From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

For the first dish, Xia Mingye also made a Confucius Mansion dish.

This time he didn't make imitation bear paw, but a stir-fried dish.

Its name is: Jade Fan Peach Blossom.

In fact, it is a dish he created after learning from Feng Zhengming and improving the stir-fried shrimps by combining it with the elegance pursued in Confucius Mansion cuisine.

The noodles are fried in oil and then arranged in the shape of a fan.

The shrimps used are large prawns from Bohai Bay.

Freshly peeled shrimps, marinated and coated with starch.

Use the Huaiyang cuisine that Feng Zhengming taught him, stir-frying shrimps with plenty of oil.

Keep the oil temperature low and slowly fry the shrimps until cooked.

Then thicken the rice soup with clear soup, add the shrimps and stir-fry quickly over high heat. When the shrimps are coated with the starch, remove from the pan and serve.

The finishing touch was that Xia Mingye specially cut, washed and soaked the petals and sprinkled them on the surface.

Xia Mingye specially cleaned the flower petals in advance and cut them into the shape of peach blossom petals.

This dish is really quite elegant and refined.

Xia Zhennan was also very excited when he saw his son's dish.

Master Xia also nodded with satisfaction.

Master Yan beside him smiled and whispered, "Old Xia, your granddaughter and grandson performed very well today."

Master Xia smiled and said, "Isn't this all due to the good of the Zhengming Sect?"

Master Yan: "Why? Do you want both the brother and sister to become your disciples?"

Master Xia looked at Feng Zhengming and responded to Master Yan in a low voice.

"I do think that the two siblings have learned a lot from Zhengming. Being able to be Zhengming's apprentice will definitely help them develop better in the future and promote Confucius cuisine better."

Master Yan smiled and said, "Okay, we'll talk to Zhengming later."

In addition to the young chefs, Feng Zhengming’s six senior brothers also demonstrated their skills.

The eldest brother cooked the dish that the master had demonstrated at the national competition that year: sweet and sour Yellow River carp.

For this competition, Feng Zhengming also specially purchased large carp from the Yellow River.

The biggest difference between the big carp in the Yellow River and carp in other places is

The whole fish is not as fat as carp in other places, but has a more slender body.

At the same time, the scales on its body will glow golden in the sun.

Senior brother Li Huidong also made his own improvements to the sweet and sour Yellow River carp dish.

Li Huidong collected all the fish scales, soaked them in scallion and ginger water and washed them clean. Then he wiped the water off the scales, marinated them with salt and pepper, coated them with dry starch and fried them in a pan.

After being fried, the fish scales appear golden yellow.

When the carp is fried and placed on a plate, spread the fried fish scales on the plate to create the appearance of a fish with the scales removed.

Finally, pour the hot sweet and sour sauce on top.

This sweet and sour Yellow River carp dish was improved by senior brother Li Huidong.

It perfectly presents a scene of a carp leaping over the dragon gate.

Those fried fish scales on the plate really look like the scales that a carp sheds when it turns into a dragon.

Second brother Chen Zezhi also made the dish that the master had once demonstrated, lotus and shark fin.

The second brother also added some of his own innovations when making this dish.

That is, the second brother used real lotus flowers and lotus leaves as the base.

The lotus flowers and lotus leaves were processed in advance so that the lotus flowers could become edible like the peach blossoms made by Xia Mingye.

In order to make the lotus-shaped chicken puree more smooth and tender.

Chen Zezhi also used some of the techniques that Feng Zhengming had used before.

Use the back of a knife to smash the chicken into a paste and pick out the tendons.

Then add egg white and starch and beat through a sieve.

Keep the most tender chicken puree.

Then mix with the soaked shark fins and steam them in a spoon.

The lotus petals that emerged looked very smooth and tender.

Then use beet juice to do some dyeing.

Finally, pour clear chicken soup into the plate and then put it into the steamer and steam it.

The third brother Yang Bin was more honest and performed a trick of Feng Zhengming's Oolong Playing with Pearls.

The difference is that for the beads in Yang Bin's oolong play, he fried a hibiscus scallop and put it in the middle of a carved container.

When arranging the dish, it looks like several black dragons are fighting for the pearls.

Fourth senior brother Wang Jialiang also cooked an old dish, Eight Treasures Bag Chicken.

This is also an old dish. The whole boneless chicken that the fourth brother showed off seemed to prove to the master that he had not neglected his skills during these years abroad.

Master Yan naturally saw the fourth apprentice's intention and nodded in affirmation with great satisfaction.

Fifth brother Cao Zhiguo also cooked a fish, which was yellow croaker stuffed in soup.

Cao Zhiguo’s method of cooking yellow croaker in soup is a very traditional Shandong cuisine.

Finally, for the sake of aesthetics, he fried a braised sauce and poured it on the surface of the yellow croaker, making the entire dish look golden.

Sixth Senior Brother Zhang Minghai naturally wanted to make a seafood dish, which was the crab meat made with swimming crabs.

Hundreds of chefs’ dishes are prepared one by one.

Feng Zhengming also asked the judges to go down and taste and score.

The first dish that caught people’s attention was naturally Xia Hui’s mandarin fish in a flower basket.

Although it is an old dish of Confucius Mansion cuisine, when Xia Hui made it, everyone could see the difference in the cooking method.

So when everyone came in front of her, they all looked at Xia Hui with some anticipation.

In front of the judges, Xia Hui slowly cut the outer layer of puff pastry with a knife.

After the puff pastry is cut, a rich and delicious flavor hits you in the face along with the hot steam rising from inside.

Almost all the judges looked surprised.

This unique and delicious flavor really goes beyond the original dish.

Feng Zhengming smiled and asked, "What do you think of this dish?"

The judges looked at each other.

It was Master Hou who spoke first: "Very good, this dish is a very famous Confucius Mansion dish. In the past, it was wrapped in leavened dough and baked to look a bit like steamed buns.

It is said that it was first baked in a charcoal grill like the one used to bake steamed buns.

Xia Hui's dish has obviously been improved, incorporating some Western cooking techniques. Is it the Wellington steak crust recipe?"

Xia Hui nodded: "Yes, I studied with my uncle in Shanghai, and after some attempts, I finally found a good fusion ratio."

Feng Zhengming helped to speak up: "These are also some of her own innovations. I just gave her some guidance."

Then everyone tasted Xia Hui's dish.

Even though it has been stored for a while, the fish meat inside is still tender because the crispy crust on the outside keeps it warm.

Using chopsticks to open the fish belly and then eating the side dishes stuffed inside the fish belly has a unique flavor.

The judges were all quite satisfied with Xia Hui's dish.

Of course, he couldn't give a score directly, but nodded and walked to the next chef. The next chef to Xia Hui was Cheng Guosheng.

Cheng Guosheng made a slightly innovative Shandong dish.

It is essentially a dish of shrimp in lotus sauce, but Cheng Guosheng uses lobster meat.

After being cut, the lobster meat is rolled into a ball.

Paired with hibiscus fried with egg white, it can be said to be quite beautiful.

Especially Cheng Guosheng stir-fried lobster balls separately, with a glass of sauce that made the surface of the shrimp balls shiny.

When paired with hibiscus, it is really beautiful.

The lobster shell was also used by Cheng Guoshengli to make a shape.

The appearance of Cheng Guosheng's dish is indeed quite impressive.

His cooking skills are also on display.

Especially the bright and shiny starch on the surface of each shrimp ball, which really shows the cooking skill.

Feng Zhengming was the first to comment.

"Brother Cheng's dish is very good. It uses the lotus technique of Shandong cuisine and also uses lobster, a more high-end ingredient. It really elevates the original lotus shrimp to a higher level."

After giving a positive review, Feng Zhengming also gave some suggestions.

"In fact, this dish is better fried with white oil, which can maximize the freshness of the lobster."

After hearing Feng Zhengming's suggestion, Cheng Guosheng was not unconvinced. He stared at his own dish and nodded in agreement.

When tasting this dish, the judges also gave it certain praise.

Cheng Guosheng's craftsmanship is truly amazing.

Because one hundred dishes on site need to be tasted and rated.

Therefore, the judges are divided into several groups to ensure that the temperature of the dishes is maintained when they enter the mouth.

After all, if some dishes are really left cold, they may taste quite different.

As time went by, the judges had tasted all the chefs' first dishes.

Next, the chefs can leave the stage to rest, and Feng Zhengming and other judges will summarize the scores.

Although the scores cannot be announced directly, the scores of the first dish still need to be counted.

And it must be sealed in the presence of all judges to prevent the scores from being changed.

Determine the score for each dish and temporarily save all the scores.

After finishing these things, Master Hou said to Feng Zhengming with a smile.

"Zhengming, you are probably the one who gained the most from this competition. Among the top 100 chefs, your chef from Zheng Luxing accounts for 12 of them, and their scores for the first dish today were not low."

Feng Zhengming responded with a smile: "It depends on the subsequent performance. Today is just the first course."

Master Su said, "Zhengming, why do I feel that the young chefs under you are better than your brothers in terms of cooking skills?"

When saying this, Master Su also looked at Master Yan.

Without waiting for Feng Zhengming to reply, Master Yan naturally had something to say.

"Lao Su is good for the inheritance and development of Shandong cuisine. If enough young and outstanding chefs emerge, doesn't that mean Shandong cuisine is more vibrant?"

Master Cui also agrees with this.

"Yes, only when more outstanding young chefs emerge can our Shandong cuisine be better inherited and developed."

Chef Hou couldn't help but laugh and interjected, "I'm a little envious of you. With a national champion like Zhengming, young Shandong cuisine chefs are constantly emerging."

This point was also recognized by all the judges present.

Feng Zhengming felt helpless after hearing this: "Why are you talking about me again?"

Mr. Wei Ling, who was invited to be a judge this time, said, "Hahaha, Zhengming, don't be so modest. Because there is a young chef like you who has great cooking skills, other young chefs will be more motivated."

Mr. Wei Ling's words once again won unanimous approval from the judges.

Kofman also said: "Today I saw that the delicacy of your Shandong cuisine is beyond my imagination."

Feng Zhengming helped translate, and then the masters and judges from Beijing all laughed.

Chef Hou said: "Mr. Kofman, it's not just Shandong cuisine that is exquisite, many of our Chinese dishes are also exquisite."

After listening to Feng Zhengming's translation, Kofman smiled and said, "I am looking forward to it."

After the first dish competition was over, Feng Zhengming personally sent the judges back to the hotel to rest.

He himself still needs to make some preparations for subsequent competitions.

Only after hosting this competition did Feng Zhengming realize the hardship of hosting a competition.

He had already decided in his mind that he would let someone else host the competition and he would just be responsible for supervision.

However, we still need to do well enough in this first competition.

As the organizer, Feng Zhengming must take all kinds of details into consideration. He wants the first competition to leave a deep impression on everyone so that there will be subsequent competitions.

While Feng Zhengming was busy, Cheng Guosheng and the participating chefs returned to the hotel and he returned to his room.

Soon, investors from Jubinyuan found him.

"Master Cheng, you performed very well today."

"Chef Cheng is indeed a great chef, his cooking skills are really great."

"But Master Cheng, you should have a sense of urgency. You should have seen today that the skills of those young chefs are very extraordinary. They have a great impact on you."

Cheng Guosheng naturally knew who the young chef his investor was talking about?

They were the young chefs under Feng Zhengming's company.

It was only after the competition ended and when Cheng Guosheng saw their dishes that he realized their cooking skills were indeed very impressive.

Not to mention the Confucius family dishes cooked by brother and sister Xia Hui and Xia Mingye respectively.

Not to mention the classic traditional Shandong cuisine made by Feng Zhengming’s six senior brothers.

Just the braised pigeon dish made by Zhu Xu, which incorporated some Western cooking techniques, was enough to make Cheng Guosheng feel pressured.

Although there was indeed nothing wrong with Cheng Guosheng's first dish today.

But compared with them, Cheng Guosheng didn't think he had any advantages.

"It seems that I have to use a big trick for the second dish tomorrow, otherwise, I may not be able to make it into the top ten in this competition."

At this time, an investor said, "Master Cheng, you don't have to worry too much. Feng Zhengming would not dare to blatantly ask all his chefs to be among the top ten.

He needs to strike some balance somehow, and he actually shot himself in the foot this time.

Think about it, if he really lets his senior brother and the young chefs who follow him enter the top ten, what will happen to the other chefs?
If he doesn't know how to balance, what would you Shandong cuisine masters think of him?"

Cheng Guosheng looked at the investor who was speaking.

I have to admit that what he said really makes sense.

Feng Zhengming even invited his four senior brothers from overseas to come back and participate in this competition.

In order to increase the momentum of the competition.

But this leads to a dilemma.

Should the positions of the top ten chefs be given to the apprentices of the Shandong cuisine masters?

This kind of human relationships cannot be completely avoided in the country.

Seeing that Cheng Guosheng remained silent, the investor smiled and said, "So Master Cheng, you should go find your master now. If your master is willing to help you, maybe you will be one of the top ten."

Cheng Guosheng thought about it for a while and felt that what the other party said made sense. He immediately packed up and prepared to go find his master. (End of this chapter)