Master Wang Lixi I know

Ren Bojie

When I was doing research on Snacks Yangzhou in Yangzhou last year, one morning after interviewing Master Xu Yongzhen, I asked her who else I should visit in Yangzhou. She said, "Wang Lixi, you should have a chat. I called to see if he was drunk. " I wondered at that time how I could ask people if they were drunk in the morning.

Because of the introduction of Master Xu Yongzhen, Master Wang was willing to meet me, so we made an appointment with a friend's restaurant. He was wearing a dark collared T-shirt that day, and I couldn't believe my eyes when he entered the door and took his seat. He doesn't have a trace of fireworks, but he looks like a scholar instead of a chef. I saw that he walked slowly, was gentle and approachable, and had no master's shelf. No wonder all the books called him a Confucian chef. When he was young, everyone called him "Young Master". From his refined temperament at the age of 76 this year, we can imagine his handsome and handsome young man.

He has a strong Yangzhou accent and his voice is not loud. When I asked how to hang soup, there were many professional words that I couldn't understand at once, so he smiled and repeated them and explained the details to me. I am surprised by his extensive knowledge. He can not only talk about a dish in depth, but also extend it from the dish itself to the dietary differences, geographical differences and cultural differences in various places. It is conceivable that he often thinks systematically at ordinary times. When I asked him how his knowledge and thoughts came from, he said, "You read and think." I asked him what books he liked to read, but what he said had nothing to do with food, but books like Zi Zhi Tong Jian and China General History.

He always smiles and doesn't talk much, but that humility makes me feel that he is as kind as my grandfather. Only after the interview, the picture of my chef friends competing to take photos with the master with reverence reminded me of his position as a master of Huaiyang cuisine.

His high status is also reflected in his heavy capacity for drinking. He can drink a catty of wine every meal, and often starts drinking in the morning. No wonder master Xu Yongzhen said in the morning to see if he was drunk. Of course, this is a joke. On the day when Snack Yangzhou was finished, our film crew invited all the masters to dinner. On that day, I saw his drinking capacity with my own eyes. But I am amazed that a person likes drinking so much, but his body is full of bookish spirit.

I heard that when he was young, he was a myth in the kitchen world. No one has ever surpassed the record of plucking a live chicken and serving it for 3 minutes and 14 seconds. At the age of 21 or 22, I stood on the stove in a suit, but I didn't see any oil stains on that dress; Cooking is never repeated, clean and neat; Major receptions have never been missed.

No wonder when interviewing food critic Mr. Wang Zhen, he described Wang Lixi as "general demeanor". Speaking of kung fu, he mentioned an anecdote of Master Wang Lixi. "There was an important banquet for foreign guests with more than 51 tables. Shrimp was fried one by one, and it was not easy to fry every dish, because the raw materials of shrimp came with water. All the people were afraid to fire, and he said I would do it. Open the cauldron and fry it in one pot. Sizing, lubricating oil, stir-fried and served in 51 plates, are exactly the same as those fried in a small pot. Therefore, no one does not admire him. This is the general demeanor. In the face of danger, there is no chaos, the command is moderate, and the atmosphere is refreshing. "

Teacher Wang Zhen went on to say, "He is open-minded and not conservative. He can turn foreign dishes into his own from the standpoint of Huaiyang cuisine. Never simply learn, but learn the good characteristics of others, mix them with your own dishes and then sublimate them. Take mandarin fish, a representative vegetable squirrel, as an example, which is different from the general traditional practice. He first removed the head and tail of the fish, and then made two pieces of meat like squirrels picking grapes, which was very innovative. "

He became an apprentice of Caigenxiang in 2116, when Caigenxiang was the cradle of Yangzhou famous chefs. At first, he just followed the master as a handyman, but he had a strong learning ability and agile operation, and soon stood out and was deeply loved by the master, so he always called himself the master elder brother of Caigenxiang. When talking about Chen Luoping, who was also born in Caigenxiang, he smiled and said, "I am his big brother." When I chatted with Master Chen, Master Chen was surprised and said, "How can he be my master elder brother? He is my master! " Needless to say, Master Chen's surprised expression has already told me this friendship and ethics.

Some time ago, Master Wang was hospitalized. I went back to Yangzhou to visit him. I said, "You can't drink any more." He walked over and said, "No, no". I said, "commanding the kitchen is like leading the three armies", and he sighed and said, "The chef has the talent of being a champion but not the blessing of being a champion. You should pass it on."

as for me, I just hope you are all healthy and safe.

Throughout his career as a chef, he can never see any oil stains on his clothes, no matter whether he is working on the table or turning over the pot on the stove. He is called a "Confucian chef" or a "young master" chef. In 1958, a cooking contest was held in Yangzhou City. The total time of the broiler he made was only 3 minutes and 14 seconds, from slaughter, molting, opening, cutting and blending to frying and loading, which no one can surpass so far.

Wang Lixi, born in 1941, is a disciple of Dai Lizhi, a culinary master, and one of the four famous chefs in Yangzhou. A first-class cook, proficient in cooking skills, excellent in stoves, tables and dishes, clean and neat in operation, quick in hand and natural and unrestrained. According to many old Yangzhou memories, Wang Lixi's masterpiece was fried shrimp, and even the shell was reluctant to throw it away after eating, because the taste was crisp and fragrant. The vinegar-baked mandarin fish made by Wang Lixi was fried in the oil pan for three times until it was crisp, and the sweet and sour juice was boiled in three pots. The juice was boiling and the color, smell and shape were good. He stresses that the dishes he produces must be refreshing, which is the essence of Huaiyang cuisine.

at the beginning of his apprenticeship with caigenxiang, Wang lixi only worked as a handyman behind the master, starting with the most basic work, twisting hair, chopping vegetables and cutting meat. He still remembers the working hours of that year, 7: 11 a.m. in spring and autumn, 6: 31 a.m. in summer and 7: 31 to 8: 11 in winter.

This working time is about two hours earlier than the current hotel chef. This extra time was mainly because there was no refrigerator at that time, so we couldn't store the ingredients. All the ingredients were bought in the morning and used on the same day. Before serving at 11 noon, we should prepare the fire-resistant dishes such as braised pork and grilled hoofs, and the kitchen must act quickly.

Because there is no electric equipment such as meat grinder, the reception capacity of Caigenxiang is large, and it is the apprentices' business to handle two or three pigs every day. Trough head meat and front shoulder meat are given to the white case, hooves, ribs and back seat meat are given to the red case ... These steps of picking materials have helped Wang Lixi to practice a good swordsmanship, but the finished products must be uniform in thickness and length, commonly known as inch dishes. He was docile, not playful, clean and quick, so he was very loved by his master.

Even so, he sometimes made mistakes negligently. Once, when the pot was burning with meat, he went to chat with other chefs and almost burned the meat. Master saw it and gave him a big slap in the face without saying anything. He was not annoyed, and he is still glad that the pot of meat was not burned. This slap in the face also made him more cautious in his future career as a chef. Being diligent and diligent, Wang Lixi became the head chef of Caigenxiang after one year of apprenticeship.

"When I first learned to cook, I thought it was nothing to be a chef. It was just cooking and using a knife." "But after learning to cook, I found that it is not so easy to be a good cook. A real chef can't do it without ten years of hard work." Master Wang said. First of all, I have to be an apprentice for three years, then a kitchen boy for three years, and then I have to study outside for the last three years, learn from each other's strengths, and have a year of exploration.

Speaking of soup, Wang Lixi said that Yangzhou's soup is the most important, one is white soup, which should be thick but not greasy! One is clear soup, which should be crystal clear! A really good cook is very particular about soup. As the saying goes: the voice of a player is accurate and round; Cook's soup, without good soup, you can't cook good food! In traditional cooking, making and using soup is not only an important symbol to measure cooking skills, but also the experience and skill to judge the delicious food.

Yangzhou's soup is different from Guangdong's soup. Guangdong's soup needs to simmer all the ingredients, while Yangzhou's soup needs to be simmered first, then taken out, and then all parts of the meat are processed, and finally made into cakes, then simmered soup, and finally put in shredded chicken. Finally, after the shredded chicken is simmered, it needs to be taken out and made into boiled dried silk, etc ... People make the best use of their materials, land and materials.

"Nowadays, Yangzhou cuisine is generally too sweet, but it should not be. It should be slightly salty and sweet, and white dishes basically don't need sugar. Only dishes with soy sauce need to put a little sugar, which is mainly used to remove the salty and astringent taste of soy sauce and increase its umami flavor." Wang Lixi said.

In p>1958, in the Yangzhou Cooking Competition, it took him more than 3 minutes to make a roast chicken, from slaughter, depilation, cutting and blending to frying and loading, which has been passed down as a beautiful talk. That year, he was 19 years old and was an apprentice for two years.

When asked why Wang Lixi could change from a live chicken to a dish of Chinese food in three minutes, Wang Lixi said, "Now, chefs can't kill chickens, but in our time, they all did it themselves. Practice makes perfect, and they can kill 118 chickens in two hours a day at most." One day, Dai Lizhi asked Wang Lixi to slaughter all the chickens kept in the yard with two younger brothers. The whole process took them more than two hours, adding up to 118 chickens, which were made into roast chickens, fried chickens and boiled chickens respectively.

Wang Lixi said, "A chef is a magician. Things that don't work together can change it into good dishes, and he will change."