Yesterday's competition site kitchen gods each showed their unique skills.
Some of the entries of the 4th Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area "Cantonese Cuisine Chef" Skill Competition.
A few days ago, the reporter visited a number of demonstration sites such as shantou Nanyue Chao cuisine vocational skills training school and Cai Xi Ji Whole Cow Feast Production Technology Research Institute, talked with Cai Zhenrong, the first batch of five-star "Cantonese cuisine masters" celebrity chefs in Guangdong Province, and gained an in-depth understanding of the actual development effect of the "Cantonese cuisine master" project in the Greater Bay Area. As the "Cantonese Cuisine Master" project enters a new stage of high-quality and in-depth development, the development of Cantonese cuisine culture industry in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has also ushered in new opportunities.
The cabbage is selected into slices, blanched in boiling water, and then in cold water; the fresh shrimp meat is whisked vigorously to make shrimp gelatin. Cabbage is the skin, shrimp glue is the filling, and after carefully laid out, a dish is like a beautiful rice map.
This is Cai Zhenrong's preparation to show the public the dishes made at the "100 Chefs" of the 4th Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area "Cantonese Chefs" Skill Competition - "Fruitful". Not long ago, he was awarded the first batch of five-star "Cantonese Chefs" in Guangdong Province, an honor that set the industry benchmark for "Cantonese Chefs".
As the leader of the provincial "Cantonese Cuisine Master" master studio, Cai Zhenrong witnessed the changes brought to Shantou by the "Cantonese Cuisine Master" project in the past three years. "Since the implementation of the 'Cantonese Cuisine Master' project, it has achieved fruitful results in promoting the prosperity of villagers, promoting Cantonese cuisine culture, and cultivating Cantonese cuisine masters, and has also added new momentum to the revitalization of the countryside." Cai Zhenrong said in an exclusive interview with reporters that this is exactly the meaning of his "fruitful" platter dishes displayed at the "Hundred Chefs Group Meeting".
"Master Studio" where teaching is long
Reporter: How did you grow up to be a "Cantonese chef" celebrity chef?
Cai Zhenrong: Three generations of our family are chefs. Influenced by my family, I entered the industry in 1980 by "mentoring and apprenticeship". Although he has a family history, he has suffered a lot in his academic career. Before I enter the kitchen, I start by handling raw poultry and other ingredients, and do handyman work first. After a year, you can become a helper for the master, playing on the side and moving the cutting board. Until the second year, you can go to the side of the wok to practice cooking with the master, and after practicing for 3 years, you can basically become a "little master".
From a young age, I learned art relatively quickly, and I couldn't help but study hard. Every day at the end of lunch, when the teachers and masters go back to rest, we as young people do not leave work, not only to finish the preparation work, but also to take time to practice on our own, working more than 12 hours a day. Although bitter, but full of harvest.
Reporter: In your "Cantonese Chef" master studio, young Cantonese chefs are also cultivated. How do you think the cultivation of the "Cantonese Chef" project is different from your year?
Cai Zhenrong: The current "Cantonese Chef" master studio is not "one-on-one" training, but a whole small team conducting specific research on the same dish. The relationship between the master and the apprentice is not limited to one-way output, but teaches each other. As a master, I can teach my apprentice to cook a certain dish; as an apprentice, I can also use your imagination to make a new dish for the master to guide and comment, or to propose new improvements to a traditional dish. Each dish is constantly adjusted to optimize the nutritional mix until it is adjusted to the most perfect state before being presented to the guests.
For example, when we made "pomegranate chicken", the original main ingredient was chicken, and then we tried to change it to crab meat, which immediately improved the deliciousness of the dish. At the moment of promoting healthy eating, we can also adjust the main ingredients to mushrooms and turn them into vegetarian dishes, which is another flavor. Constant adjustments can be adapted to the different tastes of the public, and these changes are discussed together in the master's studio.
One dish to revitalize an industrial chain
Reporter: After the implementation of the "Cantonese Cuisine Master" project, what changes have you felt around you?
Cai Zhenrong: The "Cantonese Cuisine Master" project has great help to people's livelihood. The government funds to support the "Cantonese cuisine master" training, not only to teach the skills, but also to issue certificates, so that the trained "Cantonese cuisine master" can have more free career choices, both to go to the hotel to apply for employment, get higher salaries, but also to start their own business to open a store. Either option, it's rewarding.
A plate of dishes can revitalize a shop, for example, I am widely known in Shantou by relying on "Arong abalone". Now, the "Cantonese Cuisine Master" project has not only promoted the research and development of dishes, but also revitalized the entire industrial chain of agricultural products. For example, the dish "Chaoshan Brine Goose" has led to the prosperity of the lion's head goose breeding industry, from goose eggs, small geese, big geese, and even goose feathers, there are people engaged in production, production and processing. The revitalization of a whole industrial chain is driving the employment and revitalization of an entire rural area.
A tidal smell affects exchanges with people at home and abroad
Reporter: In recent years, with the help of the "Cantonese chef", what kind of food exchanges have you carried out in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area?
Cai Zhenrong: Not long ago, I just led a team to Shenzhen to participate in a food culture exchange competition in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Competitions and exchanges like this are very frequent, and this kind of exchange has great inspiration for the improvement of dishes from the shape to the improvement of raw materials. We can collect high-quality ingredients from all over the province, the whole country and even around the world, and use the preparation method of Chao Cai to make an innovative dish. In addition to ingenuity, dare to innovate, but also the inheritance of Chao cuisine culture.
Reporter: There are many overseas Chinese, and a tide can often evoke a nostalgia, can you share your personal experience?
Cai Zhenrong: We also have a lot of exchanges with overseas Chinese. When they often return to Shantou, they pass on suggestions for improving Chao cuisine to our masters, and provide innovative ideas for us to inherit and develop Chao Cuisine. Chaoshi cuisine is the dish that hipsters like to eat, so where there are hipsters, there are chaoshi dishes. I have been to many parts of the world, and I have also been a judge for food festivals in many places, and I can see the presence of Chaoshi restaurants everywhere I go. Although it is not necessarily 100% authentic, it all has the flavor of chaoshi cuisine.
Before the outbreak of the epidemic, we often formed teams to participate in world-class exchange competitions, and also led teams to Southeast Asia such as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and other countries to perform exchanges, or invited local restaurants to participate in our food festivals. Such international exchanges have allowed Chao cuisine to go overseas, and also made Chao Cuisine culture more widely spread.
Case
The female boss Shantou Learns Art for 10 days and opens 6 halogen goose chain stores in Hong Kong
"Since 2019, I have opened 6 halogen goose chain stores in Hong Kong." He Jingyi, owner of the Hong Kong chain of RiriXiang Goose Meat Hotel, revealed in a remote cross-border video interview with reporters. In December 2019, she spent only 10 days at the Shantou Chenghai RiriXiang Goose Meat Hotel to learn the production of "Cantonese chef" Chaoshan brine goose, and after returning to Hong Kong, she opened her first store in Hung Hom, which has now opened 6, and plans to open 20 in the next two years.
With the skills learned in 10 days, Ho Jing-yi taught the clerks of 6 stores to make brine geese during the epidemic last year, driving more than 60 Hong Kong locals to employment. Since the raw materials of the brine goose, the lion's head goose and the brine flavor ingredients, are guaranteed by the base in Chenghai, Guangdong, the quality is authentic, and with slight taste improvement, it is extremely popular in Hong Kong.
"The average store sells more than 40,000 yuan per day, and the queue length during the peak period can reach several hundred meters, which is still during the epidemic, I believe that business will get better and better, so I plan to open a new store as soon as possible." When it comes to the future, He Jingyi is full of confidence.
He Jingyi's "master" is Yu Zhuangzhong, the founder of Shantou Rixiang Halogen Goose, who is also a training teacher at the Shantou Nanyue Chaocai Vocational Skills Training School. "It is precisely because of the refinement of the standard that the trainees can easily master the whole process of brine goose production after just 10 days of training, and can also learn skills such as goose meat cutting and plating." Yu Zhuangzhong said.
According to Yu Zhuangzhong, in addition to entering Hong Kong, the Daily Fragrant Goose Meat Chain store also went to surrounding provinces and cities. At present, Yu Zhuangzhong has opened two chain stores in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, on the basis of maintaining the "Cantonese cuisine master" brine production standards, combined with local characteristics, innovative launch of specialties, which are generally welcomed by the local area.
Since the implementation of the "Cantonese Cuisine Master" project, the Shantou Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau and local industry association experts have jointly developed 8 local characteristic training standards, and the Chaoshan Brine Goose Production Special Vocational Ability Standard is one of them. According to Xiao Weizhong, principal of Shantou Nanyue Chaocai Vocational Skills Training School, after the launch of the Chaoshan Brine Goose Training Project, it has been widely popular and has trained thousands of people so far. At the same time, Shantou City also actively explores the "Cantonese cuisine master + rural tourism" model. At present, there are 62 leisure agriculture and rural tourism business entities in the city, receiving 2.6792 million tourists a year, with an operating income of more than 174 million yuan, driving about 14,556 rural households.
Four generations of century-old stores refine experience into training standards
"Cow bone marrow is only available in our shop, and it can't be eaten in other stores." Located in The Chenghai District of Shantou, Cai Xi Ji Beef Restaurant, the unique "Chao-style whole cow feast making technique" is a well-known intangible cultural heritage, and its third generation Cai Dexi proudly introduces the "whole cow feast" dish. The tender and delicious beef is served with the shop's homemade sauce, and the delicious "whole beef feast" makes diners unable to stop chopsticks.
The history of Cai Xi Ji Beef Restaurant dates back to 1922. At that time, Cai Dexi's grandfather Cai Bingshun carried beef hot pot through the streets with flat shoulders, known as "Niu Shunbo". In his father's era, he opened a roadside "Niushun" shop in Chengcheng, bidding farewell to his father's trolley running east and west.
As the third generation, Cai Dexi continued to grow the beef restaurant business, and his son Cai Weimian took over the "mantle" and redesigned and renovated the store to conform to the trend and more in line with the psychology of today's consumers.
Spoon kernel, hanging dragon, spoon handle, neck kernel, five-flowered toe, three-flowered toe... In Cai Xi Ji Beef Restaurant, when eating a whole beef feast, the table will be placed in a wooden plate carved into a cow shape, and the beef of each part of the cut is placed in the corresponding "part", and the customer can not only remember the beef of each part when eating, but also eat the tender, tough, crisp and other different tastes of the beef in each part, and then with the homemade sauce in the store, the flavor is excellent.
According to reports, in Shantou, pay attention to the maximum preservation of the original taste of beef, and the whole cow banquet of Cai Xi Ji Beef Restaurant can be described as eating a cow to the extreme.
After taking his own skills and delicious research to the extreme, Cai Dexi deeply felt that in the new era of high development, in order to make the beef restaurant stronger and bigger, it is necessary to strengthen the standardization construction. On the one hand, he actively refers to the standardization construction requirements of the "Cantonese cuisine master" project, refines each process, and on the other hand, thinks about how to cultivate and drive more people. "After the implementation of the 'Cantonese Cuisine Master' project, it is a brand new opportunity for the catering industry, and in the past two years, I have trained two or three hundred apprentices, all of whom have started their own businesses in Beijing, Shanghai, Fujian and other places." Cai Dexi told Nandu reporters.
With the support of the Guangdong Provincial Human Resources and Social Security Department and the Shantou Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, he has opened a research base in the main store and established the "Cai Xi Ji Whole Cow Feast Production Technology Research Institute", which is sorting out the experience accumulated over the years into a training standard and industry standard that can be implemented.