Yangzi Evening News Network August 29 news (correspondent Wang Yun reporter Wan Lingyun) As a Zhenjiang person, I always have a special love for meat. As one of the "Three Monsters of Zhenjiang" (the other two are balsamic vinegar and pot lid noodles), whether it is a family dinner or a banquet for guests, there is always a dish of meat on the table to taste the taste of Zhenjiang itself. Over the years, Zhenjiang's craftsmen have used exquisite skills to make fragrant and tender meat, making "Zhenjiang cuisine" fragrant and becoming a well-known "Zhenjiang logo" at home and abroad. On August 29, the reporter learned from Xinglong Village, Shiye Town, Dantu District, Zhenjiang, that there is such a non-hereditary heir in the village, who has always insisted on engaging in meat production for more than 30 years, and he interprets the meaning of perseverance and inheritance with practical actions.
Zhu Licai, 60 years old, is a native of the world, and he has been engaged in meat making for more than 30 years. Facing the reporter, he recalled the experience of his apprenticeship, and he still remembered it vividly.
In 1986, in order to increase the family income and make his family's life better, 26-year-old Zhu Licai came to the Yanchun Restaurant in Zhenjiang and began to learn to make meat with his master as a temporary worker. Every day, I leave early and return late, and one stop is most of the day, dealing with pork all day. Although it was very hard, Zhu Licai was willing to endure hardships and had high understanding, and soon mastered the method of making meat and was appreciated by the master. With his own efforts and dedication, in just a few years, he has gradually grown from an apprentice to an expert in meat making.
In 1994, Zhu Licai, who had been transferred to work at the Zhenjiang Hotel, contracted the meat production of the hotel at that time. As his meat became more popular, his living conditions improved considerably.
The times are developing, and small and micro enterprises have sprung up and flourished. In 2015, Zhu Licai left the hotel where he had worked for more than 20 years and returned to his hometown to set up a meat processing factory. There are as many as fourteen processes in the production process of meat, selection of ingredients - pickling - potting - pouring brine... In the process of making pork, Zhu Licai believes that the selection of ingredients is the most important link, and the front hooves of the pig must be selected, so as to ensure that the meat has the most authentic taste.
Whether it was in the hotel before or now running his own business, Zhu Licai always insists on hand-made. In this way, the made dish meat is smooth and crystalline, the food is not stuffed, the food is not greasy, the lips and teeth are fragrant, and it has the four characteristics of "fragrant, fresh, crisp and tender". Zhu Licai's carefully made products have also been recognized by consumers, and the meat is exported to all parts of the country, selling more than 70 tons of finished products every year.
In this process, Zhu Licai has continuously polished his skills, and has won the titles of "Provincial Local Talents" Three Belt Experts", "Provincial Senior Rural Revitalization Technicians", "Municipal Local Talents First Level Training Object", "Representative Inheritors of Municipal Intangible Cultural Heritage" and so on.
From apprentices to non-hereditary inheritors, Zhu Licai walked step by step and solidly. Among them, he also encountered many difficulties.
In 2019, pork prices continued to rise, resulting in higher production costs of pork, while sales prices could not rise accordingly. Zhu Licai resolutely decided never to change the raw materials to ensure that the quality of the meat was the same as usual; and the sales price was only slightly raised, so that the old customers still believed in their own products.
Through a series of measures, Zhu Licai survived that difficult period, but he did not expect that this year, the new crown pneumonia epidemic in Nanjing, Yangzhou and other places struck again, and the sales of meat were greatly affected, and the factory could only be in a state of shutdown.
Zhu Licai could only wait while preparing to resume work.
For more than 30 years, Zhu Licai has encountered such a challenge countless times, but every time, he has never thought of giving up making pork, always overcoming difficulties and facing difficulties. In this process, Zhu Licai also spared no effort to pass on the meat making skills to future generations through words and deeds, training courses and other forms, hoping that this skill could be inherited and developed.
Traditional craftsmen have always done only one thing in their lifetime, and they have worked hard to do one thing well for a lifetime.
For more than 30 years, zhu Licai's meat making skills have changed from unfamiliar to mature, and he has also changed from green to sophisticated. He dedicated his time and yin to one thing, just to pass on this skill and let the fragrance of "Zhenjiang cuisine" float for thousands of miles.
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Source: Purple Cow News