On the mediocre watermelon, one knife, two knives... In a thousand turns, a rose appeared. The roses gradually bloomed, the onlookers were still marveling, and among the several roses, a chubby, happy ice pier appeared!
The dark green watermelon peel is the big eyes of the ice pier, the bright red watermelon is the small mouth of the ice pier, and the green and white watermelon coat is the round belly of the ice pier... A circle of classical Chinese zigzag lace lingered around, the Olympic rings were placed under it, the white plate was used as the bottom, and the green parsley was used as the spike, which lasted more than an hour, and was called "probably the most difficult ice pier in history" by netizens.
▲ An ice pier carved from a watermelon peel. Courtesy of respondents
The creator is Zhang Qianfa, a post-90s teacher at a senior technical school in Chengdu. As early as the 7th China Chengdu International Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival held in 2019, Zhang Qianfa won the gold medal of the Cold Dish Project of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Gastronomic Skills Exhibition and the Intangible Cultural Heritage Gastronomic Skills Invitational Competition.
▲The third from the right is Zhang Qianfa. Courtesy of respondents
Unlike the common food carvings in the feast, it is necessary to carve a palm-sized ice pier on a watermelon that is 60 centimeters high and 25 centimeters wide, up and down hundreds of knives, a knife is wrong, all are lost, and you can only start all over again, "Four or five carvings are wasted." In the past, it was carved with pumpkin and radish, but if the carving was wasted, it could be glued with glue and bamboo sticks and re-carved. But the watermelon carving is wasted, can not be glued back, basically a knife (set to succeed or fail), there is no 'back knife' this saying. Among them, carving, hooking, and removing waste are the most difficult. Zhang Qianfa explained that the melon skin is tough and it is not easy to transport the knife. Drawing lines requires painting skills. He had not studied painting before. At the same time, when peeling the melon, it was shallow and the ice pier could not be formed; when it was cut deeper, once the red watermelon was leaked, the whole work was completely destroyed.
The reason for choosing watermelon as the carving material is because "the ice pier is white and the eyes are black." Watermelons are rich in color: the skin is dark green, the watermelon coat is white, and it is red."
Surprisingly, the selection principle of watermelon carved into ice piers is diametrically opposed to that of watermelon as a delicacy. "Buy it and eat it, and make it thin and crispy." Carved watermelon, if the skin is thin, 'bang' a sound, the whole watermelon will crack, encountered many times. Zhang Qianfa said.
Three years ago, Zhang Qianfa, a native of Guizhou, came to Chengdu to become a chef and taught at a senior technical school in Chengdu. Next, he said, he will teach students the technique of carving "the most difficult ice pier in history" so that more people can achieve "ice pier freedom".
Source: Chengdu Business Daily - Red Star News reporter Peng Li