Suzhou Chinese cooking master series articles were specially written by "One Strange Food Mansion"
kunshan , Tianxiangguan, one morning at the end of last year, the master interviewed by A Strange was named Liu Xi'an. It is no exaggeration to say that he is the most award-winning master in Suzhou's kitchen industry.
Master Liu Xi'an has many titles. I'm just talking about the only one in Suzhou, the only senior Chinese cooking master in Suzhou, the only Chinese cooking master in Suzhou Hall of Fame, and the only first person in Suzhou to win many honors.
A monster walked around his Tianxiang Pavilion. All the walls that could hang plaques were hung with various awards and honors awarded by the Central Committee, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Suzhou and Kunshan.
In the past twenty years, Aojiaomian has become famous in Jiangnan, China and even the world. It turns out that he is the hero behind it.
Yan Huanwen took
Liu Xi'an was born in Xi'an in 1944. His father Whampoa Military Academy graduated. His mother is from Kunshan. He is a posthumous son. After his father died of illness, his mother remarried. When he was two or three years old, his family returned to Kunshan to settle down.
Mother opened a meal stall in 1947 to make a living. There are a total of ten children in the family, and the living burden is very heavy.
Xiao Zion is naughty by nature and doesn't want to study. He dropped out of school in the second grade of elementary school.
eleven years old, she holds a small basket every day to sell "Cover Pork Beans" (a local snack in Kunshan). My mother cooked it, used broad beans and scissors to make it until it was crispy and sprinkled with seasoning when eating.
Kunshan, there were many teahouses back then. Little Zion gets up at 2 a.m. every day and goes to three to four teahouses.
"Little Red Man, come and hold some crispy beans."
Generally, one cent, up to two cents. Sprinkle seasoning on a bun of lotus leaf-packed crispy beans.
Little Zion's basket of crispy beans can always be sold out. First, the mother made delicious food, and second, Xiao Zion was young and adults felt sorry for him and took care of his business.
The next year, I changed my job and herded cattle. I drove two cows to Ma'anshan (also known as Yufengshan ). Every day at noon, I ate the rice I brought. There was a 106-year-old monk in the temple on the mountain who gave him a bowl of "Tianlu Water" (boiled by rainwater). Every time, Xiao Zion first knelt in front of the Bodhisattva and then started eating. The old monk loved Xiao Zion and often touched his head. When the cow had enough grass, he drove the cow to the river at the foot of the mountain to take a bath. Xiao Zion swam with the cow.
Zion followed the adults to Suzhou to send cattle twice. He drove the cattle barefoot for about 100 miles. He took a day and had to walk. Many blood bubbles came out of his feet. At night, he took the train back to Kunshan. He was too sleepy and fell asleep on the ground. He missed the train to the station. His companions took the train and waited for dawn alone...
In 1956, the public and private joint ventures were merged into the "Traveler Hotel".
General Manager of the beverage company Sun Xuezhi saw Zion's old cotton jacket without buttons and tied his waist with a straw rope. When it was cold, he was still barefoot. He told his mother: Come to the company to learn skills.
Thirteen-year-old Zion went to "Zhang Yixing" and "Sanyuan Pavilion" as an apprentice and officially started his catering career.
Both dim sum shops are under the beverage service company, and Xiao Zion is an apprentice in both stores.
In the morning, wontons, noodle, soup dumplings, prickly buns, sand dumplings, salted rice dumplings, start at 2 noon, Xiaolongbao, fried steamed buns , red bean garden soup, oil dumplings , snow dumplings , at night, fried small dumplings, wontons...
Little Zion, sweet-mouthed and diligent, the masters all like this child.
No one called his name.
"Xiaotangbao", "Oh".
" Yangchun noodles ", "Oh".
Little Zion ran around like the wind, helping Master Zhang hand over the spoon and sending Master Li a rag.
Get up at four o'clock every day, unload the door panel, raising the stove, picking coals, pulling bellows, shaking meat, making wontons, fried small buns, washing dishes... everything is done. He didn't rest at noon, picked vegetables and shook meat, and had to work until twelve o'clock in the evening. He slept on the restaurant table, working fifteen or sixteen hours a day, from birds to ghosts.
often Xiao Zion puts a bamboo plaque on his head and puts the noodles and wonton skins back.
Fry the small cage and wonton every night. At that time, the stove and bellows were placed at the door of the store. Xiao Zion would pull the bellows beside the stove. He pulled it differently, "kick, tick, tick, tick, tick", he would pull out a rhythm like music. As soon as he heard this sound, the neighbors knew that it was Xiao Tang wrapped in the bellows. The road was not wide at that time, and everyone on a Renmin Road heard it.
A neighbor said that he couldn't hear the sound of Xiao Tangbao pulling the bellows and couldn't sleep.
Children sleep and sometimes fall asleep while working. The masters taught him to pat his eyes with cold water and joked: Use a small soup bun (a pot brush made of fine bamboo) to skew a few pieces, and support his eyelids.
Little Zion didn't know it was a joke, but he actually found a broom, found one, twisted it a few pieces, and used a short stick to support his eyelids.
"It hurts, why can't I hold on!"
end steamer. Zion has little force and needs to use the strength of her belly to lift it. Steam comes out of the steamer and burns her belly. Little Zion dares not make a sound and pats her belly with cold water. Soon, her belly becomes inflamed and ulcerated.
When I was empty, Zion liked to sneak out and play marbles. His friends called him "bad belly". He played marbles the best.
"Why didn't I come today when I have a bad belly?"
Hahaha, when I think of Xiao Chenguang, it's a bit sweet, a bit joyful, and a bit bitter.
Liu Xi'an officially worshiped two masters, Yin Dada and Xu Tianlin, are the best white and red masters in Kunshan. All benefited a lot and were grateful for your life.
The first white chef, Yin Dada, was the apprentice of the beverage service company, and the unit appointed him to worship. Master Yin didn't speak much, had good skills, and taught Zion step by step.
first, you must first send five pieces of noodles: noodles, dead noodles , oil pastry noodles, starch noodles, and boat noodles. Zion learned well. Master Yin liked this obedient and spiritual apprentice very much, but he never praised him in front of him.
The second master was Xu Tianlin, the red case master who Zion worshiped himself. He met during the competition. At the age of 15, in the Kunshan cooking skills competition, Liu Xi'an won the first place in the beating and selling wontons. He made wontons very well and fast, and wontons flew out of his hands like magic.
Xu Tianlin won the first place in killing chickens. It took only 3 minutes from killing chickens to cooking cooked and served on the table to eating them. They represented Kunshan to Suzhou to compete and won the award. Zion was interviewed by a journalist for the first time in his life.
Liu Zion was full of admiration for Xu Tianlin. Xu Tianlin was optimistic about Zion and immediately became a disciple.
Master Xu is also a master who doesn't speak much and does things very seriously. On two occasions, he should have gotten up at 4 a.m. to set up the stove. Zion overslept. When he woke up, he saw that the stove had been ready. Master Xu was picking out black coal from the white coal slag. The master didn't scold him a single word. He felt very sorry. After two times, Zion never overslept again.
In order to supplement life, Master Xu raised two pigs at that time. Zion followed his master to sweep the floor at the vegetable market at 2 o'clock every night, so that he could pick some vegetable skins and feed the pigs. The master contracted the rice husks of tiger stove , used rice husks to buckle the pigs, and then sold the pig manure and rice husks to one Changshu people... These hard work and tiring work, Zion accompanied the master to work for two years.
Master Xu also took him to do an exciting thing. In 1959, Liu Xi'an assisted Master Xu Tianlin to make "Red Oil Fish Paste Noodles" and mailed it to Chairman Mao in Beijing. He received a letter from the Eighth Office of the State Council for commending.
16 years old (1960), Liu Xi'an was sent to Suzhou Cooking School to study and graduated for one and a half years.
's three-year apprenticeship career laid a solid foundation for him. In school, he learned cooking skills and knowledge to open his eyes.
He has studied in: Xinjufeng, Songhelou , Weiya, Yichangfu, Huang Tianyuan , Lexiang and other famous restaurants in Suzhou.
Back then, the older generation of famous teachers and chefs in Suzhou, including Master Wei, Master Ding, Master Meng, Liu Changfa, Zhang Zonggen, Gu Haoliang, Feng Binjun, etc., all gave him guidance and teaching skills. Speaking of these masters, Liu Xi'an's tone was full of respect!
Originally, he felt that being a chef was hard and wanted to join the army. Now, he found that cooking is a skill and career worth pursuing throughout his life. He really fell in love with the art of culinary. After graduating from
, he returned to Kunshan's "Duozhong Hotel" to work (formerly called Wanjia Village). Master Xu Tianlin was also there, and he was the manager. The "Duozhong" business was booming and the workload was large. Liu Xi'an was responsible for the following morning. At that time, the food was tight. Many farmers brought flour to change noodles and ate at most 2,000 kilograms of noodles a day. When this was done, he knew everything about him and had melted into his blood.
(I need to make a special note here that Liu Xi'an recognizes words, but can't write. Therefore, in the interview, when the store name, person name, dish name, etc. cannot be distinguished, I can only write according to the sound. There may be errors, please understand)
During the Cultural Revolution, Liu Xi'an was impacted, traveling, placing a list, and closing a cowshed. When building the "Kunshan Hotel", each of the 800-pound prefabricated cement floor slabs was carried by Liu Xi'an and other five black elements.
ended, Liu Xi'an was rehabilitated and was assigned to the "Chuxing Pavilion". In the morning, he sold red oil fried fish noodles, white soup braised duck noodles, and in the afternoon, he sold , fried , two sides yellow. After that, he was sent to Sanjiang Village . In addition to dim sum, Liu Xi'an started cooking and making braised dishes, five-spice beef , char siu , thorn thighs, thorn thighs, thorn thighs, thorn thighs, thorn thighs, thorn thigh meat t, sauce duck, t sauce meat t...
At that time, there was no tap water in the store. He went to the river to carry water every day and had to carry two large tanks.
His wife works in the canteen and goes to cook porridge at around 2 o'clock in the middle of the night. No one helps to take care of the children. Liu Xi'an could only go to the restaurant to work after 3 o'clock in the middle of the night, and asked them to sleep on the floor. When the morning market ended, at 9 o'clock in the morning, he sent the children to the kindergarten and then cooked them when he came back.
It was really unforgettable and difficult years at that time. The two children were growing up and the family didn’t have enough money to buy food. He had to get off work, go to rush shrimps, touch screws, catch fish, and even sell blood twice. After the completion of the Kunshan Hotel, Liu Xi'an and his master Xu Tianlin were sent to sell noodles and cake balls downstairs, and the hotel upstairs.
sides are the master and apprentice's specialty project. Liu Xi'an used the skills he learned from Huang Tianyuan. The cake ball tasted good and had a variety. Soon the customers lined up. Master Xu Tianlin upstairs, led by Liu Xi'an, and cooked dishes. All year round, Liu Xi'an kept turning on seasonal and new dishes, and there were endless good ideas. When building Kunshan Hotel, they carried 800 kilograms of cement boards together, which seemed to have trained his ability to resist things.
The taste and fame of Kunshan Hotel has soared and soon became the first choice hotel for Kunshan people.
Liu Xi'an was not satisfied. With the reform and opening up of , the cooking industry developed rapidly. During this period, he continued to study. He went to Shanghai, Xinya Hotel to learn Guangdong cuisine, Chengdu Hotel to learn Sichuan cuisine, Yangzhou Hotel to learn Huaiyang cuisine, 'Happy Learn Western Cuisine' (opened by Americans), 'Xi Lai' (opened by Germans), 'Happy' (opened by Germans), ' Beggar Chicken ' in Changshu, 'Happy' ', 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'Happy' 'H
Whenever he goes to study, he can always become a friend of the hotel chef and the boss. First, he has a good understanding and learns quickly, and second, he is serious and humble. He leaves from morning to night and takes the initiative to do a good job in hygiene and preparation.
Learning is endless, the more you learn, the more you want to learn. Liu Zion has become a famous chef in Kunshan. He has a comprehensive cooking skills, a comprehensive red and white table, and a comprehensive Chinese and Western food.
A big leader from Beijing came to Kunshan. Liu Xi'an made two dishes, "Chrysanthemum Cream Tomato" and "Sauce Meat", and the leader praised it.
Kunshan is the strongest county-level city in China. At that time, Kunshan was developing rapidly with each passing day. The county had one move and two moves. Any important guests or major leaders came to inspect, Liu Xi'an would be invited to take charge of the matter. When holding a national conference, Liu Zion also named him to take the chef team to cook.
Kunshan is the first county and city to attract foreign investment. Many foreign-funded factories hold large banquets or entertain guests with heavy guests. The Western food can also be made very authentic, which surprised and impressed the foreigners.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Kunshan people held banquets and were also popular at home. From the county leaders to the six nearby brigades, Liu Xi'an was the first candidate, and he was overwhelmed.
"When taking wedding work, both the men and women's families have to call me. They work for two consecutive days every time and basically don't sleep. The apprentices are afraid of following me to do wedding work..."
On the first day, the work was normal during the day. After get off work, he took his apprentice to the girl's house to prepare. He worked until 12 o'clock in the night and then went to the man's house to prepare. In the middle of the night, the room was filled with the fragrance of happy dishes...
The next day, he went to the girl's house to cook again in the morning, and in the afternoon the bride was taken to the man's house to cook for the wedding banquet. Liu Xi'an is not only serious and responsible, but also has good food to cook, but is also good at helping his boss make reasonable arrangements and save costs.
"We got married and it was cooked by Master. It was so delicious. Finally, you also gave me a dish, the world's number one immortal dish, the best pot bar dish I have ever eaten!" Recently, a guest came to Master Liu Xi'an's noodle restaurant and held his hand gratefully and said.
A capable person is a teacher. A school came to invite Liu Xi'an to give a lecture, but someone objected that he could not even write. How could he attend class? Liu Xi'an was so strong. He was too busy at work and didn't want to go there. After hearing this, he insisted on being a good teacher.
He used his Chinese level in the second grade of elementary school to write a simple outline, and then told stories like how to cook various dishes. What is the trick? His students never need to be memorized, and they always scored more than 90 points in the exam. Moreover, the students have strong hands-on skills and are all versatile in red and white cases.
Master Liu accepted apprentices
Kunshan Labor Bureau training class, Xinzhen Adult Education School, Kunshan Education Bureau Continuing School, he has taught all of them. The students he teaches are all popular targets in various hotels and canteens.
only 2% of the people in the unit are paid. Liu Zion added to the first level. Some people objected during the meeting and discussed, saying that he was proud. The leader said: Liu Zion, there is a ten in the big word, and only with ability is proud.
He really had the ability. At that time, when the restaurant under Kunshan Beverage Service Company was not doing well, he sent Liu Xi'an to take care of it. If it doesn't take half a year, the business can always turn losses into profits.
"People manage people because they are not good at managing them. My experience is that the system manages people. I set an example and strictly manage them." Liu Xi'an expressed his management skills in one sentence.
Beiao Stove Hall is a famous switch store.
1983, on March 1, the Kunshan Hotel Conference of the beverage service company, the leader called for anyone who could build the Beiao Stove Hall well, but no one responded.
"I'll do it!" Liu Xi'an raised his hand unexpectedly.
"If I can't drive well, just climb a circle on Kunshan road."
Challenges and opportunities are with each other.
From then on, 39-year-old Liu Xi'an embarked on a path full of ups and downs and miracles and moved to the peak of his life. After taking charge of Bei Ao Sauce Hall, under the name of the century-old restaurant Tianxiang Restaurant, it restored the traditional red oil-burned fish noodles and white soup braised duck noodles in Kunshan, and re-listed: the century-old restaurant Ao Sauce Hall , held a national famous restaurant exhibition, and developed braised vegetables and takeout.
Liu Xi'an reinvented the Aozhao Pavilion. Before the opening of
, Liu Xi'an almost didn't sleep for 3 days and 2 nights. He led his employees to work overtime and do the preparations perfectly. At that time, there was no advertising company in society, so Master Liu brought his employees to post advertisements.
Aozhao Hall opened, and it was a hit. The guests were eating well and enthusiastically promoted it everywhere. Soon, more and more customers, and suddenly turned a cold store into a prosperous shop. In the first month, not only did the employees get paid, but they also received bonuses for the first time.
At that time, a Suzhou cooking master passed by Aozhao Restaurant and saw a hotel in a county in Kunshan that actually made a billboard for the national famous restaurant exhibition. He was very angry and disagreed. When he entered the store, he saw that beef chicken , Wuhan beef filling, scallion pancake, Tianjin Goubuli buns, Beijing roast duck , and it was delicious. He immediately gave Liu Xi'an a thumbs up.
84, Aozhaoguan launched morning tea and created double-happy votes. Every family in Kunshan has this happy vote.
86, Shanghai held a national tourism conference, and Liu Xi'an tried to take the opportunity to go on stage to introduce Kunshan Aozhao Hall.
Inspired by the tourism conference, Master Liu was unique and designed the "one-day tour" route. This route is very attractive to Shanghai guests. They go to Kunshan Aozhaoguan to eat noodles in the morning, and visit Tinglin Park in the morning, which is where he herded cattle when he was a teenager. In the afternoon, they visit Zhouzhuang or Luzhi, which suddenly becomes popular in Aozhaoguan and Tinglin Park, and also in Zhouzhuang and Luzhi.
At the most, more than 60 buses arrived at the Aozhao Pavilion a day. They couldn't sit in the restaurant, so tourists just ate on the side of the road, and the waiter went to the road to deliver noodles and collect bowls.
Master Liu talked about his emotions, and he danced with his hands and feet
87. In 1988, the Aozhao Pavilion, which had only 700 square meters, created a profit of more than 51 million per year. The profit increased significantly year by year. Until 1994, Liu Xi'an left the Aozhao Pavilion.
The Ao Sauce Hall was held in Suzhou, Shanghai, Nanjing, Beijing and other countries. Media reporters came to interview Liu Xi'an on both sides of the country. The fame of Ao Sauce is spread all over the country.
Liu Xi'an spent more than ten years in Aozhao Hall. With the joint efforts of him and his colleagues, he achieved employee bonuses, paid profits, and had a bumper harvest in social impact. Aozhao Noodles have become a well-known business card in Kunshan.
Just as Liu Zion was about to further expand the influence of Aozhao Pavilion, Aozhao Pavilion was contracted by Singaporean merchants.
Liu Xi'an left Aozhao Pavilion sadly. After
, after going abroad for a few years, he went to Moscow to open a noodle shop with his friends, and opened a Tianxiang Restaurant with his son in Hungary.
Tianxiangguan is a century-old store in Kunshan. When Liu Zion launched the century-old store Ao Sauce Hall, the century-old store borrowed the name of Tianxiangguan. Now, Liu Zion, who was unwilling to accept, wants to carry forward the influence of Ao Sauce to the world and re-inherit the century-old store Tianxiangguan.
html in 497, he returned to China to establish his own company "Tianxiangguan".
Liu Xi'an owns three brands, all of which have been registered, "Master Liu Xi'an Ao Stove Hall", "Master Liu Xi'an Ao Stove Noodles" and "Tianxiang Hall".
Just as Liu Xi'an left the system and let go, in 2004, at the age of 60, he had pancreatic sinus cancer and underwent a major operation, as if God was about to interrupt his struggle.
Master Liu has never been a person who bows to fate. After he recovers, he restarts his grand journey of realizing his grand plan, allowing more people to taste the authentic mysterious stove. When
was at its peak, more than 100 "Liu Xi'an Master Ao Sauce Noodle Restaurants" were launched nationwide, including chain, franchise, inheritance and other forms.
are also invited to give lectures, be judges, attend events, etc., and they work non-stop all day and all year round.
On the day of the interview, Master Liu stayed with him from 8 am to 3 pm, talking endlessly and energetic, like a young man. The service staff were too busy during the meal, and Master Liu personally served us the dishes.
tasted Master Liu Xi'an's Mysterious Stove, and used two words to describe it: "original" and "hot".
original, the original flavor, the fragrance, freshness and richness of Aozhao Noodle Soup are all boiled through raw soup, pork bones, eel bones, fish heads and other ingredients, without any other additions. Just take a small sip of this soup and immediately understand in my heart that it is authentic and the old taste of Kunshan people passed down from generation to generation.
heat is a combination of five heats. Bowls, noodles, soup, oil, and water must be heated.
especially in winter, change the heat to hot, five hot, haha, a strange thing.
one red one white, red oil burst fish noodles and white soup braised duck noodles. There are also eels, shrimps, fat intestines and and other toppings, and the taste is in place.
noodles are also very powerful, with moderate softness and hardness, delicious and fragrant. A strange group of people ate the master's Ao Sauce in the morning and felt happy all day.
At noon on the day of the interview, Master Liu Xi'an invited a stranger to have a meal at his daughter's restaurant. (From left: his granddaughter, Master Liu, his daughter)
At noon, we went to Deyi Building, a restaurant run by his daughter and son-in-law for dinner. The restaurant was not big, because it tasted good, and it has been popular for more than ten years. Especially a braised mandarin fish, which was quite amazing. His daughter and granddaughter both wore aprons and worked with the employees. They couldn't tell that they were the owner.
mentioned his father, and his daughter told us that she worked in a textile factory when she was young, and she got off work at midnight when she was in middle school. Her father always cooked the dishes she liked and went to the factory gate to pick her up. This time, she took three years. In the mind of my daughter, my father also has a prominent quality: frugality.
Master Liu Xi'an is already 78 years old. Whenever his Ao Sauce Noodle franchise store opens for the first night before it opens, he basically doesn't sleep.He also did his best as he was when he was young.
"I will keep working unless I can't get up." He said to the monster.
may be the reason for the posthumous son. Liu Xi'an treated the two masters like his father. During the holidays, he often took time to visit the two masters. Before his death, Master Yin said to Liu Xi'an: You are smarter than me and have better skills than me.
Liu Xi'an said to the master: Master, you teach me my basic skills.
Looking at Master Liu Xi'an's glorious career, a monster is summarized as: being able to endure hardships, having aura, being tenacious, willing to persevere, having ideas, being aspiring to be a career, and being brave.
Master Liu Xi'an went to the ancient town of Luzhi to guide
As the saying goes: Eating noodles depends on soup, and singing opera depends on tune.
Kunqu , originated in Kunshan, is known as the ancestor of hundreds of operas, and is a representative work of human intangible cultural heritage. The Ao Sauce Noodles are also unique to Kunshan. With the efforts of Master Liu Xi'an, it has become a famous noodle type in China.
When savoring Master Liu Xi'an's Ao Cooktop, I was surprised to feel the wonderful taste of the elegant, melodious and delicate as Kunqu Opera!
This wonderful taste is not only the original soup, pork bones, eel bones, fish heads and other ingredients, but also comes from: Master Liu Xi'an, who has been practicing diligence since he started to learn from others' strengths, the motivation to work until midnight every day, never admit defeat, and his always passionate career aspiration, as well as his deep love for guests, family, masters and colleagues...
Former CCTV reporter Wang Jie participated in the interview and took some photos. Thank you!
Suzhou "Chinese Cooking Master" series articles
Specially written by "One Strange Food House"
