Shunqing all-media reporter Yang Xu
August osmanthus flowers, the footsteps of the Mid-Autumn Festival followed, in Nanchong, the unique traditional flavor of the hemp cake began to be sold on the market, becoming the choice of citizens to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival. In recent days, in the sweet Mimi pastry shop on Xiaoxi Street in Shunqing District, customers who come to buy hemp cakes are crowded. This pastry shop is run by Yi Zhihong, the fourth generation of yi's ma cake technology, an intangible cultural heritage project, and to this day, the history of Yi's mochi technique has been more than 100 spring and autumn.
Solu Blue Wisp: Give up "going south" and go home to become a craftsman
In 1980, after graduating from high school, Yi Zhihong was quite interested in making hemp cakes, and since the same year, his father has trained him hand in hand to inherit this craft, select sesame seeds, wash sesame seeds, and noodles, and hot noodles, under the strict requirements of his father, Yi Zhihong learned from the basic skills, and constantly became proficient in making various Chinese handmade cakes such as hemp cakes, and learned for 8 years.
"My father is very demanding of me, and I have to do every detail to the extreme, which can be described as 'ten years of grinding a sword'." Yi Zhihong told reporters that in the 8 years of being an apprentice under his father, through continuous skilled processes, he has formed a memory in the deepest part of his mind and created a profound foundation. "Up to now, I have been able to complete the whole process by hand without failing to do so blindfolded." Yi Zhihong said.
In 1988, the trend of "going south" to do business blew through the north and south of the river, was it "going south" to do a big cause, or continuing to inherit the ancestral business at home and inherit the craft? This multiple-choice question was placed in front of Yi Zhihong.
"Don't let the ancestral inheritance be lost!" Yi Zhihong recalled the situation at that time and said that it was his own idea to make such a decision, and it was also his father's expectation of him. So, without hesitation, he immediately prepared to open a pastry shop.
"At that time, there were no shops, so I went back to my ancestral house on Great North Street, where my parents used to open a pastry shop during the Republic of China period, and without funds, my brothers, sisters and friends helped to support." Yi Zhihong said that since then, he has officially shouldered the responsibility of the fourth generation, and until today, it has been more than 30 years.
Inheriting the past and opening up the future: inheriting the taste of a century in continuous innovation
"I have to buy it every year, and the handmade hemp cake tastes very different." With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, outside the sweet Mimi pastry shop, there are often long queues, and some neighbors often have to wait for an hour or two in order to buy steaming hemp cakes, why does a small hemp cake have such a big charm?
"Han Xin dianbing, the plate of the sun, The Western Shi rubbing powder..." Open the "Twenty-five Production Processes of Yi's Hemp Cake", from material selection to preparation to finished product production, 25 processes are described in concise and capable language, which is Yi Zhihong's classic summary of the ancestral craft, between the lines is the deep emotion of this century-old craft, each hemp cake from beginning to end, to go through 3 hours of brewing, before it can be sold on the shelves.
With the diversification of consumer preferences in the market, Yi Zhihong has also increased his innovation in the production technology of hemp cake while summarizing experience and excavating old tastes. Osmanthus flowers, oranges, meat pines, pepper salt... On the shelves of Yi Zhihong's store, the types of hemp cakes have also increased from the initial one or two to more than 10 kinds, increasing the choice of noodles for consumers according to market demand, and many flavors are even sold out as soon as they are baked, so that traditional skills and modern tastes collide with sparks.
"While doing a good job in the old shop, I also plan to recruit more apprentices, strive to open more stores, and let more people who are willing to learn this traditional skill join in." Facing the future, Yi Zhihong, who is now in his 50s, has more expectations for this skill in his hands, and has made a five-year plan, hoping to attract more apprentices, so that the skills in his hands can be inspired by the "intangible cultural heritage" sign to go out of Nanchong and out of Sichuan, so that more people can share this century-old delicacy.