From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Chapter 280 Tang’s head-on competition

The soup dish Feng Zhengming made for this competition can be regarded as a dish that requires very good kung fu.

This dish is called: Bazhen Budai Chicken.

Budai chicken is an old dish in Shandong cuisine, which is the counterpart to Fulu duck.

Like Fulu duck, the whole chicken needs to be deboned.

The difference is that Fulu duck is considered a grilled dish.

Budai Chicken is a soup dish.

Feng Zhengming’s Bazhen Bag Chicken is an old dish that has not been cooked for many years.

First, you need to simmer a good pot of soup.

Then the whole chicken needs to be deboned.

It is necessary to remove all the bones of the whole chicken without breaking the skin. The chicken after deboning is like a cloth bag and can hold water without leaking.

Then move inward bit by bit against the bones, and gradually remove the chicken bones from the whole chicken.

Not only Master Xia thinks so, but other masters also think so.

Feng Zhengming was not to be outdone today and also showed off his bone-breaking skills.

Master Yan laughed: "You guys, they are about the same age, right? Zhengming is a few years older than Xiao Ye, and to be honest, Zhengming has officially studied cooking with his apprentice for a shorter period of time than your Xia Mingye. Xiao Ye I think I’ve been around you guys since I was a child, but Zhengming doesn’t have that chance.”

Feng Zhengming's deboning cannot break the skin of the chicken, so he needs to be more careful.

Master Xia looked at Feng Zhengming from a distance and said to Master Yan beside him: "Old Yan, Zhengming is going to declare war on our Kong cuisine."

Place it in a soup bowl, add the stock you prepared in advance, and steam it in a steamer.

It is indeed what Master Yan and Master Su said.

After hearing these words, Master Xia was speechless for a moment.

Master Xia was really impressed by his patience and steady knife skills.

The experience of other young chefs learning to cook, and the masters they worship, are certainly not as good as Xia Mingye's family background.

After the whole chicken is deboned, turn the chicken over first and blanch it with onion, ginger, cooking wine and boiling water.

Xia Mingye's advantage in this competition is relatively obvious.

Master Xia was a little helpless: "I always feel that Xiaoye is at a disadvantage when compared with Zhengming."

"Young people should indeed look like young people. Feng Zhengming dared to come up with this dish in the competition, which really showed the youth's unwillingness to admit defeat. On this point, our Xiaoye should have more exchanges study."

After the soup was simmering, he began to carefully remove the bones from the whole chicken.

Chef Xia could only sigh: "I hope Xiao Ye can gain something from this competition and take his cooking skills more seriously in the future."

Turn the bagi chicken back over and stuff the eight-zhen meatballs into the baguji chicken.

Yesterday, Xia Mingye demonstrated the bone-breaking technique in Kongfu cuisine.

In order not to break the chicken skin, Feng Zhengming used a small knife to separate the chicken from the chicken bones bit by bit, starting from the buttocks and slowly sticking to the chicken bones.

This process is really a test of patience.

Master Hou said with a smile: "Two senior chefs, you don't have to be so tense. Isn't it good for the juniors to compete like this? And everyone has said before that competition is second, and communication between young chefs is the key. .”

So he had plenty of time to make the soup because it takes a long time to debone a whole chicken.

Naturally, the judges all realized that Feng Zhengming was going to show off his real skills in this last competition.

Master Su said: "If I could have such a young and motivated apprentice, I would be able to retire with great satisfaction."

I found that Feng Zhengming was taking his time over there, simmering soup and slowly removing the bones from the whole chicken.

"Lao Yan is right. Lao Xia, your Xia Mingye is the one with the deepest foundation in this comparison. He has been exposed to it since he was a child. When he gets older, he will have the opportunity to learn from you."

At this time, Master Su couldn't help but speak.

Master Yan laughed after hearing this: "Hahaha, what you said, Lao Xia, it is true that Zhengming is my apprentice, but he is not a few years older than your Xiaoye. The competition between their young people should be considered Isn’t it a declaration of war?”

He can cut the bottom of the pig's trotters with a knife, and then slowly pick out the bones bit by bit against the bones.

The end result is a chicken soup that looks like a whole chicken stewed.

Master Yan said: "It can't be said to be a coincidence, but your Confucius cuisine is indeed more refined, which gave Zhengming a lot of inspiration."

Master Wang laughed: "Hahaha, is Lao Su starting to envy Lao Yan?"

At this point, Master Yan emphasized: "Besides, whether it was yesterday's Braised Chestnut Pigeon or today's Bazhen Bag Chicken, they are all old dishes and cannot be said to be Confucius cuisine for you."

Master Xia said: "His Braised Chestnut Pigeon yesterday was already a match for ours. Today's Bazhen Bag Chicken is obviously a match for Xiao Ye's Kongfu Imitation Bear's Paw yesterday. Isn’t this a declaration of war? Isn’t this too coincidental?”

The conversation between the two masters was also heard by several other masters and judges nearby.

Then you need to cut the eight delicacies into shreds and form them into meatballs, and blanch the meatballs in soup stock until cooked.

It’s not like yesterday when Xia Mingye deboned pig trotters.

Master Hou said: "We are still focusing on communication this time, so you really don't have to care about the results of the competition. As long as the young chefs show their strength, it will be a success for them, plus the communication with other young chefs , I believe that all young chefs will grow in this exchange competition."

Master Xia looked at Feng Zhengming again and saw that he had already removed half of the chicken bones.

But in fact, the soup combines the flavors of chicken and Bazhen. The Bazhen meatballs are very delicious to eat and drink together with the soup.

Master Su stared at Feng Zhengming and said with some greed: "I'm really greedy. Why haven't I met such a good young apprentice?"

These words amused the other masters present.

The master chefs turned their attention to Feng Zhengming, watching him patiently and steadily deboning the whole chicken.

Everyone is somewhat greedy in their hearts.

Feng Zhengming didn't know that the old masters were talking about him again.

He didn't even notice that there were many young chefs around him, whether they were participating in the competition or not. Many people focused on his whole chicken off the bone.

Feng Zhengming was dedicated to carefully and slowly scraping out the chicken bones bit by bit.

The area on the back is very thin. It can be said that the chicken skin may be broken if you are not careful.

So Feng Zhengming was very careful, scraping the knife slowly against the bone bit by bit.

At the same time, the soup on the stove was simmering.

Feng Zhengming took the time to look at the soup on the stove.

After a period of simmering, the soup has begun to take on a rich aroma.

In this pot of soup, there are old chicken, old duck, pork bones, ham, and of course large pieces of green onions and ginger are indispensable.

As the stewing time gets longer and longer, the aroma of the soup really spreads out, and the aroma naturally attracts many people's attention.

But today, many chefs want to prepare soups, so Feng Zhengming is not the only stove that smells fragrant. There are also other stoves that smell fragrant.

There are also some simpler chefs who make a relatively simple three-fresh soup on the spot. The chef also made a homemade tomato and egg soup on the spot.

Of course, the tomato and egg soup made on site is quite different from what is usually made at home.

After a lot of meticulous work, Feng Zhengming finally completed the deboning of the whole chicken.

Feng Zhengming took out all the chicken bones, leaving only a piece of chicken skin like a cloth bag.

Seeing Feng Zhengming remove the bones from the whole chicken, all the foreigners invited at the scene were really stunned.

Yesterday, Xia Mingye's deboning of pig's trotters shocked foreigners.

But today Feng Zhengming's whole chicken with bones removed is really beyond the understanding of foreigners.

Looking at the chicken skin bag after deboning, it can really hold water without leaking, which is incredible to foreigners.

If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, you would have seen Feng Zhengming complete the bone removal bit by bit.

Maybe foreigners simply can’t believe that this can be done?

Chang Zongfu communicated with several foreigners and told them that deboning a whole chicken is a technique used by Chinese chefs. Not every chef can do this skill, and it may still require long-term practice.

Foreigners gave Feng Zhengming a thumbs up, really praising his hand.

After the whole chicken is deboned, the next step is to blanch the deboned chicken skin bag.

Boil the water in the pot, add the onion and ginger cooking wine, turn the chicken skin bag over and blanch it in the water.

But don't over-boil it. If there is any peculiar smell, you should take it out.

Then clean the chicken skin bag with cold water.

Then Feng Zhengming began to process the prepared eight treasures.

Today Feng Zhengming chose eight delicacies: sea cucumber, scallops, ham, chicken, shrimp, mushrooms, winter bamboo shoots, and tendons.

After the broth is cooked, half of the broth is swept to obtain a clear, high-grade clear soup.

The other half of the soup is used to cook the eight delicacies.

Chop the chicken and shrimp into puree, and cut the tendon into small cubes.

Cut the remaining sea cucumbers, scallops, ham, mushrooms and winter bamboo shoots into thin strips.

Then mix the chicken and shrimp paste together, add egg whites and starch, beat well, squeeze into balls with a tiger's mouth, and then wrap the diced tendons into the balls. The balls are placed in the prepared mixed sea cucumber, scallops, mushrooms and winter bamboo shoots. Roll on the seed silk.

Wrap the meatballs evenly with four kinds of silk, then put them into a soup pot and blanch them with the stock after turning off the heat.

These eight delicacy balls are ready one by one.

Then put part of the Bazhen meatballs into the bag chicken and hold up the chicken skin bag.

After sealing the bag, arrange it and place it in the soup bowl.

Place the remaining Bazhen meatballs in a soup bowl, and then pour the prepared high-grade clear soup into the soup bowl.

Finally, cover the soup bowl with a lid to prevent other water vapor from seeping into the soup bowl during the steaming process.

Get ready to put the soup bowl into the steamer and start slowly steaming this bowl of Bazhen Budai Chicken Soup.

This is another relatively lengthy process.

Feng Zhengming was no longer in a hurry, because the dish was basically completed once it was steamed.

So he first slowly tidied up the stove, cleaned the chopping board and put away the knives.

Feng Zhengming even cleaned the ground under his feet.

It can be said that the venue for his competition has been carefully cleaned.

I saw Feng Zhengming carefully cleaning the venue where he played.

The judges also nodded frequently in affirmation.

"Zhengming is still a very traditional cook. He knows that he needs to clean the stove easily."

"Yes, many young people nowadays don't pay attention to this."

"Many young chefs nowadays not only don't know how to clean the stove and feet, but some even don't know how to clean the vegetable chopping blocks."

"In the past, the skill of cutting mounds was to shovel and wipe them clean after cutting. Now many young chefs don't pay attention to this, but leave it to others to do it."

"Some things cannot be thrown away, and must be done seriously."

Some of the words of the old chefs still hope that young chefs can better pass on their skills. At the same time, some excellent traditional cooking processes must also be passed down.

Except for Feng Zhengming’s Bazhen Bag Chicken Soup.

Some other chefs also showed off their soup-making skills.

Xia Mingye made a Confucian first-grade Bazhen soup. The method of making it also required simmering the soup first, then removing the clear soup, and then adding the soup made by Bazhen.

A young chef from Tai Feng House on the scene made a classic Shandong cuisine, mullet egg soup.

In this way, the three soups gained a lot of attention at the scene.

The master chefs also expressed to Master Sun that the mullet egg soup made by their young chef at Tai Feng House is also something that people look forward to.

"Old Sun, your Taifeng Tower is a little secretive, and you actually hid such a trick at the end."

"Hahaha, I haven't seen your young chef from Tai Feng Restaurant work hard before. This final dish of mullet egg soup is really exciting."

"It's not easy to make mullet egg soup. It has a spicy and sour taste, so how to prepare it is very important."

"Taifeng Tower should still have some tricks up its sleeve."

When Master Sun faced the compliments from the masters, he quickly said: "We don't dare not be serious anymore. We are watching your disciples and disciples shine in front of us. How can we, Tai Feng Tower, keep silent. "

Master Hou said with a smile: "It seems that the young chefs really worked hard in the last competition."

The key to soup is firstly whether the original soup is simmered well enough, and secondly whether the taste of the soup can be well blended when making the soup and serving it, so that the taste of the soup and the ingredients should match each other.

Different chefs have different methods.

Including when simmering the original soup, each chef may add some different ingredients.

Therefore, if you want to make a good soup, it actually tests the chef's ability.

After Feng Zhengming finished cleaning, the aroma of chicken soup began to slowly ooze out of the steamer.

He immediately turned off the heat and carefully opened the lid of the steamer.

The lid of the steamer was opened, and the rich aroma was already coming out.

Feng Zhengming then carefully took out the large soup bowl from the steamer.

The moment the lid is opened, a fragrant smell wafts out instantly.

This Bazhen Budai Chicken Soup is finally finished.

(End of this chapter)