From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Chapter 258: Cleaning the soup and carving flowers, the female apprentice serves the dishes

After being reviewed by master craftsmen from all over Shandong Province, the site received a round of interviews and reports from TV stations and newspaper reporters.

Afterwards, several master chefs from the Culinary Federation and judges sent by the Ministry of Labor formally met with the master chefs invited from Shandong Province to serve as judges.

Among them, Master Hou sent by the Ministry of Labor is the leader of the evaluation team coming from the capital this time.

When meeting several local masters from Shandong Province, Master Hou also had to lower his profile.

After all, the few masters invited by Lu Province can be regarded as the same generation as the masters of several masters from the capital, including Master Hou, in terms of seniority.

Master Hou humbly greeted the old masters first.

"You guys are still so old and strong. Seeing you let us juniors, I really feel that our domestic cooking industry is still very confident. With a few masters here, our domestic cooking industry will definitely not lose to anyone."

Although Master Hou and other masters from the capital are juniors to the masters from Lu Province in terms of seniority.

But the master chefs naturally don't put on airs and remain polite and humble in front of Master Hou and others.

"Judge Hou, you are so polite. By inviting you here this time, I can give the young chefs in our province a lesson in advance and make them realize their shortcomings."

"That's right, the judges Hou put a tight spell on young people, telling them not to be vain and to calm down and learn their craft well."

"We still need you, judges Hou, to be more professional. Although we are older and have skills, we still have to learn from them in terms of judging."

After the two parties exchanged polite greetings, they officially entered the scene together to judge the skills of the young chefs.

As the representative of the organizer and the head of the jury this time, Li Zhifeng naturally had to lead the team.

A group of old masters and masters came in one after another.

The scene was really huge, and it was natural for the reporters at the scene to follow and film it.

Invisibly, this puts a lot of pressure on the young chefs on site.

At the same time as the judges entered, some young chefs had already started cooking, and some even started serving dishes.

This caught the judges a little off guard.

Fortunately, the competition has made adjustments so that chefs who can serve the dishes will promptly notify the competition's staff after the dishes are served, and then the staff will arrange for the judges to taste them first.

The dishes were originally supposed to be served one by one for the judges to taste, but instead the dishes were served on site for the judges to taste.

This kind of adjustment can allow the dishes to receive timely comments from the judges after they are cooked.

After all, the taste of some dishes will be completely different if they are allowed to cool.

The judges also understand.

So what was originally a review of the performance of the young chefs on site quickly evolved into a direct review of the dishes of some chefs.

And when a young chef serves a dish, it gives other chefs a sense of urgency to serve.

After all, it is a group of young chefs participating in such a province-wide competition.

Many young chefs may have never seen such a grand scene.

When you learn that someone has served the food, it is like taking an exam. Seeing someone in the exam room handing in the paper in advance is like an invisible reminder.

One, two, and gradually more young chefs began to appear.

This scene made the judges feel a little dumbfounded.

Li Zhifeng had no choice but to use a loudspeaker on the spot to calm the hearts of the participating young chefs.

"Young chefs, please don't be nervous or anxious. The official competition of our cooking exchange competition takes full consideration of everyone's cooking time, so there is no time limit. As long as everyone can cook the dishes well, they can cook them anytime. Yes, so please don’t be in a hurry to get the food out.

Remember that you are the representatives of our young chefs in Shandong Province. You not only have to participate in the competition, but more importantly, you have to show the style of our young chefs in Shandong Province. You should not pursue serving dishes as quickly as possible, but should strive for excellence. Prepare every dish for your competition. "

Li Zhifeng's comfort made all the young chefs in the competition feel at ease.

Some young chefs no longer rush to prepare dishes, but carefully carry out every step of preparation planned in advance.

After hearing what Li Zhifeng said, some of the competing chefs who had already served the dishes began to regret it.

After some tasting.

Master Hou and the judges from Beijing were positive about the overall quality of the dishes.

"Yes, the young chefs in Shandong Province are still very skilled in skills. Some of the dishes we have eaten are not that amazing, but almost all of them have maintained the traditional methods and made them very well."

After Master Hou said this, another master master from Beijing said with a smile: "It's better to have a few masters to keep a close eye on the craftsmanship. The skills of these young people are really above the passing line."

"Yes, they are all above the passing mark, and there are still young chefs who are still working. It seems to be a slow and meticulous job, which is more exciting."

Master Hou asked at this time: "By the way, when we come to Quancheng this time, we have always heard that there is a restaurant called Fengjiagang Restaurant in Quancheng's Baozi Rou. The Baozi Rou is said to be the most delicious Baozi Pork in Quancheng. It seems that this time The young boss also participated in the competition. I wonder how this young boss who is so famous for his cooking skills is like?"

Master Hou asked this, and Master Yan was embarrassed to say anything. After all, Feng Zhengming was his apprentice.

It was Master Su from Jufengde who came forward and said, "Hahaha, so Xiao Feng's meat is so famous?"

Master Hou and several master chefs from Beijing all laughed and said that the reputation was indeed great.

Master Su said: "Since some of the judges are curious, let's go and have a look together? Let's take a look at the young boss who makes the meat, and his cooking skills."

Master Su's suggestion was naturally unanimously agreed by everyone.

Including old masters from other places in Shandong Province, they were all curious about Feng Zhengming and wanted to meet him.

After Li Zhifeng asked someone for questioning, the group went straight to Feng Zhengming's stove.

At this time, Feng Zhengming had just boiled the soup and swept out part of the soup with red and white rice dumplings.

The judges came to the stove and saw Feng Zhengming sweeping the soup, but no one said a word.

At this moment, everyone has a tacit understanding as chefs.

Because everyone knows that the process of sweeping the soup is very important.

We must pay attention to the fire and soup, and ensure the movement of every step, and no deviations can occur casually.

Everyone watched quietly as Feng Zhengming cleaned the soup.

I saw him pouring the prepared meat dumplings into the soup, slowly heating the soup without letting the soup boil, waiting for the meat dumplings to solidify and float, and then carefully beating the floating meat dumplings little by little. Lose.

After carefully sweeping the soup, Feng Zhengming finally got a clear soup as clear as tea.

A group of judges waited for Feng Zhengming to finish cleaning the soup, but still did not disturb him and just discussed in a low voice.

Then take a closer look at some of Feng Zhengming’s cooking next.

But Feng Zhengming didn't cook first. He first took out a cut pumpkin and peeled it. He quickly cut out the outline of a little man. Then Feng Zhengming unfolded the carving knife he had prepared and started carving. Got pumpkin.

Seeing Feng Zhengming carving pumpkins live, the judges were surprised and nodded silently.

Several judges from Beijing praised Feng Zhengming's on-site carving discussion.

"Yes, this young chef's skills are very good." "Yes, not only is he very good at clearing the soup, but his knife skills are also very good."

"This is a competition for young chefs. They are not asked to do carvings. He can think of carvings with great care."

"The carving is really good. I should have practiced it regularly."

At the same time, old masters from Lu Province also gathered together to talk about Feng Zhengming's carvings.

Master Su smiled at Master Yan and said, "Old Yan, it seems that you have conducted a surprise training for your young apprentice in advance? You are actually carving in such a competition."

Master Wang also said on the side: "Looking at the carving skills, you should have practiced it a lot."

Master Sun from Tai Feng Building said: "Lao Yan, did you really do the surprise training in advance?"

Master Yan was asked this question by three masters from Quancheng and several masters from other places.

He smiled helplessly: "This is really not my surprise training. He should have practiced it himself. I only knew what he was going to cook before, but I didn't expect him to be so prepared."

As Feng Zhengming cut the knife, the appearance of what he was carving slowly emerged.

You can vaguely see that Feng Zhengming carved a person out of a pumpkin.

And judging from the longer part that stretched out, it looked like a person holding a pole in his hand.

After looking at Feng Zhengming's carvings for a while, the judges didn't want to leave.

Everyone is looking forward to what Feng Zhengming will finally carve out?

But after a while, other chefs served dishes, and the judges had to reluctantly leave first.

Before leaving, Master Su smiled and whispered to Master Yan: "Old Yan, why don't you go and ask what kind of thing your young apprentice is going to carve? So that we can have a better idea."

Several other masters from Lu Province all agreed. Everyone really wanted to know what Feng Zhengming would carve out.

Master Yan felt a bit dumbfounded when he saw everyone's curious expressions.

He thought for a while and said: "It should be a little fisherman. His first dish is to eat two whole fish."

Getting such an answer made the master craftsmen quite satisfied.

Then the group of people left Feng Zhengming's stove first, preparing to taste the chef's dishes.

Somewhat coincidentally, the chef who served the dishes turned out to be Xia Hui.

When Master Yan saw it was Xia Hui, he immediately seemed to have found an opportunity. He smiled and said to Master Xia: "Old Xia, your granddaughter is here. Why don't you give us some benefits? Let's give your granddaughter a high score together." ?”

In fact, Master Xia was somewhat nervous when he learned that he would be reviewing his granddaughter's dishes.

As a result, Master Yan found the opportunity to make fun of himself like this.

Master Xia immediately couldn't help but said: "Go, go, Lao Yan, don't laugh at me here. You see how I will tease you when it's your apprentice's turn."

The amusing conversation between the two masters made several other masters nearby laugh.

At the same time, Master Hou and several other judges from the capital first carefully observed Xia Hui's first dish: fried hairtail in tomato sauce.

After careful observation, one of the judges from Beijing was a little confused: "Master Hou, is this considered Western food?"

Mr. Xia was too nervous to go over and look at his granddaughter's food.

But I heard people ask, "Is it considered Western food?"

Master Xia quickly stepped forward to take a look.

On the plate, there were stacks of fried hairtail neatly arranged, followed by a row of cut out coir-coated cucumbers as decoration. On the other side of the cucumbers, there was ruddy tomato juice on the plate.

Master Xia was really surprised by his granddaughter's dish.

After looking at it carefully, Master Xia raised his head and looked at his granddaughter.

At this moment, Xia Hui's face showed exhaustion.

It's obvious that she put a lot of effort into this dish.

In fact, Xia Hui really felt the pressure when cooking this dish during the competition.

Because she had only made this dish a few times with Feng Zhengming.

Although it is not too difficult, some details still require great attention.

Therefore, Xia Hui must be more or less nervous when doing it on the field, especially if she does it by herself.

In addition, the hairtail used is different from that used in practice.

It was the "Bohai Knife" brought over by Zhang Minghai.

Such good materials put a certain amount of pressure on Xia Hui.

Fortunately, Xia Hui withstood the pressure and followed Professor Feng Zhengming's instructions step by step, and finally made this plate of fried hairtail with tomato sauce.

Master Xia looked at his granddaughter's tired face, then lowered his head to carefully examine the dish on the plate.

Finally, as a grandfather, he couldn't help but said: "It shouldn't be considered Western food. This is a tomato sauce dish. It's not that fresh among Shandong cuisine, but this young chef does have something special in his cooking."

After hearing what Master Xia said, Master Yan also spoke to help.

"This is a tomato sauce dish with an innovative approach. In a competition like today, it is worthy of recognition to see such an innovative approach."

The two masters spoke, and Master Hou and the masters from the capital also expressed their approval.

Next, let’s try Xia Hui’s fried hairtail with tomato sauce.

Master Hou immediately smiled after eating it and said: "The cooking method is very innovative, and it uses a Western-style method. It should be a Western-style fried three-piece set. First, beat it into flour, then dip it in a layer of egg liquid, and finally wrap it in a layer of bread. The bran is then fried in a pan."

After hearing this, Xia Hui quickly said: "I didn't prepare bread crumbs. I fried the steamed bun crumbs to dry up the moisture and wrapped them on the outside."

The judges present were not surprised when they heard this. After all, this was a very traditional approach.

Master Hou nodded and said: "In the past, when there was no bread in our country, we used to use steamed buns instead. There is no problem with your method."

Xia Hui said: "Thank you, thank you teacher for your affirmation."

After everyone tasted Xia Hui's dish, they all felt that it was really good.

After the hairtail fish is coated in flour and fried, the shell is crispy and the fish meat is soft and tender inside. It is really delicious.

Especially when dipped in tomato sauce, the flavor is even more unique.

After Master Hou finished a piece of hairtail, he asked Xia Hui with a smile: "You are the only female chef in this competition. Which restaurant or restaurant are you a chef in?"

Xia Hui said with some pride: "I work in the Feng family restaurant."

Getting such an answer surprised Master Hou and the judges who didn't know Xia Hui.

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(End of this chapter)