From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

After several days of competition, the Qilu Province Young Chefs Cooking Skills Exchange Competition finally decided on the ten young chefs who would enter the final round.

What surprised many people was that the two disciples that Master Wang brought back from Beijing both made it into the top ten.

This is not because everyone gave more points to his two disciples out of respect for Master Wang.

Just as Feng Zhengming told Master Wang frankly during the meeting.

Master Wang's two disciples do have solid basic skills.

In the final competition to advance to the top ten, the two young chefs demonstrated very solid basic skills.

His knife skills, fire skills and spoon skills are all quite hardcore.

Many onlookers at the scene applauded.

Except for Master Wang's two disciples, no young chefs from other masters made it into the top ten.

This does not mean that other masters are not as capable as Master Wang in training their juniors.

They are mainly disciples of other masters, and those who should have participated have participated in the competition in the past two years.

The old masters were also embarrassed to ask their apprentices to participate every year.

The young chef, Ma Jingcheng, who had previously shouted at Feng Zhengming’s restaurant that he would definitely catch up with Feng Zhengming.

In the end, he was among the top ten young chefs in the province.

After the top ten are decided, the final round is for the top ten chefs to prepare three dishes each and perform their final cooking show together in a public venue.

This time, a large number of reporters from TV stations and newspapers gathered at the scene.

Reporters from Qilu Food Magazine, run by Feng Zhengming and his junior uncle Huang Tao, were also present to conduct interviews.

Huang Tao even interviewed Feng Zhengming and several masters.

Ask everyone for their predictions on the final outcome of this competition?

When asked by his junior master, Feng Zhengming refused to give his own prediction.

"I think that this year's young chefs all have their own strengths. I can't say who will be the top pick in the end. I hope they can all perform well and show their best cooking skills in the final."

Huang Tao then asked: "You don't want to predict the results. Do you think the level of young chefs this year has dropped compared to the previous two years?"

When Feng Zhengming heard Junior Master ask this, he couldn't help but smile and ask back: "Why do you ask this? Does anyone think the level has dropped?"

Huang Tao was quite direct, in front of the masters next to him.

"Some people say that not many students from the old masters participated in the competition this year, so the level of the competition this year has been lowered."

When asked this question by his junior master uncle, Feng Zhengming naturally understood that this was just an attempt to produce some eye-catching reports.

Feng Zhengming simply said: "I think the level of young chefs this year has improved compared to the previous two years.

Because there were no students from the old masters participating in the competition, everyone was able to see more different skills and some cooking techniques that were different from the Shandong cuisine that we usually see.

This can be considered as progress, and I think the masters would be happy to see this.”

These words, coming from Feng Zhengming's mouth, caused a lot of discussion at the scene.

Some people even think that Feng Zhengming's words are challenging the authority of the masters.

The sound of discussion soon reached the ears of Feng Zhengming and the masters.

Feng Zhengming did not make any statement or response.

The old masters don't care about this issue at all.

Before the live finals began, Feng Zhengming was invited to the stage to say a few words to encourage the young chefs.

Feng Zhengming stood on the stage and repeated his previous words in public.

“Maybe what I said caused some people to misunderstand me, thinking that I was deliberately saying that the disciples of several masters were not good enough, and that I wanted to challenge the authority of the masters in Shandong cuisine.

Some people may even want to sow discord between me, my master, and several of my uncles and aunts."

Feng Zhengming's words in public shocked many people at the scene.

The old masters looked at each other with smiles on their faces.

The old masters were not surprised at all when Feng Zhengming said this.

The old masters all knew that Feng Zhengming would not allow others to talk about him behind his back or instigate him.

Feng Zhengming continued speaking.

"Unfortunately, I'm afraid some people's wishful thinking is wrong. When it comes to craftsmanship, there can be no mistakes in the basic skills. Good is good, bad is bad, and this aspect is very intuitive.

The top ten of this year’s Young Chef Competition have been announced, and I think everyone can see that they all have solid basic skills.

Even the basic skills of most of the young chefs participating in the competition this year are obviously better than those in the previous two sessions.

This is the original intention of holding this young chef cooking skills exchange competition.

Skill exchange, if you don’t even have the basic skills, then what are you exchanging here for? What are you competing for?”

Feng Zhengming's remarks received applause from the audience.

It was the veteran masters on the scene who took the lead in applauding him.

Feng Zhengming continued speaking only after the applause.

"So why do I say that the level of this year's young chef competition has improved a lot? This is because this year we have higher requirements for basic skills, and the young chefs who come to participate also pay more attention to basic skills.

I think this is the situation that all the masters would like to see.

I believe that young chefs will have more solid basic skills in the future and will pass on our Shandong cuisine better.”

At the end of his speech, Feng Zhengming spoke frankly about his expectations.

“I look forward to other Shandong cuisine chefs winning the first prize in the national cooking skills competition in the future.

I look forward to the day when I become the first wave that is washed onto the beach by the second wave. "

Feng Zhengming's last words immediately caused laughter at the scene.

Amid the laughter, there was even warmer applause from everyone.

The masters exchanged glances with each other, and finally looked at Master Yan together.

The meaning expressed in everyone's eyes was very clear.

Everyone felt that Feng Zhengming was the kind of person that a true national top scholar should be.

After Feng Zhengming’s speech, the final of the top ten young chefs competition officially began.

The provincial television station is dedicated to on-site filming and live broadcast.

Let the whole province watch this final.

At the same time, many people from all over the province watched the live broadcast on TV.

The ten young chefs can be said to have shown their talents.

Seemingly inspired by Feng Zhengming's words, they performed significantly better in the finals.

In the competition of the first two traditional Shandong dishes, there was almost no difference in level among the top ten young chefs.

Relying on solid basic skills, he can cook two traditional Shandong dishes quite standardly.

The only difference between good and bad lies in the tiny details that vary by a hair's breadth.

However, since it is a competition, even the slightest difference in details will be taken into account in the scoring.

The last dish is a new creation by the young chefs.

This dish immediately created a huge gap between the young chefs.

Master Wang brought back two apprentices from Beijing. They were more creative than the young chefs from other places in Qi and Lu. After all, being with Master Wang in Beijing, they could see many new and innovative dishes.

In front of the other chefs, Feng Zhengming told Master Wang that the last innovative dish was a bit unfair.

"Uncle Wang, your two disciples still have a huge advantage in this dish."

Master Wang was very satisfied with the performance of his two disciples.

But when it came to this last innovative dish, he felt a little embarrassed.

“This dish is indeed a bit unfair. They can see too many innovative and creative dishes in Beijing, which gives them a natural advantage. Moreover, Beijing now gathers cuisines from all over the country.

They also have opportunities to communicate with chefs of other cuisines, and they do have an advantage over young chefs in the province in terms of creativity.”

Master Wang's words were unanimously agreed by the other masters present.

The masters also felt that if their disciples came to participate in this session, they might be defeated by the two disciples that Master Wang brought back from Beijing.

This is not a lack of craftsmanship, but a gap in knowledge and concepts.

Feng Zhengming also took the opportunity to make some suggestions.

"Next year we should invite more chefs from other places to come for exchanges, so that young chefs from all over the province can see some of the different cuisines from different places and broaden their horizons."

Master Cui immediately said to Feng Zhengming: "If you pay more attention to this matter, I think they will give you this honor if you invite them."

When Feng Zhengming heard what Master Cui said, he nodded and agreed: "Okay, Master, I'll make the arrangements."

As the last dish was completed, Feng Zhengming and the chefs went on stage to taste it.

The ten young chefs all put their own ideas into this final dish.

The creativity of Master Wang's two disciples is indeed more obvious.

They used some ingredients that are not common in Qi and Lu.

We also tried some novelties in seasoning.

For example, I tried the fish flavor of Sichuan cuisine.

Another person used some Cantonese cooking techniques and made some different cooking attempts on shrimp.

Overall, Master Wang’s two disciples did make some very creative dishes.

When Feng Zhengming was evaluating the works, he also gave some recognition and encouragement.

Of course, he also gave the two young chefs a little bit of a blow.

"It's fine that you used the fish flavor from Sichuan cuisine, but it's still a bit monotonous when used to cook fish. If it were me, I would probably use this fish flavor to cook sea cucumbers."

Feng Zhengming's words immediately surprised the disciple of Master Wang.

Then, Feng Zhengming talked about the idea of ​​cooking sea cucumbers with fish flavor.

“Use fresh sea cucumbers, clean them, stuff them with a mixture of fresh shrimp and chicken, then coat the sea cucumbers with crispy batter, deep-fry them, and stir-fry the shrimp balls separately with fish flavor.

When arranging the dish, the sliced ​​sea cucumbers should be arranged into a complete shape, with the shrimps dotted on the side, and finally drizzled with the fish-flavored sauce used to stir-fry the shrimps.”

Feng Zhengming's words shocked all the old and young chefs present.

No one has ever thought that the fish flavor of Sichuan cuisine can be used to cook sea cucumbers in this way.

If you think about it carefully, Feng Zhengming's innovation borrowed the fish flavor of Sichuan cuisine.

The ingredients used are the most famous large prawns and sea cucumbers in Qilu.

The cooking method is also very traditional Shandong cuisine.

Everyone had to admit that Feng Zhengming's idea was really unique, and just listening to it made people want to try it.

Master Wang quickly said to his disciple, "What are you doing standing there, Yue Zhongyao? Hurry up and thank your uncle."

After being reminded, Yue Zhongyao quickly understood and hurriedly thanked Feng Zhengming respectfully.

"Thank you, Uncle Feng."

Feng Zhengming responded with a smile: "You're welcome. Your creativity lies in the presentation of this dish. Presentation and shape are indeed important, but the dish you cook must ultimately taste good to the customers."

Master Wang's other disciple, Wang Chen, was also looking forward to it and wanted to get Feng Zhengming's guidance.

Similarly, the other top ten young chefs also wanted to get Feng Zhengming's guidance.

Feng Zhengming did not disappoint the young chefs.

He actually tasted each dish one by one, pointing out the pros and cons of each one.

He also gives suggestions for improvement.

After tasting all this, Feng Zhengming was the only one speaking again.

Most of the masters gave comments based on the application of techniques.

In terms of creative concepts, it is basically Feng Zhengming who provides comments and guidance.

This may also be the most beneficial thing for young chefs.

Finally, a comprehensive score is calculated.

Master Wang’s apprentice Yue Zhongyao won the top prize in this year’s young chef competition.

The second place was a young chef from the island city named Chen Fu.

The third place is Wang Chen, another disciple of Master Wang.

Ma Jingcheng finally got the sixth place.

Not being able to make it into the top five was somewhat of a blow to Ma Jingcheng.

Feng Zhengming specifically sought him out after the game.

"Why? Are you not satisfied with your sixth place result?"

Ma Jingcheng nodded.

Feng Zhengming smiled: "This result is a very good result for you now. Your basic skills are solid enough, but you have not yet mastered all the Shandong cuisine techniques."

Ma Jingcheng couldn't help but ask, "Is it because my last dish wasn't creative enough?"

Feng Zhengming shook his head: "The last creative dish is not the key to scoring. When scoring, the competition between the first two traditional Shandong dishes is the focus. The creative dish will not affect your score much."

Ma Jingcheng asked: "Then how are my first two dishes worse than others?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "The fact that you can think of asking this question shows that you still want to make progress."

Then, without waiting for Ma Jingcheng to speak, Feng Zhengming pointed out the problems with his first two dishes in the final.

“You are not as good as others in handling details. You have to remember that the more traditional the dish is, the more meticulous you have to be when making it. The fact that those traditional techniques have been passed down for so many years shows that they are the crystallization of the wisdom of generations of chefs.

The fact that it has been passed down to this day means that the cooking method of that dish has been tested and recognized.

Therefore, when doing it, there must be absolutely no cutting of corners.

The dishes must be cooked strictly according to the most traditional methods to best reflect their merits.”

After listening to Feng Zhengming's words, I listened to him point out the problems in his cooking.

Ma Jingcheng was really surprised. He didn't expect that some small details would have such a big impact?

Feng Zhengming saw Ma Jingcheng's confusion.

He smiled and explained: "This is a competition. If you can't keep improving in the competition, how can you beat your opponents and how can you be qualified to become the top scorer?"

These words completely woke Ma Jingcheng up, and he finally understood the key issue of his failure.

Or maybe I didn't really put my heart into the competition and slacked off at the last moment. (End of this chapter)