Chapter 5 Yuan Shikai and the Great Leap Forward of Henan Cuisine

A person's fame can even promote the development of food. There is a Houdefu Restaurant in Beijing, which serves authentic Henan cuisine.The founder, Chen Liantang, is from Qixian County, Henan Province. He used to be a cook in Beijing Tongrentang and is good at cooking. In 1902, when the Yan Tea House in Dashilan, Beijing was closed, Chen Liantang was on its original site, changed its course, and established this large-scale restaurant. At the beginning of its establishment, Houdefu was similar to ordinary restaurants, and did not operate particularly well.After Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself emperor, Houdefu Restaurant used Yuan Shikai's signboard as a native of Henan (Xiangcheng) to create public opinion.For a time, Houdefu became a gathering place for dignitaries and dignitaries in Beijing. The business grew bigger and bigger, the funds were abundant, and famous chefs gathered. It became one of the famous restaurants in Beijing at that time.Soon, Houdefu opened branches in Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenyang, Qingdao, Nanjing, Xi'an, and Chengdu, and became an enterprise operating across provinces.

Here I have to mention the business model of Chinese restaurants a hundred years ago: Houdefu has regulations. All employees of Houdefu, regardless of capital or labor, managers or buddies, must be shareholders. Everyone is a shareholder and must Responsible for the restaurant; at the same time, it is stipulated that Houdefu will not hire other restaurant personnel; the cooking technicians and management personnel are trained by the restaurant themselves, and they call each other. The general number can be transferred to the semicolon, and the semicolon can also be transferred to the general office.

In order to attract business and expand financial resources, Houdefu also stipulated that the banquet payment slip of the restaurant can be used internally, that is, with the payment receipt issued by Beijing Houdefu, you can go to the branches of Houdefu to have meals.In view of the fact that the warlords separated the regime at that time and the currency could not be used universally, the payment documents could also be converted according to the currency ratio between regions.This method not only enlivens Houdefu's business, but also makes the restaurant's cash receipt a gift for relatives and friends, similar to modern stored-value cards, which makes Houdefu's operation unique.

Yuan Shikai likes to eat fish and also likes to fish.When he lived in seclusion in Huanshang Village, he called himself the old man of Huanshang and built a fish pond to raise fish.Yuan Shikai's favorite fish is the Yellow River carp from Heigangkou in the north of Kaifeng. He thinks that fish from other places cannot compare with it. And Yuan Shikai likes to eat soft fried carp baked noodles, also called fried fish baked noodles, which is a famous Henan dish known both at home and abroad. According to historical records, there was sweet and sour fried fish in Kaifeng (Bianliang) in the Northern Song Dynasty. It was called sweet and sour fish in the Ming Dynasty, but it was not famous.In the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty, the Eight-Power Allied Forces captured Beijing. Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu returned to Beijing from Xi'an, passed by Kaifeng, and lived in the palace.Kaifeng Mansion presented carp baked noodles, and the Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu ate it full of praise. Guangxu praised this dish as an "ancient Bian delicacy", while the Empress Dowager Cixi even called it "forgetting to return after eating".A eunuch who accompanied him immediately wrote "Where is the fish, ancient Bianzhou in the Central Plains".It is precisely because the emperor and queen mother love this famous dish that Yuan Shikai wants to eat the carp baked noodles from his hometown.

Yuan Shikai also likes to burn crucian carp. He often asks the magistrate of Qi County, Henan Province to send crucian carp from Qishui.This kind of crucian carp has a long handle, a wide back, and abnormally plump meat.The method of transporting the crucian carp in Qishui is very unique: a box is filled with uncondensed lard, and the fish is suffocated to death.The oil is then condensed, isolated from the outside air, and shipped.This method of preservation was excellent at the time. Yuan Shikai is a person who likes snacks, such as peanuts.He likes a kind of paste-skin Zhengxiangbengdou most, which has become a famous snack in Henan.

It is said that this bean was originally eaten by the relatives of the emperor to grind their teeth.To make this kind of bean collapse, you need to use five outer ingredients—aniseed, cinnamon, fennel, onion, and salt; Wait, stir fry together.The shape of this kind of collapsed beans is black and buttery, like tiger skin. It is swollen and cracked, but it does not enter the sand, and it is not gritty. It is crisp but not hard in the mouth. Yuan Shikai was very superstitious. After he became emperor, he knew that he was not popular with the people, so he had to turn to religion for help.In addition to asking God for divination, he also arranged the seven treasure jars in the garden to form the seven stars in the sky to show that he obeyed the will of heaven.

His superstition is also reflected in his daily diet.For example, because "Hongxian" is the same as "Hongxian", his diet is mainly red, such as braised pork, braised fish, red shell lobster, and red crab, etc., and the waiter usually has to serve it before the meal. On the top four plates of fresh shredded ham spelled "Long Live Hong Xian". Another interesting thing is that the meatballs all over the country are round, but the Nanjian meatballs in Baoding Prefecture are flat chess pieces.In ancient times, Baoding City was dominated by waterways, and there were many guild halls, and goods from the north and the south gathered here, thus bringing in special products from various places, such as winter bamboo shoots, shiitake mushrooms, and sea cucumbers.Local chefs combine these materials with local water chestnuts, southern magnolia slices, and sea cucumbers stuffed with meat to make meatballs.Yuan Shikai, who was the governor of Zhili at that time, was very powerful, and the folks jokingly called him Yuan Datou. In the official banquets of Zhili, in order to avoid the taboo of the word "Yuan", the chef flattened the round meatballs and boldly adopted a unique cooking method to create It is suitable for both north and south, authentic delicacies.Because it comes from Nanqi in Baoding Prefecture, it is named Nanjian meatballs.

The Lantern Festival and glutinous rice balls also have a similar story. In December 1915, there appeared the illusion that national representatives elected all over the country unanimously agreed to a constitutional monarchy. They unanimously "respected the current President Yuan Shikai as the Emperor of the Chinese Empire." Yuan Shikai publicly accepted the throne and was congratulated by all officials.After the National Defense Movement, Yuan Shikai gradually betrayed his relatives and fell into a dilemma.He set 1916 as the first year of Hongxian in an attempt to continue it for thousands of years, but on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month of that year, Yuan Shikai felt powerless and could no longer sit on the throne.He wanted to go out to relax and learn about the situation in the capital by the way, so he put on casual clothes and came to the streets of Beijing.

Unknowingly, Yuan Shikai came to Dashilan, and on a whim, he wanted to go to Houdefu to eat some authentic Henan cuisine.At this time, Lantern Festival was being sold in front of Houdefu's door, and the long shouts came from afar.Yuan Shikai felt very familiar and quickened his pace.However, suddenly an ominous omen came to his heart, Yuan Shikai stopped and listened carefully. The yelling of "Yuan-Xiao" echoed in Yuan Shikai's ears, but he seemed to hear the mourning tone played specially for him, "Yuan-Xiao". The sound came with the cold wind, and Yuan Shikai couldn't help being furious.

He no longer had the mind to eat, so he returned immediately, and then ordered Houdefu to arrest the person who sold the Lantern Festival, and ordered everyone not to mention the word "Yuanxiao" again, and changed the name of the Lantern Festival to "Tangyuan".Coincidentally, not many days after this incident, Yuan Shikai was forced to announce the "abolition of the imperial system", and then died quickly in fear. As a result, a ballad became popular in the capital: "President Hong Xiannian, eat glutinous rice balls on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Tangyuan and Lantern Festival have a mother, and Emperor Hong Xian's life will not last long."