Tenderloin refers to the meat on both sides of the spine of all animals. The meat in this part is active, tender and delicious, and it is the best quality meat among animals. Wrap the best meat in flour and fry it thoroughly, then pour it with hot and sour soup. If it's not delicious, I'm sorry for the good idea of the chefs. Of course, the tenderloin also has a sweet taste, which is called sweet and sour tenderloin, but the official banquet of Qinghai people-eight-plate banquet-has always been hot and sour tenderloin, which is related to the strong and heavy taste that Qinghai people like. At the same time, it is also related to the spread of this dish in Qinghai.
A long time ago, the indigenous people living on the vast Qinghai Plateau lived by herding cattle and sheep, and their staple food was beef, mutton and highland barley. Therefore, they know which part of cattle and sheep tastes best. "Cattle eat ribs and sheep eat breast forks", which means that the ribs of cattle and the breast forks of sheep are the most delicious and are an excellent choice for entertaining guests. For the elderly, holding a fat sheep's tail, because the sheep's tail is delicate, fat and soft, is most suitable for the elderly with bad teeth.
Until one day, some travel-stained businessmen traveled long distances to Qinghai. They brought fresh and exotic goods and unique eating habits in their hometown. As a result, chicken, pork, fish and seafood, except beef and mutton, slowly came to the table of Qinghai people.
Shanxi and Shaanxi were the first businessmen to come to Qinghai. Although they are all from the northwest, their eating habits are basically the same, mostly pasta. However, people's pasta is relatively exquisite and varied. After seeing the noodles and rolls made by others, Qinghai people gradually saw the changing way of flour in their diet. For example, knead flour into dough and wash it in water, and then steam the washed flour juice and gluten in a steamer, so that the golden, shiny, flexible and delicious stuffed skin can be steamed. For another example, if flour is mashed and wrapped in meat and fried in fish, the fried meat and fish will smell very special.
In the past, Qinghai people did not have the habit of cooking. The banquet for the guests is to cook large pieces of beef, mutton and baked steamed bread. If cooked delicately, some vegetables will be put in the broth to make braised dishes with meat pieces, which is called rice. Since these foreign businessmen with camels and mules came to Qinghai, Qinghai people have seen banquets hosted by others. In addition to all kinds of exquisite steamed bread, there are also carefully cooked dishes with different tastes. These dishes combine the northwest people's temperament of paying attention to atmosphere and interests, and most of them are mainly meat, but they are quite exquisite, delicious and nutritious. Among them, fried pork tenderloin is the best of all dishes, and it is one of the signature dishes on eight tables.
The dry fried tenderloin at the banquet was very delicious. The sweet and sour soup made of Huangyuan black vinegar was poured on the tenderloin, which added icing on the cake and became the hot and sour tenderloin of Xian Yi, old and young Xian Yi. The sweet and sour tenderloin, which is mainly sweet and salty, slowly faded out of the table because it was not suitable for the local taste. Hot and sour tenderloin occupies the absolute limelight, becoming an established dish in eight sets of seats, and gradually becoming the signature dish of Huangyuan County.
Of course, the creation of any brand has a step-by-step process. Huangyuan black vinegar made hot and sour tenderloin, but hot and sour tenderloin has become a popular brand dish, which has undergone the improvement and refinement process of many excellent chefs.
Among them, the earliest Shanxi businessman, Wang Jinyou, came to Qinghai by camel from the distant place of Jinzhong, hoping to make money by selling local medicinal materials or livestock products, but found that there are rich meat ingredients and excellent mountain products treasures here, which is an excellent material for opening restaurants and making banquets. However, Shanxi businessmen and local rich households need some high-end hotels or halls to conduct business exchanges or receive customers here. Wang Jinyou took a fancy to this market demand. He sized up the situation and raised funds to open the first banquet restaurant-Kuisheng Restaurant in Huangyuan County. Kuisheng Restaurant has established its position from the beginning, never selling low-grade meals, and specializes in contracting banquets. The banquet operated by the restaurant was a popular eight-plate banquet at that time, that is, there were eight hot dishes with their own characteristics, which were carefully cooked with rich local meat and gradually became a local specialty food in Qinghai.
Among the eight hot dishes, Wang Ga's best is the hot and sour tenderloin. His fried tenderloin is golden, tender, crisp and delicious, and the broth cooked with Huangyuan black vinegar is sour, sweet and spicy. Poured on the freshly fried tenderloin, it is steaming and fragrant, which can't help but make people's index fingers move. Over time, Huangyuan restaurant is famous for its hot and sour tenderloin. People really went to restaurants to eat.
Wang Gayou has been opening a restaurant in Huangyuan for decades, and after painstaking efforts, he finally made the hot and sour tenderloin his own specialty. However, he is too old to cook. Fortunately, he carefully trained several apprentices, one of whom was Ma Zenghai, the best of all apprentices, and obtained the true biography of his cooking of sour and spicy tenderloin. Wang Jinyou decided to hand over his Kuisheng restaurant to Ma Zenghai for care and return to his hometown after retirement.
When Ma Zenghai took over Kuisheng Restaurant, it was the most prosperous period in Huangyuan County. There are not only businessmen from Shanxi and Shaanxi, but also Tibetan businessmen from Tibet and Yushu, mainland businessmen from Tianjin, Dalian and Hankou, and foreign businessmen from the distant horizon. These people have different living habits and dietary tastes. But when they came to Huangyuan, they were attracted by the eight seats in Kuisheng restaurant, and they were full of praise for the hot and sour tenderloin.
Ma Zenghai's confidence has greatly increased. He knows that it is difficult to adjust everyone's opinions, but if the food is cooked well, he can still win unanimous praise from many merchants from all directions. In order to satisfy the tastes of more guests, he made great efforts on soup. The side dishes in the original soup are all made from local materials, which is economical and practical, mainly red pepper, egg cake, spinach and garlic seedlings. After Ma Zenghai took over, he not only made the original sour soup more delicate and long, but also improved the side dishes in the soup, replacing the egg cake and spinach with magnolia slices and black fungus. These two things are not produced locally in Qinghai and need to be trafficked from other places for a long time, which makes them more precious and raises the price of hot and sour tenderloin. Moreover, auricularia auricula and magnolia slices are two kinds of delicacies, one is black, the other is white, and the other is green garlic sprouts and red shredded pepper, which makes the color of the soup more pleasing to the eye. Poured on the golden crispy tenderloin, a plate of hot and sour tenderloin is delicious and delicious, which really deserves to be the specialty of Kuisheng Restaurant.
Authentic hot and sour tenderloin should be fried three times.
By the time Niu Dekui, the third generation descendant, because the hot and sour tenderloin in restaurants was very popular, many restaurants in the county were already engaged in the business of hot and sour tenderloin, and some went straight to the door for advice and learned the secret of making tenderloin. Niu Dekui has no reservations about the people who come to study. He always teaches them enthusiastically and patiently, so that they can master the production skills and make the hot and sour tenderloin as delicious as Kuisheng Restaurant. As a result, hot and sour tenderloin bloomed everywhere in Huangyuan, becoming a unique food in Huangyuan.
Later, someone opened a restaurant in other places, specializing in hot and sour tenderloin. However, only by pouring the soup mixed with Huangyuan vinegar on the fried tenderloin can we enjoy the unique flavor of tenderloin. Niu Dekui ordered his specialty "Huangyuan Li Ji". From this, it is distinguished that the sour and spicy tenderloin in Huangyuan is different from other places and is a unique food. Therefore, Huangyuan mature vinegar has been publicized and achieved a win-win effect.
Now, Li, the fourth generation descendant of Huangyuan, still runs this restaurant. Quesheng restaurant is still very popular, with full customers every day. Lijian kept the food brand founded by his predecessors, and did not dare to slack off. He is very strict about the selection of tenderloin. He must cut the fresh meat slaughtered that day into strips of uniform size, wrap it with fresh and wet pea powder, and then fry it in an oil pan. This time, frying is called soft frying. When the noodles and tenderloin are solidified, take them out immediately to ensure the taste. After that, pour the pure rapeseed oil into the oil pan, heat it, pour in the tenderloin and fry it again. It will take a long time to fry this time, and the tenderloin should be fried thoroughly.
After that, it will be bombed for the third time. This time, the tenderloin that has been thoroughly cooked will be fried golden and crisp. After taking it out, serve it with oil beads. Then, the waiter brought a big bowl of soup just prepared and poured it on the tenderloin while it was hot. Only the soup exploded with a bang, the soup boiled, the steam was full, and tiny water droplets and oil beads splashed around the plate. With the steam coming up, there is a strong hot and sour smell mixed with the smell of meat and soup, which makes people drool. The guests picked up chopsticks one after another and tasted the prestigious Huangyuan hot and sour tenderloin.
Hot and sour tenderloin has become the favorite food of Xining people.
Hot and sour tenderloin should be eaten while it is hot, so it tastes fragrant, spicy, crisp and waxy. Drink the soup while it is hot. Take a spoonful of steaming hot and sour soup with oil beads and send it to your mouth, and there will be a sweet and warm comfort flowing into your stomach along your esophagus, which will make you feel comfortable all over. I never imagined that there would be such warm, unrestrained and gentle soup in the distant Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Chewing the fungus, magnolia slices and green peppers in the soup, I feel that they are the ingredients carefully prepared by the chefs, just like the tenderloin fried three times and cooked three times, which is another sublimation of food. Just like drinking the hot and sour soup in tenderloin for the first time, I don't believe that the already delicious meat can become so wonderful.
Eight banquets were once the best memories of childhood. Huangyuan hot and sour tenderloin not only preserved this wonderful memory, but also carried it forward and became a favorite food of Xining people in the new era.