In order to promote the inheritance, development and innovation of Baoshan catfish cooking skills in Shanghai's local cuisine, disseminate the traditional food culture of Baoshan, and build a platform for common development, exchange and competition for Baoshan people's culinary experts and corporate celebrity chefs, Baoshan District will launch the 2023 "Mid-Autumn Festival Cooking Skills" - the 5th Baoshan Intangible Cultural Heritage Food and Innovation Skills Cooking Competition from September 17 to 26. Recently, the finals of the competition ended successfully in Gucun Town, Baoshan District.
On the same day, at the competition site of the finals, with the host's order, the contestants skillfully began to cook authentic braised catfish. Nearly 1 hour later, the scene was full of aroma, and after each step of careful operation and patient simmering, the contestants completed the final hook and began to start the pot and plate. The finished braised catfish is bright red, the skin is smooth, the fish pieces are fat and full, and the marinade is thick and delicate, which is mouth-watering.
As one of the special dishes of Shanghai's local cuisine, braised catfish is also a traditional intangible cultural heritage cuisine in Baoshan, and is famous in the industry for its original "two tuk three stews" "tap roast method". Baoshan braised catfish is selected from the Yangtze River estuary ecological catfish, the cooking time is more than 50 minutes, except for the two times with a strong fire, each time 2, 3 minutes, most of the other time is simmered, the fish pieces are complete and the fish meat is crispy and fine, and the fish belly is naturally boiled.
With the theme of "Promoting Traditional Food Culture and Inheriting Chinese Culinary Skills", the competition not only competes between traditional cooking and innovative dishes, but also deeply integrates food and intangible cultural heritage. The contestants used their imagination to bring traditional cuisine to life. It is worth mentioning that this year's competition added the people's cooking group for the first time, and the cooking experts of the people were recommended by all streets and towns in the region to participate, and at the same time, the municipal non-genetic inheritor "Catfish King" Huang Caigen commented on the spot, promoting exchanges and improving culinary skills, strengthening the benefits of the competition and the publicity and popularization of Baoshan catfish cooking skills.
The professional contestants of this year's competition continued the skills of established restaurant chefs in previous years, and new restaurant chefs showed their housekeeping skills and interpreted their unique intangible cultural heritage dishes.
In the end, contestants Shen Degang, Qiao Weijie and Yao Ruizhen won the first prize of the People's Group Intangible Cultural Heritage Food Cooking Skills Competition, the Professional Group Self-selected Special Dishes, and the Innovative Intangible Cultural Heritage Cooking Skills Competition. Huashen Sino-foreign Cultural Exchange Service Co., Ltd. won the first prize of the group booth display competition. The contestants came and had fun.
The deepest part of the memory is the memory of the taste buds, the taste of home and nostalgia. The taste of retaining memories is the continuation and inheritance of the "fireworks" of people's lives, which is the most important mission of every cook, and the most valuable wealth of a city. During the Shanghai Tourism Festival, Baoshan District combined with this competition to launch the Baoshan Catfish Food Festival with the cooking skills of Baoshan Catfish, a municipal intangible cultural heritage item, as the core. The event was held as the main venue of Gaolaozhuang Julian Store, and Hongluyuan Hotel, Linjiang No. 1 Cruise Restaurant, Hengshan Beijiao Hotel, Meilan Lake International Conference Center, Dingyue Jiangjiang Cuisine Restaurant and other restaurants as sub-venues to realize the joint publicity and promotion of the whole region. Citizens can taste the braised catfish in the "first course of work" in this gang cuisine up close, and feel the special experience of "sweet and salty" unique to the taste of this cuisine.
During this food festival and cooking competition, Baoshan's culinary experts fully demonstrated their deep understanding and exquisite skills of intangible cultural heritage cuisine, allowing the public to consider, taste and learn, and experience the inheritance of skills, cultural innovation and ingenuity in a diversified way. Further inherit and carry forward the culinary skills and cultural charm of Shanghai's local cuisine, improve the quality of catering services, promote the prosperity and development of the cultural and tourism industry, and empower Baoshan's "northern transformation".
Reporter: Li Tao Xue Feng
Editor: Song Ge