Peng Huabin's hometown of Qianmei Village, Longdu Town, Chenghai District, Shantou City, has a long history and a large number of overseas Chinese, and is a famous ancient village in Chaoshan Area and a famous overseas Chinese township in Shantou City. Recently, on the first Spring Festival after the completion of the Extension of the Runway and the Expansion of the Station Platform of Chaoshan Airport, the reporter followed Peng Huabin to return to his hometown by plane to cook an authentic reunion dinner for the villagers in the Chaoshan area.
Peng Huabin, who was once a confused teenager, was also a confused teenager. Like most people, he didn't have good grades, and he didn't know where to go after graduating from junior high school. It wasn't until he became a "Cantonese chef" who loved cooking since he was a child that Peng Huabin found a new direction in life. Born in 1997, he is now a chef and deputy head of chopping boards at a "Michelin Plate" restaurant in Guangzhou.
"I think being a chef is a profession that delivers happiness." Peng Huabin said that next he wants to continue to hone his craft, strive to become the chef of a well-known restaurant as soon as possible, and return to his hometown to start a business after learning the real skills.
Make a reunion dinner for the villagers
From Baiyun International Airport, it takes only 1 hour for reporters and Peng Huabin to arrive at Chaoshan Airport. After another 1 hour or so of driving, we came to Peng Huabin's hometown Qianmei Village.
As a famous overseas Chinese township in Shantou City, Qianmei Village is the location of Chen Cidi's former residence. The rows of ancient buildings that combine Chinese and Western styles and have quite Chaoshan characteristics here are the places where Peng Huabin most often played when he was a child.
"In the past, there was only a bus to go home from Guangzhou, which took four or five hours if it was fast, and seven or eight hours if it was stuck in traffic. Later, the high-speed rail was opened, and it only took more than 3 hours to go home. If the high-speed rail ticket is tight, you can get home by plane for 2 hours now, and it is really more and more convenient to return to Chaoshan! Peng Huabin told reporters that since entering the chef's line, going home for the Spring Festival to eat a reunion dinner has almost become a luxury, and this special trip back to his hometown is also the first time he has made a reunion dinner for the villagers.
After arriving home, there was no time to rest, Peng Huabin began to prepare ingredients, and the young chef apprentices and villagers in the village also came to help the cook, all wanting to learn some authentic Chaoshan cuisine from the "chef".
"This cake is a must-have dish in the Chaoshan region during the New Year's Festival, which means sweet and sweet. The red heart sweet potato used must be the best in Chaozhou Fengtang Houlong. As soon as it came to cooking, Peng Huabin began to share his cooking skills endlessly. After a while, the cake roasted two colors, the reunion soup, the Chaoshan "cold" cold mix flower nails... A large table of authentic Chaoshan dishes full of happiness is on the table.
Looking at the rare villagers tasting their own handmade food and showing a happy smile, Peng Huabin bluntly said, "Chef is really a profession that can convey happiness, and it is really happy to be able to become a Cantonese chef!" ”
Study hard and practice diligently, determined to return to your hometown to start a business
Peng Huabin graduated from East Guangdong Technician College majoring in Chao cuisine cooking. He has loved cooking since he was a child, and finally stepped into a professional chef school for the first time at the age of 16 and officially began his "journey" of Cantonese cuisine masters.
"If you look at our hands as cooks, the wounds and cocoons on them can be said to be 'dazzling.'" Peng Huabin said with a smile that in the two years of apprenticeship, he got up at 6 o'clock every day, starting from the most basic grinding knife, holding the handle of the knife, cutting vegetables, washing vegetables, and honing his basic skills little by little. At the end of the day's classes, he would return to the dormitory in the evening to practice some carving skills.
On August 1, 2015, Peng Huabin entered Guangzhou Haimen Yuzai for internship and work. From the pot table for frying fish and boiling fish to the water table for the initial processing of seafood, and then to the current deputy director of the cutting board, Peng Huabin has taken one step at a time and is studying seriously with his predecessors every day. His notebook is now full of recipes and details of various dishes, and he recites them repeatedly on weekdays.
"Over the years, after watching some friends in the village become cooks, I not only improved my living standards, but also gained everyone's respect, and I felt that the Cantonese cuisine master project was really good." Peng Huabin said that since entering the company internship, he has only entered the industry for 4 years now, and there is still a long way to go for the profession of chef. "Next, I want to continue to hone my basic skills, strive to become a chef as soon as possible, learn the real skills, and return to my hometown to start a business."
Southern Daily reporter Li He
Co-ordinator Yuan Peiru Zhang Youqiong
![Fried fish cubes, with starch and flour are not right, 280,000 annual salary chef taught me a trick, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)