Wen | Jiang Fengjiao
When it comes to changzhou's local beef, the best taste and the most historical origin are none other than Huangli beef. Huangli is located in the hinterland of Jiangnan Water Town, and the cultivation of the field is inseparable from cattle and livestock, and the waterway environment where the river network intersects is a necessary place for merchants from all over the world. According to the history of literature, from the Qing Dynasty onwards, Huangli's cattle market and beef were famous in Jiangnan.
In the early years of the Republic of China, there were several beef shops on Huangli Street. However, open, the best "Niu Ji", "Ren Ji" and "Tang Ji" beef shops with the best façade and lot, the business is getting lighter and lighter, and there are fewer and fewer diners. The "Zhuang Ji" beef shop in the most remote part of the west end of the street is becoming more and more prosperous, and the supply is in short supply every day.
The owner of the "Zhuang Ji" beef shop is surnamed Zhuang Ziduo, who is low-key, does not show mountain dew, and sometimes even seems a little clumsy and stupid, which inevitably makes his peers look down. At present, people are curious, what is the unique secret of his store?
Seeing that his own beef shop was about to close, niu Dayong, the owner of the "Niu Ji", could not sit still. It was also in a hurry, and the cattle boss had a clever move, called a young man in his shop, and asked him to go to the Zhuang Ji beef shop on North Street as an "undercover" to find out the truth.
The young man's name is Jiang Song, very clever, he came to the "Zhuang Ji Beef Shop", he said that he was from a foreign country, because the coil was stolen and wandered in Huangli, begging the boss to take him in, willing to be a cow and a horse, just three meals a day.
Zhuang Ziduo, the boss of the old flower armor, did not have any doubts, and really took Jiang Song into custody.
The shop was busy, and Jiang Song was soon assigned to work: feeding the cattle and morning glory. Zhuang Ziduo personally explained the matter: when feeding the cattle, he must be full of smiles, behave very happy, hum small songs, do not let them hear and see the scene of killing the cattle, but also talk to them warmly and affectionately, so that they can feel the kindness of people.
Jiang Song did not know what was going on and asked why? Zhuang Ziduo said: "Cattle look honest, in fact, they are very intelligent animals, once they feel the killing machine of people, their emotions will become fearful and sad, their muscles will become tight, and their internal organs will be sick. If the cow sees the kind smile of the feeder and hears the gentle words, it will be in a happy mood, the muscles will relax, not only grow fast, the meat after slaughter is tender and smooth, and the taste is particularly delicious. ”
Jiang Song listened, and couldn't help but nod his head continuously, secretly admiring in his heart. When he came to the cattle pen, he found that the cattle raised here were all strong and young cattle, which was very different from the "old, weak, sick and disabled" of the cattle family. The cost of such beef is obviously much higher, and it is eaten well, all fresh grass, plus "rice blossoming".
The so-called "rice flowering", that is, the rice is boiled with water, cracked like corn flowers, the taste is good and chewy, this feed is the cow's favorite food, eating is also easy to grow fat.
This made it difficult for Jiang Song to understand, these are all cattle to be killed, and it is not a waste to eat so well? Because the cattle in other beef shops are generally not fed, but directly with a water pipe, through the vein to inject water into the body of the cow, with the continuous injection of water, the body of the cow is more and more swollen, and finally finally can not withstand the crash to the ground, then the butcher can effortlessly slaughter the cow, beef also increased a lot of weight out of thin air.
But "Zhuang Ji" did the opposite, and Jiang Song silently calculated in his heart that such beef was still not profitable. However, what surprised Jiang Song was still to come, the beef slaughtered by the butcher had to be spread out in the open yard to dry, this Jiang Song understood, the purpose was to keep it fresh. In addition, there are about a dozen large tanks in the yard, all soaked in raw beef, and large stones pressed on them.
This Jiang Song was a little confused. He couldn't help but ask Boss Zhuang for advice again, asking what was going on.
Perhaps Zhuang Ziduo was deliberately cultivating Jiang Song, still smiling and squinting to tell Jiang Song: "Beef has a high nutritional value, is a kind of food that everyone loves to eat, can be braised, can also be stewed soup." But many people make beef with a slight fishy smell, and after slicing it, it is hard and rolled, because the blood in the beef has not been cleaned. Zhuang Ji's beef should be soaked in water for at least one day and one night, and then the beef is boiled to remove the blood water. ”
"However, if you do this, it will not only take time and labor, but also lose weight, and the average beef shop will never do such a 'stupid thing'." At this time, Jiang Song forgot the purpose of his trip and couldn't help but blurt out at the risk of revealing the stuffing.
"It's hard to make a unique beef flavor that guests want to eat." Zhuang Ziduo said meaningfully: "Those who can do things are not smart people, and people who think they are smart often fail, because they don't know that the mouth of the guest is the smartest." ”
Jiang Song pondered for a long time, and suddenly he had the feeling of planting a mao sai suddenly opening up and being empowered.
Zhuang Ziduo did not seem to be disdainful of hiding, and completely treated Jiang Song as if he were his own person. In this way, in just one month, Jiang Song effortlessly got the unique secret of the "Zhuang Ji" beef shop, and also got an additional month's commission. Therefore, he decided to resign to Boss Zhuang, and in the face of the kind Boss Zhuang, Jiang Song was a little ashamed: "Boss Zhuang, you are a good person, thank you for taking me in, and giving me back the entanglement, I can finally go home." ”
Zhuang Ziduo was not surprised, but still smiled and squinted: "I have already taught you Zhuang Ji's unique secrets, and you can go back and relay them to Boss Niu to help him make a comeback." ”
These words were tantamount to thunder on the ground, blowing Jiang Song up: "Boss Zhuang, you... You know my... Origin? ”
Zhuang Ziduo nodded, smiled and said, "I know, I knew from the first day you came to me." ”
"Then why did you still take me in and teach me so carefully?" At this point, Jiang Song was even more confused.
Zhuang Zize smiled foolishly again: "The water of the Lake is definitely not drunk for a person to drink, and peers are not necessarily all wrongdoers, but they can also be friends." Doing a business and opening a shop, good character is more important than good skills!
After the "Niu Ji" beef shop got this "unique secret" brought back by Jiang Song, it was greatly inspired, so it also changed its business model, focusing on the quality of beef ingredients and business philosophy, and paying more attention to business ethics and peer mutual assistance.
Due to Zhuang Ji's selfless sharing, it did not take long for the quality of the beef in Huangli to be well improved, and until today, a hundred years later, Huangli beef is still mainly characterized by family workshops and has become a delicacy in Wujin, Jiangsu Province. Later, it was also "China on the tip of the tongue" as an "intangible cultural heritage on the tip of the tongue"!
(Published in Folk Literature, Issue 8, 2021)