The Making of a Good Chef

By Zhang Hailin

What is the core essence of Chinese cuisine? Technically, it covers “extensive absorption and adoption, obtainment of cooking knowledge by familiarity with things, rational assortment and elaborative processing,” followed by the famous Chinese dictum that “Application with ease lies in a masterful mind.” What on earth does it mean? Honestly, a chef of Chinese cuisine is truly a craftsman.

I have a strong objection to duplication, regarding that it is always the small restaurants or mom-and-pop luncheonettes that decide the development trends of the culinary industry. I am a chef, working together with my wife, one of us in charge of the front of house services and the other back in the kitchen. Each day we serve our customers just enough for a table. With the same food and the same way of cooking, however, you'll never get the same taste elsewhere. This is the guideline—not a large crowd of restaurants run by many.

Why so? Cooks are very interesting. I often tell my staff that in cooking a dish like fried pork slices, those done by a cook of twenty years' experience will definitely taste different from one done by a cook with two years' practice, and also dishes would vary from a chef in good humor to one in bad mood.

My mentor once told me a story.

Once upon a time, a frequent diner came in and took his seat after ordering roasted tofu. After having a taste with a pair of chopsticks when his tofu was served, he said, “Take it away! This is not for me.”

The waiter got displeased and said, “This is exactly what you ordered.”

The diner asked, “Say, who's in the kitchen? Who's the cook?”

The headwaiter came and asked, “What's wrong with the dish, sir?”

The diner said, “This dish is not for me. Listen, the tofu is overdone.”

On hearing this, the headwaiter argued, “How could you say so! Tofu overdone? I've been in this line of work for twenty years and never heard that tofu could be overdone!”

“You don't agree, do you?” then the diner took the tofu into the kitchen, asking “Who is the cook?”

A cook appeared and said, “I cooked it. What's wrong with it?”

The diner said, “The tofu is overdone.”

“I have been doing this for thirty years, and you say it is overdone?” the cook replied, illaffected.

“You did the tofu for another guy, who did not take it, and then you warmed it up again for me. I tell you, tofu would be very tender when it is heated the first time. Once it is reheated, it gets tough and taste different.”

中國烹飪的基本東西是什么呢？從技術(shù)上講，“廣采博取、格物致知、合理搭配、精細加工”，后面還有八個字：“運用之妙，存乎于心”。什么意思呢？中餐廚師是個工藝師。

我歷來反對復(fù)制，總認為餐飲發(fā)展趨勢是小館子、夫妻店。我是廚子，我和太太兩口子，一個管著前頭，一個管著后頭，一天就賣一桌飯，就這個活兒，就這個技術(shù)，你在別的地方吃不到我這個味。這是方向，并不是大家一開開多少個店。

為什么呢？廚師很有意思，我經(jīng)常告訴他們，同樣一個炒肉片，干過二十年的跟干二年的炒出來就是不一樣；廚子高興的時候和不高興的時候，炒出來的菜也不一樣。

我?guī)煾抵v過一個故事。

有一次，老食客要了個燒豆腐，往那兒一坐，燒豆腐上來后，拿筷子一嘗，說，端走，不是給我做的。

堂倌不愿意了，說，這就是給你做的。

他問，今天誰在廚房？誰的灶頭？

一會兒堂頭跑來問，您老說，這怎么了？

老食客說，這個菜不是給我炒的，記著，這個菜老了。

堂頭一聽，哪有你這么說話的，燒豆腐老了？我干了二十年，沒有聽說燒豆腐老了。

老食客說：“你不服不是？”然后我們這個食客端著豆腐到廚房，說，誰的灶頭啊？

The cook was surprised and exclaimed, “Oh, My lord! You are such an expert!”

Such is the property of tofu. Once it keeps turning, tumbling, and tossing in the pot, it would taste smooth to the tongue, but if you boil it again after it gets cold, it will have a different taste. It is the same reason that when cooking fish, say, braised in brown sauce, the fish must be fully fried first in hot fire and then in gentle heat—it is ready to be served when the seasoning's flavor gets into the fish, but never take it off the heat too long and serve a dish of cold fish to your customers. To make braised fish, you must fry it first, and braise directly after coating it with starch. Many people who go to restaurants on the Spring Festival complain about the fish there. Why? Usually, the fish was fried several days before and put aside for further processing, especially for wedding banquets. During this period, it gets dehydrated and dry. It surely tastes different from fresh fish.

I often say, to be a good cook, you have to keep in mind that “Application with ease lies in a masterful mind.” Dishes cooked in a fine or foul mood can produce different tastes. A step out the door, your wife seizes you to check how much money you take in your pocket to keep you from drinking outside, with a shed of such-and-such nonsense. All your operations will be irregular when at work. Just the same as athletes, artists or calligraphers, if you don't play well, the fried dishes will not taste right when you eat them.

We used to jest with our workmates. Whenever we found any undesirable tastes in a dish, we would tease the cook, “Who did it? Had a row with your wife back at home? Anything happened? In love with someone? In trouble now?”

Our cooks would sample dishes, but not everyone of them. Ginger juice and salt solution are to be tasted first thing on shift every day. We try the salt after it is dissolved so that we can have some idea, and a slight dip with the ladle in it will do when cooking the dishes. In the past time, an apprentice would entrap his master merely by adding a tiny bit of extra salt, and all the dishes would taste more salty. Once you have a nice control of the salt, you can feel at ease with the dishes. Just a few stirs in the pan is enough for many dishes, yet a cook may stir impetuously when he is in a bad mood, unavoidably altering the taste of the dish.

(FromChinese Henan Cuisine: Tracing the Chinese Dietetic Culture, Zhongzhou Chinese Classics Publishing House. Translation: Luo Dongyuan)

一個師傅出來了，說，我的啊，怎么了？食客說，你的豆腐燒老了。

那個師傅說，我干了三十年，豆腐能燒老？很不服氣。

食客說，你這個豆腐是給剛才那位燒的，那位沒有要，你給我又加熱了一次。我告訴你，一次加熱是嫩的，只要豆腐涼了再加熱，就老了，口感就不一樣。

師傅一聽，說，我的爺啊，你真是專家啊。

豆腐就是這樣，只要豆腐不斷滾，在鍋里面永遠滾著，它的口感就很光滑，只要涼了，你再加熱，那就變了。跟魚一樣的道理，像紅燒魚，這個魚一定要大火濺開，入味之后用小火養(yǎng)著等你吃。如果說把火停了、涼了再給你，那不行了。做紅燒魚，炸好之后掛糊直接燒。過年很多人下館子，對做的魚有意見，為什么呢？特別是婚宴，多少天前都炸好了，在那兒撂著呢。你這一撂，一風(fēng)干，一脫水，你再燒，味就變了，跟鮮魚不一樣。

我經(jīng)常說，干廚子就是八個字：“運用之妙，存乎于心”。情緒好跟情緒不好炒出的菜不一樣。一出門，老婆拉著你，要看你兜里多少錢，不讓你在外面喝酒，如何如何，說一通。你一上班，所有動作會變形，跟運動員、跟藝術(shù)家、書法家一樣，發(fā)揮不好，炒出的菜一吃就不對味。

我們過去經(jīng)常開兄弟們的玩笑，一嘗誰的菜味不對，就會問，誰的灶頭??？回家跟老婆吵架了吧？有事兒了吧？談戀愛了吧？有麻煩了吧？

我們廚師會嘗菜，但不是每個菜都嘗。每天上班時，姜水和鹽水要嘗，鹽水化開之后嘗嘗口感，炒菜時心里就有譜，用勺子一點就過去了。過去徒弟坑師傅，給他偷偷加點鹽，炒的菜都是咸的。鹽味把握住了，菜就把握住了。很多菜下鍋，翻炒兩下就夠，心情不好時會猛翻，味道自然會變。

（摘自《中國豫菜：中國飲食文化尋蹤》中州古籍出版社）