From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

When it comes to the dish of braised sea cucumber with scallions, young chefs do have certain disadvantages.

Because even among the two young chefs, Zhu Xu and Sun Hai, are considered to have the most solid skills.

Neither of them has the time or energy to properly analyze and study the scallion sauce for the scallion-fried sea cucumber.

The basic ingredients of scallion sauce are basically the same.

Even the simplest way is to fry scallion segments, steam them together with cooked chicken soup, and then use the chicken soup to soak the sea cucumber to add flavor.

You can also let the sea cucumber taste the flavor of onion and chicken soup, and then cook it with braised sauce to make it delicious.

But this is not the way a real master chef makes scallion sauce.

Scallion sauce is indeed a vital ingredient in the hands of every Shandong cuisine chef.

It is a true display of the seasoning skills of every Shandong cuisine chef.

So don’t say that Feng Zhengming can’t pass on his scallion sauce recipe to young chefs now.

Even if he gave it away, if his young chef wanted to become one of the top ten Shandong cuisine chefs, he would definitely not accept it.

Feng Zhengming looked at the old masters, smiled and nodded: "Okay, let them really face the strength of the master chefs. This is also a challenge they should face."

The second dish is fixed by the chefs as: braised sea cucumber with scallions.

Among the 40 invited chefs, some were happy while others were worried.

For Kong Xingli, Cheng Guosheng, Xia Zhennan, and even Lin Guofu, they all have their own specialties of scallion sauce.

Moreover, the taste of their scallion sauce has been verified by many diners.

So they are absolutely confident in their scallion sauce.

But some master chefs are not so confident.

It’s not that I’m not confident about the taste of my scallion sauce, it’s that I’m not confident that I can beat others in making scallion sauce.

He is the inheritor of Jufengde, Taifenglou, Jubinyuan, and Confucius Mansion cuisine.

Their scallion sauce has been tested by many diners.

They are even famous for their scallion-fried sea cucumber.

But there are those Shandong cuisine chefs who rushed back from other places to participate in the competition, and even those who came back from abroad.

They were not confident that their scallion sauce was better than that of the master chef in Quancheng.

The least confident are the young chefs.

Many of the chefs who advanced from the three competition areas are young chefs.

They successfully broke through in the sub-competition areas by relying on solid basic skills and some innovative ideas.

But braised sea cucumber with scallions is not a dish that tests basic skills and innovation.

Young chefs can make a basic version of scallion sauce.

But it's obviously not as good as the scallion sauce made by the master chef.

So young chefs are really troubled.

But they were not discouraged.

Just as Master Cui said, they themselves knew it very well.

To become one of the top ten chefs among the top 100 chefs.

Especially as a famous Shandong cuisine chef, he is indeed not qualified if he cannot make scallion-braised sea cucumber.

On the way back to the hotel, several young chefs walking together looked at each other.

Gu Zhicheng suddenly said to Sun Hai, "Sun Hai, didn't you cook the Oolong Xizhu dish before? You should also have your own scallion sauce, right?"

Sun Hai shook his head: "I didn't. When I first made the Oolong Playing with Pearls, my uncle said that I was a bit superficial."

Zhu Xu said, "Scallion sauce is really hard to make. Just the thickening alone is a test of technique. What ingredients should be used for the soup base? When should the scallions be added? How to adjust the taste? It's really not easy."

Xia Mingye said: "Every time my grandfather and my father made scallion sauce, they would do it behind our backs."

Xia Hui: "Master Uncle never does things behind our backs. He lets us see almost everything he puts in. But we can't use Master Uncle's scallion sauce, can we? If we use it, we definitely won't get a high score."

Guan Wei took over the conversation at this time: "We may have thought too complicated. The key to scallion sauce is the combination of scallion fragrance and thick soup. The taste is a bit sweet and a bit salty, but no matter what, the most important thing about scallion sauce is that it is delicious and goes well with rice."

Hearing what Guan Wei said, everyone else present couldn't help laughing.

Especially his last word "good with rice" really made everyone laugh.

Who would make scallion sauce specifically for rice?

Isn’t that too luxurious?
But after laughing, everyone had to admit that Guan Wei was right.

Scallion sauce is indeed a good dish to go with rice.

Because good scallion sauce is like good abalone sauce in Cantonese cuisine.

It will make customers unconsciously want to eat a spoonful of rice.

Xia Hui suddenly smiled and said, "I remember that every time we had scallion-fried sea cucumber in our store in Shanghai, the customers wanted to spend money to buy a bowl of sauce to take home."

Guan Wei nodded: "Yes, this is the key. The scallion sauce is the same as the abalone sauce in Cantonese cuisine. It has to be made like that."

Zhu Xu smiled bitterly: "It's easy to say, but it's not easy to do it well. Guan Wei, do you know how to add the onion fragrance to the sauce so that it doesn't float on the surface, but blends into the sauce?"

These words immediately stumped Guan Wei.

The other young chefs present were also stunned.

The other younger chefs who made it to the top 100, who were listening to their conversation nearby, were also stunned when they stopped and heard this.

Then everyone's face showed sadness. This was indeed not so easy to do.

This is obviously the key core technology of the master chefs in making scallion sauce.

Moreover, each master chef and old master has different methods.

Now this difficult problem faces young chefs.

After thinking for a long time, Xia Mingye gave up first: "Forget it, forget it. My sister and I can't do it anyway, but we still have Dad. It will be enough for Dad to win one of the top ten chefs."

This made everyone laugh.

Gu Zhicheng couldn't help but joked: "Your Xia family is really good. Three people, triple protection."

This statement also made everyone laugh.

Xia Hui, on the other hand, said seriously: "I want to try and see if I can make a breakthrough."

This made everyone look at Xia Hui in surprise.

Xia Mingye immediately chose to support his sister: "Okay, sister, I support you. If you defeat dad, you will be the most powerful in the Xia family."

"Hahaha……"

Xia Mingye’s words really made everyone laugh.

Everyone who had originally looked sad couldn't help but burst into laughter.

The atmosphere suddenly became joyful.

Of course, no one would give in so easily. As there was still one day left, everyone wanted to give the master chefs a good try.

Feng Zhengming returned to the hotel room and first looked at his daughter who was already asleep.

Then he hugged his wife.

Luo Qing noticed some changes in her husband's mood.

"What's wrong? Did you encounter any trouble?" Feng Zhengming slowly told his wife everything that happened tonight.

Luo Qing did not interrupt and listened to her husband quietly.

"I understand your worries. You think the arrangements made by the old chefs are unfair to the young chefs, right?"

Feng Zhengming nodded.

Luo Qing smiled, held her husband's hand, and walked out of the suite.

The couple sat down on the sofa outside.

Luo Qing carefully analyzed the situation for her husband.

“You feel it’s unfair because you still feel that you are also a young chef, so you stand in the perspective of young chefs and think that more opportunities should be given to young chefs.

Let more young chefs emerge, become role models for young chefs, and inspire more young chefs to hone their skills.”

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Yes, that's what I think. I held this competition in the hope that some young chefs can emerge and even become one of the top ten Shandong cuisine chefs."

Luo Qing then asked: "Have you ever thought that what you are doing is also unfair to the master chefs?"

Feng Zhengming was puzzled: "What's unfair about this? We are all competing on the same stage, and what we are comparing is our real skills. Besides, the chefs were directly invited to become the top 100 Shandong cuisine chefs."

Luo Qing asked, "How did you select those forty master chefs?"

"Yes..." Feng Zhengming just opened his mouth to answer his wife when he suddenly realized the problem.

Seeing her husband speechless, Luo Qing smiled and continued speaking.

"The forty chefs you selected were the ones you all discussed together. They are the forty famous Shandong chefs who have been recognized by the judges including you, the old chefs, and Chef Hou of Jingcheng.

Since they have been recognized by all of you, why do you think they shouldn't directly become one of the top 100 chefs?"

After hearing what his wife said, Feng Zhengming realized that he was indeed acting on impulse.

Perhaps he was forced by Cheng Guosheng and the investors behind him.

This made Feng Zhengming feel unconvinced at the time.

So, with the idea of ​​venting his anger, he deliberately arranged the competition as it is now, allowing Shandong cuisine chefs from all over the world to freely sign up to participate.

Invite the young chefs who have followed him for many years to participate in the competition.

At the beginning, Feng Zhengming wanted to put Cheng Guosheng on the same level as the young chefs.

But looking back now, Feng Zhengming did offend some master chefs by doing this.

Because he did not give those master chefs the respect they deserved.

Feng Zhengming even ignored the pride of his own senior brothers.

After his wife pointed this out to him, Feng Zhengming also understood the intention of the chefs in ordering the dish "Braised Sea Cucumber with Scallions".

The old chefs want to let the young chefs know that there is still a gap between them and the master chefs.

In other words, the old masters were also helping Feng Zhengming to reconcile his relationship with the master chefs.

"I was a little impulsive. In fact, the young chefs who broke through the three competition areas should be allowed to compete separately from the master chefs."

Luo Qing smiled: "Look, have you fallen into another circle again?"

Feng Zhengming looked at his wife, and without waiting for her to speak, he quickly understood what she meant.

"Hahaha, that's right. Young chefs have their own pride, and master chefs have their own pride. A dish of braised sea cucumber with scallions can allow them all to show their pride."

Hearing her husband's words, Luo Qing nodded: "Yes, this is the real meaning of your competition."

Luo Qing opened her arms and hugged her husband.

"You don't have to blame yourself. You have done a lot for Shandong cuisine. Your competition has attracted the whole country's attention to Shandong cuisine. Even people like Kofman will help us promote Shandong cuisine after they return to their country.

So you have achieved what you wanted to do, and the influence of Shandong cuisine has been further enhanced.”

Feng Zhengming also hugged his wife and said, "Yes, we have made Shandong cuisine more famous."

Luo Qing gently stroked her husband's back: "So, it's right to ask all chefs to make a dish of braised sea cucumber with scallions. If you can't make braised sea cucumber with scallions, how can you be considered a famous Shandong cuisine chef?"

After being enlightened by his wife, Feng Zhengming felt completely relaxed.

"Thank you, my wife, you always understand me so well."

Luo Qing: "Of course, my husband is the best. He is truly the best Shandong cuisine chef."

After being praised by his wife, Feng Zhengming's mood finally recovered.

In fact, it is just as Luo Qing analyzed.

It was announced that the second dish would all be braised sea cucumber with scallions.

It was indeed a great experience for all the chefs who were invited to participate in the competition, including Feng Zhengming and his six fellow brothers.

The pride of the chefs can be fully displayed in a dish of braised sea cucumber with scallions.

Therefore, the original opinions about Feng Zhengming's schedule gradually dissipated.

Because the master chefs all think that they can cook the scallion-fried sea cucumber better than the young chefs.

Just as Cheng Guosheng told the investors behind him.

"If I can't cook scallion-fried sea cucumber better than those young chefs, then I'll have to close Jubinyuan again, and I won't be able to cook anymore."

When investors heard this, they didn't understand.

“Is a dish of sea cucumber with green onions really that important?”

Cheng Guosheng nodded seriously: "It is very important. Scallion-fried sea cucumber is a dish that a Shandong cuisine chef must know how to make, and it is also a dish that a Shandong cuisine chef must be able to show off."

Without waiting for the investors to speak, Cheng Guosheng asked directly: "Haven't you all eaten scallion-fried sea cucumber in Feng Zhengming's store in Quancheng and Shanghai?
And the scallion-fried sea cucumber I made, which one do you think tastes best? "

This question made investors stunned.

However, when they thought about it, they realized that the taste of each restaurant's scallion-fried sea cucumber was indeed significantly different.

Then an investor spoke up: “I really like the ones in Feng Zhengming’s store.”

These words made Cheng Guosheng feel as if a sword was stabbed in the chest.

He could only endure the discomfort and said, "Look, can you taste the difference too?"

Several investors all nodded in agreement.

"It's true. The scallion-fried sea cucumber that we ate in Shanghai was made by Feng Zhengming, and it tasted different from what you made. The scallion-fried sea cucumbers in several restaurants in Quancheng also tasted different from yours."

Cheng Guosheng said seriously: "Scallion-fried sea cucumber is the ultimate pride of every Shandong cuisine chef. If you can't make scallion-fried sea cucumber well, then you really don't deserve to call yourself a Shandong cuisine chef."

After hearing what Cheng Guosheng said, the investors looked at each other in bewilderment.

"So it seems like you are very confident in making scallion-fried sea cucumber?"

"By the way, what if Feng Zhengming gave the recipe to one of his young chefs?"

"Yes, if he teaches those young chefs how to make sea cucumber with scallions, are you sure you can beat them?"

Cheng Guosheng shook his head: "He won't do that. He is the top scholar. He can't do that. If he does that, he will ruin his reputation."

The investor then asked, “What about other famous chefs?”

Cheng Guosheng: "So cooking scallion-fried sea cucumber is a real competition among Shandong cuisine chefs. It's a competition of mastering the taste."

At this moment, all the investors present could clearly see the high morale that Cheng Guosheng had.

Seeing Cheng Guosheng so motivated, the investors felt relieved. (End of this chapter)