Chapter 40 Liyuan Family Banquet Run Meiqiang

Peking opera master Mei Lanfang was born in Taizhou, Jiangsu, and was born and raised in Beijing, which determines his taste of both north and south. Some authentic Beijing delicacies and even snacks are his "good bites", such as Baosanyang, bean juice, millet porridge, boiled cabbage, sesame tofu, dry fried meatballs, eight-treasure pickles, pickled cucumbers, etc. Affected by his family, coupled with the need to protect his voice during opera, Mei Lanfang's diet is basically based on Huaiyang cuisine, such as chicken soup porridge, honey sauce ham, and Farewell My Concubine are all his favorite dishes.

In addition, Mei Lanfang has been in the arts for more than 60 years. He has performed all over the world and tasted delicious food from all over the world. Fried eel noodles. Beijing is the place where Mei Lanfang grew up and became famous, and there are many restaurants he likes to eat.In Beijing, the restaurants that Mei Lanfang often goes to include Emei Restaurant, the earliest Sichuan cuisine restaurant in Beijing, which was founded in 1950, and Enchengju, a Cantonese restaurant located in Shaanxi Lane outside Qianmen. Wan, founded in 1930, is one of Beijing's "Eight Great Springs", Tongchun Garden, founded in the third year of Qianlong (1738), and so on.

In Emei Restaurant, Mei Lanfang's favorite is Kung Pao Chicken.This dish was first created in the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty.At that time, there was a Guizhou native named Ding Baozhen. When he was in Guizhou, he loved to eat diced chicken fried with chili peppers and peanuts.This practice is the predecessor of Kung Pao Chicken.Empress Ding was transferred to be the governor of Shandong, and he was named Prince Shaobao, known as "Ding Gongbao".In Shandong, according to the guidance of Ding Baozhen, the chefs used the Shandong stir-fry method to stir-fry diced chicken, which made this dish very famous in the local area.Ding Baozhen later served as the governor of Sichuan, and the practice of Kung Pao Chicken was even more particular.Ding often used this dish to entertain guests, so that the dish became more famous, so it was called "Kung Pao Chicken", and it was officially finalized.

Since the end of the Qing Dynasty, as Sichuan cuisine became popular across the country, Kung Pao Chicken quickly became famous all over the country and became an internationally famous Chinese dish.The founder of Emei Restaurant is Wu Yusheng, a master of Sichuan cuisine. The earliest store was on West Chang'an Avenue, adjacent to Chang'an Grand Theater. Mei Lanfang often patronized it, especially when there were performances in the theater.Such a big celebrity patronizes a small shop, Wu naturally dare not neglect, every time Mei comes, he will cook and serve the dishes himself.Mei saw Wu's thoughts and said, I'm here to eat vegetables, not to eat tables and benches.

Wu Yusheng passed away not long ago, and lived to be a hundred.He is a native of Suining, Sichuan. He learned art from a teacher at the age of twelve, and started cooking for party and government officials at the age of twenty. He gradually became famous, and many dignitaries in Chengdu were proud to invite Wu to be their chef.During the Anti-Japanese War, he worked as a home cook for He Yingqin and Song Ziwen, and Chiang Kai-shek and his wife also ate dishes made by Master Wu.This is very remarkable.As a Sichuan cook, he can be a home cook for foreigners like He and Song, which shows that his dishes are very varied and can cater to the tastes of more people.It is said that they like Wu Yusheng's roasted beef head recipe, pork head with bean dregs, boiled cabbage, etc. These are non-spicy dishes in Sichuan cuisine, known for their mellowness and lightness.

Because of the unique dishes and high-quality taste, Emei Restaurant has become a place frequented by many celebrities after it opened in Beijing, although the store is small, including Mei Lanfang, Zhang Youyu, Ma Lianliang, Qi Baishi, Zhang Lan, etc. Zhang Lan is a native of Nanchong, Sichuan. He was the vice president of the country at the time, and he also helped Emei Restaurant choose a new location.Mei Lanfang also drew a picture of plum blossoms for Emei Restaurant, and Qi Baishi sent a picture of prawns. Why do so many people love Wu's Kung Pao Chicken?It turned out that Wu Yusheng made many improvements to Kung Pao Chicken on the basis of tradition.First of all, change the diced chicken from a square piece to a shuttle piece, which makes it wider and more flavorful, and at the same time complements the oval peanuts.Another thing is to choose the chicken leg meat (live meat) of the little rooster. When frying, adjust the "nourishing juice" first, and stir-fry when the pot is red and the oil temperature rises to 10%. The topping juice is turned upside down a little to make it even, and the finished dish is put on the plate, "only red oil but no juice".The diced chicken is loose and crisp, with distinct layers of taste: first sweet, then sour, then salty, with a slight chili aroma, and finally pepper numbness, which is the classic "lychee flavor".

Wu Yusheng gave a lot of inspiration to future generations with chicken leg meat.Our Kung Pao Chicken in Tianxiayandian in Beijing also uses deboned chicken thighs, while the traditional one uses "chicken breasts".The advantage of chicken thigh meat is that it is more firm, tender and chewy. Not only Zhang Lan, but leaders of many countries have been to Emei Restaurant, including Xi Zhongxun, then vice premier, who praised Kung Pao Chicken as "the number one dish".The amazing thing about this dish is that the diced chicken remains tender even when the dish is cold. It is said that when US President Clinton visited China, someone asked him what impressed him the most about China. Clinton replied humorously: "Kung Pao Chicken".He thought it was a very rare delicacy.Later, when he went to Sichuan and Shanghai, he ordered Kung Pao Chicken.

Although this dish is a classic of Sichuan cuisine, it is not very spicy and has a rich taste. It can be said to be a classic fusion of Chinese dishes.It originated in Guizhou, matured in Shandong, and finalized in Sichuan. In fact, as a master of Sichuan cuisine, Wu Yusheng is not the best at kung pao chicken.He is proficient in the comprehensive techniques of Sichuan cuisine and is known for being good at making soup. He is familiar with what kind of meat goes with what kind of soup.His representative dishes are roasted beef head, pork head with bean dregs, roasted shark's fin, watercress prawns, boiled beef, and dry-stir-fried beef shreds.

Because of the special fate with Emei Restaurant, Mei Lanfang wrote a plaque on the 10th anniversary of Emei Restaurant, which is still in use today.