Trainee reporter Shi Shengqi
On the occasion of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new, the family gathers together to have a lively Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, which is a long-standing custom of the Chinese. Nowadays, more and more families are choosing to eat the "most important meal" of the year in hotels. Behind each carefully cooked Chinese New Year's Eve dish, there are countless chefs who stick to their posts on Chinese New Year's Eve and achieve the taste of thousands of families, and Li Xingyong is one of them.
No matter how big or small
"Ready to go" in the kitchen all day
The kitchen of the Chinese New Year's Eve is not an exaggeration to say that it is a "battlefield". Racing against time, meticulous division of labor, and tacit cooperation are all key words in the kitchen of this night.
Li Xingyong, 40, is the executive chef of Shandong Shunhe International Hotel. As a head chef, "Chinese New Year's Eve" naturally has to guard his post.
The situation of stocking, tableware preparation, hygiene, etc., no matter how big or small, every detail must be checked in advance. At eight o'clock in the morning of February 9, Li Xingyong came to the hotel early, changed into work clothes, walked through the joyfully decorated front hall to the clean and tidy back kitchen, and began to hold a pre-dinner preparation meeting for the chefs. After the meeting ended, everyone went to check the part they were responsible for again, and reported any problems in time. ”
Everyone returned to their respective areas, and Li Xingyong also began to wander around the kitchen, from the confirmation of the overall menu to the preparation of each seasoning. "It is self-evident that everyone attaches great importance to the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, and the time is tight in the evening, and any small detail is not prepared in place, which may cause problems and affect the dining mood of customers." Chef Li said while checking that the insulated car was working properly, "We have to be responsible for our customers." ”
The Chinese New Year's Eve is not only a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, but also many customers come to the restaurant for dinner at noon. "I usually have a break in the afternoon, but on the day of Chinese New Year's Eve, the time is very tight, and there is basically no time to rest, so I have to continue to prepare for dinner." "Based on the experience of previous years, customers will come earlier than usual on Chinese New Year's Eve, and the online and offline dishes will start at four or five o'clock. At the end of the afternoon and midday, Li Xingyong checked his hygiene, hurriedly dealt with a few mouthfuls of food, and prepared for the "main event" of the evening.
This year's Chinese New Year's Eve dinner is much more scheduled than in the previous two years. "There are 86 private rooms offline, more than 140 tables of Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, plus takeaway dishes booked online, roughly calculated, not to mention more than 3,000 dishes to be made in one night.
From the side dishes to the dishes, everything for tonight will be prepared by more than 100 chefs at the hotel. As the executive chef, Li Xingyong is like a strategic commander in it, his command ensures that all aspects of the kitchen can run in an orderly manner, and at the same time, he has to guard the food outlet during dinner, check the quantity and quality of the dishes, whether it is the temperature, taste, or the shape of the plating, Chef Li has to nod and check. "I'm like a brick in the back kitchen, and I have to coordinate and fill in the position as soon as I need it. Chef Li said with a smile, if there is a real need, he will immediately go to the stove to take charge. 
Every Chinese New Year's Eve is more like a year-end exam for the hotel kitchen, and it is not allowed to be sloppy. "It was 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and many young chefs had already come to the kitchen to prepare some vegetables for washing and shredding.
Preparations started a month ago
Every step should be carefully considered
Although Chinese New Year's Eve is only one day, the preparations for the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner are much more than just those few hours of busyness. For our Executive Chef, the preparation is like a 'line-up', which requires careful planning and careful consideration," says Li Xingyong, who has put a lot of effort into ensuring that the kitchen work can be carried out in an orderly and smooth manner in the past month or so.
The menu design for the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner was the first important task Li Xingyong faced. He knows that the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner is not only a meal, but also carries the profound meaning of family reunion, celebration and peace. Therefore, the choice of menu should not only satisfy the taste buds of diners, but also take into account the practical operation ability and workload of the kitchen. "On the basis of previous years' dishes, we have added more dishes suitable for all ages, such as healthy fish maw chicken soup, steamed Boston lobster with yellow pepper sauce, and fried rice cakes, so as to ensure the taste and quality of the dishes, and also keep the workload of the kitchen within a reasonable range. As soon as the menu was released, Li Xingyong and his team had to start stocking up before the capacity was tight on the eve of the Spring Festival, from seafood, meat, vegetables to seasonings and edible oils, and reserve them in time according to the customer's reservation. 
Every Chinese New Year's Eve meal served to the guest table actually has a complex process behind it, wok, steamer, frying, side dishes, plating, transportation, etc. must be dedicated to each link, requiring everyone to cooperate tacitly, how to arrange the work of these more than 100 chefs to ensure that the entire kitchen can run like a precision instrument, is also the work that Li Xingyong needs to plan in advance. "What each person is responsible for and which dishes are specifically responsible, we have calculated and arranged according to the specific needs, and we have repeatedly emphasized and confirmed them before. ”
Although he has a lot of experience, in order to try his best to meet the needs of guests, Li Xingyong and his team still sum up experience every year, try to take all kinds of emergencies into account, and ensure that every table of Chinese New Year's Eve dinner can be perfectly presented to everyone.
There is warmth in the heart
Where is not reunited
Li Xingyong said that he began his career as a chef in 1999, and this year is his 23rd year in the industry and his 20th Chinese New Year's Eve spent in the kitchen.
According to the practice of previous years, busy until about 10 p.m., customers who came to the hotel for Chinese New Year's Eve dinner began to leave the hotel one after another. After the final cleaning, some chefs in Jinan rush home to reunite with their families, while chefs who are not at home get together to prepare a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner for themselves at the hotel. Although Li Xingyong is a native of Jinan, he stays at the hotel every year to toast the arrival of the new year with another group of "family members" who have worked hard together for a year. "Our own Chinese New Year's Eve dinner is also very rich, everyone gathered more than a dozen tables, lively and lively together for Chinese New Year's Eve, and the atmosphere of reunion is not bad at all! ”
Not being able to prepare a sumptuous Chinese New Year's Eve dinner for the family in person may be a common regret for every chef who can't go home. "It's definitely a pity that the Chinese New Year's Eve is reunited with thirty families, and it must be a pity that I can't be with my family. Li Xingyong said that whenever he walked out of the back kitchen and saw those happy and warm pictures, he would also touch the scene.
But when we see customers happily walking into the hotel, eating and having fun together, we are very satisfied. Li Xingyong said that every year on this special day, witnessing the reunion and happy moment of the guests, the heart is always warm, which is not another kind of happiness. 
At around 4 p.m., the parking lot in front of the hotel was already hard to find, and the guests came to the hotel one after another, looking forward to the happy moment. Chef Li hurried back to the kitchen and began a busy night. Not only him, but all the chefs who stick to their posts tonight have performed their duties, between the stoves, the spatulas, and the wrists, stir-frying is not only a piece of happiness to taste, but also a world full of temperature fireworks. Everyone is looking forward to the upcoming Year of the Dragon being as lively and enjoyable as this Chinese New Year's Eve dinner.
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