The founder of "The World's First Dish" is Chen Guofu. Chen Guofu is not only a famous politician in the Republic of China, but also a veteran gourmet, and has made significant contributions to the development of Jiangsu cuisine during his tenure as chairman of the Jiangsu provincial government.
Jiangsu is a well-known land of fish and rice, rich in products, especially rich in aquatic products, such as the famous "Three Fresh Yangtze River", that is, sturgeon, knife fish, and carp, which come from here. The "Jiangsu cuisine" formed in this area, that is, Su cuisine, originated more than 2,000 years ago. There are many well-known famous dishes in Jiangsu cuisine, such as Nanjing plate duck, Wuxi meat bones, Peixian dog meat, Huaiyang boiled dried silk, three sets of ducks, "Bawang Bijie", etc., which are representatives of Jiangsu cuisine that distinguishes it from other cuisines, and is the "door face" of Jiangsu cuisine in front of the world.
When Chen Guofu was in Jiangsu, he once held the Provincial Property Expo. In such a grand gathering of unique ingredients and all kinds of delicacies from all over Jiangsu, Chen Guofu saw those foods labeled as Jiangsu, although these delicacies formed one of the eight major cuisines of "Jiangsu cuisine", but in Chen Guofu's view, "Jiangsu cuisine" and other eight major cuisines, although very famous, there are problems such as lack of norms and no standards to follow. Therefore, Chen Guofu even thought of setting a clear standard for Jiangsu cuisine, so that Jiangsu cuisine can be standardized to distinguish it from the chaotic and disorganized status quo of other cuisines.
Chen Guofu's proposal was quickly responded to, and the "norms" he requested were quickly formulated, including that the selection of materials must be produced in Jiangsu, and must have the local flavor to maintain the original taste of Su cuisine, fresh and non-greasy, and the cooking method must be the su cuisine is good at and habitual skills, and so on. Half a month later, the closing ceremony introduced a standardized "standardized" Jiangsu cuisine, and the shortlisted Jiangsu dishes were all boutiques: Nanjing plate duck, Wuxi meat bones, Jiangyin phoenix wrapped chicken, Taicang crispy fried meat floss, etc., a total of more than 30 dishes. Since then, "Jiangsu cuisine" has been more exquisite and standardized on the original basis, and has also laid the foundation for the further fame of "Jiangsu cuisine". In this regard, Chen Guofu has done a very good job as a politician and as a gourmet.
Chen Guofu loves to eat Nanjing plate duck, Nanjing plate duck is also commonly known as "pipa duck", is a special dish in Nanjing, has always been "north roast duck south plate duck" said. Nanjing people like to use salt to brine and air dry duck, and after making it, because of its dry and flat shape, the meat is tender and tight, it looks a bit like a plate, so it is called a plate duck. After the dish, the duck meat is crisp and delicate, the flavor is strong, and the best Nanjing plate duck has the characteristics of "dry, plate, crisp, rotten and fragrant", and is known as one of the "Three Treasures of Jiangsu". Nanjing Plate Duck is well-known at home and abroad, with a history of more than 600 years, and is also known as the "Flavor of the Six Dynasties".
If you want to bring the Nanjing plate duck to the table, you need to cook patiently. First, soak the plate duck in water for most of the day, wash off the dust and dissolve the salt until the dry flat plate duck is soft. Then put the plate duck into the pot with green onion ginger and large ingredients and boil, it is best to insert a small bamboo tube into the duck, and when it is boiling, lift the soup water poured into the duck body, add a little cold water and continue to simmer for an hour, repeat the process until cooked. The resulting plated duck meat is more tender and crispy to eat.
In addition to eating salty and tender Nanjing plate duck, Chen Guofu also loves to eat Wuxi meat bones. Wuxi meat bone is a famous dish in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, and it also has a professional dish called "Sanfengqiao Sauce Ribs". With a history of nearly 140 years from its creation to today, this dish is one of Wuxi's three famous specialties. During the Guangxu Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty, Mo Shengxing Restaurant in the South Gate of Wuxi inadvertently invented this delicious dish in order to make full use of the remaining back spine and ribs left in the restaurant and sell it as a wine dish. Later, after improvement and innovation, the taste of the sauce ribs became more and more intense, and the color of the sauce was red, and the bone crispy meat was rotten, which was widely welcomed by the locals. With the development of Wuxi's tourism industry, Wuxi meat bones have gradually been loved by diners across the country and have gained fame.
For the gourmand Chen Guofu, this Wuxi meat bone wins in the color sauce red bright but oily but not greasy, the meat is crisp and salty and sweet, plus the meat is rich in flavor, it can be described as full of color and flavor. The undiminished flavor of Wuxi meat bones for more than 100 years is related to its unique firing method.
Wuxi meat bones using pork ribs as the main raw material, after chopping it with salt, cooking wine marinated for half a day, and then the marinated ribs with water boiled over high heat, fished out and drained, and then put rock sugar to fry the sugar color, pour into the ribs to color, and finally add ginger and onion, large ingredients, cinnamon and sugar osmanthus flowers plus water to boil, wait for medium heat to make the soup red and viscous can be out of the pot.
This dish of red and shiny wuxi meat and bones is a dish that Chen Guofu often eats.
In Liang Shiqiu's view, among the Kuomintang elders, there are only two people who can really be called gourmets: "One is Mr. Tan Yanmin, and the other is Mr. Chen Guofu." Tan knows the taste but does not know the nourishment, Chen tastes and knows both, and allows him to push a master. Indeed, Tan Yanmin is delicious, but does not pay attention to health, after getting old, various diseases followed, and then sudden cerebral hemorrhage died, which has a certain relationship with his unhealthy appetite. Chen Guofu is different, he not only loves to eat, but also eats, and does not eat indiscriminately, so he was pushed by Mr. Liang Shiqiu as a master gourmet who "tastes and knows".
In his early years, Chen Guofu had eaten "fried shrimp in tomato pots" and "fairy chicken" in Hangzhou, and he was very devoted to these two dishes, and he had the idea of blending the two flavors together. At the Provincial Property Expo, he took the opportunity to put this idea into practice. The chefs have perfectly blended the fried shrimp with the fairy chicken to create a dish called "Shrimp Pot". Since then, this shrimp pot has been called "the first dish in the world".
The shrimp pot is full of color and flavor, red tomatoes dotted with it, the crispness of the pot and the tenderness of the chicken bring an unprecedented impact on the tip of the tongue to diners, not only delicious, but also nutritious. Chen Guofu praised this dish to the extreme, in his eyes, "Chicken is a vigorous poultry, shrimp is an aquatic family that can flex and stretch, the raw materials are chicken, shrimp, tomato, pot four, two animals and two plants, one yellow and one red in the plant, one water and one land in the animal, all are symmetrical." At the same time, this dish is both nutritious and priceless, and it can indeed support the 'first dish in the world'."
In addition to the simple selection of materials, the "world's first dish" is actually not complicated to make. First prepare the tomatoes, pot, shredded chicken, shrimp, add starch, salt, sugar and other ingredients to mix the shrimp, and then use chicken soup as the soup base, boil and add the pre-pickled shrimp, chicken shreds, tomatoes and other materials, after the soup is formed, hook the soup, drop a few drops of sesame oil into the marinade, and put it in a container for later. Then heat the oil in the pot to about 70% heat, pour the prepared pot into the pot and stir-fry, and when the pot is slightly golden brown, it can be out of the pot. When serving, the marinade is served with the stir-fried pot, and after the marinade is poured into the pot, the sound of "nourishment" will be heard, which makes people feel unprecedented satisfaction, and this "first dish in the world" can be eaten. Due to its rich nutrition and delicious taste, coupled with its intricate approach, this dish was very popular once it was launched, and today it has become a well-known home-cooked dish in Jiangsu.
Chen Guofu loves this dish very much, in addition to giving it a domineering name, he once said bluntly that even if you eat every meal, it is the so-called "every meal does not forget to wish for the same love". He also wrote an article "Ode to the World's First Dish" specifically for this dish, which shows his love. "Ode to the World's First Dish" said: "It is the first dish in the world, the color, sound and fragrance are complete, the guests are not dedicated to the mouth, and they should entertain the eyes, ears and nose." This dish is not expensive and can be substituted for swallow ear or shark fin. Tomato pot chicken and shrimp, not only sweet but also more stomach. Dry and wet and planted, Chinese and foreign water and land species apples. Courage can go to the enemy to bend and stretch, because of things can especially stimulate morale. I solemnly do propaganda today, and I do not forget to share the same desire at every meal. ”
Later, when Chen Guofu moved to Taiwan and retired from politics, he wrote his memoirs, and he wrote about how this dish was created and widely loved in "Su Zheng's Memories", and still revealed a deep affection for this dish.
Chen Guofu is good at commenting on color, fragrance, and shape, and can also eat, speak, and write, and can recommend food to more people and pass on his way of food culture to the world. Chen Guofu is a veritable foodie who loves to eat food, and food is also famous because of him.