Chuanxi Bazi, in the three meals a day of ordinary people, mostly uses pigs, cows, chickens, ducks, rabbits and fish as the main meat. In the past, most of Chengdu's beef markets and beef restaurants were concentrated in the Area of Huangchengba (today's Fu Square). Because it is a manchu and Muslim-centered settlement, there are many halal beef restaurants, mainly selling yak beef, yellow beef, and buffalo beef. Beef restaurants mostly sell beef stew, braised beef, steamed beef, dry mixed beef, sauced beef, marinated beef, smoked beef, etc.; the daily supply in popular restaurants is also mostly dried beef shreds, radish roast beef, celery stir-fried beef, beef tofu, beef bean flower, roast beef offal, beef dumpling soup, etc.; snacks include: braised beef noodles, beef crispy noodles, beef buns, beef dumplings, beef stir-frying hands, beef burnt cakes, etc. Among the tamales, there is a small steamed beef that is the most famous, especially the "Zhide" steamed beef is widely favored.
Steamed beef in small cages
In 1928, in Shuncheng Street near Huangchengba, there was a noodle shop selling braised beef noodles and beef noodles, usually selling noodles at noon, cups of wine and marinated beef and dried brine tofu in the afternoon and evening, and steamed beef in winter. The owner's name is Wang Bingzhang, and the store brand is called "Zhiwen No." Because of its good taste, low price and affordable noodles and beef, every day at noon, a shop is crowded with diners, often busy with the front and back feet, and at the peak of the business, a person is busy and sweaty. So Wang Bingzhang called his fellow disciple Yao Shucheng to help with the business.
Yao Shucheng, born in October 1906 in a poor family in Dongzikou, Waibei, Chengdu, went to the city at the age of 12 to apprentice in the eating and drinking lanes. At that time, there was a noodle shop selling xiaolong steamed beef on Chengdu's Sanbei Street, the owner was called Zeng Gu, and the business was good, but the steamed beef just smelled fragrant and did not taste fragrant, and Yao Shucheng sometimes took care of him. I went to see his practice many times and felt that there were quite a few places worth studying and improving. At the age of 19, he left the noodle shop where he was learning to learn his craft, and became a master chef, and in addition to making white cases (pasta), he also made steamed beef in Xiaolong. In 1934, he went to Kuixinglou Street To help Master Wang's "Zhiwen" make steamed beef in a small cage. Although his operation was able to attract buyers at that time, he also smelled fragrant and did not smell fragrant, and he himself felt very nerve-wracking and helpless.
Later, Master Wang wanted to expand his development, so he gave the "Zhiwen Number" to Yao Shucheng and opened a large restaurant in Qingshiqiao Street. At that time, Yao Shucheng only had 9 oceans in his hands, but his willingness to improve the steamed beef of Xiaolong was strong, and he was also hazy and a bit of a doorway, thinking that this was an opportunity, so he looked around for friends and gathered a hundred oceans to top the business.
It is both a signboard and an advertisement
After a period of groping and experimenting, Yao Shucheng finally found a breakthrough point in a fortuitous opportunity. It turned out that several professors at Sichuan University (at that time, Sichuan University Grammar and Law School was in the imperial city) were his acquaintances, including Wu Junyi, who had been the dean of law, as a gourmet. After learning of Yao Shucheng's idea, he suggested to Yao that simmering mushrooms in chicken soup could be added to increase the freshness and fragrance. After Yao tried it, it was really good, and after the great joy, he did not hesitate to spend more money to choose a good mushroom and boil it with a hanging (top pot). In this way, his small steamed beef not only smells fragrant, but also tastes fragrant. But in order to compete he had to keep it secret, and he didn't even say much about the professors. There was only one apprentice in the shop except for his brother and wife, so no one else knew the mystery.
Business is booming, Yao Shucheng's confidence and strength to improve are more sufficient, he uses starfish, jujube bubble wine as the ingredient, and then adds the good soy sauce of "Taihe", the "mouth and love" of the shangpin bean drum, Qingxi peppercorns, Longtan Temple's sea pepper noodles, in the seasoning repeatedly pondered, but also pay special attention to the amount of spices, can not let them suppress the aroma of beef. In this way, his small cage of steamed beef soon became famous. When you don't want your business to pick up, you don't know that trouble will follow.
It turned out that the master brother surnamed Wang had folded the number in the blue stone bridge and folded the number, and he was so depressed. It turned out that Wang's new store was still passable in the early days of opening, but what it did not know was that Qingshiqiao was located in the southeast of the city, and most of the people living around the neighborhood were Han Chinese, who ate beef and mutton in autumn and winter according to the custom, and usually loved to eat pork. As a result, Wang's business deteriorated, losing money every month, and he could not survive for several months and was forced to close his business. The beef noodle restaurant he originally gave to Yao Shucheng, because it is located on Changshun Street, is surrounded by almost all officials, eunuchs, merchants, Manchus, Mongolians, and Hui people, and beef and mutton are the main meat food all year round. In this way, Wang Shucheng naturally blushed when he saw that Yao Shucheng had made the "Zhiwen Number" run well, so he used the excuse that the signboard of "Zhiwen Number" was something he wanted to take back and run it himself. So I opened a noodle shop diagonally opposite Yao Shucheng Noodle Shop, and took the sign of "Zhiwen Number" and hung it. At this time, two beef noodle restaurants of the same name, operating the same variety, appeared on Changshun Street, and they were two pairs of doors. The people of the world do not think it is strange, thinking that it was opened by two brothers, because the king has been in this place for a long time, acquaintances are familiar, and there are many old buyers, and the natural business is getting better and better. Yao's business is getting weaker and weaker, and he is greatly affected, but he is dumb and can't say anything about it.
Bamboo cage steamed meat is a major feature of Sichuan cuisine
Yao Shucheng had to strive to improve the flavor quality of beef and noodles, and in the integrity of management, and the business gradually flourished. Of course, the competition between the division brothers is also becoming more and more open. Brother Wang believed that it was the reason for the signboard, so he had to set up another shop on the grounds that the contract was "only the top shop, no top name". In the old days, the shop sign was a business license, and it could not be opened without the store name. This greatly pained Yao Shucheng, who was illiterate. When he was at a loss, one day crouched at the door of the store and pondered with worried eyes, he saw a child buying something at a vendor stall, and after taking it home, because he was short of two pounds, the adults came to the theory, and the two sides quarreled, and passers-by said that the peddlers bullied the old and coaxed the young, and the business lacked morality. Yao Yi listened and thought, "Yes, we must be honest in our conduct, and we must have moral integrity in doing business." He made a clever move, and changed the "Zhiwen Number" only one word to "Zhide Number", which is not a new signboard. So he immediately asked Mr. Writer to engrave a standing sign, and the "Zhide" in black paint and gold was hung up. In 1933, two beef noodle restaurants appeared on Changshun Street, "Zhide" and "Zhiwen".
After the "Zhide" sign was erected, in order to distinguish it from the "Zhiwen" and highlight its own characteristics, Yao Shucheng took "Xiaolong Steamed Beef" as the main variety, supplemented by "braised beef noodles, beef crispy noodles" and other business characteristics. Especially on the steamed beef, it is slaughtered on the day of the fresh beef loin willow meat, waist nest meat and leg meat as raw materials, does not meet the ingredients for steamed beef resolutely do not use, rather than sell, not shoddy; in the rice noodles and seasoning, according to the seasonal changes, increase or decrease the amount and taste of light and heavy, the sample is hands-on, and with a diameter of about 10 cm, 5 cm high bamboo steamer steamer steamer, steamed after the steamed beef and then sprinkled with chili noodles, pepper noodles and coriander.
The color and fragrance are very tempting
In this way, Yao Shucheng's small cage steamed beef is not only novel and unique, but also a large pot on the street stove, and the small bamboo cage stands on the steamer, just like Tallinn, which is very spectacular, steaming, fragrant, and very tempting. Although the beef in the cage is not much, it is golden buttery in color, rich in flavor, spicy and salty and sweet in the mouth, rich in taste, tender and soft, and the taste is very wonderful. As a result, at noon every day, diners who come to taste come to eat, and there is an endless stream of people with bowls and pots to buy home, and the outside of the store is full of noise. The reputation of the Small Cage Steamed Beef of the Zhide spread far and wide, and soon spread throughout the City of Chengdu.
Since its inception, The Zhide Xiaolong Steamed Beef has maintained its production and management characteristics. A stove made of large, dilapidated gasoline barrels, a large cauldron and dozens of small bamboo steamers that have become red and black and shiny stand in front of the store, making public performances on the spot, and the hot air rolls over the streets to perfume. With the rich aroma of steamed meat, I saw dozens of steamed beef on the large stove in front of the door, overlapping and stacked like Tallinn, and the clouds of steamed beef made passers-by slow down their pace and feel fresh and curious. The steaming and flowing heat, the fragrant and rich smell, but also make people stomach and intestines salivate, non-full meal to be at ease! Whether you are eating alone, or doing the East treat, spending little but delicious, eating is soft and moist, spicy and fragrant, salty and sweet, delicious and comfortable, if you drink a little wine, taste slowly, taste idle chewing, you will be oblivious, do not know where you are. This vivid and seductive scene of The Small Cage Beef of Zhide has become a vivid city style in Chengdu for decades.
The great prosperity of fame and business did not stop Yao Shucheng, he knew that he had just established his heels, and he had to increase his strength and could not rest his breath. Soon he launched on the basis of Xiaolong steamed beef "Xiaolong steamed fat sausage", "Xiaolong steamed chicken", "Xiaolong steamed rabbit", "steamed shaved pork" and other varieties, and also specially invited people to do "white noodle pot Kui" in the store, used to clip Xiaolong steamed beef, eating love food is more interesting, and the business of "Zhide" is also very hot. Under such a strong competitive situation, the "Zhiwen" was still unable to resist despite painstaking efforts and several struggles, and finally quietly ceased operations in the 1940s before the end of the War of Resistance.
Small pot of caged beef
Yao Shucheng is a person who is determined to stick a pole to the end, and he is determined to make "Zhide Xiaolong Steamed Beef" into a brand. I often use a lot of brains in business. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, Yao had a foodie friend who played movies, and movies were a very fresh and fashionable thing at that time, and rich families rushed to watch them. He asked this friend to help advertise the business varieties, characteristics, signboards, and addresses of the "Zhide" (putting slides). At the same time, he also gives customers who have comments and suggestions on flavor quality and service at a reduced price or free of charge. As a result, the business and reputation of the "Zhide" exploded in chengdu.
In 1937, Mr. Zhang Daqian and his family came to Chengdu to hold a large-scale "anti-Japanese painting exhibition", the leader of Chengdu's cultural circles and the famous bibliophile Yan Gusun set up a banquet to entertain, Mr. Daqian proposed to eat "caged tamales", Yan Lao ordered people to buy back a family is also more famous, Daqian tasted after the feeling is too rough and not authentic. You have to eat the Zhide, the result is from the End of the Zhide to taste the fang praised, but Mr. Daqian still feels that the taste is not strong enough, under his guidance, added fresh chili noodles, pepper noodles and coriander, and asked people to go to Desheng Street to buy back the famous "Leaf Pot Kui". Daqian used this pretzel pot to pinch the tamales to eat happily and stretch out.
In 1981, Zhang Daqian hosted a banquet in Taiwan for Zhang Xueliang and his wife Zhao Yidi, and among the 16 dishes, there was "steamed beef in a cage". At that time, there was no small bamboo cage in Chengdu, and Daqian switched to a general large steamer overseas. The flour is steamed with corn flour mixed with beef. However, Da Qian still misses the small steamed beef of Chengdu Zhide.
The small steamed beef of the Zhide has conquered chengdu diners over the years and also shaken the old food that travels from the south to the north. The famous film artist Xie Tian, who just arrived in Chengdu in 1989, disregarded the fatigue of his journey and walked the streets to find his old knowledge - the traces of Chengdu snacks. When the small cage steamed beef that was yellow, fragrant, spicy and tender, and soft and sticky slag was presented in front of his eyes, Director Xie couldn't help but marvel: Haha, long gone! The business of the Zhide has been prosperous for decades, and the real name snack is also!
Freshly mixed meat is now basketed
After the 1940s, the business of the "Zhide" reached its peak, "the business is all over the world, and the source of wealth reaches three rivers". Yao Shucheng, who became rich, began to buy land and land, which is to invest in real estate and became a well-known large household in Chengdu. In this way, after 1950, Yao Shucheng was classified as an industrial and commercial landlord, but still presided over the business and taught skills in the "Zhide" shop belonging to the Chengdu Catering Company after the public-private partnership. Zhide has been operating in Changshun Middle Street until 1958, soon moved to Titus Street, in 1963 moved to the right side of the Ancestral Hall Street People's Park, in 1984 because of the construction of the east-west trunk road, it was moved again to the opposite of the West Road Municipal Government, in 1996 it was closed for the expansion of Tianfu Square, and in 1999 it resumed operations at the intersection of Jinsi Street in Chengdu.
The long-lost Steamed Beef of the Zhide Xiaolong made the citizens overjoyed, scrambling to rush to the scene and taste it quickly. Although Yao Shucheng retired in April 1979 at the age of 73 and was no longer the de facto owner of the "Zhide", he had reason to feel sincerely pleased, after all, this was the crystallization of his life's work! Liu Xiaoxu, a Master of Sichuan Cuisine who studied with Yao Shucheng, said: "Master Yao not only has a set of exquisite skills and know-how, but also has a valuable culinary ethic, he strives for excellence in production, meticulous in every link, and is very strict in the selection, ingredients, mixing, seasoning and processing. Even in the era of material shortage, he was "preferring to be lacking rather than indiscriminate" and would never be shoddy. Although we are old, the key processes are still personally checked. No wonder Chengdu has always been among the best in the selection and appraisal of famous snacks, and the Small Cage Steamed Beef of Zhide has always ranked among the best. ”
After 1999, the "Zhide" that regained the "new life" was further improved, and Xiaolong steamed beef successively won the first prize of the hot dish of the second cooking competition in Sichuan Province; the gold medal of the fourth national cooking competition, Yao Shucheng's apprentice, Ni Shengzhong, who was the head chef of the "Zhide" at the time, won the title of "National Best Chef"; in 2000, the "Zhide" was awarded the "Sichuan Famous Restaurant"; in 2002, the "Xiaolong Steamed Beef" was recognized as "Chinese Famous Cuisine" by the Ministry of Trade; in 2006, the Sichuan Provincial Department of Commerce officially recognized" Zhide No." is a famous store in Sichuan.
But as early as 1983, Master Yao accidentally fell and fell seriously ill and died. Master Yao, who is kind and good at talking, and likes to drink one or two small wines every day, has passed away. In the past eighty years of ups and downs, Yao Shucheng and Zhide have come all the way, indomitable in turmoil, conscientious in good times, always clinging to the delicious cuisine and innocence created by his painstaking efforts. As the saying goes: Treat things peacefully, do not be pretentious; be upright, and do not speculate and think that wisdom is wise. Yao Shucheng teenager is engaged in the industry is to make money with peace, home and everything to take care of daily business, whether it is in difficulty or good times, for people to deal with the world is very low-key, calm, always conscientious, down-to-earth, never opportunistic, he desperately always ensures the quality and flavor of Xiaolong steamed beef, with true feelings and true taste to return to the diners and the public, but also to treat the brand created by his hard life.
Irresistible temptation
Sichuan Cuisine Culture Scholar "Sichuan Province Zhi • Sichuan Cuisine Chronicle" Deputy Editor of the Editorial Board "A Hundred Years of Sichuan Cuisine Legend", "Roadside Sichuan Cuisine History", "Spicy Hemp Temptation for Three Hundred Years", "Divine Travel to the Sea to Eat Sichuan" Author Original Jianghu Gluttony East 2020.03.23 Chengdu