Chapter 25 Food "Grass Saint" Yu Youren

Yu Youren is a native of Sanyuan, Shaanxi Province. He has a long beard all his life, so he is also called Yu Huzi.He was born in the late Qing Dynasty, a veteran of the Kuomintang, a great calligrapher, a famous reporter, a poet, and of course, a gourmet.He was a representative of Shaanxi cuisine in the restaurant of the Republic of China. As a calligrapher, he is known as "Contemporary Cursive Saint" and created "standard cursive script" by hand.As a poet, he was an early participant in the "Nanshe" and wrote nearly 900 poems in his life.Famous ones include "Yuediao Tianjingsha" and "Looking at the Mainland".As a reporter, from 1907 to 1910, he presided over and founded four newspapers: "Minhu Daily", "Minhu Daily", "Shenzhou Daily", and "Minli Daily".

In 1912, the Nanjing National Government was established, and Yu Youren served as the deputy minister of the Ministry of Communications. During the "Second Revolution" period, he served as the commander-in-chief of the Shaanxi Yasukuni Army.After the victory of the Northern Expedition, he served as the dean of the Kuomintang Supervisory Yuan. Mao Zedong liked to read "Minli Daily" founded by Yu Youren when he was a student. Later, when he was interviewed by American reporter Edgar Snow in Yan'an, he said: "The first newspaper I read in Changsha was "" Minli Daily, which is a newspaper that promotes the democratic revolution...it is full of exciting materials, and this newspaper is edited by Yu Youren."

Yu Youren and Mao met during the first KMT-CPC cooperation. On August 28, 1945, Mao went to Chongqing for negotiations. On August 30, he and Zhou Enlai went from their apartment to visit Yu Youren in the city. On September 6, Yu Youren held a luncheon for Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Wang Ruofei and others.It is said that the menu was prepared by Yu Youren himself, including Mao's favorite braised pork, dry-stir-fried bitter gourd, tiger skin pepper, and sweet and sour crispy fish.Of course, there is also Yu Huzi's housekeeping dish: stewed squid with spicy peppers.Because he is from Shaanxi, Yu Youren and Mao Zedong are equally addicted to spicy food.Of course, the commonality between the two is not only in the taste of the dishes, they also love poetry and calligraphy.It is said that the two chatted about poems and essays at the banquet, and Mao Zedong praised Yu Youren's "Yue Diao·Tianjingsha" "The king asked me when I will recover the rivers and mountains" was thought-provoking.

Another masterpiece of Yu Youren is "Looking at the Mainland", which is widely circulated on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.Premier Wen Jiabao recited the poem when answering questions from Taiwanese reporters in 2003: In addition to calligraphy, poetry, and politics, Yu Youren also did a lot of research on diet.He once said: Life is like eating and drinking. Every time you eat a delicious meal, you feel that your life is more complete.Enjoy the sweetness of the five flavors, just like enjoying the beauty of color.The more you gain, the more nourishing your life will be. As a gourmet, Yu Youren likes civilian dishes very much.

In the autumn of 1927, when sweet osmanthus was fragrant, Yu Youren took his wife and Li Gengen, a veteran of the Kuomintang, to Taihu Lake in Suzhou to enjoy flowers.The boat arrived at Mudu Ancient Town at the foot of Lingyan Mountain, and saw a restaurant on the shore, Xushunlou.It was almost noon, and everyone was hungry, so they went ashore for dinner. Xushunlou was founded by Shi Han and his wife in the 55th year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi, and it specializes in Su dishes. In 1926, it was passed on to Shi Anren, the great-grandson, and later changed its name to Shijia Restaurant.

At that time, the owner Shi Anren entertained the pedestrians on the right with the signature dishes of the shop, spot lung soup, tofu with three shrimps, and crucian carp in white soup.This spot lung soup is made from the liver of the spot fish.The grouper fish is smooth without scales, with white abdomen with spines and blue back with stripes. It looks like a puffer fish, but only two or three inches long. It is also called small puffer fish and is a specialty of Taihu Lake.The grouper fish is tender and as delicious as saury.Especially fish liver soup is the best.Spotted fish liver was very popular in Suzhou area as early as the Qing Dynasty.There is such a record in Yuan Meili of the Qing Dynasty: "The grouper fish is the most tender. Peel the skin and remove the filth, divide it into two kinds of liver meat, simmer it in chicken broth, serve with three parts of wine, two parts of water, and one part of autumn oil. Add ginger juice when cooking A big bowl, a few stalks of green onions to remove the fishy smell."

It is said that after Yu Youren tasted the spotted lung soup, he was very impressed and hurriedly asked the store for the name of the dish.Because the other party was speaking Wu dialect, he misunderstood spot lung as "barb lung", and immediately asked for a pen and paper to compose a poem: "Osmanthus fragrans is in full bloom and fragrant all over the world. I can see the flowers and walk all over the Taihu Lake; Mudu on the return boat is especially memorable. , Thank you Shijia Barb Lung Decoction." Since then, the name of this dish has really been changed to Brabow Lung Soup.This dish is still a famous dish in Suzhou.

In the early 1990s, I opened a restaurant called "Yu Baibai" in Chongqing, which specializes in fish.At that time, cod liver and fish eggs were boiled with pickled pepper and ginger.The fish liver is fat and tender, the fish eggs are rough, and the taste is very good.This dish is also suitable for making at home. In 1990, when Fei Xiaotong, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, visited Suzhou, he passed by Mudu Town and went to Shijia Restaurant for dinner.After tasting this classic barb lung soup, it is also vivid to write down the four characters of "the taste of the heart".