gourmet food

Chapter 671 Secrets of Sichuan Cuisine State Banquet
"Speaking of modern Sichuan cuisine, I think you should know something about it, it is actually composed of several schools.

These schools are almost all large restaurants, and their Sichuan dishes are unique and colorful.

There are four schools with the greatest influence in the industry: Rongyuan Garden, Zhenjianglou, Guguyan, and Fuhuayuan. Among them, Rongyuan Garden is the most influential.

Let me tell you the secrets of Rong Paradise and Gugu Feast. "

Master Lin took a bite of mutton skewers, took another sip of beer, and then continued slowly: "The dishes in Rongyuan Garden inherit and carry forward the characteristics of Zhengxingyuan.

It also absorbed the advantages of northern and southern cuisines and the strengths of various restaurants in Chengdu, thus forming its own style.

Its signature dishes such as braised bear paws, braised deer tendons with green onions, roasted shark's fin, hot and sour sea cucumbers, duck with cordyceps, pigeon eggs in clear soup, bird's nests, etc. are well-known among diners at home.

I believe you know a lot about this person, right?

But what you know is probably just some superficial knowledge, and you don’t know how strict he is about cooking.

The most important thing is to require chefs to have solid basic skills in order to maintain the pure flavor of Sichuan cuisine.

His apprentice and top chef Zhang Songyun once said: After he started training in Rongleyuan, he went to other places to run on the beach for many years. When he returned to Rongcheng, it was a time when business in Rongleyuan was good and attendance was high.

However, Lan Guangjian did not want him to work on the stove, but asked him to be a "handsman" (i.e. a temporary helper), saying that he had been running around for a long time and was afraid that the authentic Sichuan cuisine would be spoiled and ruin Rongyuan's reputation.

This shows that Blu-ray Appraisal has strict requirements on maintaining the characteristics of our store.

On the other hand, he encouraged chefs to boldly modify and innovate, adding and changing varieties at any time to meet customer needs.

Therefore, Rongyuan has successively launched hundreds of varieties of dishes, combining famous dishes from several major national cuisines with Buddhist, Taoist and Islamic dishes into the Sichuan cuisine system, making the originally very simple Sichuan cuisine, Become colorful and beautiful. "

Master Lin's words shocked Chu Yunfeng, and he stopped as he was about to take a bite of the mutton skewers.

"Buddhism?
Taoism?

Islam?

Are all the dishes of these sects incorporated?
Isn't this a bit too cool? "

Only then did Chu Yunfeng realize that what he knew before was really only superficial. From this point of view, Sichuan cuisine was indeed ranked as the number one cuisine.

“Of course, it is precisely because of this eclectic approach that Sichuan cuisine is unique, with rich and diverse dishes and its own characteristics.

For example, Guangdong's sashimi hot pot and butterfly wontons, Jiangsu and Zhejiang's fried eels and drunken crabs, Shanxi and Shaanxi's vinegar-stewed fish and southern duck are all famous dishes from outside the province.

These dishes have undergone a series of improvements and later became famous Sichuan dishes. "

Master Lin casually mentioned a few famous dishes from other provinces in the past, and the names seemed to be somewhat similar to the names of current Sichuan dishes.

Chu Yunfeng finished a bunch of mutton in one go, had a drink with Master Lin, burped happily and said, "These names sound very familiar.

I've heard of this sashimi hotpot, it's very unique, but it seems to be rare now.

Four raw slices, fresh vegetables, four fried cakes, and five-flavored dishes are usually made with meat first, then vegetarian, then both meat and vegetables, and then in the order of fresh vegetables and fried dough.

It is usually served as the soup at the end of a banquet. Both the ingredients and the way to eat it are very particular.

It's not like now, just eat it as hot pot, you can choose meat or vegetable dishes as long as you like it, but at that time, this was a very elegant way of eating. "

Chu Yunfeng sighed very much. With the changes in things and the development of society, many traditional things have indeed changed a lot.

"Haha, it seems I underestimated you before. You really know a lot."

Master Lin nodded thoughtfully, and his understanding of Chu Yunfeng deepened. Almost no young chef today knows these things.

"Excuse me, I only know a little bit about it. This Butterfly Chaos will later become our current copycat, right?

After the shrimp-fried eel, stir-fried eel slices, eel vermicelli and so on were derived.

Drunken crabs were later derived from drunken shrimps, and now when we go out for barbecue at night, many people eat drunken shrimps.

Vinegar braised fish has also evolved into sweet and sour fish, or sweet and sour crispy fish, pickled pepper sweet and sour fish, etc., which are very characteristic of Sichuan cuisine.

Not to mention the duck from the south, it should have been improved into the fairy duck. I have been famous for this dish for a long time, but I have never seen it.

I heard that there are two ways to make this dish in Sichuan, one is fried and the other is steamed.

But it is a pity that no matter which method is used, it has almost been lost now. It is difficult to see it, let alone have a taste.

I really want to try what kind of "fairy" taste it is. "

Chu Yunfeng said with regret that just by hearing the name of this dish, you can tell how delicious it must be, but it is a pity that it is rare to see it.

"Brother, it's not luck that you are where you are today. I didn't expect that your knowledge of Sichuan cuisine is beyond the reach of ordinary people.

If you don’t believe me, ask Monkey, can he name one of the derivative dishes of the dishes just mentioned? "

Master Lin's words hurt the monkey very much. I'm just grilling skewers here quietly and dutifully. As for using me as a backer?
"Where is it? The monkey is still very powerful, but I heard that his skill of throwing spoons is excellent. When will you let me see it?"

Naturally, Chu Yunfeng would not embarrass the monkey. He gave the monkey a sympathetic look, which immediately moved the monkey. He placed the grilled skewers in front of Chu Yunfeng and asked him to eat slowly.

"Hehe, where did you just say that?
Oh~!I remembered it and continued talking. It’s time to talk about these three major religions.

The Buddhist arhat dishes and vegetarian stews, and the Islamic fried mutton cakes and wok steamed dishes have all been improved and served at Sichuan cuisine banquets.

Wok steaming was originally made from fat rice flour and stir-fried with vegetable oil, but Lan Guangjian thought it was too simple and not suitable for the table.

Therefore, flour was used instead, and it was trial-produced with various candied fruit. After many trials, it was successful, so it was named Babao Guosteam. "

Chu Yunfeng murmured the words "eight treasure pot steaming" in his mouth, and suddenly remembered that Mr. Li would teach him how to make this dish after returning to Chengdu.

It seems that by then we will be able to get a glimpse of the exquisiteness of this dish, and also taste it to see what delicious taste it is.

"The Taoist Nine Emperors usually eat vegetarian dishes, mostly made of radishes, lettuce, and bamboo shoots, which are very popular.

So Lan Guangjian improved it, added shredded pork, and sprinkled it with a handful of rice dumplings after boiling it, which gave it a unique flavor.

Lan Guangjian also combines ordinary folk dishes with fine dishes on the banquet table, making rough dishes and fine dishes.

For example, adding fish fillets to the common home-cooked fish-flavored rape sprouts (tái), and adding shredded squid and winter bamboo shoots to fried soybean sprouts will make the taste more flavorful.

He even added exquisite fillings to the steamed cakes sold in the streets and made it a classic dish for banquets.

Not only Lan Guangjian is improving the dishes, his younger brother Lan Guangrong is also doing this, but it's just a little different from him.

Do you know what the difference is? "

Master Lin smiled mysteriously, obviously wanting to test Chu Yunfeng to see if he could answer.

"Luan Guangjian is better at producing red cases, while Lan Guangrong is good at white cases. Am I right?"

Chu Yunfeng vaguely remembered who he heard saying such a thing, so he was naturally quite impressed by such a famous person, so he recalled it immediately.

"That's right, I didn't expect you to know it too!
This Lan Guangrong is a master of crime, and he has put the most and deepest effort into pasta.

Very early on, he changed Guangdong's nān into five-nut pancakes. Later, he created the popular crab roe and ginkgo biloba, improved pan-fried noodles, and shrimp soft-fried noodles.

During the Anti-Japanese War, many people from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River flocked to the rear areas, and there were many varieties of noodles from the north and south. However, Lan Guangrong's noodles attracted foreign gluttons with their unique local characteristics.

He has been invited to make pasta in Emei and Qingcheng many times, and Zhang Daqian, a famous painter, especially appreciates the lotus leaf cake he made.

Rongyuan's branch "Jixue" attracts diners with its unique lard steamed cakes, crab roe buns, eel noodles, and red soup noodles.

After liberation, the Lan Brothers opened a new "Qunli Canteen", where the red oil dumplings are comparable to the bell dumplings in Lizhi Lane.

Lan Guangrong not only has many innovations in pasta, but also has a lot of reforms in dishes. He is the most powerful person who advocates reforming the old traditions.

Colleagues said that "Lan Laoer (because he is the second oldest) is a deviant and violates the teachings of the past and the later generations." But he didn't care.

During the Anti-Japanese War, a large number of people from Jiangsu and Zhejiang came to Sichuan. Most of them cooked a famous dish called pepper chicken. This dish is made of small chicken pieces, with a sweet taste and not too spicy. It is an authentic Jiangbei flavor.

Zhou Yingnan discovered that this dish was very popular, so he studied and tasted it with Wu Wenxuan, Lan Guangrong and others, and modified it. The chicken was enlarged and cooked with a large amount of Sichuan peppercorns and chili peppers, so he created a cold dish in Sichuan cuisine. Wine and food.

The most special thing is that they boldly introduced Western dishes and successfully transformed them into Western dishes for Chinese consumption.

For example, the asparagus in the United States was changed to asparagus and pigeon eggs.

Indian chicken curry, served in small pieces in bowls.

French mushrooms, changed to mushroom pigeon eggs.

American cherries are transformed into cherry jelly and served as the final dessert, which not only helps digestion but also sobers up the hangover.

The most difficult one is turkey from abroad, which is usually eaten by every household in the United States during Thanksgiving.

It is originally served as a whole turkey. Due to its large size, the host usually cuts it into pieces to serve the guests.

However, Rongyuan changed it into a dish made with barbecued pork wrapped in net oil, served in three parts, and named it barbecued pork chicken.

There is also tomato, egg yolk and shrimp fried noodles in Western food. Its main feature is that the tomatoes and shrimp stick to the noodles.

The noodles are made of egg yolks, so the finished product is very beautiful in red, yellow and white, and tastes particularly delicious. However, it is not easy to make. After several trials, it has not yet reached the level it should be.

It can be seen that the reform and innovation of dishes must go through quite difficult exploration and repeated trial production before they can be successful. "

Master Lin was deeply moved when he said this. It is indeed not easy to improve Western dishes into local flavors. It is absolutely impossible without some real skills.

"Don't be in a daze, brush it with oil quickly, it's almost burnt, a little more oil will make it more delicious."

Chu Yunfeng saw that both Mu Qing and Hou Hou were fascinated by what they heard. Mu Qing had been holding the skewers in her hand for a long time without moving, so it didn't matter.

But the consequence of the monkey not moving was a bit serious. When he reacted, he turned the kebab over and saw that it had indeed been burnt a little.

These old stories are not something that ordinary people can know, especially for practitioners of Sichuan cuisine, these secrets are very valuable information.

It is very helpful for understanding the development of Sichuan cuisine and ordinary chats, especially Monkey is very grateful that he can come to grill skewers.

He was a little unhappy at first, but now he would probably stay here even if he was driven away.

“Back then, there were no such things as MSG and chicken essence. If you want to cook delicious dishes, the freshest broth is the most important thing.

It is also the standard that tests a chef. If a chef cannot even make soup stock, then the dishes he cooks must be unqualified. "

Therefore, Rongyuan's soup dishes are also very particular about making.

Lan Guangjian often says: "The tone of the opera is the soup of the chef."

He often talks about his experience in making soup: First, pay attention to the heat, "Milk soup should be strong, and clear soup should be thick."

The second is to pay attention to the ingredients. As the saying goes, "no chicken is not fresh, no duck is not fragrant, no belly is not white, and no elbow is not thick."

Rongyuan's soup dishes are not only diverse and self-contained, but also delicious and delicious, integrating color, flavor and nourishment.

Its representative dishes include boiled cabbage, looking at the moon through the window, tremella pigeon eggs and so on.

I guess you don’t know that there are two classic Sichuan dishes that have been served at state banquets, but you must have never heard of these two dishes. "

Master Lin's change of tone immediately aroused everyone's interest. The monkey learned his lesson this time. After taking a look at Master Lin, he immediately continued to stare at his skewers.

"Tell me, I still don't believe it. I remember that only a few Sichuan dishes were served at state banquets. I haven't heard of the others?"

Chu Yunfeng asked with some disbelief. He really didn't believe what Master Lin said.

“Haha, you don’t believe it, right? Listen up!

One of the dishes is what I just said about "looking at the moon through the window." Let's take a good guess and see what kind of dish it is.

Another dish is duck with cordyceps. These two dishes have been served at state banquets, but fewer people know about them. "

Master Lin's words stunned the three of them, as if they had never heard of these two dishes.

This Cordyceps duck is easier to understand, but it is just Cordyceps stewed duck. It is probably because of the special technique and soup configuration.

But what the hell is this "pushing the window and looking at the moon"?

The name does sound somewhat artistic, and the name is quite elegant, but if I want to know what kind of dish it is, I can't seem to figure it out.

"Haha, can't you guess?"

Master Lin felt very proud when he saw the three of them meditating hard. He ate deliciously with a mouthful of barbecue and a mouthful of beer. It seemed that he was enjoying the feeling of having his own secret.

Mu Qing thought for a while and then gave up, continuing to eat and drink as she should.
Although Monkey did not give up, even though his brows furrowed into a deep frown, he still had no clue.

Chu Yunfeng had no idea at first, but after careful consideration, he suddenly had an idea and said five words.

As soon as these five words came out, Master Lin immediately coughed violently. The taste of choking on alcohol is really uncomfortable.
(End of this chapter)