From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Chapter 49 Chef’s Soup (First Update)
  On Monday morning, Feng Zhengming still got up early with Zhang Lei and Yang Peng, and went to the wholesale market to purchase with Li Huidong who came over.

During the two days of the weekend, a lot of the inventory purchased previously was consumed, so today Feng Zhengming and the others rode three large tricycles to the wholesale market.

By the time they left the wholesale market, the three tricycles were almost full.

On the way back, Feng Zhengming was pedaling a tricycle while mumbling and calculating accounts.

Li Huidong heard the voice of his junior brother settling accounts and said with a smile: "Zhengming, you really don't need to calculate so clearly. Today's vegetable prices are relatively low, which is enough for us for two days. Everyone can get up later tomorrow morning."

Zhang Lei and Yang Peng were immediately happy when they heard that they didn't have to get up early to catch the morning market tomorrow morning.

Li Huidong heard the suppressed laughter of the two people, turned to look at the two apprentices and said, "What? Are you getting tired so quickly?"

Zhang Lei and Yang Peng quickly expressed their fear and emphasized that they were willing to work harder to learn from their master and junior uncle.

Feng Zhengming heard this and said: "Hahaha, it's actually quite hard to get up so early in the morning, so it's normal for you to feel tired, but that's how our industry is. We rely on craftsmanship to earn our hard-earned money."

Li Huidong said: "It is indeed hard money, but as long as we are willing to endure hardship and work hard, our income will be higher than others."

Zhang Lei and Yang Peng also recognized this.

For example, in the brewery where Li Huidong and Lin Jiacheng contracted the canteen, the current salary of ordinary employees in the factory is only 500 to [-] yuan a month, but Zhang Lei and Yang Peng are still apprentices in the canteen, and they already earn [-] yuan a month.

In the future, after the two of them start working as chefs in any restaurant, their salary will not be less than one thousand.

Even if you have good craftsmanship and can produce one or two special dishes, you can earn a salary of two to three thousand.

So although it is indeed harder to work early and late at night, Zhang Lei and Yang Peng can't help but feel that the hard work is worth it when they think about their monthly income.

Feng Zhengming said: "Learning skills well is the key. Senior brother still hopes that you two can become independent chefs in the future, and then senior brother and I can also benefit from you."

Li Huidong laughed after hearing this: "Hahaha, your little uncle is right. We are looking forward to you becoming a master chef in the future, so that we can follow suit."

Zhang Lei and Yang Peng looked at each other in shock, with expressions of dumbfounding on their faces.

During the two days of the weekend, I followed Feng Zhengming and Li Huidong to go to the countryside to make banquets and to prepare reception banquets for the factory.

Zhang Lei and Yang Peng already understood that there was a huge gap between them and their master and junior uncle.

If their master and junior uncle could become famous chefs in the future, the two of them even felt that it was just a matter of time.

But becoming celebrity chefs themselves, the pair knew they still had a long way to go.

The group returned to the canteen. Feng Zhengming and Li Huidong entered the kitchen and first checked the soup in the soup bucket that had been sitting on the briquette stove.

The door of the briquette stove is sealed, and a very soft fire is always maintained to slowly simmer the soup in the bucket.

These two large buckets of soup were cooked before Li Huidong left last night.

After boiling, keep simmering over medium-low heat.

Before going to bed at night, Feng Zhengming added some water to the soup bucket, opened the stove door, boiled the soup over high heat, and then sealed the stove door.

Replace the briquettes in the briquette stove with a new one and cover the pot lid.

In this way, there is no need to worry about these two buckets of soup.

Until now, Feng Zhengming and his senior brother came back from shopping together. When they opened the lid of the soup bucket, they could clearly smell the rich aroma wafting out of the bucket.

The so-called opera tune is the chef's soup.

These two buckets of soup, simmered overnight, are the biggest secret to Feng Zhengming and Li Huidong's delicious dishes.

Looking at the thick soup in the pot, Feng Zhengming asked: "Brother, should I use this bucket to make clear soup, or your bucket?"

Li Huidong said: "Use your bucket. Your bucket has more material."

Next, the two brothers used slotted spoons to take out the stewed ingredients in the soup.

There are some ingredients such as pork stick bones, old chicken, old duck, ham and so on.

Remove the large pieces of ingredients and filter the soup again through a layer of gauze.

In this way, two portions of hairy soup were obtained.

Feng Zhengming wants to make this bucket of soup into clear soup, so he needs to wait for it to cool before processing.    The process of sweeping the soup requires sweeping it with red and white bottles respectively.

Honggu also uses red meat. In the past, pork was usually chopped into minced meat, boiled with water and added to the soup. Then the soup was slowly heated over low heat on the stove. As the temperature increased, the minced meat would gradually condense into lumps. .

Don't let the soup boil during the process. When the red wine absorbs the impurities in the soup, condenses and floats, carefully remove it.

After sweeping the soup with the red pot, you need to sweep the soup again with the white pot.

Bai Ke usually uses chicken breast, which must also be minced into puree and added to the soup that Hong Ke has swept through.

Still repeat the previous steps, slowly heat over low heat, but do not let the soup boil.

After Baigu cleans the soup, almost all the impurities in the soup are adsorbed.

The remaining soup will be as clear as tea.

Cleaning soup is a skill that almost all Shandong cuisine chefs must learn.

However, the way Feng Zhengming and Li Huidong learned from Master Yanxilou was different from other places.

Before Feng Zhengming minces the meat, he first chops the green onions, then adds Sichuan pepper powder to it, then chops the green onions and Sichuan pepper powder together to form green onion and pepper paste.

In order to save costs, the meat used in Honggu is chicken leg meat. During the process of mincing it into puree, the meat tendons need to be removed.

Chop the chicken thighs into small pieces, add the green onion and pepper paste, and chop them into a paste together.

Spread the chicken puree mixed with green onion and pepper paste, and then add it to the cool soup.

In this way, heat it and sweep the soup for the first time.

The next dish is chicken breast. The method is similar to the previous one. When mincing the meat, add the green onion and pepper paste and chop them together.

This will produce a clear soup as clear as tea.

The gathering of various meat amino acids gives the clear soup a mellow aroma.

At the same time, because of the addition of green onion and pepper paste, some of the peculiar smell of the soup can be removed.

After cleaning the soup, Feng Zhengming put the clear soup into a relatively deep metal basin.

This basin of clear soup and the other basin of turbid soup are the key to Feng Zhengming and Li Huidong's cooking today.

After preparing the soup, Feng Zhengming went to the backyard and cleaned out all the ingredients with Zhang Lei and Yang Peng.

The beans bought today are relatively cheap, so Feng Zhengming prepared a lunch box, replacing the meat dishes with sliced ​​meat and stewed beans.

Wash the beans, remove the heads and tails, and cut them into finger-length pieces.

Prepare a large pot of beans and a small pot of pork belly slices.

After sauteing the ginger and garlic in a large pot, add the pork belly slices and stir-fry to remove the fat.

Then add some sweet noodle sauce and stir-fry until fragrant, then add two tablespoons of turbid soup, add half a pot of boiling water, and season again.

This seasoning needs to be a little stronger. Wait until the soup in the pot boils. Pour the prepared beans into the pot. Use a large shovel to turn it over so that the meat slices and beans are evenly distributed. Then cover the pot and medium heat. Go to a slow simmer.

During the cooking process, Feng Zhengming and his senior brother prepared some other dishes in the lunch canteen.

By the time the meat slices are stewed in the large pot of beans, the soup will thicken and the beans will be stewed.

Some other dishes in the canteen are basically ready.

Feng Zhengming served half of the meat slices and stewed beans, and the other two pots were stir-fried cabbage and scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

Load three pots of food and two buckets of rice into the car, and bring disposable lunch boxes and chopsticks.

Feng Zhengming rode a tricycle and left the canteen, heading towards the train station.

　The first update will be sent first, and the second update will be sent later.

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)