From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Chapter 260 One fish, two meals, the beauty of Chinese food

Look at the knife skills displayed by Feng Zhengming.

Master Xia whispered to Master Yan: "Old Yan, how did you teach this little apprentice of yours? His knife skills are really good."

Master Yan is naturally full of pride in his heart, but he still needs to be humble.

"This kid has worked hard on himself."

Master Su next to him said: "Zhengming's knife skills make me think, does he spend every day in the rice shop just cutting blocks? Doesn't he do anything else?"

Master Sun laughed after hearing this: "Hahaha, why does Lao Su's words sound sour?"

Master Wang agreed: "It's a bit sour."

Master Su was immediately unconvinced: "You old guys, don't you feel sad when you see Zhengming's knife skills? After all, we are not young anymore, and we can't compete with these young people."

Master Yan laughed when he heard this: "This is called each generation getting better than the next. Their young people are better than us, so our skills can continue to be passed down in their hands."

Master Yan’s words were really shocking.

"Is it like your burger? It's just that it's smaller. The shrimp gelatin in the middle is like the beef patty in the middle of your burger, and then the fish fillets below and the conch fillets on top are like the buns on both sides of the burger."

The flavor of the shrimp heads was completely cooked out, so Feng Zhengming took out all the shrimp heads and discarded them.

Feng Zhengming deep-fried the fish until it was very crispy, then took it out and put it on the plate directly.

This kind of words, spoken from the mouth of a senior chef, truly shows the pattern of a senior chef, and also reflects the senior chef's expectations for young chefs.

Put it all aside on a plate.

The judges at the scene and the reporters who came to film all thought this was a good statement.

At this point, everyone was really surprised.

Master Xia whispered to Master Yan: "Lao Yan, is this the way you taught me?"

Next, he started making some stir-fries.

After frying the shrimp brains completely out of the shrimp heads, Feng Zhengming poured the soup that had been swept in advance into the pot.

At this time, Feng Zhengming had already processed the fish, and half of the fish had been knifed, so that the fish meat appeared in a state of small dices.

Because the shrimps provided on site are large prawns, the shrimp heads contain a lot of shrimp brains and shrimp oil.

Place the cleaned shrimp heads in a separate small bowl.

At this time, Chang Zongfu thought of Feng Zhengming's method of sandwiching fish fillets and conch fillets with shrimp glue, which was very similar to foreign burgers.

When I saw Feng Zhengming preparing shrimp paste, and then seeing the fish fillets he sliced, I probably knew that he was going to stuff the fish fillets with shrimp paste.

The chefs in the competition and some people selling goods at the stalls were also attracted by the fragrance.

The soup slowly simmers in the pot, gradually turning the soup into a milky white color with a layer of red shrimp oil floating on it.

Although the shrimp heads were not thrown away, Feng Zhengming still processed the shrimp heads. After trimming them, he also removed a black sandbag inside the shrimp heads.

Then he began to take the other half of the fish that had been cut with a knife, and carefully patted the starch on each piece of fish. After the starch completely wrapped the fish, he put it in the oil pan for frying.

At the same time, Chang Zongfu also discussed this point with the foreigners who came to see him.

Feng Zhengming made the fish fillets, conch fillets and shrimp paste burgers one by one.

Each generation becomes stronger than the previous generation, and this is not just talking about Feng Zhengming.

Feng Zhengming then peeled out the shrimps.

He sliced ​​the snail meat into thin slices.

Then smash all the shrimps with the back of a knife, then add some diced fat meat to the shrimps, chop them into shrimp paste together with a knife, put them into a metal basin, add onion ginger water and egg white and beat into shrimp paste.

He put the shrimp heads in the pot first and fried them in oil while tapping and pressing the shrimp heads with a spoon to get out all the shrimp brains in the shrimp heads. The rich aroma of shrimp oil really spread far away.

This approach really surprised everyone.

It’s an expectation for all young chefs.

Master Yan shook his head: "This is not what I taught you, it is a new method that he figured out by himself.

This is also a very rare good thing.

When other people heard what Chang Zongfu said, they also felt that Feng Zhengming's method was very similar to the hamburger method.

First, use the fresh live shrimp provided on site to peel out the shrimp, but do not throw away the shrimp heads.

When Chang Zongfu said this, several foreigners who were invited also marveled that they were indeed very similar.

The other half of the fish was completely filleted.

This series of operations by Feng Zhengming seems to be different from the traditional whole fish eating that everyone knows?

After filling the conch slices, Feng Zhengming used shrimp glue to stick the conch slices and fish fillets together.

In full view of everyone, Feng Zhengming quickly took out the conch meat and cleaned it.

Only young chefs can be better than the old chefs, surpass them, and pass on their skills better.

Chang Zongfu, who had been watching Feng Zhengming from the side, was also shocked by Master Yan's words.

But that wasn't the end yet. Feng Zhengming then took out the conch prepared for him by his sixth senior brother.

While Feng Zhengming put the fish fillets in the water, he started to prepare other things.

After frying, the fish meat is all ridged, as beautiful as a coral on the seabed.

Then Feng Zhengming turned off the stove fire, let the soup stop boiling and cooled down a little, then put the fish fillets and conch fillets stuffed with shrimp paste into the soup one by one.

With the help of the remaining heat of the soup, the thin "little burgers" are cooked.

After soaking, the fish meat is very tender and feels like it will fall apart at any time.

Feng Zhengming carefully placed the conch slices downward one by one on the plate.

On one side of the plate are deep-fried fish that look like corals, and on the other side are "small burger"-like fish fillets and conch fillet pancakes, which look really strange in shape.

It looks like two dishes, but when placed on the same plate, it looks like one dish.

The most interesting thing is that Feng Zhengming fried the fish head, fish bones and fish tail and put them all on the plate.

Then bring the soup in the pot to a boil, then put the prepared green cabbage hearts into the pot and simmer them in the soup.

Remove the green cabbage hearts and place them on top of the fish bones in the middle.

Then Feng Zhengming's soup was divided into two pots.

After the soup is thickened over high heat, a thin glass of gravy is placed on one side, and carefully poured on top of the blanched fish fillet, conch fillet, shrimp paste burger.

The other side of the soup is covered with a thicker gravy and poured over the other half of the fried coral fish.

After pouring the gravy on it, Feng Zhengming took out the little fishing man he had carved from a pumpkin.

Place it on the front end of the fish head, and gently tie a thin line on the fishing rod with the little figure carved on it, and hang it down on the fish on the plate.

After Feng Zhengming finished carefully arranging the dishes, he showed them directly to the judges who had been watching for a long time. The presentation of such a dish really surprised everyone.

It seems to be a traditional way to eat two whole fish, but there are too many innovations in the method.

Especially Feng Zhengming perfectly combines various delicious ingredients.

The most important thing is that this seems to be a fish cooked in two ways, but overall, it gives people the feeling that this is indeed one dish.

Such an approach is really novel and does not break away from tradition.

For a while, everyone was just looking at this dish and completely forgot how to evaluate it?

The reporters from the TV stations and newspapers at the scene also stepped forward to watch carefully, taking photos and marveling at the same time.

“This dish is really beautifully done.”

"Yeah, I've never seen such a dish before."

"It's really beautiful."

"Where is this dish? This is simply a work of art."

"It turns out that our Chinese food can be so beautiful."

Several foreigners who were invited were also surprised by the dish in front of them.

They all gave thumbs up and kept praising Feng Zhengming. They were really generous with all the words of praise they could think of.

Finally, amid the praise from everyone, Master Hou, the judges from Beijing, and the master chefs at the scene came to their senses.

Master Hou took the lead in clapping, and then for the first time there was a round of neat applause.

Everyone applauded Feng Zhengming from the bottom of their hearts and with great conviction.

This dish of his is indeed so beautiful.

This dish vividly demonstrates the aesthetics of Chinese food.

The Chinese chef judges at the scene were really excited and excited from the bottom of their hearts.

Feng Zhengming not only showed his skills in front of them, but also showed his skills in front of foreigners, allowing foreigners to see the aesthetics of Chinese food, and foreigners were amazed by it.

This is the original intention of holding this province-wide young chef cooking exchange competition.

This is what the organizers invite foreigners to participate in and hope that foreigners can see.

The applause didn't stop for a long time. Everyone really wanted to applaud Feng Zhengming spontaneously and applaud his dish.

In the end, Feng Zhengming couldn't help but remind him: "Judges, if you continue to applaud like this, my dish will get cold. The fish fillets and conch fillets will taste worse if they get cold. You'd better try the dish while it's hot first." .”

Feng Zhengming's words stunned everyone, and the applause stopped.

Then everyone couldn't help laughing.

Master Hou laughed and said: "Hahaha, Master Feng is right. We should taste the food while it is hot first. This dish is for freshness. As the saying goes, one hot dish is worth three fresh ones. If it is cold, the taste will be much worse. Yes, let’s taste the food first. Our food should not only look good, but also taste good.”

When Master Hou said this, Li Zhifeng immediately arranged for someone to deliver the tableware for tasting dishes.

Feng Zhengming was very serious and gave each judge a piece.

It is a small burger with fish fillet, conch fillet and shrimp paste, paired with separate coral fish meat.

Because Feng Zhengming poured the same flavor of gravy on top, the taste is almost the same when put together.

However, the texture of the fish cooked in the two ways is completely different, which also makes the taste different.

Fish fillet, conch fillet and shrimp paste burger. When you eat it, the fish meat is smooth and tender, the conch fillet is crispy and tender, and the shrimp paste with a little elasticity in the middle. When paired with the gravy poured on the surface, it really highlights the freshness.

Although the coral fish meat is drizzled with gravy, it still has some crispiness because Feng Zhengming fried it very crispy.

So this dish has several different cooking techniques including fried, boiled, steamed, boiled and blanched.

After tasting it carefully, Master Su, as the eldest person present, spoke first.

"Delicious, really delicious. This dish is fresh, smooth, elastic, tender and crispy. It is really a wonderful and creative dish without losing the tradition."

After giving his evaluation, Master Su said to Master Hou and Li Zhifeng seriously: "Regardless of whether Zhengming can become the top pick in this competition, I think his dish alone should be enough to win the gold medal alone."

Several master chef judges from Beijing and master masters from Shandong Province also agreed with Master Su's evaluation.

Then after Chang Zongfu talked with several invited foreigners, he agreed with Master Su's opinion on behalf of the foreigners and himself.

Master Hou and Li Zhifeng looked at each other.

Li Zhifeng said with a smile: "Master Hou, tell me, this time you are the examiner for young chefs like Zhengerbajing. Do you think Master Su's opinion is okay?"

Master Hou couldn't help laughing when he was asked: "Hahaha, why are you pushing it to me? I'm not here to invigilate the exam this time, I'm just one of the judges."

Then Master Hou said: "My opinion is actually the same as Master Su's. I also think this dish alone can get the highest score."

Master Hou also agreed, and everyone unanimously agreed that Feng Zhengming's dish was designated as the highest-scoring dish in this competition.

After Master Xia tasted this dish, he especially watched Feng Zhengming cook it alone.

There was a secret joy in his heart: his granddaughter was working as an apprentice with Feng Zhengming. If he could become an apprentice to Feng Zhengming in the future, his granddaughter's cooking skills would definitely be improved to a higher level.

Master Xia has always felt that no one in the family is truly suitable to inherit the family's craftsmanship.

But today I first saw the crispy fried hairtail with tomato sauce made by Xia Hui.

I saw this even more amazing dish from Feng Zhengming.

Master Xia felt that perhaps the hope of inheriting the family's craftsmanship in the future should be pinned on Xia Hui, his granddaughter.

At the same time, Master Xia had a more bold idea in his mind.

Master Yan was also very pleased with the performance of Feng Zhengming's dish.

He was about to step forward to encourage his young apprentice.

Turning his head, he saw a secret smile on Master Xia's face.

Master Yan couldn't help but push Master Xia gently: "Lao Xia, the smile on your face seems to me to be malicious? Don't try to trick my little apprentice casually."

Master Xia was awakened by the push, and after hearing Master Yan's warning, he still had a smile on his face.

"Look at you, Lao Yan, we have been friends for many years. My granddaughter is now an apprentice under Zhengming. Our relationship is very close. I think maybe we can get closer in the future."

Master Yan said: "Stop it. Let the children do their own thing. Don't interfere."

Master Xia said with a smile: "I won't interfere, I support, I support the children."

Master Yan was a little bit dumbfounded when he saw Master Xia's look, so he could only ignore him for the time being and walk towards the young apprentice who made him very proud today.

(End of this chapter)