From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

The next day, when chefs from all over the country were busy, Feng Zhengming would suddenly appear beside the stoves of chefs from all over the country.

Then he would take the opportunity to ask the chefs leading the tours from various places for some things.

The things Feng Zhengming wanted were all the things that chefs from all over the country brought specially when they came to Hong Kong for exchanges.

For example, you can find chefs from Northeast China and ask for some black fungus, a specialty of Northeast China that they brought with them.

Find chefs from all over Sichuan and Chongqing and ask them to bring chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns.

Find chefs from all over the Northwest and ask for the seasonings they bring.

It can be said that Feng Zhengming collected seasonings brought by chefs from all over the country.

This strikes chefs everywhere as very strange?
"You came to us to ask for these seasonings, but you didn't ask for much of each. What are you going to do?"

"That's right, didn't you bring some condiments yourself? And you even brought some green onions from Qilu."

"Zhengming, are you going to cook with the seasonings we brought?"

"Use spices from all over our country to cook? Zhengming, what dish are you going to make?"

……

Faced with the curiosity of chefs from all over the world, Feng Zhengming did not hide it from everyone.

"It's like this. Didn't I promise to make a separate dish to match the landscape of our motherland? So I thought that my dishes can't just reflect the characteristics of our Qilu region, but also need to reflect characteristics from all over the country."

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, chefs from all over the country also felt that it made sense.

"That's true. Since you are our top scholar, you should make a dish that is also representative of the whole country."

Feng Zhengming smiled and nodded: "Yes, that's what I thought. I'll use the seasonings from your regions and some of the ingredients you brought. The key is to make the taste reflect the characteristics of your regions as much as possible."

Chefs from all over the country were a little surprised when they heard this, and they couldn't help but wonder how Feng Zhengming would do it.

Feng Zhengming simply introduced the dishes he was going to make to everyone.

"As you all know, A-Zhe and I have searched many places these days, and finally we found a big sea bream yesterday. I plan to use that sea bream to make a map of our motherland.

It can be said to be a miniature version of the mountains and rivers of our motherland, and it also shows the flavor characteristics of various places.”

It has to be said that Feng Zhengming's bold creativity has always been something that chefs from all over the world find difficult to catch up with.

He always has some brilliant ideas.

It seems very bold, but he can do it.

This is something that chefs from other places cannot even dream of achieving.

Everyone may come up with some creative ideas at any time.

But it is not easy to actually implement the idea and make an edible dish.

Feng Zhengming has indeed surpassed most chefs in this regard.

He can always make any creative idea he can think of come true.

It is not made just for viewing, but for everyone to eat.

Just like now, Feng Zhengming wants to use a real sea bream to make a dish of the map of the motherland alone, and also show the taste characteristics of various places. This is indeed hard to imagine for chefs from all over the world.

How to do it?

How can we bring out the flavors of different places?
Feng Zhengming saw everyone's curiosity, he smiled and continued to talk about his ideas.

“That’s right. I was also inspired by the pictures of mountains and rivers of our motherland. This time, I saw that everyone has cooked a lot of local specialties, which gave me a bolder idea.

That is, the different cooking methods in different regions of the east, west, south and north are all displayed in one dish.

Then in terms of taste, we need to differentiate between different tastes in different regions.”

As he spoke, Feng Zhengming even gave an example.

"For example, Sichuan, Chongqing, Hubei, Jiangxi, and Guizhou, all of you eat spicy food, but your tastes of spiciness are different. I want to show your different flavors of spiciness in my dishes."

This made the chefs from several places look at each other in bewilderment.

It is true that all these places serve spicy food, but the quality of spiciness varies from place to place.

Feng Zhengming then gave an example: "In Hong Kong, Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, and even Shanghai, there are some ways to eat raw marine fish, but your ways of eating them are also different, and not all of them are eaten raw.

So when I cook several of your places, I can alternate gradually from cooked to raw and then to cooked.

If you add some of your local special seasonings, can it also reflect the different flavors of your regions? "

These examples given by Feng Zhengming have stunned all the chefs present.

Who could have imagined that one dish could have so many variations?

Incorporate the flavors of various regions into one dish.

This is indeed an idea that most people would never think of.

"Great! As expected of our top scholar, it's amazing that he can come up with such an idea."

"Yes, it seems that our top scholar has done a lot of research on all our places."

"I'm afraid that the characteristics of our various regions and some of our techniques have been learned by the top scholar."

"That's true. The top scholar knows the characteristics of our regions so well. He must have learned the techniques from our regions."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said: "This also requires more of you brothers to be willing to share with me. In fact, every time I communicate with you, I benefit a lot.

It made me realize that our country is so vast and there are so many different kinds of food in different places.”

Chefs from all over the country also lamented that the motherland is truly vast and has so many different products.

Feng Zhengming finally said something to the chefs.

"We are here to exchange ideas and perform in Hong Kong. Of course, we cannot lose face in Hong Kong. We need to let those famous chefs in Hong Kong know that our chefs from all over the country also have skills, and we are no worse than them."

This immediately made all the chefs present laugh.

Everyone was also inspired by Feng Zhengming's words.

It can be said that this trip to Hong Kong has indeed brought considerable pressure to chefs from all over the country.

It turns out that everyone in different places is a top chef.

But after coming to Hong Kong for these days, I have truly seen the colorful world.

These master chefs have realized that they still have many shortcomings.

The restaurants of all sizes in Hong Kong naturally have their own unique craftsmanship.

They will come into contact with many wealthy people and many foreigners.

So they can better integrate various Western cooking techniques.

This aspect allows chefs from all over the world to discover the gap.

Maybe it’s because in recent years, everyone always wants to catch up with the international standards.

It is natural for chefs everywhere to wonder if their cooking skills are a bit outdated, out of date, or not fashionable enough.
But the chefs from all over the country are master chefs after all, and they all participated in the homecoming state banquet.

I always have confidence in my craftsmanship.

I want to catch up with the international standards, but I don’t think I’m good enough.

Therefore, with the re-display of the motherland's mountains and rivers, chefs from all over the country sincerely hope to show off their cooking skills and not lose face in Hong Kong.

While Feng Zhengming and other domestic chefs were preparing, Hong Kong City was also making various preparations.

For this time, Hong Kong once again created a picture of the motherland's mountains and rivers to amaze the whole country and the world at the state banquet.

Hong Kong City is really planning a grand dinner to match.

Many stars and celebrities from Hong Kong will also be present.

Some overseas people were also invited.

Of course, the most important thing is to invite representatives from all walks of life in Hong Kong to taste this dish of the motherland's mountains and rivers together.

Some famous chefs in Hong Kong have never been very optimistic about this dish.

They felt that it was just a showpiece dish, which was edible but definitely not tasty.

Just looking at the plates cannot show the skills of chefs from all over the world.

Therefore, some chefs in Hong Kong are privately waiting to see the joke.

When the picture of the mountains and rivers of the motherland is finally eaten by everyone, will the representatives from all walks of life in Hong Kong and those invited overseas guests vomit after eating this huge dish?
When Li Guansheng learned that some chefs in Hong Kong had this idea, he specifically sought out Dai Long, Long Kunbao and Jiang Chengzhe to discuss it.

"We invited them here, but now there are many people waiting to see us make a fool of ourselves. What kind of a joke is this?"

Dai Long was more direct in his words: "Then let them wait and see. I heard that Zhengming has already made an agreement with chefs from all over the country that they will add some hot dishes to the "Map of Mountains and Rivers of the Motherland" this time. It will not just be a show."

Long Kunbao also nodded: "Yes, Zhengming and the others have been working hard on this during this period of time."

Li Guansheng looked at Jiang Chengzhe: "You and Zhengming have been running around these days. It seems like you are looking for something?"

Jiang Chengzhe replied: "Yes, I will take him to find another big red sea bream. He wants to make a dish with it."

Li Guansheng was puzzled: "Why does he have to make another dish himself instead of preparing a new map of the motherland? And he has to use sea bream? He probably has never cooked that kind of fish, right?"

Jiang Chengzhe is very confident: "He may not have done it before, but I believe in his ability."

Li Guansheng looked helpless: "It's not a matter of whether you believe him or not. Now some guys are waiting to see him make a fool of himself."

Jiang Chengzhe answered seriously: "If he really made a dish with red sea bream, he wouldn't be laughed at."

Long Kunbao echoed, "We should still believe in the strength of our top scholar."

Dai Long couldn't help but say, "Azhe, you follow him every day now, have you learned anything from him? Are you sure our top scholar is capable enough to deal with the real sea bream?"

Jiang Chengzhe is very confident: "It will definitely work."

Seeing Jiang Chengzhe so confident, Li Guansheng naturally felt relieved.

"Okay, as long as our top scholar has enough strength, there will be no problem."

Jiang Chengzhe asked cautiously: "Master, will there be some famous chefs from abroad invited this time?"

Li Guansheng's expression also became serious.

"It seems you have received the news too."

Dai Long and Long Kunbao also looked serious.

This time, some chefs in Hong Kong really spent a lot of money.

They joined together and sought help from some former Hong Kong tycoons who had gone overseas before the return.

We specially invited some famous chefs from overseas.

The purpose is already obvious.

The goal is to invite famous chefs from overseas to compete with chefs from all over the country like Feng Zhengming.

The key point is that they arranged this matter behind Li Guansheng's back.

Therefore, Li Guansheng and his friends had no idea which famous overseas chef the Hong Kong tycoon who had gone overseas would invite to help them.

If we invite some skilled and picky overseas chefs, it might really cause a lot of trouble for Feng Zhengming and his team.

Now Feng Zhengming is going to make a sea bream dish, which is equivalent to hitting someone else's area of ​​expertise.

This had to cause Li Guansheng and others to worry.

What if Feng Zhengming doesn’t cook this red sea bream dish well?
When the time comes, the comments from those overseas famous chefs will definitely affect Feng Zhengming's reputation.

Li Guansheng, Dai Long and Long Kunbao were somewhat worried.

But Jiang Chengzhe was not worried at all. Instead, he was somewhat excited.

"Master, I think it's a good thing that they invited famous chefs from overseas. Didn't those famous chefs from overseas fail to taste the painting of mountains and rivers of the motherland at the previous state banquet?
This time we can let them have a good taste and see the charm of our Chinese cuisine.”

Li Guansheng reminded seriously: "I am worried about Feng Zhengming."

Jiang Chengzhe smiled and said, "Master, don't worry about that. Zhengming's dish will definitely amaze everyone."

Looking at Jiang Chengzhe who looked confident, Li Guansheng looked at Dai Long and Long Kunbao again.

They really couldn't figure out why Jiang Chengzhe believed so much in Feng Zhengming's ability?

Jiang Chengzhe simply told Feng Zhengming some of his ideas on making that dish.

After listening to Jiang Chengzhe's story, Li Guansheng, Dai Long and Long Kunbao were surprised at first.

But it did not dispel Li Guansheng's worries.

"Zhengming's approach is too risky."

As soon as Li Guansheng opened his mouth, Dai Long and Long Kunbao came back to their senses from their shock.

Dai Long thought about it carefully and said, "It is indeed a bit risky."

Long Kunbao was more direct: "If you want to show the tastes and characteristics of all parts of the country in one dish, this is probably really difficult to do, right?"

Dai Long nodded: "It seems difficult to do."

Li Guansheng said: "The key is that for a dish, different methods require good control of the heat of different parts when cooking. With so many people watching, what if something goes wrong?"

Dai Long and Long Kunbao looked solemn, indeed they were worried about Feng Zhengming's dish.

Jiang Chengzhe is still full of confidence in Feng Zhengming.

"Master, just believe him. I think he is well prepared this time. Even if the chefs in Hong Kong City invite the most famous chefs from overseas, I think they will be impressed by Feng Zhengming's cooking skills."

Li Guansheng, Dai Long and Long Kunbao pondered for a while.

In the end, Li Guansheng asked Jiang Chengzhe to remind Feng Zhengming.

"Azhe, you should remind him to be more prepared. At least he should have a backup plan so that he won't be caught off guard."

Jiang Chengzhe agreed: "Okay, Master, I'll go remind him."

After Jiang Chengzhe left, Li Guansheng looked at Dai Long and Long Kunbao.

"We don't have time now. We can only hope that our top student can really show his unparalleled cooking skills when the time comes."

When Jiang Chengzhe found Feng Zhengming and told him what happened.

Feng Zhengming was not worried at all. Instead, he asked excitedly.

"Will there really be famous chefs from overseas? Will there be the most famous chefs?"

Seeing that Feng Zhengming was as excited as he was, Jiang Chengzhe was very happy: "Hahaha, I knew you wouldn't be afraid. I believe you will shock those famous chefs." (End of this chapter)