Since its inception, Caolu Restaurant has gradually launched a series of special dishes: four gill perch eight raw pot, three-silk lettuce soup, Songjiang three-ball (ground chestnut ball, eight treasure ball, pine nut shrimp ball), stir-fried eel, stir-fried river shrimp, rock sugar river eel, three shrimp tofu, fried pork chops, stir-fried rolls and other hot dishes; brine chicken, smoked leg barrel, smoked yellow fish, smoked field chicken and other cold pots, takeaway special dim sum such as glutinous rice lotus root, lentil cake, mint cake, oil crisp dumplings, three fresh spring rolls, lard potatoes, orange cinnamon balls (also known as orange rounds), etc., as well as wonton color duck, rice cake hair crab, The dim sum at the banquet, such as chicken dumplings, was also praised by the guests.
Caolu once had a dish of "sauce fried chicken", this dish was launched in Caolu after Grandpa tasted "Gongbao Chicken Cubes" in Chongqing for three years, he cooperated with Caolu chef Wang Zhongming (also known as Wang Fusheng, most people used to call his nickname "Yellow Dog", and later wrote "Wang Gou"),the characteristic peanuts and peppers of Sichuan cuisine were implanted in The Traditional Sauce Fried Chicken in Songjiang, which not only retained the fresh flavor of Gongbao Chicken Cubes, but also spicy and not dry, slightly sour and sweet, praised by diners.
Now the caolu dim sum is two yuan, all of which are rice in memory
(Source: Where to eat in Shanghai)
In 1956, the Caolu Restaurant implemented a public-private partnership, and in 1960, a two-story small building was renovated, and the store site was also moved to the west by two facades, located in front of the town government of Chengxiang Town at that time. Grandpa is still in Caolu, but his identity is no longer the boss but the director of the private side. For Grandpa, this did not affect his love and dedication to the grass house, and he still got up early every day and was busy in the dark. Grandpa was always a knee-length blue-gray Chinese cloth coat stained with oil, and when he ran the vegetable market with two pu bags before dawn, he always had the whole family already eaten dinner and stopped when he came back.
To the west of the gate of the People's Government of Songjiang Town, Songjiang County, there was the only police booth in Songjiang at that time, and behind it was the Grass House
Grandpa poured his enthusiasm and half-life into the Caolu, but because of the Caolu, he was put on the hat of "capitalist", and the Caolu was also replaced by the brand of "Renmin Hotel" (also used the names of "Xiangyang Hotel" and "Yingchun Hotel"). I once heard an anecdote: the new batch of high-end goods in the store at dawn and night arrived at that time, a thin old man stepped to the cabinet and pointed to the dried scallops to ask for a price, and the young clerk glanced at his clothes and loudly said: "Nong knows the goods? It's dried scallops! Indeed, in those days, ordinary people were used to the days when even tofu was planned to be supplied, and how many people knew what "dried scallops" were? At this time, an old man next to him couldn't look over and asked the clerk: Nong knows the goods? Brother Xingsun used to be the owner of the grass house, and I don't know how many dried scallops and sea cucumbers passed by Yi Hand...
Of course, not only dried scallop sea cucumbers, but also very ordinary ingredients, cooked by Grandpa's hand, can become a beautiful dish, but there are not many opportunities for us to feast on them. Grandpa's exquisite cooking skills are dedicated to the grass house, usually there is no time to cook for the family, only when the family comes to the guests or children working in the field come back to visit their relatives, he will personally cook, every time to ensure that we eat "slap and refuse to put".
Among the delicious dishes made by my grandfather, the ones that I can't forget the most are "ground chestnut balls" and "zygote puff pastry". "Hezi crisp" is a famous point in Caolu, according to the predecessors, this is grandpa's "unique work", and the general dim sum master can't reach it. I have seen my grandfather make zygote crisp, knead the flour and vegetable oil to make a mussel shell, the "mussel shell" is put into the sweet bean paste, the edge of the "mussel shell" is pinched out of a circle of exquisite pattern, into the oil pan fried into a yellow and brilliant "golden mussel shell", beautiful and delicious. I remember once my grandfather was making zygote crisps, and I shouted "Delicious!" Delicious!" Grandpa smiled and said, "Of course it's delicious!" When Song Qingling came to Songjiang, the dim sum I made for her was Hezi Crisp! ”
In 1981, Jin Xingsun made zygote crisp (courtesy of Jiang Jinzhu)
Grandpa refers to the banquet on the evening of June 6, 1955, when the leaders of the Songjiang Prefectural Committee invited Song Qingling, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, who came to Visit Songjiang, and His wife Shen Pujian and secretary Zou Taofen, who accompanied him, and Grandpa led the famous chefs to hold a series of Songjiang specialties. And introduced a copper hot pot on the banquet table - Caolu famous dish four gill perch eight raw hot pot, to inform the banqueters, this dish with four gill perch as the main ingredient, its ingredients are refined pork slices, shrimp, loin slices, chicken and duck slices, green fish slices, egg slices, chicken slices, seasonal slices and other eight treasures, as well as oil fine powder, spinach, etc., its soup has old hens, ham meat, mushrooms and winter shoots.
Four gill perch is a specialty of Songjiang, spawning in the sea, every March spring tide migrates to the river around The Xiuye Bridge in Songjiang, in May and June it grows fat, the fish is not more than 10 cm long, although the fish is not large, it is the first of the four famous fish in China. The guests tasted the dish and felt fresh, tender, fatty, fragrant, delicious and delicious. After listening to the introduction, Vice Chairman Song Qingling praised: "Good rice, good dishes, good snacks, Delicious Songjiang, Songjiang is the real land of fish and rice." ”
Four-gill perch in The Sea Fault Map
After 83 years of life, My grandfather died of illness on May 20, 1989, but his beloved Caolu is still there; although the store site has been relocated several times and the nature has changed from state-owned to private, the "Caolu" signboard that has gone through more than 70 years of ups and downs is still hanging high. For decades, the chefs of Caolu have inherited the innovative Songjiang Benbang specialties, including stir-fried eel shreds, steamed river three fresh, oil-fried yuanbao shrimp, plum dried vegetable sauce duck, and caolu first fresh series, which were selected as "66 Classic Symbols of Songjiang" in 2014. Every morning, the Caolu dim sum department buys an early breakfast team, which is also a unique scenery on Renmin North Road.
The long line at the mouth of the Caolu Dim Sum Department (Photo by Ying Xuan)
Friendly Reminder:
In order to cooperate with the current epidemic prevention and control work, Caolu Restaurant is temporarily suspended, and when to resume, we must wait for the notice, and please do not run empty