For those who have watched "The Tip of the Tongue in China," you won't forget the Wenshi tofu in the movie.

Wen Si Tofu is a traditional dish of Huaiyang Cuisine, which started in the Qing Dynasty and has a history of more than 300 years. I don't know what inspired the monk Wenshi to make this soup in such a delicate and extreme way. It is very strict selection of materials, knife work fine, soft and mellow, look at the soup is clear like water, but the fresh flavor mellow and long, melt in the mouth. At the same time, it has the effect of toning and nourishing the body. In fact, we see today, eat Wen Si tofu, and the monk Wen Si invented the work of the world.

The Wenshi tofu originated as an innovation by the monk Wenshi. In Yangzhou, every cook has a specialty, and temple cooks are no exception. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Monk Wenshi of the Tianning Temple in Yangzhou used tofu, golden needles, fungus and other ingredients to make this tofu soup, which was exceptionally tasty. Qing Yuyue "tea incense room clump notes": "Wenshi good for tofu soup, and so far those who follow its method, called Wenshi tofu." Tune Ding set" and called "assorted tofu soup". Yangzhou Boat Records mentions Wenshi's tofu more than once, saying that its "flavor is excellent". Volume 4 records: "Zhishang Village, Tianning Temple, West Park, also under the yard. ...... Monk Wenshi lived there. Wenshi word Xifu. Poetry. Good at recognizing people. There are Jianxu, Huiming style. A time when the township sage and the public are friends. He was also good at making tofu soup and sweet porridge. To this day, those who follow the example is called Wenshi tofu." Monk Wenshi was a man of great talent, and the dishes he created were widely imitated and circulated. Legend has it that when Qianlong visited Tianning Temple on his southern tour, the monk Wenshi repeatedly offered tofu soup and beet porridge. The dish was then introduced to the public by the Buddhists and named after its creator, Monk Wenshi.

Only with these records, we simply do not know how to restore the tofu soup made by monk Wenshi. In the 1970s China Finance and Economy Publishing House's "Jiangsu Recipes" and later "Yangzhou Recipes" and "Yangzhou Teaching Dishes," etc., Wenshi tofu was compiled into a soup dish. It is also a rather tasty tofu soup.

Wang Zengqi's article "Tofu" also describes: "Wenshi monk's tofu is a famous vegetarian dish in Yangzhou in the Qing Dynasty, and several recipes have been written about it, but I have never seen it on the menus of temples and vegetarian restaurants around Yangzhou. I don't know if the monk's tofu is fried or not. For no reason at all, I think it is fried, and for no reason at all, I think it is made with soybean sprouts in a soup, with good portobello mushrooms or mushrooms and bamboo shoots, and simmered over a gentle fire in excellent autumn oil. Whenever the ingredients come together, I will try to make Wenshi Monk Tofu once according to my imagination." You can not laugh at Mr. Wang, indeed, the historical records in the lack of detail, it is difficult to restore.

Then look at the production of today's Wenshi tofu, from the selection of materials to knife work, to ingredients, fire, are quite elaborate, and is the result of bold innovation.

Selection of material innovation. Tofu to choose water tofu, the northern brine tofu can not be shredded. Monk Wenshi did not have such a watery tofu back in the day, right?

Knife innovation. Before the tofu which have this cut? In order to cut the effect, the knife method contains an algorithm inside. The first layer of old skin on the surface of the tofu is peeled off, and then cut vertically with a knife. This is slicing, and this slice should be as thin as paper. After slicing, the slices of tofu will be slanted with the knife, so that it "lies", in the shape of a ladder, and then sliced into thin strands. A piece of soft tofu, usually with a large knife cut at least 88 knives, vertical cut 188 knives, a few minutes of light, a piece of fragile tofu into thousands of tofu strands, placed in clear water, root and root clear, uniform thickness, as fine as hair. It must also not be sticky, not even, not broken, which is considered the knife work.

Till after the cut, with a kitchen knife pocket bottom a shovel a support, stick to the surface of the water to the basin gently a dial, and then end of the basin side of a slight shake, the miracle happened - the original piece of tofu, instantly into thousands of tofu silk. At a glance such as the silverfish in the soup, hidden; and as a white silk chrysanthemum, leisurely bloom, attracted guests exclaimed. "The silver knife wanders through the picture of life, chipping winter, summer and fall." Tofu is already in the diet of the softest and softest thing, but also with the ghost of cutting into a silk like line of the situation, the whole process can not afford to be distracted, not only the hand, eye, knife cooperation, but also into the mind and hand into a Zen state.

Boiling soup innovation. Soup is the secret of Huaiyang cuisine. Clear chicken broth is added to the pot, the most popular is more than three years of local chicken, slow simmering on low heat, the flavor and nutrition in the local chicken all absorbed by the soup. After simmering it has to be purified, and after purification the chicken broth is as clear as plain water.

Presentation innovation. Huaiyang cuisine is all about color, aroma and taste, and the final presentation of Wenshi Tofu Soup is also very important. Shredded mushrooms and bamboo shoots are added to the soup, a thin layer of glass gravy is thickened, and a hand spoon gently swirls around the surface of the soup, separating the shredded tofu and slowly swirling it away, almost like the mood of a Chinese ink painting.

The final product is thousands of toothpick-length, hair-thin tofu strands, swimming in the broth, light, white and delicate. The colors of the tofu, mushrooms, asparagus and greens complement each other. When I ate it, the chicken broth flavor was strong, with layers of flavor from the shiitake mushrooms and freshness from the shredded asparagus. It is smooth and moist, yet fresh and flavorful, and usually arrives comfortably in your stomach before diners can return to their senses. The aftertaste makes you scream.

So who made Wenshi tofu the star of Huaiyang cuisine's performing arts?

This man was Cheng Fayin, a chef at Yangzhou's Fuchun Tea House, known as the first contemporary Wenshi tofu chef. In the 1970s and 1980s, the method of shredding Wenshi tofu was still very childish, first sliced, then shredded, and then even the thinest shredded matchstick thick. Cheng Fayin conquered the world with his Wenshi Tofu Soup at the fourth National Culinary Competition, winning the Special Gold Medal. In fact, his innovation was quite risky, and he was the first to change the old Yangzhou tofu into Japanese lactone tofu in the competition, which was amazing. He cut a piece of tofu in three layers, one only a centimeter high, and then one layer at a time. It has long been a legend of Yangzhou Wenshi Tofu Soup that shredded tofu can be threaded through a needle.

Cheng cuts the shredded Wenshi tofu in a single stroke, a seemingly simple feat that is really difficult to accomplish without three or five years of practice. When operating, not only must be as careful as a hair, but also bold as a tiger. What's more, you need to be calm and relaxed. While watching, you can see the knife rise and fall, transporting the knife into the wind. The whole process is really flowing, breathtaking. Cheng's original creation of this tofu knife method has become the industry standard. The emergence of this method has truly realized the magnificent transformation of Wenshi tofu, which makes Wenshi tofu go down to the kitchen and up to the hall.

Without the innovation of Monk Wenshi, there would be no such delicacy; without the transmutation of Cheng Fayin, Wenshi tofu would not be so beautiful; without the successive innovations of countless Cheng Fayins, Wenshi tofu would not be so wonderful!

Innovation is the soul of Huaiyang cuisine and the inexhaustible power of the development of the world's culinary capital.