The picture shows Wu Ruikang, the founder and chef of Hangzhou Restaurant, introducing the past of Jin Yong's gift of Mobao in that year. Photo by China News Service reporter Suo Youwei
China News Service, Hong Kong, May 12 Title: Hong Kong's "Hangzhou Restaurant" Jin Yong praised the Hangzhou gang dish
China News Service reporter Suo Youwei
"Hangzhou Restaurant" is not very conspicuous in the rows of stores on Wan Chai Road in Hong Kong, but the word "Jin Yong" with the inscription makes the store's sign quite eye-catching.
Although the façade of this Hangzhou restaurant is not grand, it is well-known in the Hong Kong food industry, and has been awarded the honor of one Michelin star restaurant for five consecutive years. After tasting the dishes of the Hangzhou restaurant before his death, jin Yong, a famous Chinese martial arts novel writer, gladly ordered the inscription: The taste of lettuce in the West Lake, all from the dish, the famous chef of the Hangzhou restaurant, the real Hangzhou cuisine.
The picture shows Wu Ruikang, founder and chef of Hangzhou Restaurant, demonstrating the production of Hangzhou cuisine. Photo by China News Service reporter Suo Youwei
"Mr. Jin Yong's inscription with the same content, in fact, I have two." Wu Ruikang, founder and chef of Hangzhou Restaurant, was interviewed by a reporter from China News Agency a few days ago, and proudly talked about the past when Jin Yong wrote an inscription: "This is the ink treasure left by the old man after he came to Hangzhou Restaurant for dinner, but there was no seal at that time. The old man came home and wrote a stamped one to send it over, and the one with the seal hung in another private room. ”
Coming from a family of Kou Ding, Wu Ruikang did not really learn to cook before he gave up his status as a civil servant in the mainland to come to Hong Kong at the age of 33. "I wasn't a full-time chef at the beginning, I started from scratch. I looked at the people in the small kitchen and called them 'Master Xiao Wang, Master Xiao Chen' with their heads bowed, and my mentality had to be adjusted. Wu Ruikang said. After improving his cooking skills, he suffered two entrepreneurial failures, and even had to sell the house by the West Lake in his hometown of Hangzhou. In 2005, Wu Ruikang, who was seeking a comeback, borrowed money to put down the restaurant he was then the head chef of, "Nanbeihui", which was renamed "Hangzhou Restaurant", and did it for 16 years.
"It is not easy to really do a good job of Hangzhou cuisine, and it is more difficult for provincial catering to gain a foothold in Hong Kong." The first is the issue of raw materials, which must come from Hangzhou. The other is to stick to the old taste. Now the traditional Hangzhou cuisine has been improved a lot in Hangzhou, but we have also preserved this traditional Hangzhou cuisine. Wu Ruikang said.
Even during the epidemic period, the ingredients selected by Hangzhou restaurants still insisted on being distributed from Hangzhou, and even the rice vinegar used for seasoning had to be purchased directly from Hangzhou.
Because of this, Hangzhou restaurants are favored by customers, and there are many well-known people from all walks of life who come here to taste Hangzhou's cuisine, and one wall of the store is hung with photos of Wu Ruikang and them in the store. "Rao Zongyi likes to call flower chicken the most, Ni Kuang loves to eat braised big fish heads, Tan Yonglin will order steaming double stink, cai lan loves lard noodles the most..." Wu Ruikang revealed these "little secrets" to reporters like a number of family treasures.
The celebrity Mo bao can be called the treasure of the town store of Hangzhou restaurant. The inscription of the famous Hong Kong foodist Cai Lan "Happy To Eat" hangs on one wall of the lobby, Jao Zongyi's inscription "A Pint of Hangzhou Cuisine" is specially made into a plaque, the inscription of Wu Boxiong, former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang, "Qunxian Bizhi, Sheng Ke Yingmen", and the inscription of "Hangzhou Restaurant" by Lingnan School master Ou Haonian are also scattered in different rooms.
The Hangzhou restaurant, which has a lot of diners, suffered from the epidemic situation after experiencing losses during the "amendment storm". "For a while, only two people were allowed to eat at the same stage at noon, and they could not do business at night, only takeaway, but the order was affected by the distance. When it was most difficult, I also felt that it was very hard. Wu Ruikang said: "But I can't lose employees, the most difficult time, whether employees go to work or not, I will give them two-thirds of a month's salary." ”
"Everyone has worked together to get to the present, and what we are most looking forward to now is the early cessation of the epidemic." He said. (End)
Source: China News Network