From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

On the first night after arriving in Hangzhou, Feng Zhengming and his wife were both somewhat used to their beds and neither slept very well.

But it does make it easier for the couple to take care of their daughter.

The little girl was obviously excited to come to the new city.

The whole night was filled with all kinds of fun, and he kept asking his parents to play with him.

The couple kept playing with the little girl until she was finally tired and fell asleep.

The young couple was so tired that they lay down and fell asleep.

As a result, my daughter still woke up very early in the morning.

When their daughter woke up, Feng Zhengming and his wife Luo Qing also woke up and began to tidy up their daughter.

After that, Feng Zhengming got up and washed.

"Do you want me to order breakfast for you in the morning?"

Luo Qing was accompanying her daughter to drink milk, and replied: "No, we will go downstairs to eat together later."

Feng Zhengming poked his head out from the bathroom: "I thought you could sleep a little longer."

Luo Qing yawned: "It's okay, I can't sleep now either. After lunch, when my daughter is asleep, I'll sleep with her for a while."

Feng Zhengming agreed: "Okay, then we'll go downstairs and have breakfast later."

After Feng Zhengming came out of the shower, he started to take care of his daughter and asked his wife to go in and wash up.

It still takes a lot of time for my wife to wash and brush her teeth.

Perhaps it was because he knew that Feng Zhengming had met a beautiful young female host yesterday.

So today Luo Qing dressed herself up specially.

When Luo Qing came out of the bathroom, Feng Zhengming's eyes lit up.

"Wow, mommy looks so beautiful today."

The daughter, who was held in her father's arms, seemed to think her mother was beautiful as well. She waved her little hands and hummed.

Luo Qing turned around in front of the father and daughter and asked, "Compared to the female host you met yesterday, who is prettier between us?"

"Hahaha." Feng Zhengming laughed immediately, "So you were waiting for me here?"

Luo Qing couldn't help laughing.

"Answer quickly."

Feng Zhengming continued to smile: "To be honest, if you ask me now, I can't even remember what Feng Lanyun looks like."

Luo Qing leaned over and got closer to her husband: "Really?"

Feng Zhengming took the opportunity to move forward and kiss his wife.

"Of course it's true. Who could be prettier than my wife? I never keep other women in mind except my wife."

As he was speaking, Feng Zhengming's cell phone rang.

Luo Qing reached out and picked up the phone, then read it sourly.

"Mr. Feng, are you up yet? The breakfast in the hotel restaurant today is delicious. I suggest you come down and try some of the special breakfasts here."

After reading it, Luo Qing shook her husband's phone and said, "Look, the text messages have come."

Feng Zhengming smiled: "What's the big deal? They are just being polite and telling us that we can go have breakfast."

Luo Qing didn't care and handed the phone to her husband.

"Okay, let's go downstairs. I also want to meet the young female host."

Feng Zhengming took the phone and put it in his pocket, then stood up holding his daughter.

"Look, mom is still jealous."

Hearing her husband talking to her, Luo Qing turned around and warned him, "Don't say that to our daughter."

The little girl doesn’t know what her parents are doing?
When she saw her parents talking a little loudly, she immediately reached out her little hand and touched them, as if to say, "Mom and Dad, don't quarrel."

Feng Zhengming and Luo Qing were both amused by the touch of their daughter's little hands.

The young couple almost kissed their daughter's hand together.

The little girl was very happy to be kissed on the hand by her parents.

The family of three walked out of the room together.

When taking the elevator downstairs, the little girl lay in her father's arms.

The family of three came directly to the hotel restaurant.

As soon as they entered the door, Feng Lanyun saw them and took the initiative to come forward.

"Good morning, Mr. Feng. Is this Mrs. Feng? You are so beautiful."

"Oh, and our number one scholar's daughter, she's so cute."

Luo Qing looked at Feng Lanyun.

I have to say that Feng Lanyun is really beautiful, especially her youthful vitality, which gives people a fresh feeling of a girl next door.

Luo Qing felt like getting close to her and didn't feel the slightest bit jealous towards her.

Feng Zhengming responded with a smile: "Thank you for your text message this morning. Thank you for your hard work."

When Feng Lanyun saw Feng Zhengming, he told her directly about the text message in front of his wife and daughter.

She naturally understood that Feng Zhengming would not hide his text messages from his family.

"You're welcome. We invited you, Mr. Feng, to come here so we can provide you with good service."

Luo Qing smiled and said, "You are too polite. I heard that you are the host of this competition. You can't just serve us. You should put the hosting work first."

Feng Zhengming also agreed: "Yes, yes, we can't delay your work."

Feng Lanyun smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. The show hasn't started yet and there are still some contestants who haven't arrived yet."

Hearing that some contestants had not arrived yet, Feng Zhengming asked: "How will the contestants' accommodation be solved for this individual competition?"

Feng Lanyun's expression became serious: "We have already informed them in advance when they signed up that the competition does not provide food and accommodation. The contestants need to find their own food and accommodation."

Hearing this, Feng Zhengming looked at his wife.

Luo Qing immediately understood what her husband's eyes meant.

Feng Zhengming feels that asking the contestants to arrange their own food and accommodation is actually somewhat difficult for some of them.

If the contestants are from far away, it may not be easy to come here.

It takes a lot of time and energy to arrange your own food and accommodation here.

How can you perform at a better level if you can’t eat well and live well?
But the competition was not organized by Feng Zhengming after all.

So he couldn't say anything directly.

While eating breakfast, Feng Zhengming put his daughter on his lap and let his wife eat first.

Feng Zhengming also specifically ordered a bowl of millet porridge and asked someone to help chop some vegetables and mix them into the porridge.

He fed his daughter patiently, little by little.

Although it was not made by dad himself, my daughter still liked it very much because it was mixed according to dad's requirements.

The little girl enjoyed the meal very much.

Feng Lanyun watched from the side and couldn't help but sigh: "I didn't expect Feng Zhuangyuan to be so good at raising children."

Luo Qing smiled and nodded: "He really loves his daughter. If he were at home, he would cook all kinds of food for his daughter in different ways."

Feng Lanyun was a little surprised: "Such a young child can't eat a lot, right?"

Feng Zhengming said, "Yes, it's better to eat some porridge as a complementary food. I will add some crushed vegetable puree and slightly adjust the taste. The child will like it."

Then Feng Lanyun listened to Feng Zhengming giving her a vivid parenting lesson.

Feng Lanyun couldn't help but sigh in her heart: Feng Zhuangyuan really likes children.

By the time my wife had finished eating, my daughter had almost finished eating too.

Then Feng Zhengming started to eat breakfast.

Feng Lanyun discovered that Feng Zhengming was not so particular about his breakfast. Basically, Feng Zhengming would eat everything provided for breakfast very neatly.

The breakfast provided in the hotel tastes good.

Among them is Hangzhou’s famous shrimp and eel noodles.

Feng Zhengming ordered a bowl and took a sip of the soup first.

I am quite satisfied with it, as the broth I used is considered to be high.

The shrimps were chewy and must have been fresh, but the eel meat did not taste that fresh to Feng Zhengming.

However, Feng Zhengming could understand what was happening so early in the morning.

A snack was also delivered to Feng Zhengming from the hotel restaurant's kitchen.

Feng Zhengming looked at it and laughed: "You must have bought these snacks from outside, right?"

These words immediately stumped the chef who was delivering the dim sum.

Soon the chef from the restaurant's kitchen came out to greet us.

"Hello, Mr. Feng, this dessert is indeed something we bought from outside. It is an osmanthus dessert from a well-known dessert shop here."

Feng Zhengming nodded: "It can be seen that the packaging of the snacks is very careful, but it is a bit rough."

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, there was no need for him to make too many comments.

The chefs around in the hotel kitchen already understood.

He apologized to Feng Zhengming and took the snacks away.

Feng Lanyun was watching from the side, and after the other party took the snacks away, she couldn't help but become curious.

"Mr. Feng, why do you think the desserts are a little crude?"

Feng Zhengming smiled: "The truly good dim sum must be made by hand. The dim sum just now was obviously made by a machine."

Feng Lanyun became even more curious after hearing this: "How can you tell it was made by a machine?"

Luo Qing standing next to her was also very curious.

Feng Zhengming explained with a smile: "It's very simple. Didn't you see the sweet-scented osmanthus cake? It was pressed so tightly. How could it be pressed so tightly by hand? It must have been made by a machine."

Feng Zhengming then pointed out: "As for the sweet-scented osmanthus cake, you can hardly smell any sweet-scented osmanthus fragrance.

You guys can hardly see any osmanthus flowers, right?"

Luo Qing and Feng Lanyun both nodded.

Feng Zhengming shook his head: "In the past, Suzhou and Hangzhou dim sum were famous throughout the country. I didn't expect it to become like this now. It's really disappointing."

These words made Feng Lanyun feel a little embarrassed.

After all, she is a native of Hangzhou.

Feng Lanyun felt really embarrassed to hear Feng Zhengming's comments on the local dim sum.

At the same time, Feng Lanyun also felt somewhat sorry for the loss of some craftsmanship in Hangzhou.

Feng Lanyun planned to discuss these matters with the leaders of the station later.

After breakfast, Feng Zhengming, his wife and their daughter prepared to go out for a walk and have a look.

Feng Lanyun was too embarrassed to follow along.

I felt that they were a family of three and it would be awkward for me to follow them.

Feng Zhengming felt more at ease when he saw that Feng Lanyun didn't follow him.

The family of three got on the car arranged by the hotel and headed directly to the famous West Lake Scenic Area in Hangzhou.

Although it is winter now, the scenery is still pretty good.

The couple walked hand in hand, pushing their daughter in a stroller along the Su Causeway, which was a special occasion even in winter.

After walking along the Su Causeway, I also went to the Broken Bridge to take a look.

"It's a pity that it rarely snows in Hangzhou now, so it's not easy to see the scenery of snow on the Broken Bridge."

Luo Qing was a little curious: "Why is there a scene of snow on a broken bridge?"

Feng Zhengming introduced it to his wife with a smile.

"It is said that this view can be seen from the Baoshi Mountain in the south. After the snow, the West Lake is covered in silver. The snow on the arch of the Broken Bridge will melt first when exposed to the sun, while the snow on both sides of the bridge will not melt.

When viewed from a distance, the gray-brown color of the bridge surface, interlaced with the white snow scene, makes the bridge appear to be half-broken.

That’s why it’s called Broken Bridge and Residual Snow. ”

Luo Qing was a little surprised when she heard this: "So that's how it is?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "I also read about it in some magazines, but I have never seen what kind of landscape it is."

Luo Qing couldn't help but sigh: "I really want to see it."

Feng Zhengming smiled helplessly and said, "I heard that it doesn't snow much in Hangzhou now, so it's really hard to see it."

Walking on the Broken Bridge, you can also see the collapsed Leifeng Pagoda.

There is construction going on there now, and you can see that the new tower has begun to take shape.

Feng Zhengming pointed it out to his wife.

“Perhaps soon, we will be able to see the sunset over Leifeng Mountain.”

Took a tour around West Lake.

The family of three did not go home for lunch and wanted to find a restaurant nearby to eat.

It's a pity that the prices in the nearby restaurants are indeed a bit expensive.

Feng Zhengming and his friends had no choice but to go farther away to eat.

Luo Qing was a little curious while eating.

"By the way, I heard that West Lake Vinegar Fish is very famous. Should we try it when we come to Hangzhou this time?"

Feng Zhengming laughed when he heard it: "I'm afraid you can't get used to that."

Luo Qing was puzzled: "Are you not used to it? But it seems to be very famous."

Feng Zhengming nodded: "It is indeed very famous, but it may not taste very good. First of all, you need to use grass carp to make West Lake vinegar fish, but grass carp is usually very fishy.

Therefore, according to the traditional method of cooking West Lake Vinegar Fish, it might be impossible to remove the fishy smell.

Another thing is the sauce of West Lake Vinegar Fish. If it is not cooked well, it will be sticky and sour.

I’m afraid you won’t be able to accept this.”

Luo Qing was even more surprised: "Why is it so famous? It's obviously not delicious?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and replied: "Maybe it's because West Lake is famous, so it's famous too. But if I were to make it, it might taste a lot better if I improve it a little bit."

Luo Qing immediately asked: "How do you want to improve it?"

Feng Zhengming thought for a moment and said: "First of all, we should use fish. We should choose fresh ocean fish. We can try to use large yellow croaker or cheaper sea bass.

Secondly, some adjustments need to be made to the taste. We can’t just use the heavy vinegar flavor of the past.

To adapt to today's tastes, reduce the use of vinegar, or even use white vinegar to make the color not so dark.

Add some sugar to neutralize the sour taste and you can make a sweet and sour sauce.”

Luo Qing laughed: "Wouldn't that make it sweet and sour fish?"

Feng Zhengming said: "It does take some effort to change the seasoning, keeping some vinegar flavor, but not making it too sour."

Luo Qing couldn't help but sigh: "Cooking is really difficult."

After sighing, she stared at her husband and said, "You insist on making every dish well. You are really the best chef."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Thank you for your affirmation, and I also want to thank you for your support."

Although they did not try the West Lake vinegar fish, Feng Zhengming and his friends still had water shield fish ball soup in this restaurant.

It's also a chance to taste some special dishes that are only available in Hangzhou.

And dishes from other four schools of Zhejiang cuisine. (End of this chapter)