From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

The TV station broadcast the process of Feng Zhengming and the master craftsmen going to the market to purchase.

Naturally, it attracted a lot of attention and caused quite a bit of heated discussion.

"He is indeed a master craftsman. He even goes to the market to buy things himself."

"Yes, and the master didn't hide anything. He told me a lot of things."

"The masters really teach us everything from how to choose and buy to how to handle them, and they also share their experiences."

"This is a master, he doesn't care at all about others learning his skills."

“It feels like the master teacher on TV really wants to teach us.”

"This is just like the cooking show that Feng Zhuangyuan participated in before. He was also serious about teaching everyone."

"It can be seen that there is still a big gap between the master chefs and the old masters and Feng Zhuangyuan."

"That can't be said. The old chef has already achieved the fame and success he deserves, but the master chef still needs to rely on his skills to make a living."

"What about Feng Zhuangyuan? He was with the masters, and he was explaining things very seriously, wasn't he?"

"Feng Zhuangyuan is different. He is the national champion and the champion of the cooking skills competition. Even if he taught you all his skills, you still wouldn't be able to cook his dishes."

What is broadcast on TV is still more useful to some young chefs.

Young chefs also learn a lot through TV programs.

Feng Zhengming and the masters are preparing for the challenge together.

Their seriousness undoubtedly put a lot of pressure on the master chefs.

The sixteen winning master chefs gathered together to plan and discuss.

Cheng Guosheng directly expressed some of his thoughts.

"If we are to cook traditional classic Shandong cuisine, we are definitely no match for Master and his team, I think everyone is very clear about this.

So I think we should come up with something new. Why don’t we add some new things and make some creative dishes? Maybe we can compete with the master and his team.”

Kong Xingli laughed after hearing this: "Old Cheng, your idea is even more risky. Have you forgotten that among Master and his friends there is the number one scholar Feng Zhengming?"

After hearing this, the chefs were a little helpless.

Cheng Guosheng didn't know what to say.

Everyone knows that what Kong Xingli said is correct.

The traditional craftsmanship of the master craftsmen is there, coupled with some of Feng Zhengming's creativity, it is indeed impeccable.

Li Huidong saw that the other master chefs were a little discouraged.

He began to encourage everyone.

"Don't think like that. We are all challenging Master and Zhengming together. Since it is a challenge, we don't have to win them. We need to break through ourselves."

Li Huidong's words touched the sixteen winning chefs.

They also realized that they might be too eager to win.

The challenge is to challenge yourself and break through yourself.

The old masters and Feng Zhengming are more like targets.

No one would think that the craftsmen’s skills are bad even if they cannot surpass the target.

So as long as they can achieve self-breakthrough in the game.

They won the game.

With this idea in mind, the chefs all relaxed.

Sun Fenggui, the head chef of Taifenglou, spoke with a smile.

"Actually, this time it's mainly up to you, Senior Brother. You have the highest overall score among us this time. I asked, and it seems that your scallion-fried sea cucumber also scored high, so Senior Brother must perform well this time."

Li Huidong also laughed when he heard this.

"Fenggui, please don't make fun of me. No matter how good my scallion-fried sea cucumber is, can it be better than my master's?"

Master Yan's eldest son, Yan Jianxing, said, "Big Brother, that's not certain. Maybe you can really make a breakthrough this time and surpass my dad?"

Gu Zhicheng's master, Gao Fengyi, also agreed.

"That's right. Senior Brother Li was able to get the highest overall score this time. This shows that Senior Brother Li's skills are indeed very good. It is not impossible for him to surpass Senior Uncle Yan."

Luan Bosheng from Boshan encouraged Li Huidong: "Big Brother, if you bring us along this time, maybe we can tie with Master and the others at the banquet."

The chefs were immediately full of expectations for Li Huidong.

Facing everyone's expectations, Li Huidong felt somewhat helpless.

But he just encouraged everyone, and now everyone has the courage to charge forward.

He certainly couldn't let anyone down at a time like this.

"Okay, then let's all work together, show off our best skills, and have a good fight with the masters. Maybe we can really win this round."

Although the chefs, including Li Huidong, were still a little unsure.

But with this mutual encouragement, everyone is still willing to put in their utmost effort to prepare well.

In the following time, the master chefs and old masters were busy preparing.

A full two days were given to prepare the materials.

It is mainly to take care of the health of the masters.

After all, the old masters are all quite old, and standing at the desk for a long time is indeed stressful for them.

Although a lot of the preparation work was done by Feng Zhengming alone.

But the old masters are unwilling to admit their age.

So they still do some of the preparation themselves.

It can also be regarded as setting an example for everyone.

Let all chefs who follow the competition understand that the first thing a chef has to do is to cook the dish well.

If you want to cook well, you must do the preliminary preparation work carefully.

While preparing their own materials, almost all the master craftsmen showed off their carving skills.

Various carvings also show a unique style in the hands of master craftsmen.

This puts pressure on the master chefs.

After hearing the news, master chef Li Huidong and his team also started carving.

Both sides are making various preparations together.

The master craftsmen worked together to carve out a set of beautiful carvings of rich flowers and auspicious dragons and phoenixes.

Carrots are carved into beautiful and graceful peonies, and pumpkins are carved into lifelike dragons and phoenixes.

It can really be said that these carvings are amazing even before cooking begins.

Especially after seeing it, the Kofman couple took the opportunity to take photos as a souvenir.

Kofman respectfully became the apprentice of several masters, preparing to learn carving from them.

After the master craftsmen demonstrated their carving skills.

The master craftsmen also demonstrated their carving skills.

They carve beautiful small containers out of winter melon.

Flowers are also carved from radishes of various colors for decoration.

They also carved a gorgeous dragon boat out of watermelon.

The dragon boats carved by the master craftsmen out of watermelons are truly stunning.

Even Feng Zhengming took out his camera and took photos of the carved dragon boat from multiple angles.

Naturally, reporters from TV stations and newspapers also took photos to record the event.

The old masters were also very pleased to see this, as this watermelon dragon boat indicated that the apprentices were continuing to work hard and try to surpass their respective masters.

This is what the masters want to see, they hope their apprentices can surpass themselves.

As the carving skills are revealed, the competition between old and great chefs begins.

Feng Zhengming naturally also demonstrated his carving skills.

I still made a show-off dish very seriously.

Although it was not as impressive as the watermelon dragon boat race, it also showed the exquisite knife skills of Feng Zhengming, the champion. After the competition, the next stage officially entered the challenge stage.

The challenge is also to take care of the health of the masters.

The cooking of both sides is done at the same time.

Feng Zhengming and the masters are preparing a table together.

The sixteen winning chefs also prepared a table together.

The banquet prepared by Feng Zhengming and the master chefs is a very traditional Shandong cuisine banquet.

Basically, they are all classic Shandong cuisine, including nine-turn large intestine, scallion-fried sea cucumber, cabbage and prawns, as well as braised pork elbow, braised Kongfu bear paw, sweet and sour Yellow River carp, eight-treasure bag chicken, and lotus crab.

There are also two soup dishes, mullet egg soup and vinegar and pepper fish.

These classic Shandong dishes, a total of ten dishes, truly showcase the skills of the master chefs.

Whether it is the knife skills, spoon skills or the control of heat.

The old masters really demonstrated their years of experience to the fullest.

When arranging the dish, we also make full use of the previously prepared carvings.

The chefs watched as the masters completed the dishes one by one.

And all the previous carvings are also matched.

They also suddenly realized the problem. When preparing the ingredients, they were so busy competing with the chefs in carving that they ignored the dishes they were making. Many of them had nothing to do with the previous carving.

From this point on, the master chefs realized that they did not have the same overall perspective as their masters.

When carving, the masters have already arranged everything and are ready to use the carvings.

Even Feng Zhengming can do this very well.

He made the imitation bear paw himself, using boneless pig trotters.

What I made was a dish of braised bear paw with red flowers.

So his previous carvings were placed next to it for decoration.

To imitate the filling of bear paws, Feng Zhengming also referred to some designs of Kofman's stuffed pig's trotters.

Beat the fillings separately until they are smooth and have a texture a bit like ice cream.

And add some tendons that have been cooked and softened in advance, and some lamb offal to enhance the taste.

The processing of the whole dish is really perfect and beautiful.

In comparison, in order to compete with Feng Zhengming, Cheng Guosheng also made an imitation bear paw.

Just looking at the presentation, it’s quite different from Feng Zhengming’s.

The filling inside is obviously not as delicate as Feng Zhengming's.

So when the two people's red braised imitation bear paw were placed on the table, the difference between them was very obvious.

Feng Zhengming saw it and smiled helplessly: "Brother Cheng, you don't need to cook this dish that you are not good at. You should cook a dish that you are better at."

Cheng Guosheng still refused to admit defeat: "I am challenging myself, not specifically targeting your dish."

After hearing what he said, Feng Zhengming could only nod and say, "Okay."

As time passed, after a busy morning, the banquets for both parties were completed near noon.

From the perspective of creativity alone, the table prepared by the master chefs is naturally more creative.

The chefs have incorporated many elements of other cuisines into Shandong cuisine.

Some elements of Western cuisine are added into it.

It can be said that the master chefs have achieved breakthroughs.

This is also what the chefs can think of, a way to avoid a head-on confrontation with their respective masters over traditional classic Shandong cuisine.

Even the third brother Yang Bin cooked Feng Zhengming's classic dish, Oolong Xizhu.

When Yang Bin was performing the Oolong and the Pearl trick, Kong Xingli also observed carefully.

He found that Yang Bin's methods were basically his own.

The most obvious thing is that the soup under the sea cucumber is just scallion sauce.

The blending of the two juices is not as delicate as when Feng Zhengming made it.

Kong Xingli was even glad that Feng Zhengming did not cook this dish.

Otherwise, if you compare the two together, the difference is indeed a bit too obvious.

Kong Xingli’s own dish is also a Jufengde dish, cooked shrimp slices, and he also made innovations based on tradition.

Both tables are now filled.

The judges of this competition are not any of the invited judges, but the audience on site.

Audience members at the event can line up to taste dishes from two tables of banquets.

Then everyone votes for the dish that everyone thinks is delicious based on their own preferences.

This method completely disregards any techniques or craftsmanship, and simply allows the public to make choices based on how delicious it tastes.

It also set a precedent in domestic cooking competitions.

We even try to ensure that the public only judges based on taste.

When the two tables were placed together, there was no clear distinction between them.

Then the audience can cast their vote based on the dishes they like after tasting.

There were a total of 1000 people at the scene, and the final count showed which table had the most votes.

After queuing up to taste the dishes, the audience cast their votes for their favorite dishes.

This highly subjective voting method also made the judges in Beijing, including Master Hou, feel that it was a bit of a joke.

“Will this lead to deviations in the end?”

"Yeah, the taste of the public is so subjective."

"If Feng Zhengming and the masters lose, won't it be embarrassing?"

Master Hou heard everyone's discussion and asked with a smile: "Do you think the masters will worry about losing?"

This question stunned several judges from Beijing.

Then the two state banquet masters spoke.

"We actually prefer to lose."

"Yes, if we lose, it means that our apprentice has surpassed us. Isn't that a good thing?"

The words of the two state banquet masters immediately made the judges in Beijing understand.

Mr. Wei Ling smiled and said: "This kind of competition is not so much a competition as it is the masters of Shandong cuisine wanting to support their apprentices."

Mr. Wei Ling's words were also recognized by everyone.

Judging from the current situation, it is indeed the same as Mr. Wei Ling said.

It looks like a challenge, but in reality it is the masters supporting their apprentices.

After the tasting and voting of course.

The event staff counted the votes on site.

The final result was not too surprising.

Feng Zhengming and the chefs’ dishes still received more votes.

Of course, the gap between the two sides is actually not that big.

505 votes to 495 votes.

It was only a difference of five votes.

Of course, if the judges were to judge, Feng Zhengming and the masters would definitely win.

When it comes to traditional classic Shandong cuisine, the chefs still need to work hard to improve.

This International Shandong Cuisine Master Chef Challenge, which lasted for a total of one month including the regional competitions, finally came to a successful conclusion.

After the top 100 Shandong cuisine chefs were selected, Feng Zhengming quickly asked his junior uncle Huang Tao to start preparing for the publication of a book.

The final winner of the competition is not that important. The promotion effect of Shandong cuisine has been achieved, and the participants feel that it is enough. (End of this chapter)