Chapter 27 Elders and Chefs

In Sanyuan County, Yu Youren's hometown, there is a restaurant named "Mingde Pavilion". The chef here, Zhang Rong, is good at making one special dish - stewed squid with spicy peppers, and a famous local snack - pimple noodles. Sanyuan used to have a special dish called stewed shredded squid. Zhang Rong improved it: put it spicy and simmer it over a slow fire.Because this stewed squid with spicy peppers is famous far and wide, the business of Mingde Pavilion is particularly good.Once when Yu Youren went back to his hometown, he heard the reputation of stewed squid with spicy peppers, so he went to Mingde Pavilion to taste it.He was dressed in casual clothes and was waiting for a seat at the door with everyone. He happened to be recognized by the county magistrate of Sanyuan who came here for dinner, and he hurriedly invited him into the restaurant.The cook Zhang Rong saw that Huzi was in person, so he didn't dare to neglect, so he did his best to cook a stewed squid with spicy peppers.Taste it on the right, and suddenly feel that the meat is soft, spicy and refreshing, the taste is mellow, and the aftertaste is endless, which is full of praise at the moment.After the meal, Yu Youren took out silver dollars to pay the bill, but Zhang Rong would not accept it.So Yu Youren asked someone to bring paper and ink, wrote the three characters "Mingde Pavilion" with a brush, and signed "Sanyuan Yu Youren".

Let me mention here that Yu Youren had a high status in the calligraphy circles of the Republic of China. Together with Tan Yankai, Hu Hanmin, and Wu Zhihui, they were called the "Four Treasures of Calligraphy" of the Kuomintang. , Wu Zhihui's ancient seal characters are all instant masterpieces.Interestingly, these four are also big eaters.Not long ago, there were calligraphy exhibitions and auctions held by Tai Youren in China. Since then, every time Yu Youren returned to his hometown, he would go to Mingde Pavilion to taste stewed squid with spicy peppers.Stewed squid with spicy peppers is still a famous dish in Shaanxi. The method is as follows:

1. Slice the squid body into thin slices with a flat knife, and then cut into thin strips.Take a porcelain basin, fill two catties of 5% alkaline water, put in squid shreds, and soak for two hours.Then pour into the soup pot and bring to a boil over low heat.When the shredded squid curls, remove the soup pot from the heat, take it out when the shredded squid stretches, and pour off the water. 2. Add clear water to the original soup pot (to the extent that the shredded squid is submerged), put in the shredded squid, bring to a boil over low heat, and remove it. Do this three times in a row. Finally, decant the water and add refined salt (one point).

3. Cut the pork into thin strips of one and a half inches long, add the salty noodle sauce and mix well, cut the onion and ginger into thin strips, and mince the ham.Blanch chicken legs in boiling water. 4. Put the cooked lard in the frying pan, heat it up to 50% heat, add dried chili knots and fry until brown, then add shredded pork and stir fry.After the shredded meat is loosened, cook in Shaojiu, add soy sauce, refined salt, and chicken broth, then add chicken legs, cinnamon, and shredded green onion to serve as a bottom dish. 5. Take a casserole, pour it into the bottom dish, and simmer for about an hour on low heat.When the vegetables are fully cooked, take out the chicken legs, cut them into thin shreds and put them in the casserole, and mix well with the shredded pork.

6. Put the shredded squid on one side of the casserole, put the bottom dish on the other side, and simmer for an hour on low heat.Take a soup bowl, put the bottom dish first, then put the shredded squid on top, pour in the original juice, sprinkle with minced ham and serve. The squid used here is dried squid.In terms of taste, dried squid is better than fresh squid, just like dried abalone is better than fresh abalone.I like to soak the dried squid in water, add a little salt, ginger, onion, and stew it with chicken. It tastes very delicious.I once invented a dish in Tianxiayan—simmered goose feet with squid, which uses the idea of ​​stewed squid with spicy peppers.The difference is that I used pickled ginger and pickled peppers when making this dish. The method is to stir-fry the pickled peppers and pickled ginger with oil first, then add goose feet, dried squid, pepper, pepper, sugar, and Pixian Douban , Make a pot, simmer slowly, eat while simmering, the more simmering, the better.

Yu Youren and Zhang Rong have always kept in touch. In April 1948, Zhang Rong came to Nanjing from his hometown to visit Yu Youren, and made him stewed squid and pimple noodles with spicy peppers.Yu Youren was in a good mood and wrote "Famous Chef Zhang Rong" for Zhang Rong.Later, Zhang Rong made these words into a plaque and hung it in his shop, which truly became a "golden signboard". Yu Youren wrote plaques for countless restaurants and restaurants throughout his life, and also made friends with countless famous chefs.The most famous restaurant here is Ma Xiangxing Restaurant in Nanjing.This restaurant was opened in the 20th year of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty. It was originally located on Mihang Street outside Zhonghuamen, Yuhuatai, Nanjing, and moved to Zhongshan North Road in 1958.In the 1920s, the restaurant featured eight halal dishes. The main dishes included beauty liver, squirrel fish, anchovy shrimp, egg siu mai and so on.Yu Youren inscribed the plaque "Ma Xiangxing" for him, making it a place where important members of the Kuomintang often gather. It is said that Bai Chongxi is also one of the shareholders of the hotel.During the peace talks between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, Zhang Zhizhong hosted a banquet here to entertain Zhou Enlai.

Another famous chef Yu Youren made friends with is Li Qinxi, a master of Shaanxi cuisine.Li Qinxi's name is Li Songlin, Qinxi is a word, and another name is Panlin.Both the name and name were created by Yu Youren for him, which shows the deep friendship between the two. Li Qinxi is from Lantian, Shaanxi, which is also the place with the most famous chefs in China.Li Qinxi learned to cook at the age of thirteen, and was able to organize banquets independently at the age of sixteen. In 1900, when Empress Dowager Cixi and Guangxu fled to Xi'an, Li Qinxi was summoned to serve in the palace.His specialty dishes include agar-agar in clear soup, stewed shredded squid, fried toon fish, money-stuffed hair vegetables, three-yuan soup, warm-mixed shredded waist, stuffed jujube meat, etc.Empress Dowager Cixi admired Li Qinxi's culinary skills very much, and bestowed on him the words "Prosperity, Prosperity and Peace" by herself.However, Li Qinxi was unmoved. He witnessed the political corruption in the late Qing Dynasty and the influence on Youren, so he had a firm anti-Qing thought.During the Revolution of 1911, he led a team of chefs to participate in the Xi'an Uprising, perhaps the only "fire-headed army" in the entire revolution.

After the success of the revolution, Li Qinxi opened Qujiangchun Restaurant in Xi'an.The restaurant closed in 1950 and reopened in 1984.It is characterized by operating imitation Tang dishes and Qujiang-style dishes.Li Qinxi's superb cooking skills and good management skills made the restaurant famous. During the anti-Yuan struggle and the Northern Expedition, it became a frequent gathering place for Kuomintang members. When Yu Youren returned to Shaanxi to organize the Yasukuni Army, he went to the restaurant to eat, and wrote two plaques for two of the restaurants, "Tang Zuibai Place" and "Jinwo Liuju".