"Hunan cuisine" is one of the eight major cuisines in China, which is good at fragrant, sour and spicy, and has a strong mountain and rural flavor. For more than 20 years, because of the characteristics of Hunan cuisine, which emphasizes the heavy taste and pays attention to affordability, it has been widely accepted throughout the country, so that today Hunan cuisine restaurants are all over the place, forming a unique Phenomenon of Hunan Cuisine.
However, the local cuisine of Hunan cuisine, which can form a more unified ingredient recipe standard today and be recognized by the Chinese people, is still derived from several strange things in modern times.
This first is the birth of the so-called "Feast of the Four Heavenly Kings" among the domestic upper class during the Republic of China period. One of the feasts was zu'an cuisine from Hunan.
What is Zu'an cuisine, and who made the name of Hunan cuisine in the domestic high society during the Republic of China period? What does the Xiang cuisine feast in the "Feast of the Four Heavenly Kings" look like?
Speaking of this, I have to mention a "god eater" level Hunan person: Tan Yanmin.
Tan Yanmin 1880-1930
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > The Mystery of Hunan Cuisine Guangda Part I: "God of Food" Tan Yanmin</h1>
At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the People's Republic, everyone in large households had private cooking dishes. Coupled with the turbulence of the times, the frequent exchange of banquets, and the wind of comparison in the delicious food of ingredients has become more and more intense. Among them, the chef's high craftsmanship and good dishes have become a matter of face. Among the information available today, about eight years after the Republic of China, the "Feast of the Four Heavenly Kings" was born.
At that time, in Changsha City, a huge mansion was built, with frequent banquets and its own kitchen. Today I ate this dish at this place, and when I went back, I let my own cook let them learn to make it. An inspector in Guangzhou once said that Changsha "has several daily banquets, and should not be busy."
There are many theories about where the "Feast of the Four Heavenly Kings" originated.
One of the deductive theories is that the king's banquet originated from a gathering of a certain domestic magnate at that time. Celebrities from all over the world who gathered at that time brought their best home cooks. In this dinner, celebrities, celebrities, gourmets gathered together to fight and evaluate dishes, and finally four feasts stood out and were enshrined as the "Four Heavenly Kings Feast".
They are "Tan Family Cuisine" by Beijing Tan Zhuqing, "Aunt Feast" by Huang Jinglin in Chengdu, "Taishi Snake Feast" by Jiang Kongyin in Guangzhou, and "Zu'an Cuisine" by The Famous Scholar Tan Yanmin in Hunan.
Zu'an cuisine is a somewhat strange name given by Tan Yanmin. In fact, it is his own name, Tan Yanmin character Zu'an, is a hunan person with great influence in the early republic of China, he served as the governor of Hunan, the commander of the Xiang Army, and his official position once became the president of the Executive Yuan of the Nanjing Government. This influential figure has a nickname that few people know - "God eater". He is said to be the god of food because he is not only delicious, can eat, and pay attention to eating, but also his obsession with food has reached a realm that no one can match.
Tan Yanmin, born in a family of eunuchs in Hunan, his father Tan Zhonglin has served as the governor of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the governor of Liangguang and other important positions, and is also a very famous gourmet, he is the first person to introduce Cantonese seafood into Hunan cuisine.
Genetically, Tan Yanmin not only mixed smoothly in the official field of the early Minchu, but was a big strange person who was valued by all the forces at that time, and his hobby in food was even worse than that of his father.
To what extent do you like it? The solid family foundation left by his father was eaten clean by him, so that after Tan Yanmin's death, his son found that he could no longer afford to support his family's special cooking, so he had no choice but to dismiss them, and also gave a beginning for the later spread of Hunan cuisine in the folk.
Tan Zhonglin, a famous feudal governor in the late Qing Dynasty
Of course, this is an afterthought. Let's first see how the "zuan dish" came about.
Tan Yanmin has been the governor of Hunan for three terms, and now he is the governor of the province, because this person is very smart, a person who is both literate and martial, and he likes to make food and food, he has nothing to do at home to specialize in research, and invent some delicious dishes by himself.
Tan Yanmin has two major hobbies in terms of diet. My first passion is soaking in the kitchen and delving into dishes. Because of this hobby, there have also been many jokes.
Once, Tan Yanmin suspected that the chef's dish was cut incorrectly, and repeated explanations were still not as good as he wanted, so he personally performed the demonstration. With a knife, he cut his finger, and as a result, he was not convinced, and Tan Yanmin endured the pain and changed his left hand to hold the knife again, and as a result, he cut his right hand again.
An official letter will be sent the next day. Tan Yanmin has a habit of writing his own handwriting as long as it is an official letter, and although he hurt his hand this time, he refused to be an exception, and reluctantly took the pen to write. Hu Hanmin was also one of the four major calligraphers of the Republic of China. His face changed after receiving the official letter, and he closed the door for several days.
Tan Yanmin's calligraphy works
Tan Yanmin is one of the four major calligraphers of the Republic of China, and his calligraphy skills are exceptional, and there is often a deep meaning between the waves. Coincidentally, Hu Hanmin, who received the official letter, was also a calligrapher, and when he saw Tan Yanmin's letter, he felt that there was a mystery inside, so he delayed replying. This made Tan Yanmin wait a little anxious, so he had to send the secretary to ask.
It turned out that Hu Hanmin had been locked up at home to figure out the words of Lao Tan on the letter, and he couldn't get the point when he saw old Tan's secretary coming, Hu Xian secretly asked Old Tan which ancient man's post he was studying recently, and when the secretary told him the truth, Hu angrily threw the letter to the ground: "When he practiced some new skills, he demonstrated to me, and it turned out that he had cut his hand!" ”
Hu Hanmin, then governor of Guangdong Province
In addition to his love of studying food, Tan Yanmin also likes to comment on dishes. Whenever a new dish is successfully developed, he will find a way to invite celebrities to taste it, and then force them to choose their opinions. Tan Yanmin's paranoia about the dish review surprised the visitors. The master of traditional Chinese studies, Wang Minyun, was once forced by Tan Yanmin.
One day, Wang Minyun returned to Changsha from his hometown in Xiangtan, and he stepped into the door on his front foot, and Tan Yanmin followed on his back foot. Wang Minyun saw that the Governor of Hunan had personally visited the door and thought that he had an important matter to discuss. Who expected, Tan Yanmin said that he had just improved a Hunan dish spicy chicken, and wanted to ask the master to try it. The request was a little strange, but due to the emotional situation, Wang Minyun was not easy to shirk, so he had to follow.
Wang Minyun and Tan Yanmin's father Tan Zhonglin are of the same generation, and seeing that the younger Tan Yanmin was so warmly entertained, he politely praised this new dish. The sensitive Tan Yanmin sensed that something was wrong, but after all, the other party was a generation of Guoxue masters, and he was not easy to ask. So he sat down at the table with a serious face and did not say a word.
Tan Yanmin is a perfectionist, and he is very particular about eating. Tan Yanmin was very dissatisfied with the improved spicy chicken, but for the sake of face, he did not say it during the banquet. In the evening, Tan Yanmin trained the cook fiercely.
Wang Minyun: The last of the emperors
Tan Yanmin loves to eat and is generous with kitchen expenses. Although this income is often withheld by the steward of the kitchen. However, due to Tan Yanmin's reputation in food, every time the Tan family released the news of hiring a chef, it still made famous chefs from all over Hunan break their heads and squeeze into the Tan Mansion. If nothing else, just to be able to stay in the Tan family kitchen, have the opportunity to hear Tan Yanmin's evaluation of his cooking skills, such as whether the fire is good or not, how the knife is skilled, what are the slightest mistakes in the use of spices, etc. As long as you listen to it for a year and a half, your cooking skills will make great progress, and you will not be able to use it for a lifetime.
Tan Yanmin's love of food made him known as the "first gourmet" in the Republic of China period. But Tan Yankai is good at eating, good at tasting, but not good at doing. With Tan Yankai's strength alone, it is impossible to give birth to the zu'an dish that will shock the world after that, he must have a good cook.
He (Tan Yanmin) has a cook surnamed Cao. Wherever Tan Yanmin became an official, Chef Cao followed him. Therefore, this chef surnamed Cao invisibly combined well with him, we said, it is better to do than to eat, because these high-ranking officials invited by Tan Yanmin are all leaders in the eating world, and invisibly raise the chef's skills to a higher level.
Cao Xingchen (曹荩臣), known as "Cao Si". His relationship with Tan Yankai also has a tortuous process.
Spicy baby chicken
Before entering the Tan family, Cao Xingchen worked as a domestic cook in the home of Zhuang Gengliang, an official in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, during which time he absorbed a large amount of the essence of Jiangsu and Zhejiang cuisine. After Zhuang Gengliang's death, Cao Si went south to Guangzhou with a good cooking skill. As soon as he arrived in Guangzhou, Cao Si was favored by Tan Zhonglin, who was then the governor of Liangguang, that is, Tan Yanmin's father, and hired him as his chef.
In the catering industry in the Republic of China, there was a rule that people who were officials generally did not eat in the shops in the society, and the family had to entertain guests. Everyone has their own mansion and invites others in their own homes. This is a common rule that has been handed down since ancient times that officials do not enter the homes of the people.
Tan Zhonglin worked as an official in Southern Guangdong for many years, and brought some of his Cantonese cuisine preferences into his family's Hunan cuisine. After Cao Si entered the Tan family chef, Tan Zhonglin often called the most famous Cantonese chef in Guangdong to his home to teach Cao Si. Cao Si was humble and studious, and soon understood the essence of Cantonese cuisine. Cao Si, who was deeply familiar with Jiangsu and Zhejiang cuisine and Cantonese cuisine, soon attracted tan Yanmin's attention.
Every time Tan Yanmin went to his father's house, he often soaked in the kitchen and studied dishes with Cao Si. Although Tan Yanmin was filial and obedient, he really could not withstand the temptation of his old father's kitchen, and finally snatched Cao Si back to his house with a horizontal knife.
Under the guidance of Tan Yanmin, Cao Si combined the techniques of Huaiyang cuisine with his original cooking skills. Cao Si's craftsmanship can be described as a hundred feet and a step further. All the guests who were invited to Tan Yanmin's banquet said: "Cao Chef's dishes, five essences and seven spices, their taste is delicious, and it is desirable." ”
Because Tan Yanmin likes to taste dishes, his dishes are also particularly exquisite, and later he named this dish after his character Zu'an.
The dishes that come out of Tan Province are generally called Zu'an dishes, which is how they come from.
Now, Zu'an cuisine is actually a private dish, that is, the Tan family's private dish. Nationally, there is a Tan family dish in the north, and the Tan family dish in the south is generally called Zu'an cuisine, not after Tan Yanmin's surname, but after his character.
Zu'an cuisine has become the originator of today's Hunan cuisine
Changsha Lotus Pond Tan Yanmin Mansion Hometown
In that year, after Tan Yanmin was transferred to Hunan, his mansion was near today's Hunan Provincial Federation of Trade Unions. During Tan Yanmin's stay in Hunan, there were banquets almost every day in the Tan family mansion. Before the banquet, Chef Cao will issue a purchase order and hand it over to the housekeeper to purchase.
Chef Cao opened a menu of native hens, and the person in charge of purchasing it was the Tanfu housekeeper. The housekeeper took this list and went to buy a hen every day, but never saw a chicken brought to the table. This housekeeper is also dutiful, so he ran to complain to Tan Yanmin, saying, this cook Cao Xingchen is afraid that his hands and feet are not very clean, I have bought chicken several times, I have never seen chicken dishes, adult have you ever eaten chicken? Tan Yanmin said that he had never eaten chicken, and the housekeeper said, Where did a native hen go every day?
Although Tan Yanmin loved this Cao Chef, the housekeeper's words still made him suspicious. So one day, he decided to go to the kitchen to find out before the feast began.
He asked Cao Xingchen, what about my shark fin? Chef Cao said, shark fin, you see. At that time, it was a wood stove, there was no coal burning, and there was no natural gas, and the wood stove in the countryside had an iron urn altar for boiling hot water, and there was an iron lid in the urn. Tan Yanmin lifted the iron lid and looked inside the urn, which was full of the shark fin he was going to eat at noon. Shark fin packets one by one, shiny and transparent like fans.
In fact, the swelling of shark fins is all about chicken soup from the urn. Tan Yanmin fished up the shark fin and looked at it, and the earth hen was stewed in this urn. Tan Yanmin's Zu'an dish, this Zu'an shark fin alone, is all mainly hens, but there is no chicken on the table.
Doubts were dispelled, and Tan Yanmin's trust in Cao Xingchen was stronger.
In the days spent with Tan Yanmin, Cao Xingchen devoted himself to developing new dishes and constantly renovating his tastes. And it is also a "strange" victory in cooking techniques, which is breathtaking.
Zuan shark fin soup
The second dish is called angelfish. This dish is to stew the lamb with a bowl, the cinnamon fish away from the lamb is about a centimeter, and finally the fish is wrapped in leather paper, and the steam of the stewed lamb is used to dissolve all the cinnamon fish into the lamb, and finally the fish is left with only a fish skeleton.
The name of this dish has made a very image, the fish seems to have gone to the immortal, using this fog, steam to steam off the fish, so this dish is fish and sheep aroma, special incense.
Zuan shark fin soup, angelfish, these are two more representative Zuan dishes.
Zuan tofu
In addition to expensive shark fin soup and meat, Zu'an cuisine also pays attention to meat and vegetarian combinations. Cheap tofu is also "reborn" in the hands of Cao Xingchen, but Zu'an tofu is not cheaper than meat. The "fineness" of its production method is also one of the unique skills of Zu'an cuisine.
We always say that the meat in the tofu basin, Zuan tofu can be more expensive than any meat. After removing the skin of Xiangtan's most famous cloth wrapped tofu, after passing through the small basket (saisai), the chicken soup and egg whites are beaten and floated, frozen and then turned into tofu, and the tofu is wrapped in gauze later, and then simmered with raw materials such as chicken, ham and dried scallops. Simmer all the juice into the tofu, and finally add the winter shoots, ham, dried scallops, and then cook. In the end, Zuan Tofu was finished.
Zuan chole
The "expensive" of zuan cuisine can even be reflected in a cabbage dish. A seemingly simple "zuan vegetable heart" is necessary to use nearly 100 kilograms of cabbage, and its selection of ingredients is exquisite, which can be seen from this.
Zu'an cuisine divides the cabbage into relatively fine parts, called vegetable hearts, vegetable bags, and vegetable galls. Vegetable gall is the thinnest and cannot exceed an inch long. At that time, there was a legend that when Tan Yanmin lived in the official palace, the vegetable galls needed to cook every day needed a load of cabbage to be gathered. The surrounding people will discuss, how many pigs are fed in Tan Mansion, and eat a carton of cabbage a day?
In fact, this carton of dishes is Tan Yankai's one-person dish guts.
Tan Zu An
Tan Yanmin, also known as Tan Zu'an, really made Hunan cuisine win the reputation of China's high society. The series of dishes he created also became the basis for the widespread spread of Hunan cuisine later.
When Tan Yanmin died, his cook Cao Si once wrote a commemorative of the Lian Lian: "When the Jingting Retreat remembers the year, when the prince came, I also tasted sweet and bitter; governing the country and cooking is not two things, Mr. Go, who knows and reconciles the heart of Ding Nai." ”
Perhaps in the eyes of this cook, the master's achievements in cooking ingredients are much higher than his ability to govern the country.
From left to right: Chiang Kai-shek, Tan Yanmin, Feng Yuxiang
After that, Cao Si returned to Changsha and opened the "JianYuan" Hunan Restaurant on Pozi Street. As a result, official cuisine gradually began to be combined with folk cuisine, and slowly evolved into Hunan cuisine as it is known today.
During the period when Cao Si opened a Hunan restaurant in Changsha, a man named Peng Changgui worshiped under Cao Simen. After that, Peng Changgui began another glorious journey of Hunan cuisine - he not only made Hunan cuisine famous in Taiwan, but even spread the reputation of Hunan cuisine to the United States.
Peng Changgui, founder of "Zuo Zong Tang Chicken"
Next, continue to tell you the legendary experience of "kitchen god" Peng Changgui, please pay attention.
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