From the kitchen years to the teacher Zheng Xinmin passed by

Text/Wang Anjie

In 1990, when he was the chef of the Guest House of the Xi'an Branch of the China Coal Science Research Institute, the topic that Song Jing talked about most every night in the dormitory was the four major restaurants under the Xi'an Catering Company and the famous chefs in the famous shops.

The four famous restaurants are Jiefang Road Jufengyuan Chuan Restaurant, Qujiang Chun Restaurant, Xi'an Restaurant, and Tao Li Chun Hotel. Among them, Xi'an Restaurant and Tao Li Chun Hotel gather most of the top chefs in Xi'an. Such as Shi Dewen, Jin Xuanmin, Pang Xuede, Tang Yansheng, Zhang Shengcai, Cao Bingjun, Zheng Xinmin, Xu Chang'an, Wang Xingwang, Li Fenggong, Cao Yongsheng. There are also Zheng Shenghe, Wang Shengtian and Wang Zhimin of the People's Building, Zhai Yaomin of the Zhiyuan Hotel, and Zuo Ting of the Xiaozhai Military Region. Even today, these famous chefs are still thunderous and famous. Among the many famous chefs, the most talked about are Zheng Xinmin, Zuo Ting and other teachers.

After working in the restaurant of the Xi'an Coal Branch Guest House for nearly two years, in the first six months, I made cutting boards and gave Song Jing side dishes. Every day, the four hind legs of the pig are divided into layers, and the meat slices and shredded meat are cut. During this period of diligent study and hard practice, he soon mastered the two special knife skills of cutting meat shredded meat with a dun knife and cutting meat with a light gong luck knife. The chicken shreds and fish shreds are deliberately fixed and cut using a pier knife. In addition, there are as many as 80 pots of sea cucumbers, squid, fish maws, hoof tendons, ringing skins, conchs, ox whips, mushrooms, etc. produced every day.

Later, Gao Qiang, the head of the restaurant section, arranged for Song Jing and I to take turns on the stove every month to make private rooms and conference reception meals. Each person has one month of cutting board and one month of cooking. After the stove, in addition to the normal reception meeting meal, I deliberately arranged some Shaanxi famous dishes for practical practice on the menu of the private room reception meal. Such as: chicken rice sea cucumber, sweet and sour squid roll, chicken rice squid, sea double braised, sour and spicy sea cucumber, sour and spicy squid, lantern squid, white crispy chicken, lianpeng chicken, with elbows, milk soup pot fish, money stuffed hair vegetables, money sea cucumber, phoenix porridge sea cucumber, hibiscus sea cucumber, gourd chicken, eight treasure duck, burst double crisp, splendid tenderloin, golden cabbage, lotus vegetable stir-fried meat shreds, snowflake tenderloin, soft fried tenderloin, warm mixed waist silk, lotus white braised waist slices, walnut loin, twist waist, sweet and sour three-silk fish roll, honey gourd, etc. The waist of a knife changed in a year is about two tons. He has mastered the series of dishes of plucked fruits and practiced the brewing of different raw materials. Such as Bagua fish belly, lianpeng chicken, hibiscus chicken slices, snowflake chicken, imitation swallow vegetable rolls in chicken stuffing, fish stuffed anchovy hearts, clear soup fish balls, two-color fish balls in the chicken stuffed seeds, bread toast in beef stuffed seeds, fried beef steak, fried shrimp cakes in shrimp stuffed seeds, loquat lobster, tofu stuffed with a pint of tofu, pocket tofu, etc.

Some other flower knife dishes such as: squirrel fish, chrysanthemum fish, flying swallow fish, grape fish, arowana fish, mandarin duck fish. Hibiscus plum blossom goldfish is a dish that I am good at that reflects knife skill, fire and taste. However, when making these dishes, I often want to look for some guidance from Teacher Zheng Xinmin on this aspect. In August 1993, Shaanxi Science and Technology Publishing House published and distributed the "Cooking Skills Recipe" written by Zheng Xinmin and Xu Chang'an. When I got it, I loved it, studied it over and over again, and figured out the key aspects of each dish.

In 1993, I worked as a head chef at the Shaanxi Fertilizer Company Guest House on Xi'an Surveying and Mapping Road. After the previous team left, only Master Wang Shusheng, who was 70 years old at the time, was left. Wang Shusheng is the father of Wang Shengtian, a generation of celebrity chefs in the People's Mansion. The old man's best dishes are honey gourd and butterfly sea cucumber. In the study and work with Master Wang Shusheng, I have always hoped that the old man would comment on my skills, but he did not say it to his face.

In August, when I learned of the establishment of the Shaanxi Cuisine Institute, I took Li Yongfeng, whose second apprentice and nephew, to the Family Hospital of the Xi'an Highway College in the South Second Ring Road to learn about the preparations for the opening of the Shaanxi Cuisine Institute. On the way, Yongfeng said to me: "Uncle, Wang Shusheng's teacher Fu has a high opinion of you, and he said that you work clean and sharp." There were a lot of chefs before and after the guest house, and he didn't look at any of them except you. Let me learn from you." Just walked into the Shaanxi Cooking Institute Internship Teaching Restaurant, met Dean Li Jixian, her sincerity, enthusiasm, and boldness dispelled our reticence when we first met. I asked about the establishment of the college, the enrollment plan and the composition of the faculty of the college, and Dean Li informed them one by one. After a brief conversation with Dean Li, I just turned around and saw Teacher Zheng Xinmin walking out of the back kitchen operation room, his hands still glued to the refractory mud of the single-mouth stir-fry stove. I went up to greet Teacher Zheng and followed him into the operation room. A row of freshly plated stir-fried stoves was neatly displayed in front of my eyes, and the cradle of high-skilled culinary talents in Shaanxi Cuisine Institute will set sail from here.

Steady, deep, inner show teacher Zheng Xinmin simply said two words to me, although he is not good at words, but the thick and simple appearance, kind and resolute expression of the eyes told me that this person plays an important role in the Shaanxi catering industry, in the field of cooking skills and Shaanxi cuisine practice research is a real strength faction, all of which is worth my life to pursue.

In 1995, I was hired to work as a head chef and executive chef at the Jianhang Academy Hotel in Shaanxi Province. This was the only star hotel in Lintong at that time, providing me with a good platform for learning, research and display. I remember cherishing in my mind the videos made by Shaanxi Television Station for Teacher Zheng Xinmin, braised carp and hot loin flowers. When I arranged the one-table private room dish, I deliberately made these two dishes to exercise the demonstration of the scoop.

In the past, when the fish was cooked in the guest house of the provincial fertilizer company, it was often two carp with about three pounds, and the large overturning pot was turned from front to back. This flipping fish has two defects, if the scoop is suspended to the operator, the arc is not enough, the fish tail will break at the upper edge of the scoop; if the tail is suspended and turned to the operator, there will often be some sauce flying to the operator. After repeatedly pondering and recalling the side flip of zheng Xinmin's teacher's roasted fish turning pot, he quickly mastered this side flip pot skill. I remember that in 1995, when I was making a VIP private room meal, I specially arranged to make a dish of dragon whisker mandarin fish, when this dish from knife skills to fish sizing, from oil to hot taste, mastered very well, but unfortunately there was no information photo left at that time. The knife skill processing of this fish wire is also using the pier knife technique mastered for 90 years, and after learning the video operation of teacher Zheng Xinmin, there has been a leap forward.

In the autumn of October 2007, the 20th anniversary celebration of the establishment of the Shaanxi Culinary and Catering Industry Association, Duan Junyan and I went to the meeting, and met Teacher Zheng Xinmin for the second time in the provincial government complex, and our instant contact was only two greetings.

In February 2017, Teacher Song Suihu went to Xi'an Baodi Catering Company through my introduction, and then invited Zheng Xinmin and Song Suihu to discuss the strategic plan for the implementation of baodi catering product quality operation in 2017 under the arrangement of Chairman Zhang Zhiyong. Later, Teacher Song told me that when Mr. Zhang mentioned me to him, he wanted me to join the Baodi team in the past, and Teacher Zheng Xinmin also began to pay special attention to me, although he was not very familiar with it, but he always had a hazy impression that when he saw people, he would definitely be on the number.

From the 1990s in the Xi'an Coal Branch Guest House when the chef of the private room, conference reception, began from the only book information, combined with practical operation, specialized in research, groping the soul of Shaanxi cuisine production, soon found: in the traditional cuisine classification of China's eight major cuisines, four major cuisines, Shaanxi cuisine production technology gold content is second only to Huaiyang cuisine, can be called the eighth major cuisine technology gold content second. It is mainly reflected in knife work and scoop work. From the crispy and boneless gourd chicken and the elbow with a handle, to the crisp double crisp, the mouth soup, the phnom Penh cabbage urgent, skillful, the fire pure green skill technique, from the lotus chicken to the raw simmered squid shreds, all reflect the cooking concept of skillful soup and superb skills and techniques.

The reverence that hangs on the lips may have long been forgotten in the heart; the worship hidden in the heart will often be remembered and cherished.