From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Ever since Feng Zhengming started to have several stores in Quancheng accept trainee apprentices, Huiquanlou has become the first choice for internships that most vocational school students dream of.

Most of these students do not understand how strict Huiquanlou is with its interns.

After finally passing the assessment and competition, I finally entered the kitchen of Huiquanlou.

The interns faced a harsh environment and although they were somewhat uncomfortable at first, they were able to adjust their mindset after a week or two.

When the trainees first entered Huiquanlou, they were all assigned to be responsible for the water table and cutting the mound every day.

They are not even qualified to cut the food for the chef.

Most of the time, I can only practice cutting in the more marginal areas of the kitchen.

What they practice every day will also be made into dishes for their work meals.

This was an intentional arrangement by Feng Zhengming.

Feng Zhengming would tell the new apprentice the reason directly in front of him.

"Asking you to cut the meat is to train your patience. A chef in the kitchen must be able to endure loneliness because our work is repetitive every day.

You may have to do the same thing over and over again for decades, which requires you to have enough patience and be able to withstand loneliness in the kitchen.

In addition, I made the vegetables you cut for practice into working meals for you to eat, so that you will remember not to waste food. When you become a formal chef in the future, you must know how to respect the ingredients.”

The new interns will definitely not understand what Feng Zhengming said.

But once you have experienced the busy scene in the kitchen of Huiquanlou.

Gradually all the trainees will understand.

Huiquanlou is very famous nowadays. After entering 2000, everyone's economic conditions have improved.

It is natural that all kinds of wedding banquets will also pay attention to the pomp and circumstance.

Be it a wedding, a baby’s full month celebration, or an elder’s birthday.

Some families will set up several tables to celebrate when their children are admitted to university or get a job.

Then Huiquanlou would definitely be the first choice for most people in Quancheng for these banquets.

This means that Huiquanlou must have banquets at least three to four days a week.

Therefore, Huiquanlou is always very busy at mealtime, whether it is noon or evening.

Interns have all experienced the busyness of Huiquanlou once.

They will be able to appreciate the strength of Huiquanlou’s kitchen.

Whenever there is a banquet, Li Huidong and Cao Zhiguo must cook personally in the kitchen of Huiquanlou.

At this time, not to mention the interns, even the young chefs in the kitchen could only help out.

For each dish, Li Huidong and Cao Zhiguo will lead the young chefs to cook it carefully, and also ensure that the final presentation of the dish is beautiful enough.

The carvings on the side dishes in each dish alone amazed the trainees.

They also learned how to carve these ingredients when they were in school.

However, teachers in school usually say that most restaurants and hotels do not carve any patterns on the ingredients.

But Huiquanlou is different. When preparing banquets, they will definitely carve the ingredients.

In this way, the carved ingredients alone are pleasing to the eye.

Combined with the craftsmanship of two master chefs Li Huidong and Cao Zhiguo.

It can be said that customers will love each dish just by looking at it, even before they eat it.

In the past, Li Huidong and Cao Zhiguo might not have done this.

But in recent years, influenced by Feng Zhengming, Li Huidong and Cao Zhiguo also formed the habit.

Although Feng Zhengming now has many stores, he needs to travel around constantly.

Most of the time, Feng Zhengming hardly ever goes to the kitchen of Huiquanlou to work.

But for the two senior brothers Li Huidong and Cao Zhiguo, the fact that their junior brother did not come to Huiquanlou represented his absolute trust in them.

Therefore, the two of them must let their junior brother run Huiquanlou well and not let him down.

This is also why Feng Zhengming is not in Huiquanlou most of the time.

Huiquanlou's fame and reputation in Quancheng are getting better and better.

After seeing the skills of Li Huidong and Cao Zhiguo, the trainee apprentices will be convinced.

Some smart students would observe carefully every day during the six-month internship and record some skills of Li Huidong, Cao Zhiguo and the young chefs in the kitchen.

These are the most valuable things for all trainees during their internship in Huiquanlou’s kitchen.

You can watch the chefs cook up close and hear them teach you some techniques.

This may be an opportunity that many chefs will never get even after working for many years.

After the apprentices' internship period ends, Feng Zhengming will arrange an opportunity for them.

If I can pass the assessment, I will get the recognition of several senior brothers.

Apprentice trainees can enter Feng Zhengming’s other stores.

For those who fail to pass the assessment, Feng Zhengming will recommend them to work in Zhao Chaoxing's chain stores.

Some people are unwilling to go to Zhao Chaoxing's chain store.

I feel like going there to make boxed lunches is a bit cheap.

Feng Zhengming would not force it.

Respect personal choices.

Some people are also willing to go to Zhao Chaoxing's stores.

Firstly, these people will choose Zhao Chaoxing to open a store in their hometown.

Secondly, the salary paid by Zhao Chaoxing’s store to the kitchen staff is not low.

After all, I can have a job in my hometown, which is worthy of my years of experience in learning cooking.

What's more, after training in Zhao Chaoxing's store for a period of time and becoming more skilled, he will have the opportunity to change jobs or open a small restaurant in his hometown.

Feng Zhengming took care of the affairs of various stores in the province, and when he returned to Quancheng, he would visit each store every day.

What’s interesting is that Zhao Chaoxing has opened quite a few branches in other cities in the province.

But he still has two stores in Quancheng.

People who discovered this thought about the fact that Feng Zhuangyuan had four stores in Quancheng, and they understood why Zhao Chaoxing did not dare to open more branches.

After all, the locals in Quancheng prefer to eat at Feng Zhuangyuan’s several restaurants.

For tourists from other places who come to Quancheng, Feng Zhuangyuan’s store is definitely their first choice.

Zhao Chaoxing’s two stores are indeed not competitive in Quancheng.

Time flies by in the busyness, and before we know it, it is May.

Just after the May Day holiday, Feng Zhengming received news that another large restaurant in Quancheng was being renovated.

Someone saw the big restaurant that was being renovated, and the signboard that was put up looked like the sign of Jubinyuan.

After hearing the news, Feng Zhengming met with his fellow seniors and pointed out the truth in front of them.

"It should be Cheng Guosheng who is back."

Third Senior Brother Yang Bin spoke first: "Cheng Guosheng has been out for two or three years, right?"

Senior Brother Li Huidong nodded: "It should be more than four years. He left Quancheng when Zhengming participated in the national competition."

Feng Zhengming nodded. "Yes, he took the train south with me. He said he wanted to start over in the south and learn the skills of other cuisines. He would come back and compete with me in the future."

Fifth Senior Brother Cao Zhiguo asked: "So he's back now and put up the Jubinyuan sign again. Is he going to challenge us?"

Li Huidong shook his head: "I don't think so in a fight. He should know that he is no match for Zhengming now."

"Brother, you can't say that." Feng Zhengming was still humble in front of his senior brothers.

Third brother Yang Bin laughed: "Hahaha, why are you being so modest? No matter what, you are the president of the Shandong Cuisine Chefs Association and the president of the Catering Association.

When he comes back to open a shop, he has to pass by you, right? He is definitely no match for you. "

Feng Zhengming couldn't help but sigh: "I wonder how he has been doing outside these years? Has he really started cooking dishes from other cuisines?"

Cao Zhiguo immediately responded: "If he cooks dishes from other cuisines, then we don't have to be afraid of him. In Quancheng, Shandong cuisine is still more popular."

Li Huidong is still relatively conservative: "We can't say that. Different places have their own characteristics, and there are people who like them. We can't say that we are definitely better than them."

Yang Bin asked: "Zhengming, why don't you go back to Huiquanlou to take over for a few days and challenge him?"

Feng Zhengming smiled: "Third brother, you don't believe in the skills of the eldest and fifth brothers?"

This made Yang Bin look embarrassed: "Brother, Lao Wu, I don't distrust your craftsmanship."

Cao Zhiguo pretended to be angry: "Third brother, you clearly think that my eldest brother and I are no match for Cheng Guosheng."

Yang Bin explained: "Really not, I just said it casually."

Li Huidong waved his hand: "You two stop bickering here. Whether or not to compete with Cheng Guosheng's new Jubinyuan depends on Zhengming."

As soon as the eldest senior brother opened his mouth, the three senior brothers immediately looked at Feng Zhengming together.

Facing the gazes of the three brothers, Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "I don't think we need to compete with Xin Jubinyuan."

These words made the three brothers feel a little strange.

"Zhengming, this is not like your character. Are you going to let Cheng Guosheng go just like that?"

Feng Zhengming responded calmly: "It's not that I let him go, but I don't think it's necessary to be too serious with him."

The third and fifth senior brothers didn’t quite understand what Feng Zhengming meant.

The eldest brother Li Huidong understood the younger brother's intention.

"Zhengming's business has really grown in recent years. We really don't need to argue with Cheng Guosheng. We should all do our own thing. It's impossible for a few of us to do all the business in Quancheng."

The third and fifth senior brothers also nodded.

Feng Zhengming continued, "We just need to run our own store well and let customers make their own choices. We really don't need to pay too much attention to Cheng Guosheng's new Jubinyuan."

Speaking of this, Feng Zhengming actually expressed some expectations for Cheng Guosheng's new Jubin Garden.

"I'd like to see what new skills Cheng Guosheng brought back after being away for so long."

The third brother couldn't help but asked with a smile: "What new skills can be better than you, the top scholar?"

Feng Zhengming also laughed: "It's hard to say for sure."

The eldest brother said in a serious tone, "In recent years, there have been more and more hotpot restaurants, grilled fish restaurants, pickled fish restaurants, etc. in Sichuan and Chongqing. There are also quite a few barbecue restaurants, and they are also very popular."

Fifth Brother Cao Zhiguo nodded: "It's true. Barbecue restaurants and hot pot restaurants are really popular now."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Those don't have much technical content, but they are more likely to arouse people's appetite. I have also discussed with my third brother that we can also offer barbecue in Zheng Luxing's store."

The fifth brother immediately said, "Actually, Huiquanlou also has barbecue."

Feng Zhengming smiled: "Huiquanlou needs to be a little more upscale. We can offer roasted pigs."

"Roast pig?" This idea surprised the three brothers.

Feng Zhengming smiled and explained seriously to his three senior brothers.

“When I was in charge of upgrading branches in various places, I found a shop that roasted a whole pig. I think the cooking skills are worth learning from. We don’t have to roast a whole pig like they do.

But we can try roasted suckling pig, or roasted single cuts of pork, which I think are both very good.”

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, the three senior brothers all thought it was a good idea.

"Not bad, not bad. Roast suckling pig was a well-known imperial craft in the past. It was also considered an old craft of our Shandong cuisine chefs. It is really great to revive this craft."

"I heard that Beijing's roast duck evolved from the roast suckling pig technique in the past. People couldn't afford roast suckling pig, so they turned to roast duck."

"This skill really can't be lost. We need to promote it further."

Seeing that the three brothers all agreed, Feng Zhengming smiled and nodded: "We must definitely prepare well."

Li Huidong suddenly asked: "Do we need to prepare a professional grilling pit?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Yes, we do need to prepare a large oven."

According to Feng Zhengming's design, he plans to learn from barbecue techniques from various places, including some barbecue techniques from overseas.

Feng Zhengming felt that since he was going to do it, he had to do it differently.

You can’t just make traditional barbecue, nor can you copy other people’s skills.

On the other hand, Cheng Guosheng, who returned to Quancheng, has worked in the kitchens of many large restaurants in other places over the years.

He concealed his previous identity for a while, started as an apprentice, and worked hard to learn his skills in the kitchens of those big restaurants.

In the past few years, Cheng Guosheng has not only improved his Shandong cuisine skills.

I also studied Huaiyang cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, and even some overseas cooking techniques.

It can be said that this time Cheng Guosheng returned to Quancheng with a fighting spirit.

He wanted to run Jubin Garden again and restore his former reputation.

Of course, for Cheng Guosheng, the most important point is to defeat Feng Zhengming fairly once.

It can be said that defeating Feng Zhengming has been Cheng Guosheng's obsession in recent years.

He parted ways with the former owner of Jubinyuan.

Willing to start from scratch as a newcomer in the kitchen.

I learned the skills of other cuisines step by step, and through hard work, I learned the skills of various countries overseas from some overseas chefs.

The goal that supports Cheng Guosheng in learning all these and working hard to do all of this is to defeat Feng Zhengming.

Of course, Cheng Guosheng knew in his heart that it would be difficult for him to completely defeat Feng Zhengming.

After all, Cheng Guosheng had no confidence in defeating Feng Zhengming's four stores in Shanghai, and he was not even sure about opening a store in Shanghai.

However, he felt that he should return to Quancheng and reopen Jubin Garden.

Being able to make Jubinyuan better than Huiquanlou in Quancheng, I can be considered to have won a game against Feng Zhengming.

Although this was somewhat self-deception, Cheng Guosheng felt that he had to do it.

If I don't have this final competition with Feng Zhengming, I will be sorry for the hardship he has endured outside these years. (End of this chapter)