The New Year of the Tiger is approaching, and there is a lively scene in the workshop of Nanxiang Mantou Shop in Yuyuan Garden. Dressed in a white uniform and wearing a chef's hat, it is you Yumin, the head chef of this long-established brand. As a non-hereditary person of the sixth generation of "Nanxiang Xiaolong Making Technique", she will come to the workshop every day to guide her apprentices.
"There are no shortcuts to everything, especially work. First of all, we must love the industry we are engaged in and learn with our hearts to be able to succeed. Talking about how to become a non-hereditary heir, You Yumin thought about it and finally used the keywords of "love" and "heart".
The heirs are one out of a hundred
Speaking of Yu Garden, the first thing that comes to mind of most people must be the small steamed buns of Nanxiang Mantou Shop. Seemingly mini dumplings, it is not only a household name in China, but also famous internationally. As the sixth generation of non-hereditary people of "Nanxiang Small Cage Making Technique", You Yumin has recently been particularly busy, "Around the New Year, it is the busiest time for our catering people, in addition to preparing raw materials, we must also strictly control the quality of production." ”
Behind the busyness, You Yumin also has an important "task" - to select the candidates for the seventh generation of the "Nanxiang Xiaolong Production Technique".
In the words of You Yumin, after so many years of taking apprentices, the seventh generation of heirs will be selected among these apprentices, "Every year they are constantly promoted, and the inheritors cannot be selected in a day or two, and they need time precipitation and strict cultivation and screening." "How strict? The first audition selected 5 out of more than 100 employees in the store, and 2 years later, 3 out of 5 employees were selected, and the remaining 3 had the opportunity to become candidates for the non-genetic heirs of the seventh generation of Xiaolongbao. They are engaged in the production and management of small dumplings in their daily work positions, and constantly rotate and learn in various positions, and then select the seventh generation of inheritors from them, which can be described as "one in a hundred".
From "I want him to learn" to "I want to learn"
Talking about the experience of taking apprentices over the years, You Yumin said: "In the past, when I was an apprentice, it was 'I want to learn', and when the master taught, he taught by example; now after the 80s and 90s, these young people have come and become 'want him to learn', we must constantly tell them how to do things, and then pass on standardized things to them, so that they can enter the role as soon as possible." Fortunately, they have a good understanding, and what I used to spend 10 years learning, they only needed about 5 years. ”
Having said that, You Yumin believes that on the one hand, learning skills now is to "grasp" data, and apprentices can basically control it by mastering the specification data of the product, but some things must be carefully figured out, "If you want to become the seventh generation of inheritors, you must learn to think and summarize on your own, and you must strive to do 'I want to learn' in order to truly learn this skill." ”
Interlocking is the secret of the delicious taste of small dumplings
How can I make a small dumpling that is both beautiful and delicious? In You Yumin's view, a qualified small dumpling has more than a dozen processes, each interlocking, "If the filling core of the small dumpling is well adjusted, but the skin is broken when it is steamed, and the soup is gone, the taste is naturally greatly reduced." Therefore, from the selection of the filling core to the boiling of the skin jelly, and then to the flour mixing, each process is sloppy, just say flour, with a single low-rib, medium-rib, high-gluten powder is not OK, but to mix the three kinds of powder together. ”
For the appearance, Nanxiang Xiaolongbao is as "learned", "the master who has been doing it for three years can wrap out 16 pleats, but the pleats are not the key, but the pleats require the same length and thickness, and the thickness of the top and bottom must also be uniform, so that it is qualified." You Yumin introduced.
Now from raw materials to technology, Nanxiang Mantou Shop has a set of standardized processes, but some details still need to be judged by the experience of the master. For example, the steaming time of small dumplings, generally after the water is boiled to meet the temperature requirements and then steamed for about 7 minutes is the standard process, but sometimes it may still need to be steamed for 10 seconds to 20 seconds, experienced masters can see at a glance whether the small dumplings are in the best condition by looking at the outer skin.
In You Yumin's heart, the kneading process of small dumplings can be learned through accumulated practice, but to go to the next level, you must cut the details and work hard in each link to wrap up a small dumpling that is both beautiful and delicious.
There are no shortcuts to success, stick to the source of love
Craftsman is the collective name of the rival artists nowadays. As the sixth generation of non-hereditary heirs of Nanxiang Mantou Shop, You Yumin has a unique view on this title.
In 1996, You Yumin, who had just graduated from school, received the "olive branch" of many high-star hotels and hotels in Shanghai, but she chose Nanxiang Mantou Shop without hesitation, and today, it has been a full 25 years. You Yumin said that the reason why she chose Nanxiang Mantou Shop was because Yuyuan Garden, as the old city of Shanghai, is also a well-known tourist attraction that attracts tourists from all over the world every day.
"Now many of my classmates don't do this anymore." You Yumin's words turned sharply, "At that time, I didn't want to do it for a few days when I first came, because it was too boring, every day was to wrap and pinch this one action, and I had to pack more than 2,000 small dumplings every day." She believes that no matter what line of work you do, you must first love the industry from the bottom of your heart before you can stick to it.
In 1999, You Yumin, who had been working in Nanxiang Mantou Shop for three years at that time, won a number of awards in the National Cooking Competition and the World Cooking Competition, and came to the fore, and as a result, he was selected by the unit to be a candidate for the sixth generation of non-hereditary heirs. Through his own efforts and love, in 2006, You Yumin was officially awarded the title of the sixth generation inheritor of Nanxiang Xiaolongbao.
You Yumin said that there is no shortcut to success, only down-to-earth, diligent and conscientious to do their own professional, it is possible to succeed.
The premise of innovation is to respect consumers
Long-established innovation is one of the topics that many long-established enterprise management have talked about, and the same is true for You Yumin. You Yumin told reporters that since entering the Nanxiang Mantou Shop, he has followed the master to learn the things inherited. In 2003, Nanxiang Mantou Shop opened its first overseas branch in Japan, which is also a big step for Nanxiang Mantou Shop to go out of China and into the world. "Since then, I've learned that it's not enough to just pass it down."
Subsequently, You Yumin led the team to continuously improve the operation methods and production process, on the basis of the traditional oil platform, the first "powder table double rolling operation method", breaking through the traditional small cage "9 grams of leather bag 13 grams of filling" wrapping standards, solving the traditional oil table hand pressure wrapping easy to cause the filling scattered, wrapping soft and other issues, rolling out the dough skin is thinner, the filling that can be wrapped into the heart has reached 21 grams, improving the taste of the finished product of the small dumpling, which was also awarded the "2017 Shanghai Advanced Operation Method Innovation Award for Employees".
In addition, You Yumin also cut in from the aspects of taste and appearance, and began to innovate. "As a well-known tourist attraction, Yuyuan Garden attracts tourists from all over the world, so in addition to the traditional fresh meat dumplings, we are constantly innovating and introducing new fillings such as matsutake mushrooms, wild vegetables, spicy crayfish, peach and peach cheese to meet the needs of different guests."
You Yumin believes that we must not innovate for the sake of innovation, we must respect the wishes of consumers and make breakthroughs on the basis of retaining traditional craftsmanship.
Let the intangible cultural heritage walk into the children's side
At the same time, Nanxiang Mantou Shop is also keen on non-genetic inheritance. In order to let more people know about Xiaolongbao, Nanxiang Mantou Shop regularly carries out small home activities to let more children understand the production process of Xiaolongbao and let the intangible cultural heritage enter the children's side.
Recently, You Yumin also walked into the campus to carry out the "Career Small Dumpling Lecture", in addition to letting primary and secondary school students know how to make traditional Chinese food, but also planning for the children's future careers, "I hope they know that in addition to going to college, it is also very good to be a dim sum chef." ”
"Although the small dumplings are small, they also carry the memory of history." ——You Yumin
Reporter / Zhang Yi
Edited by / Huang Qianwen
Photo / Nanxiang Mantou Shop
Video / Wang Dengxuan
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