In the kitchen of Chengdu people, there may be no chili peppers, but there must be a jar of Pixian bean paste, which combines the saltiness of salt, the smoothness of oil, the slight sweetness of beans, and the mellow bean paste of sauce, which can be called the pioneer of compound flavor in spices.
Zhang Anqiu, the inheritor of the traditional production skills of Pixian Douban, said that in the past five years, the special grade Pixian Douban must undergo at least 21,900 times of drying, and the watercress sauce should be done well, and each step of "turning, drying and dewing" should be careful. He made "Yifeng he number special grade five-year brew", a pound to sell for 540 yuan, known as the Hermes in the watercress sauce.
Zhong Dazuo, president of the Pidu District Catering Association, said that the authentic back pot meat must be fried with Pixian watercress, as for the partner of the back pot meat, of course, it is garlic seedlings, thick garlic seedlings absorb the oil fried by the two knife head sitting dun meat and watercress, and the thick fragrance is out, "The garlic seedlings in this season are the most time, grasp the fried garlic seedlings back to the pot Ha. ”
From the selection of raw materials, the preparation of craftsmen, the long drying, and then to the stove, becoming the habit of cooking, a spoonful of watercress sauce, is the taste of dew, the taste of the wind, the taste of the sun, but also the taste of salt, the taste of peppers, the taste of beans, in the final analysis, is the taste of time, the taste of terroir.
01/
They and bean paste, born in Pidu
Bean paste is a living taste, layered, and temperamental. With watercress sauce for decades, they know the taste best.
Zhong Dazuo was born in 1940, when he was a child, his family lived on the street on the west side of Wuxi in Pixian County, and not far from home was Yifenghe Sauce Garden, where the sauce aroma of watercress turned the surrounding area into the smell of happiness. At that time, eating meat was a luxury, and under normal circumstances, Zhong Dazuo and his friends took watercress sauce to smear white noodle pot helmets, and they were so delicious that they jumped to their feet. If anyone on the street bought meat, it must be to use watercress sauce to make back the pot meat, "At that time, watercress was made by hand, the salt content was 15%, the amount was moderate, the saltiness was appropriate, and the color was very good." ”
In the 1990s, Zhong Dazuo entered the catering industry, as the president of the Pidu District Catering Association, he led the association to create a brand banquet of "Pixian Douban Banquet" since 2015, the traditional version uses the traditional technique of Sichuan cuisine, and the fashion version uses the fusion technique of Chinese and Western. Cold dishes six single plates, hot dishes eight dishes and a soup, with two dishes, two snacks, some dishes are seasoned with Pixian watercress, and some dishes are based on dried and fresh broad beans produced in Pidu (or accessories), which is the "Pixian Douban Banquet" that once won the "Sichuan Cuisine Top Ten Banquet Award".
There are several types of Pixian watercress, and Zhong Dazuo is familiar with different types of use methods, "Special grade watercress is dark reddish brown, the sauce is fragrant, suitable for cooking." The first-class product is light reddish brown, slightly oily and shiny, suitable for stir-frying, such as back pot meat. Secondary products red or light reddish brown, fresh and spicy in the mouth, crisp flakes, slag, suitable for making hot pot. ”
"To make the Douban industry better and let more young people like it, we must use new techniques and means to make Douban derivatives that can keep up with the times." Zhong Dazuo said this with sonorous force.
Zhang Anqiu is a native of Pidu, his parents are working in Pixian Douban Factory (now Pixian Douban Co., Ltd., Sichuan Province), at the age of 15, he entered the factory as a temporary worker, in 1976 when he went to the countryside to do Zhiqing, he did not forget to bring watercress sauce, put a spoonful when frying potatoes, eat salt and taste, is a good memory of that period of life.
In 1978, Zhang Anqiu officially became an employee of Pixian Douban Factory, from ordinary employees to class leaders, to the director of Douban workshops, the master of hooking, the inheritor and technical supervisor of the intangible cultural heritage projects of Chengdu city and Sichuan Province (pixian douban traditional production skills). This year, 62-year-old Zhang Anqiu retired and returned to the factory. Pixian Douban Factory has the world's largest douban drying field, with 4,000 cylinders, and Zhang Anqiu has been dealing with them for more than 40 years, and he is used to it.
Zhang Anqiu is most talked about by his hand-brewed Juancheng brand "Yifeng He Special Grade Five-Year Brew", which sells for 540 yuan a pound, which is known as the Hermes in Douban Sauce. Expensive and expensive reason, he introduced, with the traditional process of making watercress sauce, a jar of Pixian Douban turned over 12 times a day, three years of special grade Pixian Douban at least experienced 13140 times, five years of special grade Pi County Watercress experienced at least 21900 times of drying.
What is the most important thing to do well in watercress sauce? "Good raw materials and processes, good staff and management, all are indispensable." For example, in the case of chili peppers, every year at the end of August and the beginning of September, we have to go to all parts of Sichuan to buy tens of thousands of tons of red and bright erjing strips. Zhang Anqiu said that the watercress sauce should be done well, each step should be careful, and finally the watercress was made, and when you look at it and smell it, you will know whether it has been successful.
In addition to retaining traditional handicrafts, Zhang Anqiu also developed a water bath insulation fermentation method with several partners, placing the container containing watercress in hot water at a constant temperature to accelerate the fermentation of hot water. In addition to shortening the fermentation time, this method also transforms the fermentation vessel from a tank into a stainless steel fermentation tank with a capacity of tens of tons. Today, there are more than 100 such fermentation tanks in the plant.
"In addition to the watercress sauce for the seasoning, there are now watercress sauce dipping sauces with brine dishes and hot pots, and we have been innovating." Zhang Anqiu felt that there were still many things that could be done about douban sauce. Some people say that not all Sichuan dishes must use watercress sauce, but they can certainly be used. Originating in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Pixian bean paste has ruled the taste of Sichuan for more than 300 years. Like Zhang Anqiu, who has been studying this good taste for decades, there are many people who have worked for this industry for decades like Zhong Dazuo.
02/
A conference saw the Sichuan Cuisine Industry City
On October 18th, a grand event brought together people who cared about and loved Pixian Douban and Sichuan cuisine. In the morning of the same day, the 4th World Sichuan Cuisine Conference, co-sponsored by the People's Government of Pidu District of Chengdu City and the World Federation of Catering, was officially opened in Sichuan Cuisine Town, Pidu District. In 3 days, more than 20 Sichuan cuisine culture series brand activities such as sichuan cuisine cooking skills competition and Chinese hot pot banquet competition were held one after another. The China Sichuan Cuisine Expo Museum was also officially opened.
Which is stronger? At the scene of the 2021 World Sichuan Cuisine Cooking Skills Competition, nearly 100 Sichuan cuisine masters gathered together to use Pixian bean paste as a seasoning to fry nearly 100 plates of back pot meat with different tastes, heat, presentation, ingredients and creativity. At the same time, in another competition venue in Pidu District, the 2021 World Chinese Hot Pot Banquet Competition is also in full swing.
Many of the important activities held this time were held in Sichuan Cuisine Town, which was opened on national day this year, Chen Ma Po tofu, Meng Dezhi Shu Embroidery Master Studio, Zhan Qi Nineteen Fang Small Mill Sesame Oil, Qingliu Wang Ban Duck, Xi Shi Oil Tea, Grandma Jar Meat, Tang Chang Wu Duck, Zhao Zongzi, Oil Mash... Here brings together the special cuisine of 183 districts and counties in Sichuan, one-stop eating all the authentic flavors of Sichuan, I hate that there is no stomach like the sea.
After satisfying your taste buds, you can walk to the Chinese Sichuan Cuisine Expo Hall, which officially opened on the 17th, through the water circle on the first floor, to the theme exhibition hall of "Rooted in Bashu, Sichuan Fragrant World", where you can look at the development of Sichuan cuisine in bashu from the historical dimension, and also understand the eating habits of cultural celebrities from the cultural dimension, such as How Su Dongpo's Dongpo meat, Dongpo soup, Dongpo Spring Dove are made, and you can also see Du Fushu's collection of food and poetry. Through the spiral staircase to the second floor of the "integration of innovation, industrial prosperity" theme exhibition hall, this floor from the Sichuan cuisine first, second and third production development integration perspective, showing the development achievements of Sichuan cuisine. Here you can learn about the development history of Pixian Douban, brewing technology, flavor type application, etc.
Since you have come to Pidu, of course, you must seize the time to go to the Chinese Sichuan cuisine culture experience hall with "Sichuan cuisine as the theme and watercress as the soul", and feel the unique charm of Sichuan cuisine culture more comprehensively from the visual, auditory, taste and touch.
Located in the ancient town of Pidu District, the western suburb of Chengdu, the Sichuan Cuisine Museum is certainly not to be missed, where you can understand the evolution of Sichuan cuisine culture in the long river of history through thousands of Sichuan cuisine antiques and cultural relics, or you can "play with cooking" and feel the ultimate experience of a handful of foodies.
Tuyuan Sichuan Cuisine Museum
Under the rice artifact "rice sweep light", there are friends bubble pepper chicken feet, spicy space oil hot pot, Yang Guofu spicy hot... It turns out that they are all produced in Chengdu Sichuan Cuisine Industrial Park in Pidu District, which is of course worth visiting and learning. As the country's first industrial park named after local cuisine, the positioning here is "global Sichuan cuisine central kitchen", at present, more than 120 enterprises have been built and put into production here, and the average annual growth rate of industrial output value in the past three years is 10.88%.
In 2020, Pixian Douban ranked among the top 8 of the top 100 regional brand geographical indication products for five consecutive years with a brand value of 66.109 billion yuan. Nine days out of a Chengdu, thousands of veins and thousands of streams look at the bushes, the place where the watercress is fragrant, is the taste of home.
In addition to various lively competitions and experience activities, the conference also held a conference to recommend the development of sichuan cuisine industry, including the 2021 Sichuan Cuisine Entrepreneur Conference and the Annual Meeting of the Sichuan Cuisine Industry Committee of the World Catering Federation. At the 2021 Global Sichuan Cuisine Industry Development Summit Forum and City Opportunity List Release Conference held on the morning of October 19, the list of urban scene opportunities in Pidu District was released, covering 87 scenarios such as intelligent production, intelligent life, smart governance, green ecology, smart city, and cultural and creative tourism, with a total investment of 142 billion yuan. Pidu, who is working together to build a "national Sichuan cuisine industry highland and a world Sichuan cuisine cultural center", has issued an invitation to the world.
At the 2021 Sichuan Cuisine Industrialization and Central Kitchen Construction Summit Forum held on the afternoon of October 19, more than 140 representatives of relevant government departments, colleges and universities, scientific research institutes and catering enterprises gathered together to conduct in-depth and systematic discussions from multiple perspectives such as industrial policy, intelligent distribution of raw materials and finished product supply chains, intelligent equipment manufacturing of central kitchens and intelligent restaurant design, industrialized products of central kitchens and quality and nutrition of traditional dishes.
The Fourth World Sichuan Cuisine Conference has come to an end, with the "soul of Sichuan cuisine" accumulated thousands of years of ancient Shu cultural veins, Pidu is making full use of the resources and advantages of the Sichuan Cuisine Conference platform, strengthening the development and application of new scenes, new models and new formats such as gastronomic economy and gastronomic culture, and actively promoting the construction of Sichuan Cuisine Industry City around the Chengdu-Chongqing Twin Cities Economic Circle, carrying out various forms of strategic cooperation, and creating an international "Gastronomy Capital • World Kitchen" connecting the world.
Editor 丨 Xiaodu image source 丨 officially provided, partly provided by the interviewee