Hotel chef's hilarious joke.

Ren bojie

When I was doing research on snacks in Yangzhou last year, one morning after interviewing Master Xu Yongzhen, I asked her who else she should visit in Yangzhou. She said, "Wang, you should talk. I called to see if he was drunk. " I wondered at that time how I could ask people if they were drunk in the morning.

Thanks to the introduction of Master Xu Yongzhen, Master Wang was willing to meet me, so we made an appointment with a friend's restaurant. He was wearing a dark collared T-shirt that day. When he came in and sat down, I couldn't believe my eyes. He doesn't have a trace of fireworks, but he looks like a scholar rather than a chef. I saw that he was slow, gentle and approachable, and had no master's shelf. No wonder all the books call him the Confucian chef. When he was young, everyone called him "Young Master". From his 76-year-old elegant temperament, you can imagine his handsome and chic when he was young.

He has a strong Yangzhou accent and a low voice. When I asked how to hang soup, there were many professional words that I couldn't understand at once, so he repeated them with a smile and explained the details to me. I was surprised at his extensive knowledge. He can not only talk about a dish in depth, but also extend it from the dish itself to the dietary differences, regional differences and cultural differences in various places. It is conceivable that he often thinks systematically at ordinary times. I asked him how his knowledge and thoughts came from, and he said, "You read and think." I asked him what books he liked to read, but he said it had nothing to do with food, but books like Zi Tong Zhi Jian and A General History of China.

He always smiles and doesn't talk much, but that humility makes me feel that he is as kind as my grandfather. Only after the interview, the pictures of my chef friends vying to take photos with the master with reverence reminded me of his position as a master of Huaiyang cuisine.

His high status is also reflected in his capacity for drinking. He can drink a catty of wine at a meal and often starts drinking in the morning. No wonder Master Xu Yongzhen said this morning to see if he was drunk. Of course, this is a joke. On the day when the snack Yangzhou was filmed, our film crew invited all the masters to dinner. That day, I saw with my own eyes his capacity for drinking. But I'm surprised that a person who likes drinking so much is full of bookishness.

I heard that he was a myth in the kitchen world when he was young. He recorded that it took a live chicken 3 minutes and 04 seconds from plucking to the last chick, and no one has surpassed it so far. 20 12 years, I stood in the kitchen wearing a suit but didn't see any oil stains on that dress; Cooking is never repeated, clean and neat; The major cocktail parties have never been missed.

No wonder he described Wang as a "general" when interviewing food critics. Speaking of kung fu, he mentioned an anecdote about the master Wang. "There is an important banquet for foreign guests, with more than 50 tables. Shrimp is fried one by one, and it is not easy to fry every dish, because the raw materials of shrimp are all brought with water. Everyone was afraid to shoot. He said I'll do it. Open a big pot and fry it in one pot. Sizing, lubricating oil, frying 50 plates on the table, exactly the same as frying in a small pot. Therefore, no one does not admire him. This is the general demeanor. In the face of danger, there is no chaos, the command is gentle, and the atmosphere is refreshing. "

Teacher Wang Zhen went on to say, "He is open-minded and not conservative. He can turn foreign dishes into his own from the standpoint of Huaiyang cuisine. Don't just study, but learn the good characteristics of others, blend with your own dishes and sublimate. Taking the representative vegetable mandarin fish as an example, it is different from the general traditional practice. He first removed the head and tail of the fish, and then made two pieces of meat like a squirrel picking grapes, which was very innovative. "

/kloc-became an apprentice of caigenxiang at the age of 0/6. At that time, caigenxiang was the cradle of Yangzhou famous chefs. At first, he just followed the master as a handyman, but he was quick to learn and quickly stood out and was deeply loved by the master, so he always called himself Master Cai Genxiang. When talking about Chen Luoping, who is also from Caigenxiang, he smiled and said, "I am his big brother." When I was chatting with Master Chen, Master Chen was surprised and said, "How can he be my big brother? He is my master! " Needless to say, Master Chen's surprised expression has already told me this friendship and ethics.

Some time ago, Master Wang was ill in hospital, so I went back to Yangzhou to visit him. I said, "You can't drink any more." He went over and said, "No, no". I said, "Commanding the kitchen is like commanding the three armed forces." He sighed and said, "The chef has the talent of being a champion but not the blessing of being a champion. You should pass it on. "

As for me, I just hope you are all healthy and safe.

Throughout his career as a chef, no matter whether he works at the dining table or rummages on the stove, he will never see any oil stains on his clothes. He is called "Confucian chef" or "young master" chef. 1958 Yangzhou held a cooking contest. The chicken he cooked, from slaughtering, unhairing, slitting, frying, took only 3 minutes and 04 seconds, and no one can surpass it so far.

Wang, 1940, one of the four famous chefs in Yangzhou, is a great disciple of the culinary master Dai Lizhi. First-class chef, superb cooking skills, excellent stoves, tables and dishes, clean and neat operation, quick eye and quick hand, natural and unrestrained. According to many old Yangzhou memories, Wang's specialty is fried shrimp, and even the shell is reluctant to throw it away after eating, because it tastes crisp and fragrant. Baked mandarin fish with vinegar made by Wang was fried three times in the oil pan, and it was crispy. It was cooked in three pots with sweet and sour juice. The juice is boiling, and the color, smell and shape are good. He stressed that the dishes he cooked must be refreshing, which is the essence of Huaiyang cuisine.

At the beginning of his study of Caigenxiang, Wang just followed the master as a handyman, starting from the most basic work, twisting his hair, cutting vegetables and cutting meat. He still remembers the working hours of that year, 7: 00 a.m. in spring and autumn, 6: 30 a.m. in summer and 7: 30 to 8: 00 in winter.

This working time is about two hours earlier than the current hotel chef. This extra time was mainly because there was no refrigerator at that time and it was impossible to store ingredients. All the ingredients were bought in the morning and used on the same day. Noon 1 1 Before serving the guests, cooked dishes such as braised pork and roasted hoof flowers should be prepared, and the kitchen must act quickly.

Because there is no electric equipment such as meat grinder, the reception capacity of vegetable root incense is large, and two or three pigs have to be handled every day. It is the apprentice's business to receive materials at different levels. The groove head meat and the front shoulder meat are given to the white box, and the hooves, ribs and the back seat meat are given to the red box ... These steps of picking materials have helped Wang practice a good swordsmanship, but the finished product must be uniform in thickness and length, commonly known as inch vegetables. He is docile, not playful and neat, so he is very popular with his master.

Nevertheless, he sometimes makes mistakes through negligence. Once, when the meat was cooking in the pot, he went to talk to other chefs and almost burned the meat. Master saw it and gave him a big slap without saying anything. He was not annoyed, but he was still glad that the pot of meat was not burnt. This slap in the face also made him more cautious in his future career as a chef. Being diligent and eager to learn, Wang became the head chef of Caigenxiang after one year's apprenticeship.

"When I first learned to cook, I didn't think it was a big deal to be a chef. That's just cooking and moving knives. " "But after learning to cook, I found that it is not so easy to be a good cook. A real chef can't do it without ten years of hard work. " Master Wang said. First of all, I will be an apprentice for three years, then a cook for three years, and then I will study outside for the last three years to learn from each other's strengths and have a year of exploration.

Speaking of soup, Wang said that Yangzhou's soup is the most important. First, white soup should be thick but not greasy! One is clear soup, which should be crystal clear! A really good cook is very particular about soup. As the saying goes: a player's voice is accurate and round; Cook's soup, no good soup, no good food! In traditional cooking, making and using soup is not only an important symbol to measure cooking skills, but also an experience and skill to judge the delicious food.

The soup in Yangzhou is different from that in Guangdong. Guangdong soup needs to simmer all the ingredients, while Yangzhou soup needs to be taken out after the ingredients are simmered in place, and then all parts of the meat are processed, then made into cakes, simmered and finally put with shredded chicken. Finally, after the chicken shreds are simmered, they should be taken out and made into boiled dried shreds ... people make full use of their materials, land and materials.

"Yangzhou food is generally too sweet now. Actually, it shouldn't. Salt should be slightly sweet. Cabbage basically does not use sugar. Dishes with soy sauce need to put a little sugar, mainly to remove the salty taste of soy sauce and increase its umami taste. " Wang said to him.

1958, Yangzhou Cooking Competition, the broiler he cooked, from slaughter, unhairing, cutting into pieces, blending to frying and plate-loading, only took more than 3 minutes in total, which is still beautiful. That year, he 19 years old and worked as an apprentice for two years.

When asked why Wang Neng changed from a live chicken to a plate of Chinese food in three minutes, Wang said, "Now chefs can't kill chickens. In our time, they all made it by themselves, and practice makes perfect. At most, they can kill 108 chickens in two hours a day. " One day, King Jean of Dai Li and his two younger brothers killed all the chickens raised in the yard. The whole process took them more than two hours, adding up to 108 chickens, which were made into roast chicken, fried chicken and boiled chicken respectively.

Wang said, "A cook is a magician. Things that don't get along can be replaced with good dishes, and he will change. "