Zhao Jizong's Innovation

197 1 year, Zhao Jizong was transferred to the "floating restaurant" frequented by the most famous provincial and municipal leaders at that time to entertain distinguished guests and foreign friends.

But at this time, Zhao Jizong began to feel that the lack of theoretical knowledge had seriously affected his understanding and improvement of dishes. As a result, he spent almost all his spare time studying professional theoretical knowledge, studying cooking techniques and innovating dishes.

"Zhengzhou umami chicken" is the innovation that was "forced" at this time. He squeezed onion, ginger, garlic and sesame oil into juice and mixed it with shredded steamed chicken. Under the infiltration of juice, shredded chicken is not only unique in flavor, but also particularly refreshing. This dish was later rated as an excellent food in the commercial system of Henan Province. He also boldly developed the traditional cold spell into various pictographic platters, which are not only vivid in image, but also varied in taste and memorable. He said that when his craft was poor, he could only learn more, ask more questions, watch more and practice more to add vitality to the dishes.

1980, Zhao Jizong was transferred to Shaolin Restaurant as a chef. Shaolin banquet is an important part of Shaolin cultural heritage and one of the top dishes in Henan cuisine. In order to explore, study and recommend Shaolin series dishes, he visited famous teachers of Shaolin Temple for many times, consulted a lot of historical materials, learned about the cooking methods and skills of Shaolin Temple dishes and the application and development of raw materials, reformed and innovated Shaolin dishes, removed impurities and odors, and made them delicious and smooth to meet the tastes of modern people. Among them, his innovative dishes such as "Tallinn wool belly", "Shaolin vegetarian dishes" and "plum blossom stuffed bamboo shoots" have been highly praised by provincial and municipal leaders and foreign missions.

In Zhao Jizong's career as a chef, there are hundreds of innovative dishes and numerous honors, but Zhao Jizong values five firsts most: 1978, and the knife-cutting technology ranks first in the province; 1979 First Chef Technical Level Examination, the first candidate of Henan cuisine; 1983, won the title of "National Excellent Chef" in the first National Famous Chef Cooking Competition; 1988 won the first-class chef with the first total score; In 2000, he was awarded the title of China culinary master. He said, because these five "firsts" are the representatives of all stages of his life.