Sichuan cuisine chefs make on-site (Photo by Xiao Yuyang)
Sichuan cuisine is in the process of being made (Courtesy of Chengdu Finance and Trade Vocational High School)
Re-setting the standard is conducive to the realization of "hundred dishes and tastes"
On February 23rd, it was the weekly meeting of the "Sichuan Elderly Association", and the teachers and masters gathered and sorted out some newly collected traditional Sichuan cuisine dishes. Wang development revealed that so far more than 200 menus have been received. The next task is that the teachers and masters personally take charge, record cooking videos, and even hold targeted technical lectures so that the public can learn more intuitively. The most important point of this link is the strict quantification of raw materials and condiments.
Zhang Rongping, director of the external liaison department of the "Sichuan Elders' Association", said that before that, Sichuan cuisine had also launched various recipes, some of which either focused on "popular Sichuan cuisine", some were limited to the technical conditions at that time, there were pictures and texts but no cooking videos, and even the proportion of raw materials and condiments in some recipes depended on the experience of the master. As a result of copying, it is possible to make the dish unduly salty. Therefore, Sichuan cuisine urgently needs to reformulate traditional standards.
In the one year since the establishment of the "Sichuan Elderly Association", the teachers and masters have contributed more than 200 excellent Sichuan dishes. Miao Qingyuan, vice president of the "Sichuan Elderly Association", revealed that in addition to these recipes, in addition to lychee loins, small slippery meat, pineapple silver lung, dragon and phoenix chicken legs, snowflake chicken and other almost lost dishes, more are common Sichuan dishes. The recipes introduced by the teachers and masters not only have the most traditional practices and standards, but also have innovative Sichuan dishes, which are recipes that can see the development of Sichuan cuisine.
"Sichuan cuisine can sweep the country, not only rely on spicy to break through the world." It is not only thick and spicy, but also known for its freshness. Zhang Rongping said that he hopes that through the efforts of the teachers and masters of the "Sichuan Elderly Association", the stereotype of spicy and heavy oil left by Sichuan cuisine to the public can be reversed, so that young people now understand that the essence of Sichuan cuisine is actually to achieve "hundred dishes and hundred flavors" from small frying and stir-frying.
Gong bao chicken ding (Photo by Xiao Yuyang)
Sichuan cuisine innovation should also follow the "basic principles"
"Sichuan Elderly Association" has always emphasized the "original and clear source" of Sichuan cuisine, in the rapid development of the catering industry, is it still necessary? Wang said that "the original Qingyuan" does not require people who are rich in food and clothing to love the "longan roasted white" of heavy oil, or force those who love spicy spicy to like Sichuan cuisine with a light taste. But chefs can't ignore the most important "basic principles" of Sichuan cuisine when completing a Sichuan dish in the fastest and easiest way.
Two years ago, at an international conference in Chengdu, Wang was invited to serve as a Sichuan cuisine consultant for the banquet. On the menu, there is a Sichuan cuisine Gongbao chicken that is most popular at home and abroad. Seeing the chef's list of ingredients for the Kung Pao chicken cubes, Wang Jie questioned: "The Kung Pao chicken cubes actually added lettuce cubes!" Lettuce diced is crisp and refreshing, with chicken is not both degreasy and color matching? Wang said that if from the perspective of traditional "taste is king", the side dish of lettuce cannot appear in the diced chicken of Gongbao, "because the lettuce has a high water content, and when it is hot, it spits water, and the aroma of the dish will not be so strong and the color will not be bright." Conversely, if paired with peanuts, it not only adds a crispy texture, but also perfectly blends into the sweet and sour taste of the dish. ”
The most traditional method of Sichuan cuisine is the return pot meat, and its methods are also very exquisite. Miao Qingyuan said, "The meat must be a two-knife pier." The meat of this place is six points fat and four points thin, and the cut out is not only in good shape, but the fat meat is not soft. "Cook the meat in water until it is 8 minutes cooked, remove the slices, turn on a low heat and fry slowly, so that the oil in the fat meat gradually bursts out. Until the slices of meat bend to form a "lamp nest", then add sweet sauce, watercress, tempeh and red soy sauce to improve the color, and finally add garlic seedlings. In the era of food scarcity, the aroma of oil, meat and garlic seedlings in the pot meat has satisfied the yearning of many Sichuan people for food.
Nowadays, hui pot meat has developed into the use of pork belly as a raw material, as well as with various ingredients such as green peppers, lotus whites and salt vegetables. Wang Said said that Sichuan cuisine can develop and is loved by the people so far, that is, it has always dared to innovate. Just innovation must also follow the basic principles, "such as the Gongbao series, Sichuan cuisine launched The Gongbao prawns, Gongbao fresh shellfish, Gongbao waist blocks, Gongbao rabbit flowers and other innovative products, but the basic principle is that the ingredients can not be high moisture content. Therefore, we chose peanuts or more rare cashew nuts to match to achieve a crispy effect. The same is true for the pot meat, the side dishes can be changed, but can not affect the overall rich and fresh flavor of the dish style and taste. ”
Laowaixue Sichuan cuisine (Courtesy of Chengdu Finance and Trade Vocational High School)
Restoration Recipes Relive the traditional memories of Sichuan cuisine
Hu Lianquan, an old gentleman known as the "Sichuan Cuisine Living Dictionary", believes that Sichuan cuisine pays attention to the harmony of the five flavors and is based on taste. The teachers' restored recipes will show more than 20 kinds of flavors such as traditional Sichuan cuisine's mouth-watering pepper and hemp, fish aroma, strange taste, ginger juice and so on. Not only should we teach people to learn authentic Public Sichuan dishes such as Kung Pao Chicken and Hui Pot Meat, but we can also retrieve traditional memories of Sichuan cuisine in many lost dishes.
Miao Qingyuan said that there is a dish in Sichuan cuisine called "small slippery meat", which is to cut the fat and lean parts of the pork before taking it into the size of a fingernail. After the yard is cooked, it is cooked in 30% hot oil, and then the small fungus, water chestnut slices, ginger and garlic slices and pickled peppers are cooked on high heat. The recipe is similar to that of sliced meat in white oil, but the taste is different from pure lean meat with tenderloin. If you add crispy oil residue to the small slippery meat, it becomes crunchy and smooth meat again. This dish makes full use of the scraps to make a delicious dish, but no chef wants to go to such trouble now. The dish "rose pan frying" is also rarely made now. This snack should first be fried with flour and egg batter to make a cake, then changed to 5 cm long each piece, rolled on the dried fine bean flour and fried into a golden pan. In addition, the dense edible rose petals are fried in white sugar water to make a sugar juice, poured on the pan and fried, that is, a sweet and delicious snack with a crispy outside and tender inside.
Many former home-cooked dishes are either abandoned because of the abundance of materials today, or they are far from the public table because of their intricate production and expensive raw materials. These "abandoned" Sichuan dishes will also be salvaged. Miao Qingyuan said that pig lungs are now almost completely far away from the modern table, but there is a famous dish in traditional Sichuan cuisine - pineapple silver lung. The chef cleverly uses the willow leaf shape of the lung leaves, steaming and placing them in the shape of a windmill, in which they are filled with fragrant milk soup and surrounded by green pineapple dumplings, which are not only beautiful in color, but also soft in texture, salty and delicious. The raw materials for "dragon and phoenix chicken legs" are actually chicken, pork and ham. Its method is quite complicated: first use chicken, pork and water chestnuts to chop, add various seasonings, put in twelve pieces of lard oil smeared with egg whites and bean flour, and then put the leg bones of the cooked chicken into the shape of chicken legs, and then sprinkle dry bean flour and fry them. When the "chicken thighs" are ready, pair with ham, toast and the rest of the side dishes. Although this dish is time-consuming and laborious, it is still included in the menu because of its freshness and crispness and beautiful beauty.
Wang said that in the final menu, there will be a number of restored Sichuan dishes that have been lost. At that time, through the "words and deeds" of teachers and masters, more members of the public will appreciate the charm of Sichuan cuisine's "hundred dishes and hundred tastes".