From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Feng Zhengming and his group got into the arranged car and were taken to the Great Hall of the People.

Upon entering the kitchen of the Great Hall of the People, one finds numerous staff members busily at work.

However, when Feng Zhengming led the people in, the kitchen fell silent for a brief moment.

Soon, several master chefs from the auditorium came out to greet them.

"Scholar Feng, you've arrived! Everyone, please welcome Scholar Feng!"

A round of applause erupted in the kitchen, and the senior apprentices who had come in with Feng Zhengming were also very excited.

This was the first time the apprentices had ever been able to work in the kitchen of the Great Hall of the People.

The two senior brothers were only accompanying their junior brother on their second visit.

What excited them even more was the respect that everyone in the kitchen showed to Feng Zhengming.

In fact, everyone in the kitchen of the Great Hall of the People was just as excited to see Feng Zhengming.

For people in other industries, Feng Zhengming's title as the national culinary champion may not be as famous as the old villa he bought in Shanghai and the lavish restaurant he opened.

But among his fellow culinary professionals, Feng Zhengming, a national culinary champion, is naturally highly respected.

Especially Feng Zhengming, a national culinary champion, not only has excellent skills, but also worked hard to establish and standardize the practices of many restaurants across the country.

Many of the things he did became known to his peers, which deepened their respect for him.

If it weren't for Feng Zhengming, the chef's status and reputation would have been elevated.

The fact that many chefs' skills are now valued and that many restaurants and eateries are willing to pay them high salaries is also inseparable from Feng Zhengming's efforts over the years.

Of course, what earns Feng Zhengming the most respect and admiration from his peers is his culinary skills.

The landscape painting of the motherland designed for the state banquet was a collective effort by chefs from various regions, but Feng Zhengming, as the designer, still deserves great credit.

With a smile on his face, Feng Zhengming bowed respectfully to everyone in the kitchen.

"Thank you all for your welcome. I am truly humbled. Although I won the national culinary competition, you are all my teachers here. I would appreciate your guidance and suggestions for the National Day banquet and the welcome banquet for the athletes."

Everyone knows that Feng Zhengming's words were clearly humble, but his sincere attitude made people feel very comfortable.

Everyone in the kitchen applauded Feng Zhengming's words once again.

A young apprentice in the kitchen asked, "Master Feng, are we apprentices also considered your teachers?"

Feng Zhengming: "Of course, I believe that everyone is a master and everyone has their own strengths. The fact that you can be apprentices in the kitchen of the Great Hall of the People is proof of your excellence."

As he spoke, Feng Zhengming called his apprentices and students to his side.

"These are my apprentices, and these three are my students. I hope you can teach them more things in the future."

These words made the apprentices in the kitchen feel at ease.

The chefs from the Great Hall's kitchen laughed.

"Scholar Feng is far too modest."

"Yes, we all know about your skills, Scholar Feng."

"Let's learn from each other and work together to make the National Day banquet, especially the welcome banquet for our athletes, a success."

"Yes, yes, Feng Zhuangyuan, you are our commander. We will follow you to cook the dishes well."

Feng Zhengming took the initiative to extend his hand and shake hands with the master chefs.

"Thank you all for your kind words. This time, we will definitely cooperate well and make sure our athletes who have won glory for our country are well-fed."

Everyone naturally agreed.

The thought of this year's athletes winning so many gold medals for the country fills everyone across the nation with a sense of pride.

Therefore, this welcome banquet for them must be of utmost importance, ensuring that all the athletes can truly enjoy their meal.

For the rest of the time, Feng Zhengming had his two senior brothers, apprentices, and students stay in the kitchen.

"Senior brothers, you should take them with you to the kitchen and let them see how food is prepared in the Great Hall of the People's kitchen."

Yang Bin and Cao Zhiguo naturally smiled and nodded in agreement.

The two senior brothers also knew that Feng Zhengming was giving them an opportunity to experience the atmosphere in the kitchen of the Great Hall of the People, and especially to understand some of the processes in the kitchen.

This is an excellent learning opportunity for Xia Hui, Sun Decai, Tang Yong, and Lu Haisheng.

Feng Zhengming and the chefs who were assigned to host the banquet went to discuss the menu details.

Upon entering a small conference room, we found several master chefs, including Master Hou and Master Zheng, present.

Two well-known master craftsmen from Beijing were also present to oversee the event.

Both of them were very kind to him when they met Master Feng Zhengming.

"Zhengming, now that you're here, we'll feel more at ease."

"That's right. With Zhengming here, the banquet will definitely be a great success."

Feng Zhengming quickly replied modestly, "I feel more at ease with you two around. I also need to learn more from you two. It is truly my good fortune to have this opportunity."

These two master chefs are experienced chefs in Beijing with extensive experience in state banquets.

Furthermore, they have a very detailed understanding of cuisines from various regions.

In this respect, Feng Zhengming must also acknowledge his shortcomings.

Next, everyone sat down and began to discuss the menu details.

Most of the menus provided by Feng Zhengming were quite suitable.

However, some of the two veteran craftsmen and the master craftsmen of the Great Hall of the People felt that they should be replaced.

"Zhengming, you may not know this, but whether it's the National Day banquet or a welcome dinner for the athletes, the amount of food served must be large, so we can't serve multiple portions at once. We should try to avoid that."

"That's right. We also need to take into account the taste preferences of athletes from different regions, so we need to make some adjustments to the dishes."

"Most importantly, there are some ingredients that may cause discomfort to athletes and therefore cannot be used."

"In addition, some ingredients that may cause discomfort to guests should be avoided at the National Day banquet."

At this moment, Feng Zhengming had already taken out a small notebook and pen and was carefully recording what the veteran craftsmen and everyone else were saying.

Seeing his serious and meticulous attitude, everyone present once again admired him.

The scene before my eyes was just as he had described.

He really came here specifically to study and to become a good student.

While taking notes, Feng Zhengming would also seriously raise and inquire about any problems that arose.

"Should we reduce the sugar content of some dishes at the National Day dinner?"

Someone immediately replied, "Yes, we need to reduce sugar, and also reduce salt and oil intake."

Feng Zhengming carefully wrote it down in his notebook.

"Okay, so when using stock, should we try to use clear broth instead?"

An experienced chef said, "It's not that you have to use clear broth. The main thing is to ensure the broth is clean, so try to use less of it."

Feng Zhengming wrote it down again and offered a possible alternative that he had come up with.

When everyone saw the alternative proposed by Feng Zhengming, they had to admit that it was indeed very good.

Feng Zhengming's alternative is to use less oily ingredients and to use some fungi to season the soup.

This plan does meet the requirement of reducing oil content. Feng Zhengming even provided a modified version of Kung Pao Chicken with a more balanced flavor.

This surprised both of the two experienced chefs, one of whom was a Sichuan cuisine chef.

"Zhengming, your design is quite interesting. It lightens the flavor but retains the essential taste."

Feng Zhengming: "This is also a small part of my own research, but I may need to go to the kitchen later to make it for everyone to try and confirm whether the taste is acceptable?"

Hearing Feng Zhengming say this, everyone did start to have some expectations.

After finalizing the menu for the National Day banquet, the next step is to host a welcome banquet for the athletes.

There are many more things to consider. We need to pay attention to the tastes of athletes from different regions, and we also need to be careful that some sensitive ingredients and seasonings cannot be used.

The research that Feng Zhengming did before his arrival was put to good use.

It involves nutrition and various basic academic disciplines, and even includes some chemical elements.

Finally, this allowed Feng Zhengming to analyze many details very thoroughly.

In particular, it can effectively avoid things that may be detrimental to the athlete's body.

After some discussion, it was decided that the experiment would be conducted in the kitchen.

Feng Zhengming and the others went to the kitchen of the Great Hall of the People.

Over here, Feng Zhengming's two senior brothers, along with their apprentices and students, have already integrated into the community.

They learned a lot about the requirements for cooking here from the kitchen staff at the Great Hall of the People.

Especially when banquets are held here, a lot of food and various ingredients need to be prepared in advance.

It must be admitted that the kitchen staff here is truly employing a massive workforce.

With so many people working together, they can make many portions of a lot of dishes at once.

Then, the plating is done by a dedicated team.

It can be said that a clear division of labor makes working in the kitchen less complicated.

For Xia Hui, Sun Decai, Tang Yong, and Lu Haisheng, the way the kitchen in the Great Hall of the People worked felt very similar to the kitchen where Feng Zhengming worked.

The difference lies in the fact that Feng Zhengming's kitchen division of labor is more detailed and clear.

Furthermore, everyone works in shifts.

It's not that one person only does one kind of job. In order to ensure the efficiency of food preparation, people often take turns working together, so everyone needs to understand all kinds of details.

Of course, that was mainly because Feng Zhengming couldn't possibly have that many people working in the kitchen.

Therefore, manpower can only be filled wherever needed.

Another point is that Feng Zhengming Restaurant could not possibly serve as many dishes as a banquet at the Great Hall of the People.

Therefore, most of the dishes served at the Great Hall of the People are not very complicated.

They tend to eat mainly Western food and avoid stir-fried dishes as much as possible.

Feng Zhengming went to the kitchen and demonstrated some of the dishes he had envisioned.

This also allowed everyone in the Great Hall's kitchen to witness his culinary skills as a top scholar.

Feng Zhengming also did a very good job in handling some details.

Moreover, many of the dishes he designed are dishes that can be served in large quantities.

In this way, there will be no problem with the speed of food service, whether at the National Day banquet or at the subsequent welcome banquet for the athletes.

Feng Zhengming personally prepared several dishes, which were then tasted and reviewed by the two master chefs and several other chefs.

The way Feng Zhengming was addressed truly surprised everyone.

He will carefully taste it himself before making detailed adjustments.

This way, the flavor of the dish is almost guaranteed.

It's flavorful, but the taste isn't overpowering.

It has achieved the requirements of low sugar, low salt, and low oil very well.

Even many chefs in the Great Hall of the People's kitchen might not be able to do this as well as Feng Zhengming.

After a round of tasting, almost all the dishes on Feng Zhengming's menu were approved.

After that, Feng Zhengming broke down the process of making each dish.

He shared almost everything he designed in the kitchen of the Great Hall of the People, without reservation.

This is something that even experienced and master craftsmen greatly admire.

It's important to know that many chefs may unknowingly keep secrets from others.

Chefs like Feng Zhengming, who share all sorts of details, are truly remarkable.

Feng Zhengming and his team spent the entire day in the kitchen of the Great Hall of the People.

We also had lunch here.

They even participated in the reception work at the Great Hall of the People.

Feng Zhengming and his two senior brothers also showed off their skills by cooking several dishes.

The atmosphere was really great; everyone exchanged ideas and learned from each other outside of work.

Everyone can say they benefited greatly.

I truly learned about many unique details in Chinese cuisine.

The two master chefs even shared some dishes that were used at state banquets in the past, but are now rarely seen.

"Actually, some foreigners have rather strong tastes, so sometimes we need to give them a slightly stronger flavor."

"Yes, and some Western customers prefer sweeter flavors and really like the taste of butter, so we need to make some adjustments to suit their tastes."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "I actually know that. I talked to Chef Kaufman before, and some of his dishes are indeed very oily. And everyone says that foreigners don't eat offal, but actually some of Kaufman's dishes also use offal."

Master Hou laughed: "Most of them don't eat offal, but some do. It mainly depends on how it's cooked. They really don't know how to cook it."

Master Hu: "Without our processing method, the smell of offal cannot be completely removed."

Feng Zhengming: "Haha, looking at it this way, Chinese cuisine is still better."

Everyone burst into laughter after Feng Zhengming said that.

An experienced craftsman joked, "At times like this, our top scorer suddenly becomes unhumble."

Another veteran chef said, "He certainly has the right to be arrogant. He has indeed competed with famous chefs and won against them in his own way."

Chef Hou: "That's right. Zhengming's stuffed pig's trotters, made in the style of Shandong cuisine, were indeed comparable to Kaufman's."

Feng Zhengming: "At that time, I felt that the bone-removing skills of Confucius Family Cuisine in Shandong cuisine were definitely no worse than those of Kaufman. His stuffed pig's trotters became a famous dish, so why can't our Confucius Family Pig's Trotters, which imitate bear's paws?"

The experienced craftsman said, "This is confidence; it's our own cultural confidence."

Master Zheng: "Zhengming is still the best at craftsmanship. He has learned from the strengths of many others, and his future achievements are limitless."

Feng Zhengming humbly replied, "Thank you for your praise. I still need to study hard, observe more, and learn more to thoroughly understand the cuisines of different regions so that I can cook even better."

Master Zheng: "If Zhengming has time, I'll send you a few books later. They're some books I found."

Feng Zhengming: "Thank you, Master Zheng. I will definitely make time to visit your home." (End of Chapter)