< h3 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > "Red Kitchen Red Cabbage"</h3>
Interview with chefs with superb culinary skills across the country
It aims to push out those serious chefs
Let more people see their presence
Decades have passed, Ye Zhuojian has never stopped moving forward, although he has countless auras, but he has never forgotten his original intention - to be a chef with faith and make dishes with vitality.
<h3 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Red Kitchen Red Cabbage, No. 190</h3>
Ye Zhuojian
President of the Elite Association of Shanghai Chefs Alliance
Shanghai Municipal Government Procurement Review Expert
Food planner specialist at Interstate Hotels & Resorts
Executive Chef of the Fish Society
In 1998, when the former president of the United States visited China, Ye Zhuojian made him a "pot sticker small tang dish", which was stuffed with shrimp glue, horseshoe and local vegetables in Shanghai, wrapped in rotten clothes, fried into a "pot sticker", the appearance was yellow and emerald green, the taste was crisp and refreshing, and Clinton even called it delicious after tasting.
The dish looks unremarkable, but it's full of local Shanghainese ingredients and Cantonese cooking techniques, as well as northern pot stickers and Thai sauces.
A "pot stickered small tang dish", reflecting the food culture of different regions, and cleverly integrating them together, is not only the "novelty" of the dish, but also the "heart" that Ye Zhuojian has wanted to convey from the kitchen for many years - to make a dish with vitality.
Ye Zhuojian, a legendary chef known as the Royal Chef, this winter, let us enter his world and listen to his legendary story.
<h3 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the vitality of the dish comes from the details</h3>
In 1977, Ye Zhuojian had the first "iron rice bowl" in his life.
Ye Zhuojian's uncle was a chef at that time, working alone to provide for the whole family, in the view of Ye Zhuojian at that time, being a chef could not only meet the needs of survival, enjoy the appetite, but also make diners happy.
After several years of apprenticeship at the famous Ambassador Hotel in Hong Kong, Ip Cheuk Kin emerged as a Cantonese chef who could stand out on his own, and also attracted the attention of the mainland's "Bo Le".
In 1985, Beijing's catering industry needed fresh blood and a stronger culinary concept to stimulate the vitality of the catering market, so a group of "Hong Kong culinary elites" represented by Ye Zhuojian were introduced.
"At that time, wages in Beijing were relatively high, nearly double that of Hong Kong." The salary is attractive, and there is a broader room for development, Ye Zhuojian is willing to take risks and is willing to try new.
But how far away are Hong Kong and Beijing? 2199 kilometers, almost spanning the whole of China. Not only the geographical distance, but also the difference between the mainland catering market and the Hong Kong catering market at that time, the language barriers, cultural differences and work habits were very different.
"Now it's 30 years ago, when the pace of kitchen work in Beijing was slower than in Hong Kong, in order to drive the enthusiasm of employees, we made a lot of efforts, and made great efforts in the standardization of work and the stability of production."
Especially in terms of details, Ip Cheuk Kin has beaten his subordinates many times, he wants to convey the advanced concepts and more efficient working methods of the Hong Kong catering industry, so that they can understand and be able to implement it without deviation, and later in the Lido Hotel and the Palace Hotel, the reason why it can be a hit is also because it follows the management standards and production requirements of Hong Kong catering.
For example, in order to save, add leaf stems that do not need to be used; such as pineapple grunt meat, he requires attention to the combination of compound flavor, and each sauce should be standardized; such as char siu, the roasting temperature, duration, and marinating time are strictly stipulated; the pork used for hanging soup must be selected before the pork leg meat, so that the soup will be clear, the old hen of the hanging soup, to choose a year to a year and a half, so that the soup will be fresh and fragrant...
There are many such "examples", and these details eventually lead to a dish and a chef.
"We must have a conscience when cooking, and we must have vitality in our dishes." Good quality is not created out of thin air, make each dish clear all the raw materials, know how to select materials, focus on cooking and seasoning, and finally accurately control the color and flavor of the dish. ”
<h3 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > innovations make the dish last</h3>
Ye Zhuojian has received countless international dignitaries, and 1998 was just one of them.
To do a state banquet, pay attention to safety first, the chef must not only understand the characteristics of ingredients, nutritional collocation, but also to clarify the eating habits of VIPs, what allergies, taboo food. When designing a menu, it is also necessary to take into account the physical condition of the guest at that time.
The preparation of the state banquet should be prepared at least half a month in advance, during the reception, no matter how big or small, Ye Zhuojian will personally do it, pay attention to all links and details, and ensure safe and stable production.
On the basis of safety, Ye Zhuojian is good at adding local characteristics and seasonal ingredients on the basis of the preferences of politicians and leaders at home and abroad, 20 years ago, Ye Zhuojian already had the concept of "not eating from time to time", 20 years later, this concept has become the consensus of the catering industry.
For example, when receiving foreign VIPs, Ye Zhuojian is often eaten by foreign guests with black garlic, matsutake mushrooms or porcini mushrooms, which is familiar with the eating habits of foreign guests, plus a little Chinese characteristics of the presentation, outstanding, both bright and good acceptance, today's catering industry, such innovative methods are also becoming the mainstream.
For domestic VIPs, Ye Zhuojian thinks more about their "hometown taste". For example, when receiving Deng Gong, because he was from Sichuan, Ye Zhuojian deliberately took "Dan Dan Noodles" as the last dish, and added fried chicken fir mushrooms to it, and ate it with Dan Dan Noodles, which had a unique flavor.
In addition, Ye Zhuojian also uses the original "bamboo" to make stew utensils, serve them to the table, and secretly conform to the bamboo cultural tradition of Chinese, such innovations make his dishes have lasting vitality.
Ye Zhuojian's life has countless "highlight moments".
Among them, the "Hong Kong-style Cantonese cuisine" first launched at the Yangtze River Hotel is refreshing and has an impact so far.
In June 1990, the Yangtze River Hotel opened, and at that time, coinciding with the downturn of the entire Shanghai tourism industry, the Yangtze River Hotel was operating under heavy loads. In order to "save" the Yangtze River Hotel, Hong Kong New World Group Sangu Maolu went to the Beijing Palace Hotel to invite Ye Zhuojian to come out, and Ye Zhuojian was appointed as the executive chef of the ManfuLou Chinese Restaurant at the Yangtze River Hotel in Shanghai.
When he first arrived in Shanghai, Ye Zhuojian went around the local area for a long time, and he noticed that there were relatively few restaurants in Shanghai that made "live seafood". After market research, he also found that the so-called Cantonese cuisine in many restaurants was different from the Hong Kong-style Cantonese cuisine he knew.
After thinking about it, Ye Zhuojian had an idea.
He abandoned the practice of using frozen and chilled ingredients in most restaurants at that time, and first proposed to make a large fish tank, in which many live groupers and crabs were raised... This method not only gives fresh materials and excellent taste, but also gives diners a visual impact that they have never experienced before.
For example, the crab used in the "vermicelli crab pot" is directly airlifted from Guangdong, and this dish has become the top 1 of the restaurant menu, and it has been out of stock all year round.
Then, he also added Hong Kong-style Cantonese dishes, including shrimp dumplings, intestine noodles and other kinds of dim sum, suckling pig, char siu, stew soup, etc. to the menu, and strictly required all dishes to be sold on the same day, never using overnight ingredients, refreshing people's cognition of Cantonese cuisine at that time.
This wave of operations not only made up for the gap in the Shanghai catering market at that time, but also brought the development of Cantonese cuisine in Shanghai to a new climax.
At that time, how hot was the Cantonese cuisine made in Manfu Lou?
The word "queuing" alone is not enough to describe its popularity, for which Ye Zhuojian still remembers it deeply, "Many people take a taxi to eat at a restaurant, and after crossing Zhongshan South Road, the fare will be charged a surcharge of 10%. ”
In the 1990s, when the economy was not developed, the per capita consumption of 150 yuan could not stop diners from rushing to find the taste, which showed the popularity of ManfuLou.
<h3 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Chinese food and Western food, dare to be the industry pioneer</h3>
In 1996, when he was in charge of the New Asia Tomson Hotel, Ye Zhuojian first proposed a new dining concept of "Chinese food and western food", which was unprecedented in the mainland catering market at that time.
"Traditional Chinese food is eaten together around the round table, dishes are on the ground one by one, and there was no popular chopsticks at that time, so some guests, especially business and tourist types, are not very convenient to eat." For the traditional Chinese way of eating, Ye Zhuojian is not very advocating, "Moreover, from a plate to divide the dish, it will get the juice to drip out, which is not very elegant." ”
Ye Zhuojian, who was as careful as ever, noticed this problem and immediately took action.
For example, in traditional Chinese food, he removes a fish from the head and tail, removes the bones, slices the best parts of it into pieces, and presents it to customers with the cooking method of Chinese food and the plate loading method of Western food, so that the dining method is more elegant and calm, and the appearance is more unique.
This approach, which was very advanced at the time, not only took care of the dining habits of many guests, but also raised the taste and presentation of the dishes to a higher level. In this way, not only can the unit price of the dish be increased, but the guests can also eat more comfortably.
"Chinese food western eating" once in the world, the response is huge, for a time, the new Asia Tomson Hotel is in the market, many guests come to taste this Chinese "romance".
Due to the hot business, many star hotels have also followed suit, and "Chinese food and western food" has created a new trend in the domestic catering market.
The catering concept of "Chinese food and western food" has been widely influenced and has been used to this day, including the current popular "creative fusion cuisine" in the catering industry.
"Most of the creative fusion dishes now are a combination of Chinese and Western, a combination of Chinese and Japanese, and a combination of major cuisines." In Ye Zhuojian's view, "creativity is not exactly a positive word, and some dishes are destroyed on 'creativity'." ”
"For example, the molecular cuisine that has been highly respected in recent years is more suitable for making appetizers or desserts." Ye Zhuojian believes, "Because Chinese like to eat hot food, if a table of dishes are raw and cold, there is no temperature, no pot aroma, for the Chinese, there is no way to chopsticks." ”
In Ye Zhuojian's eyes, the charm of the dish lies in its color, aroma, taste and temperature. In particular, the temperature is in front, because as soon as it is served, the first thing that should be felt by the guests is the steaming heat and the aroma that comes from the face.
"According to the soup I asked for, if there is no 80 degrees, there is no hot feeling, it is not soup, and the aroma of the soup cannot be drunk at all." "The same is true for cold dishes, which are higher than 7 or 8 degrees, and the taste is not good."
In Ye Zhuojian's eyes, each ingredient has its own "personality", "combination" or "non-combination", depending on the chef's grasp of the ingredients and the understanding of cooking techniques.
For "integration", Ye Zhuojian believes that it is not blindly handling, and innovation should master the "degree".
However, now many young chefs are too impetuous, eager to achieve, only see the one-sidedness of things, this kind of "take-ism" has no future to speak of, and blunt borrowing will only make people "pick sesame seeds and lose watermelons".
< h3 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > concluding remarks</h3>
Ye Zhuojian is a very low-key person, although he has more than 30 years of rich experience, he never shows off.
He does not post photos of shaking hands with Kisinger, does not say how many politicians he has received, and even few people around him know that he has worked in the Hong Kong Jockey Club for 3 years.
"A mountain is also a mountain high." He has been famous for a long time but never shows the mountain dew, does not show off, this is him.
<h3 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > leaf Zhuojian red cabbage</h3>
Hibiscus steamed Australian champagne crab
< raw material >
1 champagne crab, shrimp soup, native eggs.
< seasoning >
Salt, chicken powder, pepper, corn starch, steamed fish soy sauce.
< practice >
1. Put the prepared hibiscus egg mixture on a plate, seal the plastic wrap, and steam in the steaming box for about 8 minutes.
2. Boil the champagne crab in boiling water for about 15 seconds, fish it out, put the ice water to chill it, keep the meat tender, and then cut off the crab shell and keep half of the shell.
3. Add a little salt, chicken powder, pepper and corn starch to the cut champagne crab and pour hot peanut oil on the crab meat, so that the steamed crab tastes more delicious.
4. Place the flavored crab on top of the hibiscus egg, drizzle a little egg liquid on top, and steam in the steaming box for about 4 minutes.
Fry the baked fish mouth
Tianmu Lake fish mouth, red and yellow pepper slices, green onion segments, ginger slices, garlic slices.
Soy sauce, chicken powder, salt, sugar, pepper salt, chopped pepper, corn starch, Cantonese rice wine.
1. Marinate the fish mouth with salt and corn starch for 5 minutes, then rinse well, then use garlic, soy sauce, chicken powder, salt, sugar, marinade into the flavor, and sizing with corn starch.
2. Heat the pot, put the peanut oil, wait for the oil to be warm and hot, fry the fish mouth on both sides of the golden brown, then under the pepper pieces, green onions, ginger and garlic stir-fry, separate the fish mouth seasoning, put in the pot, sprinkle a little white pepper, praise a little Jiujiang rice wine on the side of the pot, cover the pot, open the high heat and bake for 5 seconds.
Auspicious Three Treasures
South American ginseng, flower gum, abalone, iron stick Huaishan, black truffle flakes, garlic seedling leaves, dried pepper, ginger onion garlic.
Abalone juice, oyster sauce, powder, chicken powder, sugar, soy sauce, soup.
1. Steam Huaishan and set aside.
2. Simmer the South American ginseng, flower gum and abalone in ginger and shallot flavored water for 5 minutes.
3. Heat the oil pot, fry the spice head, put down the thick chicken soup, then season, simmer the Good South American ginseng, flower glue, abalone, Huaishan, season and simmer thoroughly into the flavor, hook a little mustard powder, under the old soy sauce color.
4. After loading the plate, plan a few pieces of black truffle and put the garlic leaves on the surface.
Private chef secretly prepared red wine foie gras
French foie gras.
French red wine, imported milk, fresh jam, swastika soy sauce, rock sugar.
1. Foie gras is first soaked in milk for 24 hours.
2. Soak the soaked foie gras in 80 degrees water and cook for about 30 minutes, scoop it up, put it in the mixed red wine juice and soak it for 4 days to make the foie gras taste good.
Shallot oil conch cup
Large conch, lettuce silk.
Shallot oil.
1. Take out the snail meat and wash it, cut into thin slices.
2. Bring water to a boil, add a little salt, sear the lettuce shreds, remove and put on the plate.
3. Season the sliced spinach slices, place them on the lettuce shreds, and drizzle with the mixed shallot oil.
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Reporter | Yang Zhuangrong
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