From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

The birth of his daughter made Feng Zhengming's house in Shanghai suddenly become very lively.

After my wife and children were discharged from the hospital, my grandmother, mother-in-law and aunt all moved into the house.

Grandpa and Grandpa Situ were also arranged to live at home.

As a result, Feng Zhengming had to rent new houses for some people who originally lived on the Western Restaurant Street.

Originally, Feng Zhengming planned to let his third uncle and aunt live at home temporarily.

However, Uncle San felt that there were already too many people living in Feng Zhengming's small house.

What's more, Aunt Luo Qing also has a child, so it's really inconvenient for everyone to live together.

Uncle San simply went back with Aunt San to tell everyone the good news.

After all, Third Aunt also has a job at school.

In addition, my third uncle’s younger sister also needs someone to take care of her at school.

In Feng Zhengming's small house, the sound of a child crying can be heard from time to time every day from morning to night.

The child of Luo Qing's uncle is only a little over one year old now.

Most of the time, Feng Zhengming and Luo Qing's daughter is very well-behaved and goes to sleep by herself after eating.

But sometimes the boy from my aunt's family would make a scene and cry.

I don’t know if the little girl was disturbed by the noise, but she started crying and making a noise as if she wanted to compete with her brother.

Feng Zhengming stays at home every day with his wife and family to take care of the children.

Most of the time he couldn't help, so he cooked for his family in different ways.

Finally, the family members went together to find Feng Zhengming and persuaded him to return to the store to work.

Grandma: "Zhengming, we know that you love Xiaoqing and like your daughter more, but you have been back for so long and haven't been to your store. Isn't that bad?"

Mother-in-law: "That's right. Although your business is not bad, everyone comes to your store because of you. If you don't show up, someone will definitely talk about it."

Aunt: "Don't worry, we will definitely be able to take good care of the child."

Grandpa: "Yes, your Grandpa Situ and I are in good health and can help at home."

Grandpa Situ: "Hahaha, I don't have any children myself, so I'll just take this as an experience to raise a child."

Finally, Luo Qing spoke up: "Everyone wants you to go back. Many people in the store are looking forward to your return. The customers are also waiting for you to return. You should go back to the store."

Then Luo Qing imitated her daughter and said, "Dad has to go home and cook well. Everyone is looking forward to eating Dad's food."

The wife imitated her daughter's way of talking to her and even held her daughter in front of her.

This made Feng Zhengming grin and he nodded in agreement.

"Okay, Dad will go back to work and work hard to make money for Yaoyao and Mom."

The little girl didn't understand what her father was saying to her.

He might not even recognize his father.

So she just waved her little hands and patted her father's cheeks to encourage him with the help of her mother.

The household affairs have been temporarily handed over to the family members.

Feng Zhengming went out to the store the next day.

However, Feng Zhengming did not go to the Western restaurant on the street first. He went to the store at the train station first.

Feng Zhengming felt more at ease with the Western Restaurant on Street because Jiang Chengzhe was in charge.

Feng Zhengming also took the bus early in the morning and even changed buses.

Finally we came to this store near the train station.

In fact, Feng Zhengming is very confident about this store at the train station.

The store was handed over to Zhu Xu, who was the eldest disciple of Jubin Garden and had very strong abilities.

It’s just that the boss of Jubin Garden at that time didn’t quite know how to judge people.

In addition, although his master Cheng Guosheng had skills, he had a bad mentality since he was suppressed by Feng Zhengming. He only wanted to prove himself again and completely neglected the guidance and training of his apprentices.

So later on, Zhu Xu really didn't have many opportunities to display his abilities.

When he came to Feng Zhengming's side, Zhu Xu did get more opportunities.

Whether it was in the dry rice shop in Quancheng, or later working in the kitchen of Huiquanlou for a period of time.

Zhu Xudu showed that he almost surpassed his master Cheng Guosheng in ability.

This does not mean that Zhu Xu's craftsmanship has surpassed Cheng Guosheng's.

However, the upper limit he could possibly reach is clearly beyond that of Cheng Guosheng.

So Feng Zhengming brought him to Shanghai and arranged for him to be in charge of the store near the railway station, which was considered as further training for Zhu Xu.

If you want to become a real chef or master chef, you not only need to know how to cook, but you also need to have more experience.

Feng Zhengming came to the back door of the train station store and saw Zhu Xu, Guan Wei and Zhang Lei, who had already returned, leading people to move things inside.

It should be the goods that were delivered to the store’s kitchen this morning.

Seeing that several people were very busy, Feng Zhengming walked forward without saying a word and helped to move things.

Perhaps everyone was too focused on their work and for a moment no one noticed Feng Zhengming.

Until most of the goods were moved into the store's back kitchen and neatly stacked according to Zhu Xu's instructions.

When everyone breathed a sigh of relief, they discovered the extra person, Feng Zhengming.

"Uncle Master, why are you here?"

"Chef, aren't you at home taking care of your daughter during this time?"

"Uncle Master, don't you need to accompany your wife and children?"

Facing everyone's doubts, Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "There are many people taking care of me at home. They think that I am a hindrance to them, so they just kicked me out to work."

These words immediately amused everyone present.

Feng Zhengming looked around the kitchen carefully.

"Not bad, you guys are doing a really good job here, you guys have worked so hard."

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, several people quickly expressed that these were what they should do.

"Uncle Master, you trust us and have handed over this store to us. We will definitely run it well."

"That's right, Chef. I feel quite relaxed here. It's not like in the store over there where I'm nervous every day, afraid of making mistakes."

"Hahaha, the old steward told you a long time ago that you should just come to the train station and relax."

Feng Zhengming listened to what a few people said and started laughing too.

"Okay, it seems that the tasks assigned to you are too simple. Should I give you more tasks?"

All of them immediately begged Feng Zhengming for mercy with sad faces.

"do not."

"Really, it's hard work here too."

"No, Uncle Master, you are going to increase our strength now that you are back?"

Not only Zhu Xu, Guan Wei and Zhang Lei who are in charge of the kitchen felt a lot of pressure.

The other apprentices and newly hired staff in the kitchen were also shocked.

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Just kidding. I heard that you guys are running the store near the train station very well, so let's just follow your pace. I will try not to interfere."

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, Zhu Xu, Guan Wei and Zhang Lei were quite moved.

This shows that Feng Zhengming really trusts them.

It also proves that their abilities are recognized.

For the three young chefs like them, receiving recognition from a national champion like Feng Zhengming really makes them feel more confident.

Then Feng Zhengming changed into a chef's uniform and started working with everyone in the kitchen of the railway station branch. Although the store only opened at noon, there were many things that needed to be prepared in the morning.

Especially things like pork belly, pork elbows, and pig's trotters all need to be processed in the morning.

There are also four-happiness meatballs, which also need to be fried in the morning.

After coming to Shanghai, Feng Zhengming made some changes to the original Shandong cuisine, Four-Happiness Meatballs.

First of all, the size of the meatball should be smaller so that customers don’t have to hold it for a long time to chew on it.

Secondly, some Shanghainese cuisine flavors are incorporated into the taste.

The Four Happiness Meatballs are made into a local braised dish.

These improvements have made the order of Four Happiness Meatballs very good in the store near the train station.

This adds a lot of workload to the kitchen.

After all, according to requirements, the four-happiness meatballs in Feng Zhengming’s store must be diced by hand.

This is the bottom line that Feng Zhengming insists on.

Maybe in many restaurants, Four Happiness Meatballs are made with meat minced directly by machine.

Feng Zhengming's persistence makes it natural that the four-happiness meatballs in his store are easy for people to taste different.

However, the reason why he can stick to the traditional craft is because of Feng Zhengming's reputation.

He can add the labor cost to each dish.

Others would think that given Feng Zhengming’s reputation, it is reasonable for his store to be more expensive.

In other restaurants, it would be difficult for other chefs to do this.

Feng Zhengming kept reminding everyone in the kitchen, including the new apprentices.

Be worthy of the extra money spent by customers.

"If customers spend more money, they can still get meatballs made from machine-ground meat. Why should we ask them to spend more money?"

Fortunately, people who can enter the kitchen of Feng Zhengming's store basically agree with his ideas.

The morning was busy, starting at daybreak and continuing until bright day, by ten o'clock in the morning.

The service staff of the store near the train station came to the store to work one after another.

Like the Western restaurant down the street, Feng Zhengming's restaurant has a mix of locals and outsiders serving staff.

They generally adapt well to the requirements and pace of Feng Zhengming's store.

Of course, the service staff will not have the same pursuit of craftsmanship as those in the kitchen.

The reason why they were willing to cooperate was because Feng Zhengming gave so much.

The wages that Feng Zhengming's two stores pay to their service staff are considered high in Shanghai.

It is almost on par with the salary level of service staff in big restaurants and some high-end restaurants in Shanghai.

Therefore, the service staff in the two stores are really dedicated.

After all, in Shanghai, if they don't work hard, Feng Zhengming can find replacements at any time.

When Feng Zhengming recruits people, he first gets to know the other person better, and generally hires those who are relatively honest and hardworking.

For this reason, he fired many people during the period after the opening of the two stores in Shanghai.

When the store staff came and saw Feng Zhengming there, they all congratulated Feng Zhengming.

Feng Zhengming smiled and thanked everyone: "Thank you. When my daughter's full moon comes, I will give everyone a day off and invite everyone to drink my daughter's full moon wine in the store."

This made all the service staff very happy.

It’s not because I’m happy to have a holiday.

Because I’m happy to be able to have the full moon banquet in the store.

When Feng Zhengming held his daughter's full-month banquet, there was no need for him to go to any big restaurants or high-end restaurants. His own shop was definitely the best and most prestigious place.

After Feng Zhengming led everyone in a busy process, many things were ready by noon.

A sign saying "Open for Business" was just hung on the door of the store.

Immediately, the shop door began to be pushed open by people one after another.

Customers literally flocked to the store in droves.

This kind of scene is probably what many restaurants of all sizes nearby envy every day.

Even in Feng Zhengming's store, the food is obviously much more expensive than other restaurants nearby.

But it still attracts many people to eat in his restaurant.

Since Feng Zhengming came to the store today, he naturally had to show off his skills.

"Hey, uncle, you're here? Please take a seat. Let me tell you something. Our chef is in the store today. Uncle, the stir-fried liver you want can be made by our chef."

The uncle who was greeted by a local service staff in Shanghai dialect was an old man wearing a dark woolen coat and a small hat.

Hearing the greeting, the uncle asked in the local dialect: "Really? Is it the number one scholar?"

The local waiter replied: "Yes, that's him."

The uncle smiled and nodded: "Okay then, I want one portion of local fried liver and one portion of local pickled pork with preserved vegetables, okay?"

The waiter agreed: "Okay, uncle, please wait a moment."

Then the waiter quickly walked to the counter outside the semi-open kitchen and called inside.

"Chef, can you please come over here for a moment?"

Feng Zhengming heard the shouting and also walked to the counter.

"what's the matter?"

The waiter pointed at the old man, introduced him to Feng Zhengming, and told Feng Zhengming what the other party wanted.

Feng Zhengming agreed with a smile: "Okay, you ask the uncle to wait for a while, I will make it for him right away."

Before Feng Zhengming returned to the stove, Zhu Xu asked curiously, "Master, what's the difference between our stir-fried liver tips?"

Seeing that the people in the kitchen were very curious, Feng Zhengming gave them some advice.

"It's very simple. The first difference is in the flavor. The flavor should have a bit of sweetness. The second difference is the pairing. Our Shandong cuisine usually uses green onions, while theirs usually uses spring onions."

After Feng Zhengming finished speaking, he started to operate it himself.

The liver tips had been cut in advance by the apprentice and marinated and starched according to Feng Zhengming's requirements.

Feng Zhengming moistened the wok, then sautéed the chopped green onion and garlic, then added the liver tips that had been coated with starch and fried, quickly stirred them out, and poured in the sauce in the bowl and stir-fried them.

Stir-fry evenly so that each slice of liver is evenly coated with soup.

Finally, garnish with some chives, stir-fry and serve.

It looks very similar to the stir-fried liver tips in Shandong cuisine.

In fact, Feng Zhengming is very particular about it. The scallion oil he uses is the same as the scallions in local cuisine.

When frying, add some fried shallots until they are brown.

The green onions added at the end are just to enhance the flavor.

The waiter brought this dish and a small bowl of pickled pork with preserved vegetables to the uncle.

The moment the uncle saw the plate of fried liver, his eyes lit up and he asked the waiter to give him another bowl of rice.

The uncle ate the rice with the fried liver tips in a very voracious manner.

The local waiters in the store were all surprised.

The way the uncle eats is totally different from his usual grace.

Even after finishing the meal, the uncle ignored his manners and picked up the fallen rice grains and ate them.

The uncle put down his bowl and chopsticks with a satisfied look on his face: "Authentic local style with rich oil and red sauce, delicious." (End of this chapter)