From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

On the second day of the first lunar month, I accompanied my wife Luo Qing and took my daughter to visit her grandparents.

On the fourth day of the first lunar month, Feng Zhengming, together with his eldest uncle, second aunt, third uncle, grandfather and grandfather Situ, flew south to Shanghai.

This was something the whole family discussed during the Chinese New Year.

We decided to go to Shanghai together first, and then continue our journey south.

This time, everyone planned to go to Shanghai first, then from Shanghai to Hangzhou, and then continue south from Hangzhou to Xiamen.

After visiting Xiamen, we will probably continue heading south to Guangzhou.

Finally, the whole family will go to Shenzhen, and also plan to go to Hong Kong and Macau.

It can be considered a trip along the southeastern coastal provinces.

The route for this trip was discussed by the whole family.

And a lot of preparations have been made.

Feng Zhengming also contacted Jiang Chengzhe who had returned to Hong Kong City and his chef friend in Macau City in advance.

Jiang Chengzhe and others all welcomed Feng Zhengming to bring his family to play.

In this way, Feng Zhengming and his team arrived in Shanghai first.

Without staying in Shanghai for long, he rushed to Hangzhou.

In Hangzhou, Feng Zhengming and his friends visited the West Lake together and also went to some scenic spots on the outskirts of the city.

Even through some arrangements made by the Chefs Association in Hangzhou, Feng Zhengming was able to take his family to visit the tea fields.

Here, the chef who received Feng Zhengming from Hangzhou was preparing to cook Longjing shrimps for him.

Feng Zhengming watched the chefs in Hangzhou prepare Longjing shrimps.

He pointed out some minor problems with a smile.

"It's really not the season to eat Longjing shrimps now. We came at the wrong time. I'm sorry to bother you."

The chefs in Hangzhou smiled and said that it would not be a big deal to make some preparations to receive Feng Zhuangyuan.

What Feng Zhengming said next surprised the chefs.

"Longjing shrimp is very famous, probably because of Longjing tea. From the cooking method, I think of the stir-fried shrimp in Huaiyang cuisine, a fresh and elegant dish that does not go with any other dishes."

After a brief pause, Feng Zhengming pointed out that Longjing Shrimp should be a similar dish.

“So I think Longjing shrimp should be a similar dish.”

These words made several Hangzhou chefs fall into deep thought.

When tasting delicious food, the key is to “taste” it.

Only those who know how to appreciate food can taste the flavor of a dish.

Feng Zhengming is such a person who knows how to appreciate things.

"You can give it a try. When the river shrimps are at their plumpest, peel the shrimps with fresh river shrimps, rinse them, and only use salt to coat the bottom, then a thin layer of flour, and then stir-fry them with the same oil used to stir-fry the shrimps.

After the shrimps are cooked, add a little Longjing tea, salt, a little sugar, and a glass starch, stir-fry quickly over high heat and serve.

After listening to Feng Zhengming's detailed explanation, several master chefs in Hangzhou were a little surprised.

“In fact, in the past, there was a saying that ‘there is heaven above and Suzhou and Hangzhou below’. Jiangsu and Zhejiang have been closely connected since ancient times, so there are many similarities between Suzhou cuisine and Hangzhou cuisine.

If you really want to explore the origin, you can probably trace it back to Huaiyang cuisine.

Many techniques of Jiangsu cuisine and Zhejiang cuisine also have some influence on Huaiyang cuisine.

Just like the braised pork in the cold dish served to us, it is also derived from the crystal braised pork in Zhenjiang in Huaiyang cuisine. "

Speaking of this, Feng Zhengming mentioned that he opened a store in Hangzhou.

"If I open a branch in Hangzhou in the future, I will also add some Suzhou and Hangzhou dishes to my store to highlight the characteristics of Hangzhou cuisine and make it different from other branches in other places."

Feng Zhengming's words were immediately welcomed by several chefs in Hangzhou.

"Okay, we are looking forward to Feng Zhuangyuan coming to Hangzhou to open a branch."

"That's right. We can communicate more with Feng Zhuangyuan then."

"We are all looking forward to Feng Zhuangyuan coming to Hangzhou."

Seeing the excitement of the chefs, Feng Zhengming said with a smile: "I know you want me to bring the recommended guide, but I have to be frank.

The requirements for recommendation guides are not low, and the restaurant recommendation guides I have made in Qilu and Shanghai mainly recommend small street shops, and will not recommend high-end restaurants and large hotels for the time being. "

Several chefs in Hangzhou expressed their understanding.

"We have all understood this, and we agree with Feng Zhuangyuan's approach."

"Yes, although the guide you made only recommends small street shops, it recommends craftsmanship and does not recommend those shops that simply pile up high-end ingredients. We agree with this."

"The key point is that the restaurant recommendation guide you made, Feng Zhuangyuan, is for the general public, recommending good and inexpensive restaurants to the public, which will also help promote the choices of tourists from other places."

"Yes, this is more suitable for us in Hangzhou."

"Yes, Hangzhou is a famous tourist attraction and receives many tourists every year. We really need a guide to recommend suitable restaurants to them."

The attitudes of several master chefs in Hangzhou surprised Feng Zhengming's accompanying family members.

Feng Zhengming finally expressed his gratitude to several people and left his contact information with several master chefs.

I told them that I would definitely come to Hangzhou alone for inspection later.

Several master chefs were very welcoming.

When only family members were left, Second Aunt spoke first with some surprise.

"Zhengming, why do I feel like they are trying to curry favor with you?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and nodded: "Second Aunt, you are right, they are indeed trying to curry favor with me."

Everyone in the family was a little puzzled and didn't quite understand why several master chefs in Hangzhou wanted to curry favor with Feng Zhengming?

Feng Zhengming recounted what happened in the individual competition of the National Cooking Competition in Hangzhou.

"Hangzhou is now eager to restore its reputation. After all, the national cooking competition did not bring Hangzhou a better reputation. Instead, the chef who abstained from the competition made Hangzhou's reputation even worse."

My family members have also heard about this.

Uncle San took over the conversation: "So, they hope you can come and help Hangzhou improve its reputation?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and nodded: "Yes, they hope that I can help change their reputation."

At this time, the uncle asked: "Zhengming, I've heard about West Lake vinegar fish before, and many people say that the taste is not good, but today I saw that the West Lake vinegar fish here tastes very good."

Feng Zhengming looked at the plate and saw that the West Lake Vinegar Fish had indeed been almost eaten.

He explained the whole dish to his family and also talked about why everyone has a bad impression of it now.

"The most traditional way to cook West Lake vinegar fish is to use grass carp to enjoy the freshness of the grass carp, paired with vinegar and some very fine ginger rice, it will feel like eating hairy crabs."

After introducing this place, Feng Zhengming immediately said: "But if the grass carp is raised in a bad environment, it will have a very strong earthy smell.

So if we still follow the traditional method, the earthy smell can’t be removed at all. If the earthy smell of the fish itself is not removed, the West Lake Vinegar Fish will be unacceptable just because of the earthy smell.”

Feng Zhengming scooped up a little bit of the West Lake Vinegar Fish soup with a public spoon and put it in the bowl.

"As for the vinegar sauce, it must be sour but not harsh, with a sweet aftertaste, and thickening it is also a test of the chef's skills.

So if you want to cook West Lake Vinegar Fish well, it is a very difficult dish.”

After introducing all aspects of West Lake Vinegar Fish, Feng Zhengming pointed to the West Lake Vinegar Fish on the plate on the table.

"The dish that the chefs prepared for us today used sea fish instead of grass carp, which effectively avoided the problem of the grass carp's earthy smell being difficult to remove."

Grandpa Situ found what Feng Zhengming said so interesting that he couldn't help but ask Feng Zhengming a question.

"Zhengming, you are making it so lively. If you were to do this, and you had to use grass carp, what would you do?"

Hearing this, Feng Zhengming looked at Grandpa Situ and laughed.

"Hahaha, Grandpa Situ, are you testing me on purpose?"

Grandpa Situ nodded: "Of course, I want to test you."

Feng Zhengming smiled slightly: "It's not impossible to do it. You can also use grass carp. The most direct way to get rid of grass carp is to starve the grass carp you bought for a few days to make it thinner and get rid of the fishy smell."

Hearing that Feng Zhengming really had a solution, the whole family became even more curious.

Zhang Hongwei, his cousin, asked, "Brother, how can grass carp lose weight? Just starve for a few days?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Get three large barrels, hang up two of them, fill them with clean water, put the grass carp in the middle barrel, and make sure the water in the barrel is always flowing.

The clean water in the upper bucket flows into the middle bucket, and the water in the middle bucket flows into the lower bucket. Or you don’t need a bucket at the bottom, and just let the water flow away directly, which is the same.

Then you need to completely change the water in the middle bucket every day to ensure that the water in the grass carp bucket is absolutely clean.

In about three or four days, the grass carp will get rid of most of the fishy smell.”

Hearing Feng Zhengming talk about this method, the whole family felt incredible.

Feng Zhengming smiled and said: "This is a bit troublesome, but it can ensure that most of the fishy smell of the grass carp is eliminated, and it can also ensure that the grass carp is fresh before cooking.

If you think this method wastes time, then clean the grass carp after killing the fish.

Fish scales, fins, teeth, and even the inside of the fish stomach must all be cleaned.

Especially the black film inside the fish's belly must be cleaned very carefully.

Then use a large amount of onion and ginger mixed with a whole bottle of fine rice wine, and soak the fish to remove the fishy smell.

When cooking at the end, you also need to add a lot of green onions, ginger and rice wine. You can't boil the fish, but after the water boils, keep it at about 80 degrees and slowly simmer the fish."

After listening to Feng Zhengming's description of his approach, the whole family felt that there were many ways, but none of them seemed easy.

Several master chefs in Hangzhou also heard Feng Zhengming's words outside the door.

They also memorized some of Feng Zhengming's methods.

Just when everyone thought that perhaps both methods should be good.

Feng Zhengming also gave a solution to solve the fishy smell of grass carp from the root.

"There is another way to make the grass carp naturally have no fishy smell."

Not only the family members, but also the chefs outside the door in Hangzhou were full of curiosity.

Grandpa Feng saw Feng Zhengming deliberately paused, and urged him with a smile: "Just speak faster, I know you have a lot of ideas, let us learn more, and let the chefs outside the door listen."

Grandpa Feng's words made the Hangzhou chefs outside the door realize that they had been discovered long ago.

Feng Zhengming smiled and shouted to the outside of the door: "You can come in and listen. My last method may be a little difficult."

Several master chefs from Hangzhou walked in from outside the door.

"I never thought that Feng Zhuangyuan would have so many ways to remove the fishy smell. It seems that we really need to communicate with Feng Zhuangyuan more and ask for his advice."

Feng Zhengming smiled and asked the chefs to sit down first.

"I am just showing off my skills in front of an expert. Actually, you should all know the method."

After several chefs sat down, Feng Zhengming began to talk about his final solution.

"The last resort is to make grass carp less fishy from the source, but this method is not something that any store can do. It requires getting along with the source of breeding, and the cost may be very high."

Next, Feng Zhengming told a story about the struggle for supremacy between Wu and Yue in the late Spring and Autumn Period.

The story mentions Fan Li, who helped the King of Yue to take revenge on the State of Wu.

Speaking of Fan Li, Feng Zhengming's story suddenly took a turn.

"Legend has it that when Fan Li retired, he found a place to raise fish and passed down a set of fish-raising methods.

It is said that one should find a place where the water flows very fast, dig small ditches for raising fish, and divert the fast water into the small ditches, so that the water in the small ditches can always maintain a very fast flow.

Each small ditch is blocked with nets in front and behind to prevent the fish from escaping from the ditch.

The fish raised in this way in a small ditch with fast-flowing water not only have no fishy smell, but also have firm and delicious meat. "

After hearing Feng Zhengming's story, everyone was shocked.

The younger sister of the third uncle couldn't help but ask: "Brother, is this true?"

Feng Zhengming laughed and said, "I don't know if it's true or not, I've never raised fish, but judging by the habits of grass carp, they will eat anything, so the strong fishy smell is often due to poor water quality.

Just like what I said before, starving the fish for a few days to lose weight also means constantly changing the water to starve the fish.

If you make a special water tank, keep grass carp in it, and then flush water into it continuously, on the one hand, you can ensure the water flow and make the water quality in the tank clean enough, and on the other hand, it will also allow the grass carp to swim continuously.

It is possible that fish raised under such conditions will have very little natural fishy smell.”

After listening to Feng Zhengming's story, I also heard about the method of raising fish he mentioned at the end.

Several Hangzhou chefs present fell into deep thought.

Did they not know whether Feng Zhengming was telling a story or whether this method could really be used to raise fish?
But if you think about it carefully, if you raise fish in this way, the electricity cost just for pumping water to flush the fish every day is not low.

So after much thought, I think the method of removing fishy smell that Feng Zhengming mentioned before is better.

Feng Zhengming also laughed and said, "Okay, okay, that's the end of the story. Thank you to the chefs for cooking today's meal and letting us taste authentic Hangzhou cuisine."

These words brought everyone back to their senses, but younger sister Feng Shengnan was still a little bit persistent.

"So you're telling us a story, brother?"

Feng Zhengming responded with a smile: "Yes, isn't the story good?"

Feng Shengnan was stunned for a moment: "It's quite interesting."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "A short story after the meal allows everyone to enjoy the delicious food while relaxing."

This immediately made everyone laugh.

The family dinner in Hangzhou ended in a joyful atmosphere.

Before Feng Zhengming and his friends left, he still paid the bill for Hangzhou to host them, and did not ask Hangzhou to waive the bill for them. (End of this chapter)