After Chiang Kai-shek was defeated and fled to Taiwan, he once said such a sentence, saying that he could "share the autumn with the Communist Party on an equal footing."
What does he mean by that? Chiang Kai-shek believed that there were only two talents in Hunan, one of whom remained on the mainland and the other he brought to Taiwan.
The man who remained on the mainland was named Qi Baishi, and the one he brought to Taiwan was named Peng Changgui.
Who is Peng Changgui? He was a cook, and he was a cook who claimed to have received the Hunan cuisine.
It is said that within the Kuomintang, Peng Changgui was treated by three people, that is, Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Ching-kuo, father and son, and the big man Li Zongren. And this person set off a wave of Hunan cuisine in taiwan later. Decades later, the boom also spread to the United States. Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was a guest at his restaurant.
Where did Peng Changgui come from, and why did he achieve such results?
Today we will talk about this "kitchen god" Peng Changgui.
American Chinese food represents the founder of the dish "Zuo Zong Tang Chicken" Peng Changgui
The Mystery of Hunan Cuisine Guangda Part II: "Kitchen God" Peng Changgui
Peng Changgui is one of the titans in Taiwan's food industry.
His rich life and exquisite cooking skills have earned him the title of The Grandmaster of Taiwanese Hunan Cuisine.
His Tan family cuisine is very authentic and is deeply loved by Chiang Kai-shek. After arriving in Taiwan, he served the Jiang family until he retired before he came out to open his own shop. The Tan family dishes he made were popular throughout Taiwan at that time, and everyone came to learn his ancestral dishes. Now 80% of Taiwan's Hunan cuisine chefs are his apprentices, and he is also known as the grandfather of Taiwanese Hunan cuisine.
Peng Yuan Hotel, founded by Peng Changgui, has become a pilgrimage place for Hunan cuisine in Taiwan. When Peng Changgui, the "God of Hunan Cuisine", was still alive, the kitchen and dining room were his kingdom, and every morning, he must go to his territory to take a look. His whole life is inseparable from Hunan cuisine.
"Zuo Zong Tang Chicken" was honored as the "First Dish of Chinese Food"
He has 8 restaurants in Taiwan with thousands of employees. His zu'an cuisine has always been loved by Taiwanese politicians and celebrities. In Taiwan, as long as Peng Changgui's Hunan cuisine is mentioned, it can be said that everyone knows.
Peng Changgui was able to create a name in Taiwan, in addition to his own superb cooking skills, but also because of his master Cao Si. @Bandaran's Reliving History As mentioned in the previous part, Cao Si, real name cao Xingchen, is the home cook of Tan Yanmin, the first gourmet in the Republic of China. By chance, Peng Changgui, who was still a country boy at the time, worshiped under the door of the famous chef Cao Xingchen, and together with Cao Xingchen, experienced a very brilliant era of Hunan cuisine.
Peng Changgui was born in 1918 to an ordinary peasant family in Shaping Town, Changsha County, Hunan Province. From a poor family, he went to Changsha alone at the age of 12. Just when the Tan family was recruiting Jia Ding, Peng Changgui accidentally broke into the Tan family and was arranged to do things under Cao Xingchen.
Only because he did not help his father wipe the head of the cigarette bag, his father knocked him twice with the cigarette bag, Peng Changgui was extremely angry, and replied: "Why beat Lao Tzu!" When the father heard this, he dared to call Lao Tzu in front of Lao Tzu, but he did the opposite, so he beat him up. This beat him out of the house and into the world of cooking.
At that time, although there were many Family Ding in the Tan Family, Peng Changgui was smart and willing to do it, and soon attracted the attention of the chef who helped the Tan Family cook, known as the Fourth Master of Cao Xingchen.
Cao Xingchen liked Peng Changgui very much, treated him like a son, and taught him his skills. The essence of Tan Jia cuisine was taught to him by Cao Xingchen without reservation.
In addition to being "the first person of calligraphy in the Republic of China", Tan Yanmin is also known as "the first gourmet of the Republic of China"
In the winter of 1930, after the death of Tan Yanmin, the governor of Hunan, in Nanjing, his son Tan Boyu found that the family could no longer afford the high salaries of many famous chefs. Forced to do so, Tan Boyu had no choice but to fire Cao Xingchen, a family cook who had been running food for the Cao family for many years.
After being dismissed, Cao Xingchen returned to his hometown after a long absence. In order to survive, Cao Xingchen found a storefront on Pozi Street and used all his savings to open a restaurant.
Cao Xingchen still had feelings for Tan Yanmin. In his later years, Tan Yanmin gave himself a nickname, called Jianle Old Man, which means healthy and happy. When Cao Xingchen opened a restaurant on Pozi Street, he gave the restaurant a name called JianYuanyuan in honor of Tan Yanmin.
Due to the delicate cooking and exquisite materials of tan family cuisine, Cao Xingchen's cooking skills were even more outstanding, and soon the name of Jianyuan became a household name in Changsha. The unique taste of Tanjia cuisine began to be imitated by its peers in the folk catering industry, and Jianyuan became the most popular restaurant in Changsha at that time.
Tanjia cuisine became famous overnight, sensationalizing Changsha at the same time, but also driving the development of Hunan cuisine. Cao Xingchen also made a lot of money as a result.
Tan family cuisine
However, at this time, Cao Xingchen's physical condition was out of condition, which gave him the idea of cultivating successors in advance.
One night, he called all the clerks together in the shop for a meeting and talked about the idea.
Peng Changgui, who had followed Cao Xingchen for many years, was Cao Xingchen's favorite disciple, and everyone unanimously recommended Peng Changgui, and that night Cao Xingchen gave this matter in front of everyone.
Cao Xingchen passed on the kitchen knife that Tan Yanmin had given him to Peng Changgui. Because the kitchen knife is the head of the chef, this means that the position of the successor of the Tan family dish has been officially passed to him, and he is asked to keep the knife well. This knife represents Tan Jia Cai and Master Cao Si.
By chance, this peasant son Peng Changgui was able to start his legendary life.
In 1945, Peng Changgui, Shi Yukun, Kong Haohui took a group photo
At this time, the competition in Changsha's catering industry was extremely fierce. Due to the fame of Jianyuan, many rookies regard it as an opponent and find ways to surpass it. Among them was a man named Song Shanya, who actually used the menu as a weapon to defeat Peng Changgui, who was in the limelight.
Song Shanzai was originally hired as a domestic cook by Wei Shi, a giant in Xinhua Mining. In the mid-1920s, Hunan mining colleagues raised funds to open a shangyu club outside the south gate of Changsha, which integrates eating, drinking and having fun, and is a place for rich merchants to drink and feast. Song Sun-jae was hired to preside over the kitchen, and he has been thinking about going beyond JianYuan.
One day in the early summer of 1931, Liu Yiping, a timber boss in Changsha City, came to the Shangyu Club for dinner. Because he was a regular customer, Song Shanzhai came over to personally open a single dish for Liu Yiping.
Liu Yiping is good at ordering food and has long been famous in Changsha's social circles. When it is said: Liu ordered a table of dishes, thick and light, meat and vegetables and chen, fresh and prepared, eat refreshing and hungry, never tired. The menus that he ordered were often collected by his peers and were honored as "Liu Dan".
Liu Yiping said while nodding: "Inviting guests to dinner, ordering and billing is the key." No matter how well your taste is mixed, it is useless to mix it up. ”
Song Shanzhai was ordered by Liu Yiping and immediately became enlightened. He felt that if he wanted to surpass Cao Xingchen and defeat Tan Jiacai, Kung Fu would be on the menu. So, he immediately thought of his two friends in the cultural world: Xiao Shipeng and Huang Sexyi.
Journalists Xiao Shipeng and Huang Sex are known for their "deliciousness" and are already well-known gourmets in Changsha City. After being commissioned by Song Shanzai, the two did their best to design a menu for Song Shanzhai in line with the principle of reasonable collocation and exquisite production. As soon as the new menu was launched, it immediately caused a sensation throughout Changsha City.
With this freshly baked menu, the "Shangyu Club" is more prosperous and the store is full. "Xiao Dan" and "Huang Dan" also spread in Changsha City.
Changsha City during the Republic of China
Song Shanzhai is a person with a heart, since being inspired by the wood boss Liu Yiping, every time Liu Yiping came to the shop to invite, he personally greeted, and finally saved Liu Yiping's order menu, which was also written with a brush to make "Liu Dan", which was gathered together in "Xiao Dan" and "Huang Dan", becoming Song Shanzhai's own series of mating single style.
The characteristic of Xiao Dan is to pay attention to the personality characteristics of diners, and the name, age, habits, occupation and other items of the person who attended the banquet must be reported first, and the menu will be opened after careful consideration. The menu he prescribes is similar to the prescription prescribed by Chinese medicine, specific, delicate and thorough.
The famous newspaperman Xiao Shipeng is good at calligraphy, and the brush characters have the style of Su Dongpo. In order to let "Xiao Dan", "Huang Dan" and "Liu Dan" have art bits, Song Shanzhai often asked Xiao Shipeng to write in his own handwriting, and gave 2 silver dollars for each one.
The timber boss Liu Yiping's banquet is mostly for the upper class, Liu Yiping's dishes are elegant and elegant, light and spicy, and the dishes ordered by Xiao Shipong are "cheap and delicious, and the taste is pleasant". Therefore, changsha city left such a proverb, "feast on Liu, drink from Xiao".
In the face of fierce competition from their peers, Cao Xingchen and Peng Changgui are also constantly innovating, and the prosperity of Hunan cuisine in Changsha city has appeared, which once exceeded the prosperity of Hunan cuisine during the Qing Dynasty.
Changsha Wenxi fire
But the situation was getting more and more chaotic. In 1938, the Wenxi Fire destroyed Changsha and burned Jianyuan. This incident hit Cao Xingchen too hard, and from then on he chose to go into hiding and no longer go out of the mountains. Peng Changgui, on the other hand, took the kitchen knife given to him by his master and went around to avoid the scourge of war.
In the process of the great escape, Peng Changgui's father and brother passed away one after another, and his mother could not walk because of her small feet, so he could only walk on his back. It was at this time that Peng Changgui tasted all the flavors of life.
However, it was also because of the war that Peng Changgui traveled to Hunan, Guizhou, Sichuan and other places in exile, which became an excellent opportunity for him to study local cuisines, laying a solid foundation for him to touch the bypass and continuously develop new dishes in the future.
On this day, Peng Changgui, as usual, was wandering the streets when he suddenly found that not far ahead, a group of Soldiers of the National Names Party were arresting people. Seeing this situation, Peng Changgui ran away, but what he did not expect was that all the intersections were guarded by the Kuomintang army. Peng Changgui subconsciously took out the kitchen knife that he had brought with him and passed it to him by his master.
As a result, Peng Changgui was arrested and became a porter. He certainly didn't want to let a cook be a porter, so he got into an argument with a company commander of the National Names army and slashed the company commander who was leading the team with a kitchen knife.
Peng Changgui was kidnapped and taken back to the military camp by Wuhua da, tied behind the canteen, and prepared to be shot.
The Kuomintang grabbed Zhuang Ding as a porter
At this time, it was lunchtime, and the Kuomintang company commander who had been slashed was eating in the canteen, scolding Peng Changgui for his bones and complaining that the dishes in the canteen were unpalatable. Peng Changgui said, can you let me help you fry a few dishes to taste? The officer said, "Well, the stir-fry is not delicious, and he will shoot you in advance."
So Peng Changgui fried a few dishes. After the officer ate it, he didn't kill him, and left him in the company to cook.
In this way, Peng Changgui stayed in the Kuomintang army as a cook. Later, after the battalion commander had eaten his dishes, he was transferred to the battalion headquarters. Later, he was transferred from the battalion headquarters to the regimental headquarters, the regimental headquarters to the brigade headquarters, the brigade headquarters to the division headquarters, one level and one level, and finally he was the personal cook of Chairman Jiang.
In just two years, Peng Changgui miraculously became a small cook in the army and rose all the way to become a chef, it is said that Chiang Kai-shek once heard the name of Peng Changgui's master Cao Si.
It is said that when Jianyuan was in its prosperity, Chiang Kai-shek, who passed through Changsha, heard about the famous chef Cao Si. By chance, he learned that a general in his army had a descendant of Cao Si as a cook at home, and he transferred Peng Changgui to his side. Under a try, Jiang Da sighed, Peng Changgui, Xiangren Wizard! Therefore, after his later defeat in Taiwan, he also had that self-deprecating exclamation - equal division of autumn!
Today, in the United States, thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people mention the name of a Chinese every day. This person is neither Zhang Ziyi nor Yao Ming, nor a famous figure in today's political arena, but a general at the end of the Qing Dynasty, Zuo Zongtang.
The reason why Zuo Zongtang is so famous in the United States is because of a dish. This dish is called "Zuo Zong Tang Chicken".
"Zuo Zongtang Chicken" is a famous dish that must be required in major Chinese restaurants in the United States and is deeply loved by Americans. Overseas, "Zuo Zong Tang Chicken" is regarded as the most famous Hunan dish. And this Hunan dish is from Peng Changgui's hand. Americans who have good things, even for this dish, specially went to Hunan to find out.
In the 1970s, the situation in Taiwan was unstable. Peng Changgui made a bold decision to go to the United States for development.
In 1973, Peng Changgui opened a Hunan restaurant on East 44th Street in Manhattan, New York, not far from the United Nations. He quickly made a reputation here, attracting many celebrities to come to dinner.
Created in 1952 by Peng Changgui, Zuo Zongtang chicken is the most popular Chinese dish for Americans at Christmas
Once, the famous architect I.M. Pei invited former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to eat Chinese food, and Kissinger gladly went to the banquet at Peng Changgui's Hunan restaurant.
Unexpectedly, after trying it, Kissinger became an old patron here. Every time Kissinger went to Pengyuan, for safety reasons, the security personnel would wrap up the entire restaurant. This battle, on the contrary, became the best free advertisement for Pengyuan.
In this way, the fame of Peng Changgui's restaurant was suddenly launched.
Peng Changgui and Kissinger
In 1976, the wedding banquet of international student Ma Ying-jeou and Zhou Meiqing was selected at Peng Changgui's PengYuan Restaurant in New York.
As early as two years ago, in 1974, ABC Television in New York broadcast a special program of Peng Changgui's "Zuo Zongtang Chicken". Within days of the broadcast, ABC received more than 1,500 letters from viewers asking for recipes. Since then, "Zuo Zong Tang Chicken" has become famous in the United States.
Taiwanese chef Peng Changgui invented this dish and later brought it to the United States.
Later, an American journalist named Li Jing came to Hunan to look for the traces of Zuo Zongtang's chicken, but found nothing. He even went back to Zuo Zongtang's hometown in Jietoupu Town, Xiangyin County, Hunan Province, to talk with the locals and show them all kinds of photos of Zuo Zongtang chicken in American restaurants, and the locals were still dazed and did not know what Zuo Zongtang chicken was all about.
After finding nothing in Hunan, the dedicated American journalist went to Peng Changgui's old shop in Taiwan to find answers. But this time, he was disappointed again.
Taipei's version of "Zuo Zong Tang Chicken", with skin, flavored with soy sauce, is not sweet nor sour, does not have the crispy taste of the American version of "Zuo Zong Tang Chicken" wrapped in batter, and does not have a green cauliflower bottom. One dish, two things.
The American reporter, after this investigation, exclaimed that this dish was "not Hunan cuisine."
After Peng Changgui knew about this, he just smiled. He knew that it would not be easy for Americans to understand the eclecticism of Hunan cuisine culture.
In 1989, Peng Changgui returned to Changsha and paid a special visit to Master Shi Yinxiang, the "Hunan Cuisine Taidou".
Although they have different teachers, they have brotherhood.
In addition, one of them was Chiang Kai-shek's most admired home cook, and the other was Mao Zedong's favorite Hunan cuisine master. The special experience of the two made this meeting more legendary.
At this meeting, Shi Yinxiang gave Peng Changgui a copy of the "Hunan Cuisine Collection", and Peng Changgui was like a treasure. So much so that taiwan later purchased the copyright of "Hunan Cuisine Collection" and distributed it around the world.
In the early 1990s, Peng Yuan opened a branch near Yuanjialing in Changsha, and the business was booming.
Since then, the Hunan cuisine culture on both sides of the strait has been exchanged with water and milk, and Hunan cuisine has also been further developed in Taiwan.
In 1980, Peng Changgui returned to Changsha to take a group photo with Shi Yinxiang in Rong Garden
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