When I first met her, she was wearing a printed red coat, the burgundy short and medium-sized curls of hairstyles were more dignified and kind, and the capable temperament revealed in her speech and demeanor made it difficult to believe that this was a 75-year-old man. She is the first female descendant of Confucius cuisine- Wang Xinglan.
Hardships and hardships Yuru Yucheng
Wang Xinglan was born in 1948 in Jinan, Shandong. In 1960, 13-year-old Wang Xinglan came to Jufengde, an old restaurant of Lu cuisine, as an apprentice, and has been associated with cooking ever since.
Wang Xinglan, who was short in his early years of studying art, often had to pad the stone grinder to get on the table of the kitchen workbench, but no one in the shop dared to underestimate this apprentice. "Diligent, willing to endure hardships, and full of vitality", this is the memory that Wang Xinglan left for the masters in the shop that year. Three years later, Wang Xinglan's outstanding learning and art were recognized by Wang Xingnan, a generation of grandmasters, and the "apprentice little girl" officially worshiped under Wang Xingnan's door.
Photograph of Wang Xinglan when he was studying art in his early years
"In the past, I used to cut vegetables with my left hand, but at that time, I had to change it to my right hand, and I was not used to cutting my hands every day for a while." In 1966, in the national competition of famous dishes, Wang Xinglan won the first place in the knife worker under the competition of more than 100 top chefs. "The first place in this knife skill was all bought by the six-year cutting board career at that time and this Scar." She spoke in a flat tone, smiled and spread her hands to us, although fifty or sixty years had passed, the scars on Wang Xinglan's fingers were still shocking.
From the apprentice who was "not high enough to work on the stone grinding" and "cut vegetables will be cut to the hand", to the later "Chinese meritorious cooking artist" and "Chinese Confucius cuisine cooking master", Wang Xinglan relied on his own understanding, hard work and tenacity to never accept defeat, one oil and one body of water, and broke out of his own world in the kitchen of "like an ice cellar in winter and a steamer in summer".
Development and inheritance are not donated
In 1981, Wang Xinglan joined the Confucius Cuisine Research Leading Group organized by the former Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China and the former Department of Commerce of Shandong Province, and became the core figure in China's first Confucius Cuisine Research Group, and together with Mr. Zhang Lianming and his party, began the extraordinary restoration of Confucius cuisine.
"At that time, the recovery work was really difficult." Not only was Wang Xinglan, who was engaged in Lu cuisine cooking, first contact with Confucian cuisine, but also the traditional Confucian recipes did not leak out, and the surviving recipes were also greatly destroyed in that turbulent period, many dishes have been lost, and the Imperial Chefs of Kongfu, Zhao Yuhuan and Mr. Ge Shoutian, were also too old to provide more help, and the restoration work was once at an impasse.
Since it is a task given by the state, no matter how difficult it is, we must persist in it, and we have to eat the big meal of Confucius cuisine even if we are the scalp. In the past three years, Wang Xinglan's team has studied and explored little by little according to the Confucius archives, experimented over and over again, developed and restored step by step, and finally more than 200 dishes have reappeared.
Confucius famous dish "Agate sea cucumber"
"Fresh shrimp peel off the shells to pick out the shrimp line, put on the cutting board with a wooden hammer to beat into shrimp paste, and then hammer into shrimp slices... Every time we make 'agate sea cucumber', we have to hammer thousands of times to ensure that the taste is smooth and smooth, without losing the original taste of the raw material. When restoring the dish "Agate Sea Cucumber", Wang Xinglan replaced the fried pork lung with shrimp slices and peeled corn mung beans to make the dish healthier.
After three years of continuous research, in 1984, the "'Confucius Cuisine' Cooking Technique Research" project officially passed the technical appraisal of the Science and Technology Commission, was identified as a national scientific and technological achievement, and won the Scientific and Technological Innovation Award.
Shouzheng innovation, excellence
Historically, Confucius cuisine has been selected as a state banquet dish many times, and at the 2018 SCO Qingdao Summit, the innovative and upgraded version of Confucius cuisine once again appeared on the table of the state banquet. The dinner menu features a selection of four dishes and one soup, including Kongfu One Pin Eight Treasures Porridge, Kongfu Jiaoyu Fish, Confucius Immortal Duck, Kongfu Sauce Grilled Beef Rib steak and Confucius Vegetables.
"My apprentices and I spent more than two months to further develop dishes on the basis of the original Confucius cuisine. For example, the Kongfu One Pin Eight Treasures Porridge, which was born out of the current Dynasty One Pin Pot, needs to be simmered for eight hours, plus two hours of debugging, and can be served after ten hours, which is really the ultimate. "When Wang Xinglan introduced the Confucius cuisine at the state banquet of the SCO Qingdao Summit, his pride overflowed into words.
The Analects of the Township Party says: "Food is not tired of fine, and it is not tired of finesse." The production of Confucius cuisine is the most vivid explanation of this sentence, and the serious and rigorous and refined work attitude of Wang Xinglan and his apprentices is another interpretation of the spirit of food.
Promote overseas for life
"Confucius cuisine is not only the longest-lasting official cuisine in the mainland, but also a typical representative of Chinese cuisine, it is not only a symbol of Chinese food culture, but also a treasure of the world's food culture!" We must carry it forward, not only to promote it to the people of the whole country, but also to let it step out of the country and go to the world! Wang Xinglan's eyes were burning, sonorous and powerful.
In 2010, the California Congressman presented a certificate to Master Wang Xinglan
In 1986, Wang Xinglan represented China for the first time to participate in singapore's "Liangge Tongle Shark Fin Restaurant" performance of Confucius cuisine. Since then, he has been to more than 20 countries and regions such as South Korea, Japan, And Canada for culinary skills exchanges and the promotion of Confucius cuisine, and will be warmly welcomed by the locals everywhere he goes.
"Eating has no borders, is easy to communicate, and is one of the most direct and effective ways to spread culture." If they give the Analects to foreigners, it is difficult for them to accept and understand them in a short period of time, and a Feast of Confucius can make it easy for them to understand and accept Confucianism and understand the Analects, which is also the embodiment of the essence of food culture. ”
Today, the 75-year-old Wang Xinglan did not choose a leisurely retirement life, still busy every day after work, from time to time will turn out heavy recipes and classics to study Confucius cuisine, came to the interest, then went to the kitchen to show their skills, cooking a few dishes with kitchen knives and pots and spoons, and tasting and studying with apprentices and grandchildren.
Wang Xinglan taught his apprentice the "Golden Silk Unicorn Carp" method
Peach and plum are all over the world, chunhui is everywhere, and now Wang Xinglan has 6 generations of apprentices with more than 1,000 people. Every time her family and apprentices advised her to rest more, she smiled and said, "Master used to tell me, 'Do a line of love, live until you are old and learn, and you can learn at the age of eighty-four.'" The pot and spoon are my life, and I can't stop. ”
Wang Xinglan took a group photo with his family's apprentices
Time flies, the years are silent, the years are not left for the youth, and the blink of an eye has reached the sunset red. The "apprentice little girl" who was ignorant at the beginning has now become a well-known "Master of Confucius Cuisine". Wang Xinglan still greets the new future with a fuller state and high morale, and continues to devote himself to the inheritance, development and innovative development of Confucius cuisine, so that Qilu food culture and cooking skills can be carried forward and tasted chinese taste. (Text: Cao Qingbo Photo released by Lanru Kongshan Culture Research Institute and China Confucius Network)