite a few people gathered at Feng Zhengming's Dezhou branch.

Among them were young chefs who came to take part in the assessment, as well as master chefs who accompanied the young chefs to take a look.

Of course, there were more people from all walks of life in Texas who came to watch the fun.

Feng Zhuangyuan’s branch is recruiting workers, and the assessment is open to the public.

What a rare scene this is!

Even though the location of the Texas branch is a little off the beaten track, it is not on the busiest street in the city.

Feng Zhengming used this assessment to promote it and attracted quite a lot of people.

Then when the Texas branch opens, it’s natural that people will make a special trip to eat Zhuangyuan’s braised pork.

Song Jinsheng and Liang Xiaocheng's parents arrived at the scene together, and they were also surprised to see the huge crowds of people.

Song Jinsheng said something in a deep voice to his wife, sister and brother-in-law.

"This champion is really capable."

Liang Xiaocheng's father: "He knows how to attract enough attention."

Song Jinsheng sighed: “He took advantage of the fact that we all wanted to send our disciples and juniors to his shop to learn, and used our influence in Texas to create momentum.

I used to think that the location of this branch in Texas was not good, but now it seems that they don’t need the best location at all.

Wherever they open a branch, that will become the busiest place.”

Song Jinsheng's wife couldn't help but say, "After all, he is the champion of the National Cooking Skills Competition. This title is important not only in Texas, but also in the whole country."

No one refuted this because everyone knew it was the fact.

So in the eyes of Song Jinsheng and Liang Xiaocheng's parents, it is almost impossible for Liang Xiaocheng to surpass Feng Zhengming.

They could only hope that Liang Xiaocheng had learned Cantonese cuisine well in the south.

When I come back with some Cantonese cuisine, I can compete with Feng Zhengming’s branch.

With many people watching, Feng Zhengming and his second brother tested the cooking skills of the young chefs who were applying for the job.

It is said that there is no distinction between high and low without comparison.

In order to impress the scene and convince all the Texas chefs.

Feng Zhengming first made two dishes: stir-fried shredded pork tenderloin and deep-fried crispy pork.

When seeing Feng Zhengming cut evenly thick tenderloin strips from uncooked meat, all the Texas chefs present were speechless.

Later, Feng Zhengming marinated and starched the pork very carefully and seriously, and then greased the pan on the spot, making the tenderloin silky and oily.

Including the final dish plating, it is really done in one go.

The demonstration of deep-fried double crisps made many chefs on the scene stunned.

The dish of Fried Double Crispy Crispies is a dish that even some master chefs may fail in terms of knife skills, fire skills, and spoon skills.

But Feng Zhengming used his extremely skilled skills to perform the performance flawlessly from beginning to end.

After the two dishes were presented, Feng Zhengming also gave some advice to the young chefs who came to apply for the job.

"If you choose to cut the frozen tenderloin, I won't deduct points, so don't be nervous, just cook the dish well and show your usual skills."

Next, the young chefs started to cook in full view of the public.

With such great examples before them, it is natural for young chefs to easily expose some problems.

The slicing was not smooth, and the thickness of the tenderloin shreds was not uniform enough.

The amount of starch was not properly controlled during the pickling and sizing process.

The oil temperature was not controlled well during the frying process of the tenderloin.

Even when stir-frying it later, I couldn't control the taste well.

If the food is only sold to customers, there may not be any major problems with the cooking done by all the young chefs applying for the job.

But since it is an assessment, and there is Feng Zhengming’s example before.

It is natural that even the smallest flaw will be magnified.

There was a young chef who couldn't stand the pressure of the on-site atmosphere and gave up halfway through.

When the master chefs see their apprentices or younger generations in the family giving up voluntarily, they can only sigh helplessly and there is really nothing much they can say.

After all, Feng Zhengming's assessment is so transparent and open.

The on-site environment is the same for everyone.

If you can't withstand the pressure and choose to quit, it only means that you are not confident in your skills.

If a chef is not confident in his own skills, how can he be a good chef?
So the first dish has eliminated one third of the young chefs applying.

The next dish was the fried double crispy food, which naturally eliminated another one-third of the food.

In the end, only three young local chefs from Texas were recommended to apply for the job and barely made it.

What surprised Song Jinsheng was that the nephew of his wife's cousin actually passed the test.

The wife was very happy: "Xiaowei's performance is really good."

Song Jinsheng was also a little surprised: "Xiaowei's skills have improved rapidly?"

The wife was quite proud: "Of course, Xiaowei wanted to learn from you before, but you said he had no talent. He joined the kitchen of his sister and brother-in-law's restaurant and has been studying and practicing hard ever since."

Liang Xiaocheng's parents heard the couple's conversation, and then looked over there and saw that the brother-in-law and cousin's son, Tan Jianwei, had successfully passed Feng Zhengming's assessment. Liang Xiaocheng's parents felt a little uncomfortable.

Tan Jianwei was very happy that he had successfully passed the assessment.

I found my aunt and uncle in the crowd and hurried over to them.

"Uncle, aunt, I passed."

Liang Xiaocheng's mother felt a little uncomfortable when she heard this and couldn't help but say something sarcastic.

"What's there to be proud of if you passed? You're just doing odd jobs in the branch of a top-ranked person."

This instantly made the atmosphere awkward.

Song Jinsheng looked at his sister and didn't know what to say.

As for Song Jinsheng's wife, although she was dissatisfied, she thought about how Song Jinsheng's sister and brother-in-law took care of their family, and that his sister had helped take care of their daughter over the years.

Song Jinsheng's wife could only swallow her anger and dare not say anything.

Liang Xiaocheng's mother saw that her brother and sister-in-law were silent.

She then looked at Tan Jianwei and said, "Since you have passed the assessment and are going to the Zhuangyuan branch, please go back to the dormitory and pack your things and come here."

Tan Jianwei had also heard these days that the son of his uncle's sister was caught red-handed by the top scholar for cheating under the banner of the top scholar and was directly expelled.

Now seeing the restaurant proprietress treating him like this, Tan Jianwei immediately realized that the rumors he had heard were true.

He was not angry. Instead, he said goodbye to Liang Xiaocheng's parents respectfully.

"Thank you, Madam Boss, and Boss, for taking care of me over the past few years. My uncle said I didn't have much talent, so he didn't want to teach me. You were willing to let me work in the restaurant for so long. I really thank you very much."

As he spoke, Tan Jianwei bowed to Liang Xiaocheng's parents.

This scene made Liang Xiaocheng's parents feel a little embarrassed.

Before they could speak, Tan Jianwei looked at Song Jinsheng again and said, "Thank you, uncle, for teaching me the basic skills."

Finally, Tan Jianwei said to his cousin: "Aunt, I will come to your house to pay New Year's greetings every year in the future."

After saying this, Tan Jianwei smiled and turned to walk towards Feng Zhengming.

Looking at Tan Jianwei's back, Song Jinsheng, his sister, and his brother-in-law felt a little uncomfortable.

However, Song Jinsheng's wife looked at her cousin's back with a smile on her face.

Feng Zhengming certainly knew that Tan Jianwei was recommended by Song Jinsheng, and he also saw Tan Jianwei walking towards Song Jinsheng.

He also knew that Liang Xiaocheng's parents were present.

It was just a little strange that I didn’t see Liang Xiaocheng.

When Tan Jianwei came back, Feng Zhengming told him and the other two young chefs who passed the assessment about the next training plan for them.

“You have passed the assessment and will not stay in the Texas branch. The three of you will come back to Quancheng with me and replace the trained chefs from the store in Quancheng with those from the Texas branch.

You three will receive training in Quancheng over the next year."

Feng Zhengming announced this in public, shocking everyone present.

Those young chefs who failed the assessment, especially those who couldn't withstand the pressure and dropped out halfway, were really regretting it at this moment.

The reason why they dropped out of the assessment midway was actually because they had felt the pressure on the scene before, and then they thought that passing the assessment would mean working in the kitchen of the Texas branch.

Suddenly, everyone didn't want to try hard to withstand the pressure.

Who would have thought that Feng Zhengming would actually bring those who passed the assessment back to Quancheng.

How can one not be excited to be able to follow Feng Zhuangyuan back to Quancheng and receive training in Quancheng?

Some young chefs who had voluntarily withdrawn before couldn't help but stand up.

"Feng Zhuangyuan, this is unfair. You didn't tell us in advance that if I passed the assessment, I could go back to Quancheng with you for training. If I had known, I would have done my best."

One person stood up to protest, and some other young chefs followed suit and expressed their dissatisfaction.

Feng Zhengming looked at them and just smiled indifferently.

“When you came to register, I told you that because there were too many applicants, I would prepare an assessment and only those who passed the assessment would be hired.

It was you who did not cherish the opportunity, no matter whether you tried your best or not. There were so many people witnessing it, and your master was also here, right?

If you come forward and ask for another chance at this time, wouldn't that be unfair to the three people who have given their all?"

After hearing Feng Zhengming's words, the eliminated young chefs were speechless.

Some of the Texas chefs who recommended the young chefs at the scene also felt a little embarrassed at this time.

It is already quite embarrassing if the person you recommended fails the assessment.

As a result, he failed the assessment and even protested to others.

This made all the recommenders feel embarrassed.

There was also a burst of discussion among the crowd.

"You didn't pass the test and you're saying you didn't give it your all? How can you be so embarrassed?"

"That's right. The top scholar came to Texas to open a branch and was willing to hire our local young chefs. This is giving opportunities to local young chefs, but they couldn't grab it."

"I heard that the young chefs who took the test today were all recommended by some local chefs in Texas."

"What? They are all recommended by the master chef?"

"It seems like our Texas chefs aren't very good."

"These three guys are lucky. They can follow the top scholar to Quancheng to learn cooking. They will definitely become great chefs in the future."

"That's for sure. Maybe in the future we in Texas will have chefs who will participate in state banquets."

Almost everyone watching at the scene knew that Feng Zhengming, the top scholar, had just returned from a state banquet.

In everyone's eyes, Feng Zhengming is the absolute authority.

So no one at the scene raised any objection to his judgment.

End this temporary recruitment assessment.

Feng Zhengming then waited with his second brother for the young chef arranged by Quancheng to arrive in Dezhou.

We also recruited some kitchen apprentices and store service staff from Texas.

The Texas branch finally officially opened.

On the opening day, leaders from the DZ city came in person to congratulate.

As soon as the branch opened, with the publicity from the previous assessment and the fact that Feng Zhengming had just returned from the state banquet, it naturally welcomed a lot of customers.

I have tasted the braised pork and the roast chicken in Zhuangyuan restaurant.

Many locals find it delicious.

Especially the braised chicken, which can be found in restaurants of all sizes on every street in Texas.

Most people in Texas can be said to have been eating it since they were young.

After eating the braised chicken at Feng Zhengming's Dezhou branch, everyone immediately realized that the braised chicken at the Zhuangyuan branch had the most traditional flavor.

Many locals said that they had not eaten roast chicken that tasted like this for many years.

The key is that the roast chicken in Feng Zhengming's Dezhou branch is crispy and boneless, and the flavor of the chicken is largely retained.

This is something that many old roast chicken shops are no longer able to do.

This is also the result of Feng Zhengming's adjustments based on Grandpa Zhang's recipe.

After the Dezhou branch opened, Feng Zhengming helped his second senior brother get things on the right track, allowing the three young chefs recruited from Dezhou to experience his strict management of the kitchen.

Then he took the three of them back to Quancheng. (End of this chapter)