From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

This trip that Feng Zhengming and his family took ended at the night view of the beach in Aocheng.

Didn’t Feng Zhengming tell his family where they must go on this trip?

There is no requirement for family members to gain any insights during this journey?
He just accompanied his family so that they could have fun during this trip.

So at the end of the trip, every family member was still reluctant to leave and very happy.

Finally, everyone returned to Gangcheng and bought some local specialties.

Jiang Chengzhe followed Feng Zhengming and others and flew directly back to Shanghai.

After returning to Shanghai, Jiang Chengzhe immediately reunited with everyone in the store and prepared to resume business in several stores.

The staff of other stores had already returned to Shanghai.

Feng Zhengming brought his family together to hold a small post-New Year opening ceremony for his four stores.

He and Jiang Chengzhe brought everyone in the kitchen to prepare the first meal for the family members, including everyone who had returned to work, after the store resumed business.

When the food was served, everyone immediately noticed some changes.

Feng Zhengming's trip during the New Year holiday allowed him to learn something new.

He also incorporates new things he has learned into his cooking.

Feng Shengnan expressed everyone’s feelings about the meal.

"It seems like this meal is like going back to Hangzhou, Xiamen, Yangcheng, Hong Kong and Macau to eat the food."

That’s really how everyone felt about the meal.

The dishes cooked by Feng Zhengming combine the characteristics of different places.

It can be said that everything I saw and heard during this trip was integrated into this meal.

For example, Feng Zhengming specially made a modified West Lake vinegar fish.

This dish represents the experience of Hangzhou.

Feng Zhengming did not use a very good fish, but actually used a grass carp.

Clean the grass carp in your own way.

It’s really about using a lot of onion, ginger and rice wine to soak the fish and completely remove the fishy smell.

During the subsequent cooking process, the water temperature is also controlled to keep the fish meat fresh and tender.

Feng Zhengming made a few minor improvements to the final vinegar sauce.

He used a combination of various vinegars to season it, and also added some sour flavor from the fermentation of pickled sauerkraut.

Make the sour taste of the vinegar more mellow.

Especially the ginger rice at the end, which can be said to be the finishing touch of the whole fish dish.

Chop the ginger into very fine pieces and sprinkle it on top of the vinegar sauce.

Use the warmth of the vinegar to bring out the flavor of the ginger.

In the end, this dish really tastes like eating hairy crabs.

In addition to this dish, Feng Zhengming also made meat dumplings from Xiamen, and made some improvements of his own. The filling added some texture, and he also added some flavor to the skin.

Bringing everyone a unique taste.

In Guangzhou, Feng Zhengming prepared a delicious dish called "Searching for Dragons in the Snow".

That is stir-fried lobster meat slices.

Jiang Chengzhe was surprised by the dish that Feng Zhengming cooked himself.

The stir-frying of egg whites and lobster slices and the control of oil temperature demonstrate Hu Feng Zhengming's exquisite craftsmanship.

For the final dessert, Feng Zhengming and Jiang Chengzhe made a Portuguese egg tart together.

This is also a very characteristic of Australia.

Feng Zhengming even makes the tart crust himself.

The taste is a little different from what I had in Australia, but it still does not affect its deliciousness.

A meal that combined flavors from all over the South.

The whole family and the store employees were constantly surprised.

Especially the younger sister Feng Shengnan, her eyes are full of admiration for her brother.

Feng Zhengming looked at everyone enjoying their meal, he smiled and asked Jiang Chengzhe.

"Do you think we could add a few more dishes to the menu?"

Jiang Chengzhe smiled and asked, "Are you planning to add more egg tarts?"

Feng Zhengming thought about it and nodded: "The egg tarts can indeed be increased. If they are placed in this store on Western Restaurant Street, they should be liked by many overseas diners."

Jiang Chengzhe nodded: "It's true, but the other three stores are not good, right?"

Feng Zhengming asked back, "Why not? Egg tarts are indeed a foreign product, but the egg tarts in Macau are also very famous. Besides, as a snack, it should be okay to put it in the store, right?"

Jiang Chengzhe smiled bitterly: "But don't the other three restaurants specialize in Chinese food?"

Feng Zhengming smiled: "No one stipulates that Chinese restaurants cannot sell egg tarts."

Faced with Feng Zhengming's persistence, Jiang Chengzhe also felt a little helpless.

"Well, you're right, it looks like you're ready to be added to the menus of various stores."

Feng Zhengming immediately waved his hand and said, "It's just a joke. Let's add this restaurant on the Western Restaurant Street. Don't add the other three restaurants. But you can add other things to the other three restaurants."

Jiang Chengzhe was a little curious: "What are you going to join?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "You can add northern meat patties."

Jiang Chengzhe was a little confused; "Add northern meat patties?"

Feng Zhengming: "Yes, adding northern meat patties, I think it should be quite good. It just so happens that I am planning to transfer a noodle-making expert to improve the noodle-making level of the other three stores."

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, Jiang Chengzhe thought about it and felt that it seemed possible.

"It's good too. The meat pie is paired with the pork belly. It feels good too."

The person Feng Zhengming wanted to transfer to Shanghai was naturally Lu Chongshan.

These are also some of the attempts made by Feng Zhengming.

He had investigated and found that many people in Shanghai liked to eat noodles, so letting Lu Chongshan come and lead the three restaurants to make noodles should be able to improve the level of noodle making.

After all, in the three stores now, most of the chefs can cook some noodles.

Feng Zhengming felt that they were not doing well enough.

To improve the craftsmanship.

Make something different so that others cannot surpass your store.

Only in this way can everyone who comes to Shanghai and the locals in Shanghai remember their store forever.

Four stores in Shanghai have resumed business.

Feng Zhengming asked Jiang Chengzhe and others to take care of him first.

He decided to accompany his family back to Quancheng first.

Then he did not rush back to Shanghai, but first visited the branches in various parts of the province.

The roads in the province are better built, so it is more convenient for Feng Zhengming to drive himself this time.

The first stop is still Yancheng, where I have to visit my sixth senior brother first.

Zhang Minghai was very happy to see Feng Zhengming coming, and he went out of his way to welcome his junior fellow apprentice.

Then he took out all the accounts of the store and showed them to Feng Zhengming. Feng Zhengming immediately refused with a smile.

"Sixth brother, I'm not here to check the accounts, why are you giving me these? Don't you want me to come?"

Zhang Minghai quickly explained: "No, no, of course I hope you come, your sister-in-law and I really hope you can come often, or stay with us for a while.

But the accounts still need to be made clear. I can’t let you suffer any loss.”

Feng Zhengming asked with a smile: "Sixth brother, you have already said that I cannot suffer any loss, why are you still showing me the accounts?"

In the end, Feng Zhengming refused to look at the accounts.

I took my sixth senior brother for a walk on the street.

On the street, Feng Zhengming naturally saw the branch opened by Zhao Chaoxing in Yancheng.

"This store is very powerful. They opened two stores in Yancheng at once. They also sell braised pork and various boxed lunches. The business is also very good."

Feng Zhengming asked: "Will it affect your store, Brother Liu?"

Zhang Minghai was stunned at first, then quickly said: "No, that store is yours, what do you mean it will affect my store?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Sixth brother, we have agreed to open a store together. It is my store and your store as well. Don't dwell on this, okay? Just tell me whether it has any impact on the business of the store."

The Sixth Senior Brother hesitated for a moment, but had no choice but to agree with Feng Zhengming's statement.

"Of course there is an impact. After all, they have opened two stores, and their products are relatively cheap, targeting more rural migrant workers."

Feng Zhengming nodded: "It doesn't matter, he does his business and we do ours."

Zhang Minghai also thought so: "Yes, we can't stop people from doing business here. Besides, before these two stores, the store was really too busy. There was a queue from the moment it opened every day, and it could last until the evening."

After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Minghai pointed to the two Chaoxingxing stores and said, "After the opening of these two stores, there are fewer people lining up."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. Customers can choose whichever restaurant they want to go to."

In fact, Zhang Minghai was still somewhat unconvinced.

After all, in Feng Zhengming's branch, whether it is the taste of the braised pork or the various freshly fried dishes, it can be said that they are all cooked with skills.

But the taste of the braised pork in Chao Xingxing's restaurant is not as good as that in Feng Zhengming's restaurant.

What’s more, the other things they sell are boxed lunches, not freshly cooked dishes at all.

But the lunch boxes in this store are cheap.

As a result, the business of the Yancheng branch has indeed declined a lot.

Although Sixth Senior Brother did not say it, Feng Zhengming could still guess what he was thinking.

"It's okay, Sixth Brother. I came here this time to make some changes. We definitely can't follow others in lowering prices. After all, we have chefs and real skills in our store.

If we follow suit and lower our prices, it would mean that our skills are no longer valuable, and to be honest, it would be a disservice to the chefs themselves.”

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, Zhang Minghai nodded in agreement.

"That's right. We have our own skills, so we definitely can't join them in a price war. That would lower our own value and be a disservice to our own skills."

Feng Zhengming continued: "So we need to change our playing style and show our advantages."

Zhang Minghai looked at Feng Zhengming with anticipation.

He believed that his junior fellow apprentice would definitely be able to find a way to solve it.

Feng Zhengming took his sixth senior brother and walked outside their shop.

After observing carefully, Feng Zhengming pointed to the shop next door.

"Take over all the surrounding stores, or even better, buy them. I'll pay for it, and then connect all the surrounding stores and renovate them all in the style of our store."

Zhang Minghai saw that Feng Zhengming wanted to buy all the shops nearby and connect them up to renovate them into his own store.

He was stunned at first, but soon understood Feng Zhengming's idea.

"Zhengming, you want to expand our store, and then our store will not only serve the current products, but also add some special stir-fried dishes? Turn this store into a formal restaurant?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Yes, since Chao Xingxing mainly sells fast food, let's turn the store into a restaurant."

"We will upgrade our store. We will still serve braised pork and the fast food we had before, but we can also serve some customers who order dishes, so that the advantages of our chefs' skills can be demonstrated."

Zhang Minghai smiled and clapped his hands in approval: "This is a good idea. This will make the advantages of our store more prominent."

Feng Zhengming reminded Brother Six: "Remember one thing, we are not going to make it a restaurant, but a restaurant, similar to some indoor food stalls.

It is a casual gathering of a few good friends. First of all, it is not intended to be a restaurant to compete with those big restaurants.

As for the dishes, they should mainly have the characteristics of Yancheng, and all kinds of seafood should be available.”

Zhang Minghai agreed: "Don't worry, we won't lose to anyone when it comes to seafood."

Feng Zhengming believes this.

Sixth Brother’s skill in cooking seafood is indeed not inferior to anyone else.

Not to mention in Yancheng, he is definitely a leader in the entire Qilu area.

With this change, Feng Zhengming no longer has to compete with Zhao Chaoxing’s stores.

He just needs to work on his own track and do his own thing well.

"In fact, there is one more thing. Brother Liu, your store has become a restaurant. In the future, your store can be recommended in the annual recommendation guide. I believe your business will not be bad in the future."

Zhang Minghai laughed: "Hahaha, then I have to prepare well. I heard the requirements are very high."

Feng Zhengming was very confident in his sixth brother: "It's very simple for you, Sixth Brother."

After discussing with his sixth senior brother, Feng Zhengming immediately found someone to start planning.

With the help of local people in Yancheng, Feng Zhengming quickly took over several shops next to his own store.

Next, Feng Zhengming immediately started redecorating.

The store was completely expanded and some private rooms were added.

The decoration style still continues the previous style.

Soon the expanded store reopened, and it was transformed from a dry rice shop selling braised pork into a proper restaurant.

And Feng Zhengming also officially hung up the Zheng Luxing signboard.

At the same time, Feng Zhengming also upgraded four other stores in various parts of the province.

Feng Zhengming also contacted some other places and opened several new branches in other parts of the province directly in the form of restaurants.

Naturally, each store received support from all over the place, and a group of young chefs newly trained in Feng Zhengming's Quancheng store also found a place to go.

Feng Zhengming's changes upgraded the original rice shop into a restaurant.

The brand of his catering company, Zheng Luxing, has officially become famous throughout the province.

Next, with some publicity on TV and in newspapers.

The upgrades of Feng Zhengming's stores in the province were easily accepted by all localities.

After seeing the news, Zhao Chaoxing couldn't help but sigh at home.

"Feng Zhengming is worthy of being the top scholar in the country. He is really a man of vision. He upgraded all his stores and gave us part of the Volkswagen market."

The couple who used to sell lunch boxes with Feng Zhengming at the train station.

He is now also a veteran in Zhao Chaoxing's company.

The couple has also contributed a lot to the research and development of various dishes.

The couple originally thought that Zhao Chaoxing had opened a large number of branches across the province.

It may pose a certain threat to Feng Zhengming.

Now seeing Feng Zhengming upgrade all the stores, the couple realized that they could never compare to Feng Zhengming. (End of this chapter)