From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Chapter 265 Teaching without reservation, the exchange was a great success

There was a burst of applause at the scene. When everyone saw Feng Zhengming's knife skills with their own eyes, they really had to admire him.

In about a minute, a whole big carp can be evenly decorated with flower knife on both sides.

Every cut is quite precise.

The intervals between each cut are almost the same.

The flower knife, which is as beautiful as peony petals, is really a pleasure to look at.

Standing behind Master Su, Duan Jinsheng, who had always been unconvinced by Feng Zhengming, saw such a beautiful flower knife and couldn't find fault with such a knife's craftsmanship.

Xia Hui was still very excited: "It's great. My uncle's knife skills are really the best in the audience."

Sun Hai on the side also had bright eyes, revealing a yearning for Feng Zhengming's sword skills.

"Uncle Feng's knife skills are indeed excellent."

Feng Zhengming was at the side and helped the Sixth Brother answer: "I use corn starch, you can also use sweet potato starch, potato starch is also fine, add starch first, then add some flour according to the proportion, mix the starch and flour dry, and then add a little bit Add water to it, maybe a little beer instead of water.”

At this time, Master Yan also gave an explanation on the spot.

This is something that few young chefs can do.

Feng Zhengming then replied: "There is yeast and wheat in beer, which can also increase the crispness."

Chang Zongfu and several foreigners invited also felt that this flower knife was incredible.

Master Yan’s words were really shocking.

Then Zhang Minghai mixes the paste, adds water little by little, and slowly mixes the paste evenly.

In Chang Zongfu's view, he visited many chefs during his return to China, including senior chefs and restaurant chefs.

But in fact, in the process of mixing, it must be adjusted according to the actual situation.

Master Wang then couldn't help but sigh: "Feng Zhengming is still young, he may still be able to improve."

Master Wang from Jubinyuan said to his apprentice Lin Guofu who was following him today: "Did you see it? Feng Zhengming's cooking skills are still improving. His current knife skills are close to the level of his master back then."

However, Chang Zongfu still knows how to comfort himself.

So first add starch and flour to the basin in a ratio of four to one.

Master Yan immediately asked: "Why add beer?"

Master Yan saw Feng Zhengming and Zhang Minghai put dry starch and flour into the basin, and directly asked the young chef on the scene.

But when it comes to the basic skills of a Chinese chef, Chang Zongfu has yet to see anyone better than Feng Zhengming.

"What proportion did you put in? What kind of starch did you put in?"

Lin Guofu was even more surprised after hearing this.

The paste used by Feng Zhengming and Zhang Minghai was passed down and taught to them by their master.

It's a pity that Chang Zongfu has been rejected by Feng Zhengming one after another.

Lin Guofu asked in a low voice: "Master, are you just getting close?"

But I want to decorate both sides of the carp so evenly and beautifully within one minute.

During this process, Feng Zhengming and Sixth Senior Brother Zhang Minghai were preparing the batter for fried fish.

Usually, the batter for fried fish is 3 or 4 starches and 1 flour.

Feng Zhengming stunned the audience with his one-minute performance.

Although Zhang Lei and Yang Peng had seen Feng Zhengming's knife skills many times, they were still a little stunned by the carp's skill in cutting flowers.

And Master Yan also gave detailed explanations to some young chefs.

He knew in his heart that his philosophy was different from Feng Zhengming's.

Perhaps if there is no time limit, there are many young chefs present who have basic knife skills, and they can slowly finish the carp knife.

Chang Zongfu felt somewhat helpless. He admired Feng Zhengming's skills very much, especially his excellent basic skills.

Several foreigners kept giving thumbs up, and they were full of praise for Feng Zhengming.

In order to make the sweet and sour carp well, not only the knife must be beaten well enough, but also the batter for the fried fish must be prepared well.

Because there is a time limit for cutting the flower knife this time, this greatly increases the difficulty of cutting the flower knife this time.

At this moment, the young chefs who were watching suddenly realized that Master Yan had no reservations and wanted to teach every little detail of this classic dish.

The quality of a restaurant's operation is never determined solely by the chef's basic skills. With his more advanced and fashionable design, he will definitely be able to seize a certain market.

After Feng Zhengming finished cutting the flower knife, Master Yan also allowed some young chefs to come forward and observe.

Master Wang nodded: "It's very close. In fact, it's still a little bit worse. At your peak, your Master Yan's swordsmanship still needs to be more sharp."

Therefore, he was destined to be unable to ask Feng Zhengming to help him.

Lin Guofu looked at Feng Zhengming and couldn't help thinking: Can he still improve? If it were further improved, what would Feng Zhengming's cooking skills be like?

"You must remember the batter for fried fish and don't stick to the ratio. When you learn it in vocational school or ask some teachers for advice, they will tell you a ratio, three to one or four to one. This ratio There’s nothing wrong with it, but you can’t just memorize it. You have to pay attention to it when you’re doing it, and make adjustments based on what you see.”

Even among the middle-aged masters present, not everyone can do it.

Chef Yan then said to the young chefs at the scene: "Remember, it must be soft and smooth, and there should be no lumps. You must use your hands to open it like he did."

Under the guidance of Master Yan and the demonstrations of Zhang Minghai and Fu, everyone saw it very intuitively.

At this time, even some of the master craftsmen on site would stare at it seriously.

As the paste is slowly mixed, it takes on the state of a non-Newtonian fluid.

But when Zhang Minghai grabbed it, the paste flowed from his hands almost instantly.

Master Yan said: "Did you see? This one has too much starch and not enough flour. At this time, you need to add a little more flour. Remember, you must pay attention to this when mixing. You can start with a little more starch, and then you can see that the dough is mushy. Then add flour appropriately."

After Zhang Minghai demonstrated, he grabbed a little bit of flour with his hands and sprinkled it evenly on the surface of the paste.

Then Zhang Minghai continued to grab it with his hands. This time he scratched it a little, and the paste in the basin immediately showed a different state.

Before, when Zhang Minghai caught him, he would move very quickly.

But after adding a little bit of flour, the paste Zhang Minghai picked up obviously no longer flowed quickly.

And it can be clearly seen that the paste in the basin can clump up and then slowly spread out.

Master Yan waited for Zhang Minghai to mix the paste evenly and asked him to show it to everyone present.

"You can show it to everyone so that everyone can have an idea of ​​what it's like."

Zhang Minghai naturally followed his master's instructions, and Feng Zhengming had already marinated the fish.

After dressing the carp, first apply a layer of salt and cooking wine on the surface, then use a basin of water, add onion, ginger, cooking wine and some beer, and put the fish into the basin to soak.

This is a marinating process that allows the fish to have some bottom.

Otherwise, if you wrap it in batter and fry it, then pour it with juice, the flavor of the juice will only remain on the surface, and the fish inside will be tasteless.

Zhang Minghai followed his master's instructions and showed the scene.

Several old masters at the scene laughed and expressed their joy when they saw it.

Master Yan is really afraid that everyone will not be able to learn it.

Master Hou also told Li Zhifeng: "Mr. Yan is really selfless. This is how demonstrations and communication should be. He really deserves to be called a master."

Li Zhifeng nodded: "Yes, Mr. Yan really taught me without reservation." After the presentation, Zhang Minghai returned with the basin.

At this time, the fish and paste were put aside, and Feng Zhengming and Sixth Senior Brother prepared other things together.

First, Feng Zhengming cut out a small ball from a carrot, and carved a hollow in the middle of the ball. The final carrot ball was hollowed out as a whole, and there was a small ball in the middle that could be shaken.

This hand carving was quite natural and reminded the judges that yesterday Feng Zhengming had one fish and two fish for the little fisherman carved from a pumpkin.

Master Su said with a smile: "This Feng Zhengming is afraid that others will not know that he is good at knife skills."

The hollow carrot balls were carved for everyone to see.

Several invited foreigners even exclaimed how beautiful it was.

While Feng Zhengming was carving the balls, Zhang Minghai cut the prepared lotus root into thin slices, patted the surface with dry starch and then fried it in a pan.

Then Zhang Minghai kneaded the dough with spinach juice, used the dough to shape lotus leaves, and steamed the lotus leaf noodles.

These are all prepared to be used as decorations on the plate.

Everything is ready. Take out the marinated fish and wipe the water inside and outside with a clean towel.

Take out the paste again and mix the paste together again.

Put the fish into the paste and slowly cover the entire surface of the fish body as needed.

Even the inside of the fish's belly must be smeared with paste.

Make sure every piece of fish meat is covered with paste.

The carp has been hung with paste, and Zhang Minghai has already heated the oil pan.

The oil temperature was about 50%. Feng Zhengming held the fish head and tail and slowly put the fish into the pot to rinse it, so that the fish would take on a jumping crescent shape.

Master Yan started to explain again: "This process must be done slowly with oil. Remember not to put it into the pot directly. It must be done until the fish is set. Slowly and don't let the oil fall onto your hands."

Feng Zhengming was very careful to shape the carp oil on his hands, and several times his hands almost touched the oil surface.

His bold approach made many people at the scene tremble with fear.

But precisely because of Feng Zhengming’s meticulous oiling, the carp was ultimately able to maintain a very beautiful shape.

The batter on the outside of the carp is fried hard first, and then the fish is slowly and completely lowered into the pot.

The next step is to slowly fry the carp.

During the frying process, Feng Zhengming also used chopsticks to carefully open the fish's mouth, gills, belly and knife edges.

Chef Yan said next to him: "The fish must be fried thoroughly, so don't use high heat before frying. Keep medium heat and fry slowly to make the outside of the fish crispy."

During this period, Feng Zhengming also fished out the shaped carp once. After the fire raised the temperature of the oil, he put the fish in the pan and fried it.

In this way, the battered shell on the surface of the carp can be made crispier.

When the carp was almost ready to be fried, Zhang Minghai sat on the stove nearby.

Zhang Minghai first fried the sugar color, but the color of the sugar he fried was slightly lighter.

After the sugar color is fried, add the green onion and ginger directly into the sugar color and saute until fragrant, then add the prepared stock.

Then season the soup.

Because it is a sweet and sour dish, you basically need to add equal amounts of sweet and sour.

Let the soup in the pot boil and bring out the sweet and sour taste.

Finally, Feng Zhengming's carp was almost fried.

Zhang Minghai is doing the final thickening of the soup, and is also pouring in oil. He also needs to use a spoon to put the oil against the surface of the soup, and slowly let the oil blend into the soup.

Feng Zhengming's carp was taken out of the pan, and while draining the oil, he spread the fried lotus root slices on the bottom of the plate.

Then put the dough lotus leaves prepared by Sixth Senior Brother Zhang Minghai.

Finally, after the carp is drained, carefully place the carp on the lotus root slices.

The carp was still hot at this time, but Feng Zhengming carefully arranged it with his hands in order to arrange the carp properly.

After the carp is placed, the carrot-shaped ball needs to be placed on the fish's mouth.

Zhang Minghai poured the prepared soup on the fish.

Also put the lotus seeds that have been steamed in advance.

In this way, this classic Shandong cuisine sweet and sour carp is completed.

At this time, the other four master chefs appeared together with Master Yan, and their dishes had all been completed.

But in terms of the on-site effect, it is really not as good as the sweet and sour carp dish made by Master Yan and his two apprentices.

The sweet and sour carp was presented on a plate and really received a round of applause from the audience.

Both the young chefs present and those looking forward to learning how to cook were all shocked and amazed by this dish.

Even the few master chefs present felt that this sweet and sour carp dish was indeed impeccable.

Some exchanges ensued at the scene.

Naturally, many young chefs gathered around the sweet and sour carp.

Everyone asked about every detail and doubts in their hearts.

Master Yan is very serious and gives detailed answers.

Feng Zhengming and Sixth Senior Brother Zhang Minghai were also nearby to help answer questions.

This kind of question and answer exchange really benefited the young chefs present a lot.

Some young chefs are filled with unreserved gratitude to Master Yan.

"The master is just a master. He taught us without any reservation."

"Yes, Mr. Yan can be considered a master."

"Several other masters also teach every detail."

"This trip is really the right one."

"A lot of questions in my mind have been answered."

Master Hou looked at the lively atmosphere and said to Li Zhifeng again: "This exchange competition in Shandong Province is really great. Such exchanges may be difficult for many young people to encounter."

Li Zhifeng said: "I would also like to thank several masters for their suggestions. I did not expect that the masters would explain and teach without reservation."

Master Hou said: "This is the key to inheritance. Only in this way can our cooking skills be better passed on."

Li Zhifeng nodded: "Master Hou is right. This allows everyone to learn something and also allows young people to see what the real standards should look like."

Master Hou and the judges from Beijing all nodded in agreement.

The morning exchanges benefited the young chefs a lot, and everyone is looking forward to the afternoon demonstrations and exchanges.

Master Su also made fun of Master Yan during lunch.

"Lao Yan, you are putting pressure on me. A sweet and sour carp requires you master and apprentice to do it so well. It will be really embarrassing if we don't do it well at Jiuzhuan Large Intestine."

Master Yan responded with a smile: "Senior Brother Su's craftsmanship must be perfect."

(End of this chapter)