Layers of baked cakes are covered with white and delicate slices of meat, then poured with fragrant broth, sprinkled with a few strands of green onion, and a bowl of Yichunlou white meat cover that carries the memories of Baoding people is ready to be burned. In this steaming bowl of white meat, the smell of old Baoding in the years is covered, and the story of three generations of people in the century-old shop is also covered...
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="8" > this flavor, yes! </h1>
Yichun Building White Meat Cover Fire has a history of more than 100 years since it opened in 1908. In order to find the taste in the memory, the reporter visited the third generation of the yichunlou white meat cover fire burning technique - Li Linggen.
At nearly 80 years old, Li Linggen is now a special second-class chef and senior cook. With gray hair, he made a white flesh cover and burned it, but he was not ambiguous at all.
I saw him, in the light of the kitchen, pull out a shiny thin knife, slice the pork horizontally, slice it very thinly, and then scoop up a spoonful of broth, pour it on top of the burnt cake and slices of meat, and sprinkle some green onions. I hurriedly set the steaming plate of white meat on fire and brought it to the table, and when I thought I could finally eat it, the ceremony of the meal was not over. I watched him stack 6 kinds of small dishes such as pickled garlic, cucumber strips, green onions, and noodle sauce one by one, and put on what he called the "housekeeper dish" - spiced dried meat, and then signaled that I could start. I quickly put a piece of meat into my mouth, accompanied by the small dish in front of me, full of flavor, and really solved my long-standing addiction to white meat.
"The best thing about white meat hood fire is 'three eat six tastes', there are meat and soups and staple foods, and different small ingredients have different tastes." Li Linggen said that dipping in the noodle sauce of one of the three treasures of Baoding can eat the taste of roasted duck; dipping in shrimp sauce has a seafood flavor; and with cucumber strips and other small ingredients, it is more delicious.
This bowl of white meat cover fire seems simple, but there are many exquisite doorways.
Li Linggen introduced, YichunLou white meat cover fire selection meat fine and strict, the selection of fresh pork must be the front sandwich or ribs, live water washed, put into boiling water to cook, its heat is very strong, fat meat to be crisp and not raw, lean meat to rot and not chai, cooking to go to foam to remove oil, add more than a dozen spices, simmer hot. It tastes delicious but not greasy.
Burn instead of sesame sauce, use skimming oil. Because the use of sesame sauce will skewer the taste, affecting the quality and taste of the soup. The fire should not be mushy or scorched, not too thick, and pay attention to only eating the crispy skin on the surface of the fire. The outside of the fire is crisp and tender, and after tearing, it is layered on top of each other, and the crispy skin of the fire is torn into clouds layer by layer.
"In my kitchen, except for this salt, which I bought myself, I made everything myself, even this white soy sauce
I did it myself. "Every morning, I go to the market to buy raw materials, and when I get home, I start to stew and cook, which is the normal life of Li Linggen for many years, and it has been orderly for several years. Different ingredients, accompanied by a variety of side dishes, sour, sweet and bitter, are also within this bowl of white meat cover fire.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="55" > grassroots cuisine that came out of the poor</h1>
In the past, the white meat cover fire should be said to be the "poor man's meal" of old Baoding.
Opened in 1908 by Zhang Luobing, Yichun Building was founded as a butcher shop that initially dealt in raw meat and bacon. At that time, many poor merchants "went to the house" to do business, most of them brought their own fire and other dry food into the city, sometimes a day of running, dry food is cold and hard can not eat, butcher shop keepers thought of a good way, let the vendors out of their own dry food, the treasurer out of the broth to "cover", dry food has soup and water and meat taste, both to relieve hunger, but also hungry. If you add a little more money, you can also put a few pieces of meat and the store earns a processing fee. Because it originated from the poor people, all dry food has a "cover" and is very popular. At that time, it was mainly made of soup that had been boiled with pork head meat, so at the beginning it was called "pork head meat pot cover fire". Later, in order to avoid the trouble of vendors bringing their own dry food, clever chefs refined the fire and white meat, and gradually tried other ingredients, gradually forming a more perfect food making process.
The vendors sat in pairs at the door of the Yichun Building, holding a bowl of white meat and burning it, and some of them ordered a plate of small dishes, eating and chatting, which was a scene in the ancient city at that time.
Yichun Lou is most famous for the deputy shop chief at that time, that is, the second generation of heirs Song Deshan, whose nickname is "Song Yi Dao". Song Deshan's nickname is mainly to sell meat "one knife accurate", customers buy meat with a knife to cut down no more and no less is just right. In addition to cutting meat accurately, the main reason why YichunLou is famous in Baoding Province is that the meat food produced is fine, the condiments are complete, and the heat is appropriate. The chessboard intestines and chicken intestines, sausages and other foods produced by it, in addition to being sold in the rice shop, were also used by the Qing Dynasty to pay tribute, which won the favor of the Qing royal family, and Pu Xinyu, the brother of the Xuantong Emperor Puyi, wrote three big characters for the plaque "Yichun Lou".
Li Linggen was a high-ranking disciple of Song Deshan. Li Linggen said that he began to apprentice in Yichun Lou at the age of 14 and has always had a fondness for the white flesh cover fire in Yichun Lou. After the reform and opening up, he has also been working to restore and improve the taste of yichunlou white meat cover fire. His craft of making white meat cover fire was not only designated as a "municipal intangible cultural heritage" by Baoding In 2013, but also because of his love of food, he has mastered the production of more than 362 kinds of local snacks over the years.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="95" general > named the skill to be passed on</h1>
It is said that when the patriotic general Feng Yuxiang was a child, he was born into a poor family, and when he entered Baoding City, he could not afford to eat a large restaurant, and always went to Yichun Building to eat "pig head meat pot cover fire", and he had a good feeling for the restaurant. After Feng Yuxiang became a general, every time he returned to Baoding, he would go to Yichun Lou to eat and burn, and sometimes transported it to the Sili camp with a large truck for the officers and men to taste together. It is said that Feng Yuxiang once wrote: "Fat but not greasy, soft but not rotten, thin but not chai, crisp and fresh."
Li Linggen said, "Later, perhaps I felt that the name of the pig head meat pot cover fire was indecent, or maybe I felt that after the development, the pig head meat pot cover fire had long been unworthy of the name, and Feng Yuxiang suggested that Zhang Luobing change it to white meat cover fire." At that time, the pig head meat pot was already famous for burning, and Zhang Luobing was naturally worried that the name change would affect the business, so he was hesitant. Feng Yuxiang then promised Zhang Luobing: "If the name change affects your business, you can send it to the military camp, and I will give it to the soldiers to eat." So the pig's head meat pot was renamed white meat cover fire.
In addition to Feng Yuxiang, the white meat cover fire this folk cuisine has had "encounters" with many historical celebrities. Drama master Mei Lanfang and cross-talk master Hou Baolin have all gone to Yichun Building to eat white meat and burn it.
But in Li Linggen's eyes, celebrity favor is certainly the glory, he is more concerned about the inheritance of gastronomic skills. "I just want to pass on this old craft now, and don't let the old taste of Baoding disappear." Li Linggen said that food is a kind of history and a culture. Baoding's food culture is very deep, and I hope to let future generations know about Baoding's traditional cuisine. The old Ji Futuo, determined to be in a thousand miles. He just wanted to do his best to pass on Baoding's old craftsmanship. In recent years, Li Linggen has been busy with apprentices, as long as someone is willing to come to learn, he will teach them and teach them to make the special food of old Baoding for free.
A century has passed, and the Yichun Building of that year has disappeared into the long river of history, but the craftsmanship of the Yichun Building has remained. Now on West Avenue, a restaurant called YichunLou White Meat Cover Fire is the façade that the third generation of Li Linggen has re-propped up. This bowl of white meat is still low-key and simple, continuing the rustic style. Although it is not gorgeous, it is as authentic as the ancient city, full of grounded market flavor.