From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

The first dishes served to the guests were two meat and two vegetable cold dishes.

The four cold dishes were all prepared by Feng Zhengming and his chefs in the kitchen in the afternoon.

The vegetarian cold dish is a vegetable salad that combines Chinese and Western elements. Seasonal vegetables are used to create a colorful picture on the plate, and then drizzled with olive oil.

It looks a bit like confit, but the combination of olive oil and vegetables creates a colorful display that resembles a riverside flower field.

The other dish is more of a collection of various products from the land of Qi and Lu than a vegetarian cold dish.

There are golden little pancakes made from specially purchased millet and corn.

There are also special vegetables, pickles and fresh shrimps from all over Qi and Lu.

When this dish was served, it gave tonight's guests a big surprise.

"Zhengming, this is a great design. Did you make these pancakes yourself?"

Feng Zhengming explained with a smile: "No, I asked my brothers to buy the pancakes from the countryside. Although we can make them ourselves, I thought that if we find some elderly people to help make them, we can also bring them income by purchasing them."

The guest burst into laughter when he heard this: "Okay, hahahaha, it's great that you are doing this, this is the common prosperity we advocate."

The accompanying personnel from Beijing all nodded, thinking that Feng Zhengming's method was indeed a good one.

Feng Zhengming then introduced: "There are also these seasonal vegetables, this small Sanzi, as well as pickled vegetable shreds and shrimps, which are all purchased from all over Qilu.

We use different pancakes and seasonal vegetables in different seasons.”

The guest was even happier and praised several leaders of Qilu Province without reservation.

"This is the true pattern of a top scholar. You must give him more necessary help in the future. It is obvious that he can get these things by himself, or buy them back at a low price.

However, he used this purchasing method so that people in the villages could earn this money.

This kind of thing should be promoted more and supported more.”

The provincial leaders naturally nodded in praise, feeling that Feng Zhengming's practices were indeed worthy of praise.

Feng Zhengming continued: "There is no need to promote me too much. I think it is better to promote these things from all over the country instead of promoting me."

The guest nodded: "Okay, it turns out that what you said is right, let's promote local specialties more."

There were two cold meat dishes, one was amber pig ears, and the other was sweet and sour spare ribs eaten cold.

Feng Zhengming also made some designs for these two dishes.

Amber pig ears are a Shandong dish, while sweet and sour spare ribs are a southern dish.

The two dishes have their own unique flavors and taste very special.

For example, although the sweet and sour spare ribs are cold, they are tender and comfortable to eat, and the sweetness is not too prominent.

The amber pig ears have distinct layers, and they have a crunchy texture when you chew them.

The four cold dishes taste really good together.

After the cold dishes, the next step is the classic Shandong cuisine.

For example, dishes such as braised cabbage with prawns, nine-turn large intestine, and braised sea cucumber with green onions were served one by one.

Of course, there will also be stir-fried pig's pig tendon with scallions and stir-fried tripe with co

These dishes require very high heat.

There are also two soups, one is mullet egg soup, and the other is eight-treasure bag chicken.

The mullet egg soup is slightly sour and delicious. It is still made with the clear soup that Feng Zhengming uses after sweeping the soup, and is seasoned with pickled cucumber juice, making it more appetizing.

Feng Zhengming made some adjustments to the cooking method of Eight Treasures Bag Chicken this time, using clear chicken soup to make the whole dish lighter.

Overall, every dish Feng Zhengming served to the guests from Beijing tasted relatively light.

Perhaps the only heavier dishes are the nine-turn large intestine and scallion-fried sea cucumber.

When the scallion-fried sea cucumber was served, the customer asked with a smile.

"Zhengming, is the scallion sauce for this scallion-fried sea cucumber your own scallion sauce?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and replied, "We used three flavors of scallion sauce for this dish of scallion-fried sea cucumber. They are mine, my eldest senior brother's, and my fifth senior brother's. I hope you can taste the difference."

It was obvious that the customer asked about the scallion sauce because he was interested in the competition organized by Feng Zhengming.

What no one expected was that Feng Zhengming had already anticipated what everyone would ask.

So when he was making the scallion-fried sea cucumber, he did it separately with his two senior brothers.

Wait until all three are done, then cut them into pieces and place them on a plate, then drizzle their respective scallion sauce on top.

Guests from Beijing and provincial leaders tasted three different kinds of sea cucumbers in scallion sauce.

There is not much difference in taste between the two types of scallion sauce.

But the taste of one of the scallion sauces is obviously different from the other two.

The scallion-fried sea cucumber has a distinct taste difference.

The guests from the capital showed a hint of surprise.

However, Feng Zhengming went downstairs to prepare the next dishes, so the guest didn't say anything.

The guest only spoke after Feng Zhengming brought the rest of the dishes.

"Zhengming, the taste of your scallion sauce is indeed very different. You must have made a lot of adjustments to the taste. You must have used more than just traditional Shandong cuisine techniques, right?"

Feng Zhengming replied: "Yes, my scallion sauce is not just a Shandong cuisine technique. I have incorporated some Cantonese abalone sauce techniques."

The customer nodded: "As expected, your scallion sauce has a stronger flavor, but it's not greasy. It tastes more comfortable and a little appetizing."

Feng Zhengming: "I also spent a long time experimenting with seasonings before finally settling on this flavor."

Everyone present also praised Feng Zhengming's excellent seasoning skills.

Overall, the guests from the capital were quite satisfied with the meal.

The taste is not very strong, but mostly fresh.

The key is that most of the dishes do not use very expensive ingredients.

Things like lobster, abalone, bird's nest, shark fin, etc. are not available.

But even without those, the meal was still very enjoyable for everyone.

I have to admit that Feng Zhengming's craftsmanship is indeed unique.

Without using any high-end ingredients, the dishes can still be delicious.

Guests from Beijing sighed: "This is the charm of our Chinese cuisine. We can make these very common ingredients taste different. I am afraid that many Western restaurants may not be able to do this."

The provincial leaders all agreed and were quite proud.

Gaining recognition from customers proves the status of Shandong cuisine.

After the meal, the guest went downstairs to the kitchen again and shook hands with everyone in the kitchen to express his gratitude.

"Thank you all for the hospitality tonight. You are worthy of being Shandong cuisine chefs. It is a great choice for our top scholar to choose you to work in his restaurant kitchen. You are all really amazing.

Thank you for your hard work tonight. I hope you can continue to work hard to run Huiquanlou well and make Shandong cuisine better. "

Being shaken hands by guests from Beijing one by one made everyone in the kitchen excited.

Hearing the guests’ praise and encouragement makes everyone very proud.

Feng Zhengming finally spoke on behalf of everyone: "Thank you for your affirmation, we will definitely make the dish well."

Everyone in the kitchen followed Feng Zhengming's words and responded in unison: "We will make sure the dishes are cooked well."

Feng Zhengming saw the guest out. At the door, the guest turned around to take a look at the facade and sign of Huiquanlou.

"Huiquanlou, in your hands, Zhengming, is indeed worthy of being a time-honored Chinese brand."

Such a statement from a guest from Beijing can be said to be very important. It is equivalent to recognizing the status of Huiquanlou.

I’m afraid that soon, some time-honored Chinese brands will be delivered to us.

Feng Zhengming said with a smile: "Thank you for your affirmation. Huiquanlou will work harder in the future to preserve the tradition and create more new products based on the tradition."

The guest smiled and nodded: "Very good, don't stop at tradition, I believe you can do it."

I watched the guests and provincial leaders get into the car and leave.

Tonight's reception came to a successful conclusion.

Feng Zhengming also breathed a sigh of relief at this time.

Turn around and go back to Huiquan Tower.

The staff who came to provide service tonight were also packing up and preparing to leave.

Feng Zhengming took the initiative to invite them to stay and have dinner before leaving.

"You're welcome. We're also having staff meals. Are you guys disgusted?"

This made the reception staff feel embarrassed.

Feng Zhengming added: "I'll talk to the leaders later and ask them to help clean up some of the leftovers. Otherwise, it would be a waste to just throw them away."

After hearing this, the reception staff finally agreed to stay and have dinner before leaving.

Then Feng Zhengming shouted to the kitchen to serve dinner.

The kitchen immediately brought out the prepared staff meals one by one.

All in a large metal box.

Everyone was surprised when they saw the food in the staff meal.

I really didn't expect that the employee meals at Huiquanlou would be so delicious.

Feng Zhengming greeted everyone: "Don't be polite, you've all worked hard all day, let's have a good meal tonight."

The receptionist supervisor also said, "Listen to Feng Zhuangyuan and enjoy your meal."

With such permission, everyone will naturally not be polite.

Everyone sat down on the first floor of Huiquan Building and enjoyed the staff meal prepared for that night.

The supervisor and He Yunqing sat together with Feng Zhengming and his two senior brothers.

The receptionist supervisor took the initiative to start a conversation.

This reception tonight has made us all very nervous.

He Yunqing, Li Huidong and Cao Zhiguo all nodded in agreement.

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "Of course I am nervous because everyone is afraid of problems. But I am really happy. It is the greatest honor for Huiquanlou to receive guests tonight and to be recognized by them."

The supervisor smiled and said, "I'm afraid your Huiquanlou will become even more famous in the future. It will soon become a time-honored Chinese brand."

Upon hearing this, the eldest brother, the fifth brother and He Yunqing were also very excited.

"Really? We want to become a time-honored Chinese brand?"

“Do you want to put up a sign?”

"It's a time-honored Chinese brand. That's incredible."

Feng Zhengming didn't say too much.

"Don't talk nonsense. Wait until the Chinese time-honored brand is actually listed, and then promote it."

This statement was recognized by everyone.

"Yes, you have to wait for the listing."

"Don't be naive and just say whatever you want."

"Let's talk about it after the listing."

The supervisor also nodded and said, "I am presumptuous. I shouldn't speak carelessly."

Feng Zhengming smiled and waved his hand: "It's okay, we are just chatting while eating."

The supervisor then asked, "Will Feng Zhuangyuan go to Shanghai again?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Originally I was supposed to go to Shanghai this month, but due to some delays and the reception work, I can only postpone it and go next month."

"Is it true that Shanghai City will have better business than our Quancheng City?"

When asked this, Feng Zhengming smiled.

“Business-wise, there is no place that is better than another. There are many people gathered in Shanghai, but not all of them can accept Shandong cuisine. The city of Quanzhou is also well developed now and has attracted many outsiders, so the business is not bad.

It’s just that I went to Shanghai to promote our Shandong cuisine, so I have to do better business there.

Only when business is good can we attract enough people’s attention and promote Shandong cuisine better.”

After Feng Zhengming said this, the supervisor nodded and thought it was correct.

"Yes, it is still very important to promote our Shandong cuisine."

When it comes to promoting Shandong cuisine, the supervisor couldn't help but sigh.

"In the past, Shandong cuisine was very influential, but it has become less and less popular in recent years. When I went to other places before, I found that there were more Sichuan cuisine in restaurants, and some high-end restaurants served Cantonese cuisine."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. In fact, many restaurants seem to be cooking Sichuan cuisine, but in terms of technique, they are more like Shandong cuisine, just with more chili peppers.

As for Cantonese cuisine? After all, it has higher requirements for ingredients, so not many people can go to Cantonese restaurants. "

Senior Brother Li Huidong interjected: "Lu cuisine still has a great influence on other cuisines."

Cao Zhiguo also said: "Yes, in terms of technique, Shandong cuisine is still the most authentic."

Feng Zhengming: "There is no need to overemphasize this. Each local cuisine has its own merits. We, Shandong cuisine, should be more inclusive, share more excellent techniques with others, and learn more from others."

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, the supervisor couldn't help but give him a thumbs up.

"You really deserve to be the number one scholar. You have a bigger vision than us. No wonder guests from the capital like you."

Feng Zhengming laughed: "Hahaha, you like me because my cooking skills are pretty good."

This made the eldest brother, the fifth brother, He Yunqing and the supervisor all laugh.

"If your craftsmanship is okay, then won't we be able to watch it?"

"Zhengming is being modest again, not wanting us ordinary chefs to survive."

"Chef, you really don't have to be modest. You must be one of the best chefs in the country."

"Yes, you are undoubtedly the best when it comes to Shandong cuisine."

Feng Zhengming: "I don't dare to claim the title of No. 1. I still have a gap with my master and the other masters."

Li Huidong immediately took over the conversation: "After today, the gap has disappeared."

This made everyone else smile and nod.

Feng Zhengming had no way to refute it.

The recognition received tonight may be the recognition that many master chefs hope to obtain.

On the way back from Beijing, the guests also talked about Feng Zhengming with several provincial leaders.

"Feng Zhengming is really outstanding. He has very clear aspirations and knows how to consider the overall situation. Such an outstanding talent needs more support."

Several provincial leaders nodded in agreement and expressed their willingness to give Feng Zhengming their greatest support. (End of this chapter)