After the introduction, everyone was naturally looking forward to what kind of dishes Feng Yifan, the chef of a restaurant known for its century-old heritage, could make.
Although there were three tables of guests in the restaurant and there were quite a few dishes on their tables, they had all been touched after all.
Li Fei'er didn't make things difficult for Feng Yifan. She just said to him, "Chef Feng, we still hope to be able to film a complete dish of yours, or Su Ji's specialty. Can you make one for us?"
At this point, Li Feier looked at the table of guests who came to celebrate the old man's birthday and said, "How about this, in order to avoid waste, we ask you to make a special dish for the old birthday person at that table, is that okay?"
Hearing this, the old man at the table who was celebrating his birthday stood up and said, "Oh, how can I say that?"
Li Feier smiled and said, "Don't be polite, old man. This is a good opportunity for our program team to catch up with you. This is also the first time you celebrated your birthday here before the street was renovated. We are celebrating your birthday together."
Li Feier's proposal naturally won the approval of many people present.
Especially the young guests at that table and some young people from the TV station, all thought this was a great idea.
When Feng Yifan heard Li Feier say this, he did not agree immediately. Instead, he was thinking in his mind what kind of dish he should cook.
Seeing Feng Yifan was silent, Li Feier continued, "Don't be embarrassed, Chef Feng. You just need to make a dish that's on the menu. We don't mean to make things difficult for you."
Feng Yifan thought about it seriously, raised his head and looked at the old man and said, "Mr. Yan, you don't have to be polite. Since everyone has said it, then I will naturally give you this birthday dish. I wonder what Mr. Yan would like to eat?"
The old man who was celebrating his birthday was stunned for a moment when he heard this. Looking at Feng Yifan's serious expression, he didn't know what to say for a moment.
Feng Yifan saw that the atmosphere was a little tense, so he smiled and said, "Don't be so nervous, Mr. Yan. Just tell me what you want to eat. As long as Su Ji has it, I will definitely make it for you."
After hearing this, Mr. Yan, who was celebrating his birthday, finally spoke: "Well, when I was young, I once ate the lion's head corresponding to the four seasons at Su Ji. I still remember it."
Hearing this, Feng Yifan smiled and nodded: "Okay, I'll do it for you once."
When hearing about this "Four Seasons Lion's Head", many people present were actually still a little confused. After all, not everyone knew it as well as Su Lanxin.
The young customer at that table couldn't help asking, "Boss, are there four seasons of lion's head?"
Feng Yifan nodded and said, "Yes, in fact, in the past, different ingredients were added to the production of lion's head in four seasons, and then it was made using four different cooking methods."
After hearing this, not only the young people at that table, but everyone else present was also extremely curious.
Seeing that everyone was very curious, Feng Yifan faced the TV camera and gave a serious introduction.
"The four cooking methods of lion's head are: braised in spring, steamed in summer, stewed in autumn, and braised in winter. These four cooking methods are used in different seasons and paired with seasonal ingredients. The most typical one is stewed lion's head with crab roe in autumn."
Hearing this, everyone naturally exclaimed in amazement. They had not expected that the lion head had such exquisite details.
Some young people even sighed: "It turns out that crab meat and lion's head can't be eaten all year round?"
Feng Yifan smiled and said, "Nowadays, we can eat crab meat all year round. In the past, food ingredients were limited by region and season. How could we eat crab meat all year round?"
When Su Lanxin came here before, she introduced herself to the two people from the Catering Association.
However, it was just a private chat among a few of them at that time, and neither Su Lanxin nor the two people from the catering association made it public afterwards.
Su Lanxin did not make that incident public because her apprentice had already been defeated before he even started competing.
The two people from the catering association may still be thinking about what to choose between Su Ji and Su Lanxin these days. So the statement about the Four Seasons Lion Head that was mentioned that time was not known to many people.
Today is different. Feng Yifan is making it public on a TV program, making the essence of this dish known to the public.
It also made many people realize for the first time that they had been eating lion head for so many years but had never really understood how to eat it.
Mr. Yan, who was celebrating his birthday, couldn't help but ask again, "Chef Feng, then for the four-season lion's head, besides the crab meat in autumn, what ingredients are used in the other four seasons?"
Feng Yifan did not hide it and replied with a smile: "In fact, the ingredients used are different. In the past, it was usually 'braised river clams in spring, steamed in lotus leaves in summer, stewed with crab roe in autumn, and braised chicken in winter'.
Of course, we also use seasonal vegetables from all seasons, such as spring bamboo shoots, summer lotus roots, autumn mushrooms, and winter bamboo shoots. Of course, these four are usually stewed in clear soup.”
After listening to Feng Yifan’s introduction, everyone felt that they benefited a lot, and it felt like they had suddenly learned a lot of knowledge.
Li Feier asked at this time: "Chef Feng, what kind of four-season lion head are you going to make for the old man who is celebrating his birthday today?"
Feng Yifan immediately felt that Li Feier cooperated well with him. She had obviously been to Su Ji several times and knew that Feng Yifan must have some unique innovations.
With a smile on his face, Feng Yifan said to the crowd and the camera, "What I made for Mr. Yan today is also four kinds of lion heads, but they are different. It can be regarded as a small summer four-course meal after the beginning of summer."
Feng Yifan's words made everyone very excited and wanted to see what Feng Yifan's "Summer Little Four Products" would look like.
Li Feier then asked: "Then, can Chef Feng reveal it?"
Feng Yifan shook his head: "I can't tell you for now. It will be meaningless if I tell you. When we eat later, I can ask Mr. Yan to tell me what ingredients I used."
Hearing this, the old man who was celebrating his birthday smiled and said, "Okay, I'm looking forward to it."
Everyone else in the restaurant was looking forward to it.
Before Feng Yifan turned and left, he said to Li Feier and the others, "This dish may take some time to prepare. Why don't you go interview other people on the old street first and come back in about an hour."
A young man at the TV station suddenly exclaimed: "What? It takes an hour?"
A middle-aged man at the table of middle-aged people in the restaurant said, "Is an hour too long? You know, a good lion's head requires a long time to cook the soup, and the mincing of the lion's head meat is also a laborious task."
At this time, Mr. Yan also said, "One hour. I must wait."
Naturally, the children who came to celebrate the old man's birthday also expressed their desire to wait together, especially the old man's grandchildren, who also said they must come and see.
Feng Yifan smiled and said, "Thank you all for waiting. I will go to the kitchen and start now. See you in an hour."
After saying that, Feng Yifan walked towards the kitchen.
Li Fei'er and her colleagues at the TV station looked at each other, and then she said, "How about this, why don't you go out for a walk and take some photos of the night market? I'll wait here."
Colleagues were a little confused at first. Why did Li Feier stay and wait
But soon she saw Li Feier's daughter coming over, and she immediately realized that she had to stay to accompany her daughter.
Some people from the TV station felt that waiting like this was indeed a bit impatient, so most of them went out to take pictures of the scenery of the Old Street Night Market.
When Yang Xiaoxi saw that her mother stayed, she naturally smiled and pulled her mother over to the children's side. Also next to them were Feng Ruoruo's mother, grandmother and grandfather, as well as Chen Yaofei's grandparents.
Li Feier smiled and said to Su Jinrong, "Uncle Rong, it may be a bit difficult for Chef Feng today."
Su Jinrong shook his head and said, "No problem, he can do it."
Feng Ruoruo also said: "Yes, my father can definitely do it."
Yang Xiaoxi immediately cheered for her good friend: "Of course you can, Uncle Feng is the best."
Chen Yaofei also said: "Yes, Uncle Feng is the best."
Li Feier saw the three little girls making a fuss and said with a smile, "You three little girls, of course you think that Ruoruo's father is awesome, because you eat his delicious snacks every day."
The three little girls giggled together.
Li Feier then chatted with Su Jinrong some more and asked him more about the Su family’s inheritance.
Su Jinrong has no problem speaking now, but he speaks a little slower. But it just so happens that he has more time now.
Su Jinrong did not hide anything about the inheritance of the Su family and directly told some things about the past.
Although the photographer was not there, Li Feier still listened carefully and recorded some important details.
This chat-style interview made everyone feel relaxed and at ease. Others in the restaurant treated Su Jinrong's narration as a story and listened to it with great interest without realizing it.
Su Ji’s earliest ancestor was also a cook in the palace, but the special thing was that Su’s ancestor was recruited into the palace halfway through his career.
The ancestor of the Su family was originally a private chef in the mansion of an official in Jiangnan. One day, he happened to meet the emperor at that time who was inspecting Jiangnan, and he happened to live in the mansion of that Jiangnan official.
In order to please the emperor, officials naturally provided the best food, clothing and other necessities.
At that time, the ancestor of the Su family was in the kitchen and presented the emperor with a dish of cherry meat that amazed him.
The cooking method of cherry meat offered by the ancestors of the Su family was different from that of many people at that time. It tasted soft, glutinous and fragrant, not too sweet, and had a slight sour taste which enhanced the flavor.
The emperor was very happy after eating the meal. He immediately summoned the cook and gave him a huge reward.
When the emperor finished his inspection in the south of the Yangtze River and returned, he brought the ancestors of the Su family back to the capital.
At this point, everyone in the restaurant was listening with great interest, and they were all amazed at such a legend.
Su Jinrong paused here intentionally.
Chen Yaofei's grandfather interjected, "This can be considered a meteoric rise to fame."
After listening to this, Su Jinrong smiled and shook his head: "Brother Chen, going to the capital does not mean that you will be able to rise to prominence overnight."
Hearing about this turn of events, everyone was really looking forward to it. He had clearly won the emperor's appreciation and was brought back to the capital, so why did they say that he was not rising rapidly
Then Su Jinrong continued speaking.
It turned out that after the ancestor of the Su family was brought to the capital, there was no suitable place for him to be placed. In addition, at that time, the royal chefs all had fixed families, so the ancestor of the Su family, as an outsider chef, had no place to stand in the palace kitchen.
After the emperor brought the person back, he did not allow the ancestor of the Su family to enter the imperial kitchen, but arranged for him to live outside the palace.
Su Jinrong said calmly: "The emperor has something to ask for, so he orders people to bring me into the palace, serve me at the banquet, and send me out of the palace after I get the reward."
Upon hearing this, the restaurant fell silent. Everyone was surprised by this somewhat strange interaction.
A cook who was so loved by the emperor was not assigned to work in the imperial kitchen, and he was not even rewarded with a more prominent official title. Was he just used and sent out of the palace when he was no longer needed
Su Jinrong continued to speak slowly.
In fact, the process was relatively plain. When there were grand banquets in the palace, the ancestors of the Su family would be specially summoned to the palace.
Even the Su family's ancestor once served as the head chef for the "Banquet for a Thousand Old Men", which was the highest standard at that time.
Hearing this, many people were really moved.
No one had expected that the Su family's ancestors had been so glorious.
But after finishing this part, Su Jinrong said calmly: "Don't get excited. That part is a rumor from our ancestors. It is a joke. The Su family has no evidence."
After hearing what Su Jinrong said, Li Feier said, "Uncle Rong, you can't say that. Maybe it's true. Besides, it happened a long time ago. If there is no evidence, we can just treat it as a story."
Su Jinrong smiled and nodded: "Yes, everyone, treat it as a story."
After telling the story of his ancestors, whose true or false story was unknown, Su Jinrong talked about the real first generation of Su Ji, that is, the one who founded Su Ji.
In the first generation, Su Ji was just a street food shop, and it was just a way to make a living.
Su Jinrong smiled and said: "I heard from my father that at that time, Su Ji cooked three meals a day, morning, noon and night. It was quite hard work, but he insisted on craftsmanship and quality."
After the efforts of the first two generations, Su Ji really began to rise in the third generation, which was the generation of Su Jinrong’s grandfather.
Su Jinrong's grandfather was a restless man when he was young. He liked to travel around to see the world, and he did make a name for himself outside.
Later, he participated in the top domestic cooking competition at that time, successfully won the grand prize, and was selected into the chef team for the state banquet.
That was the first chef of Su Ji to participate in the state banquet.
It’s just that Su Jinrong’s grandfather was already very old when he participated in the state banquet. He passed on the craft to Su Jinrong’s father but died soon after, so he did not really bring much glory to Su Ji.
The person who truly made Su Ji rise and brought great glory was Su Jinrong's father.
It can be said that without any help from his parents, he made a name for himself at a very young age through his own efforts and was successfully selected into the state banquet chef team.
In the past, including Feng Yifan and Su Ruoxi, they only knew that their grandfather had participated in the state banquet.
But today Su Jinrong said: "My father participated in the state banquet more than once. The last time, he was the head chef."
This was also the first time that Su Ruoxi heard her father talk about these things. This made Su Ruoxi understand why some of her grandfather's experiences seemed to be a little inconsistent
It turned out that my grandfather had participated in state banquets more than once and had been promoted step by step in the state banquet chef team.
This explains why the uncle from the Zhuang family has such respect for my grandfather.
After all, to be honest, as Zhuang Daozhong himself said, he was considered the apprentice of the old man of the Su family. However, because they participated in the state banquet together, the old man of the Su family did not call them master and apprentice, but regarded them as colleagues.
Listening to Su Jinrong recounting the ups and downs of Su Ji's glory, everyone in the restaurant seemed to be immersed in scenes from the past.
I can't help but feel awe for Su Ji. At the same time, everyone is looking forward to what kind of lion head Feng Yifan, the sixth-generation chef, will present.