This article is from WeChat official account: nine lines (ID: jiuxing_neweekly) , Author: old artists, the original title: “” 3000 yuan a table of Palace dishes, I really ate loneliness””, title picture from: Visual China
When you arrive in Beijing, it is worthwhile to find a time-honored brand to taste the taste of old Beijing.
It is said that people who have been in Beijing have heard the legends of private kitchens in the folk government, especially the Lijiacai at No.11 courtyard of Yangfang Hutong in Houhai, Beijing.
Eating private dishes in the Hutong courtyard is really looking forward to
This “court cuisine” restaurant, which has been circulated by various fascinating royal chefs, has been handpicked by ambassadors and Michelin. It has also been praised by a best-selling book in the United States-“If you do it in your life 1,000 things, one of them is to go to the Li’s restaurant to eat.”
When you finally made an appointment in advance to this Lijiacai restaurant, you walked into Lijiacai with the expectation of “the smell of wine is not afraid of the deep alleys”, and you are ready to have a hearty Beijing taste tour in the courtyard.
It happened that these old Beijing government dishes are difficult to describe in terms of the presentation and presentation of the food, or the taste. “Fatty and greasy pork knuckles with tiger skin”, “Weird roasted tofu”, “Sweet and sour pork ribs, a signature dish. There are seven or eight ribs on one plate, and the price is 289 yuan?”…
What kind of dish is this? /@水哥王昱heng Weibo
Finally, I ate a table of food comparable to a canteen at the standard of 600 yuan per capita, and the waiter’s noble temperament of “do you like it or not” persuaded you to leave, well, you should regret it before you finish eating. Up.
Even if many well-known food bloggers ridiculed the “Lijiacai” in a hot search, the staff still responded calmly: The big fans eat the lowest standard, and if they think it’s not worth it, we have nothing to do.
This is how the staff of Li’s restaurant responded after being mocked by the group/screenshot
Li Jiacai really “unknown to be Li”.
Mysterious home cooking is expensive, where’s the hard gas
Where is Li Jia Cai?
The gluttons who are familiar with the old Beijing cuisine, even the rickshaw drivers in the alleys, will talk to you about the legend of Lijia cuisine: “The secret recipe of the palace”, “You cannot order, you can only eat set meals” and “Only daily “One table” “book half a year in advance, and you have to try your luck”……
In short, the people who can eat the food of the Li family are not high-ranking nobles and dignitaries.
Before, there was a TV series “Shichahai” about the story of the celebrity chef of the palace cuisine getting old, and he regrouped to open the restaurant and name it “The Banker’s Dishes”. The story behind “Li Jiacai” must also start with the legendary Li family.
Li Jiacai’s story is legendary/video screenshot
The founder of Li Jiacai is Li Shanlin, a retired professor at Capital University of Economics and Business. According to legend, his grandfather was Li Zijia, the Minister of Internal Affairs during the Tongzhi and Guangxu periods of the Qing Dynasty. He was the master of the palace banquet. He approves the daily menu of the imperial dining room. He tasted the dishes that Cixi and the emperor ate until he compiled a set of recipes and passed them to the family in his later years.
Old man Li Shanlin once participated in the 2006 “A Date with Luyu”. It is said that he grew up under such influence since he was a child. He loves cooking skills and is well-versed in the study of court diet. He often cooks with his wife and will get the truth in his later years. Passed to the only son Li Xiaolin. It was also a fall in the family, and the family moved into the Yangfang Hutong in Houhai.
14 years ago, Mr. Li appeared on “A Date with Luyu”
The outside world is accustomed to call Lijiacai an “time-honored brand”, but in fact it only opened in 1985. In October 1984, in the “First National Day Family Cooking Competition” held by CCTV, the Li family won the title of champion.
It is worth noting that the cooking competition strictly requires that the family members of the contestants must not have professional chefs. This determines that the foundation of Li Jiacai must be home cooking.
After that time, the Lijia cuisine specializing in court and Beijing flavors opened in 1985. You can hardly imagine that this Lijia cuisine under the name of the official royal cuisine will be in such a “poor” family. In the 11-square-meter small restaurant room, there is not even a serious sign.
The Lijiacai facade is indeed very simple, just a house number/video screenshot
The menu is also very simple in black and white. Each set is divided into first dish, hot dishes, dim sum, etc., all are fried and salty food, pickled cucumber, braised pork, fried mochi tofu, Beijing bacon, sweet-scented lotus root and so on. But Beijing food.
Li Jiacai/video screenshot shown on “Luyu You You”
The hot dishes and dim sum can be distinguished from other items such as raw abalone and shark fin bird’s nest.
Lijia dishes/video screenshots displayed in a program
Only one table is set every day, only reservations are accepted, and set menus are not provided. Today, these “li family dishes” are widely circulated in the outside world for business gimmicks. According to media reports, it is only because the old man Li Shanlin wants to achieve “excellence” “The original intention.
As for how to define Lijiacai? Li Shanlin thinks that the most accurate statement should be “imitating the court food of Cixi”, because we will never have the taste of the dishes that Cixi had eaten in the past. Although the dishes and methods can be completely in accordance with the rules of the palace, basically they cannot be bought. It’s a completely natural raw material.
Lijia dishes/video screenshots displayed in a program
Li Jiacai focuses on the “natural and authentic” and “exquisitely crafted” ancient methods: They grow their own vegetables in a small yard in Changping and supply part of the restaurant’s needs, and the meat is provided by the meat factory. supply.
As for cooking, they restore the traditional old rules and not only strictly prohibit any chemical condiments such as MSG and chicken essence. There are hardly any modern kitchen utensils in the restaurant, no pressure cooker, microwave oven, or even stove.
Papa Li also uses simple English to socialize with foreign diners
Of course, Li Jiacai became famous overseas, thanks to the visiting British ambassador to China Evans. After the meal, he waved his hand: “You don’t need to advertise your restaurant. I said in the embassy area. It’s all here.”
Since then, Li Jiacai seems to have become a private kitchen hand-picked by ambassadors and celebrities from various countries in China, including former U.S. Treasury Secretary Ruhr, Bill Gates, Clintons and other dignitaries, as well as Jin Yong, Jackie Chan, Celebrities such as Chua Lan are all guests of Li Jiacai.
Ambassadors from various countries come to visit Li Jiacai
Now Li Jiacai has not only opened branches in Melbourne, Tokyo, Shanghai and Tianjin, but also has been awarded a Michelin guide star in recent years. The reputation of Li Jiacai was earned by the old people at the table, and it became a jaw-dropping legend in the catering industry.
Official cuisine, is it stale or cheating
After removing the veil of mystery, was Li Jiacai’s overturning because of the changes of the times or was it really cheating?
Of the government cuisine handed down like Li Jiacai, there are still eight major schools in its realization, such as Tan Jiacai, Mei Jiacai, Kongfu cuisine, Honglou cuisine, Suiyuan cuisine, Yunlin cuisine, Zhili government cuisine and Dongpo cuisine.
In the TV series “Shichahai”, the dealer’s dishes refer to the official dishes/video screenshots
The current main body of government cuisine basically dates back to the Ming and Qing dynasties, from a mixture of Shandong cuisine, Huaiyang cuisine and Cantonese cuisine. Due to the ups and downs of government officials, many genres have been slowly lost.
Most of what can be left is the endorsement of cuisine characteristics and family heritage. Tan Jiacai, also known as Bangyancai, is considered to be the representative of official cuisine. It combines Cantonese cuisine and northern cuisine into its own cuisine. It is moderately sweet and salty, suitable for both north and south.
The dealer’s dishes in the film also reflect the shadow of the Beijing-style official cuisine/video screenshots
The story about the Tan family is also very legendary. When people searched for information, they guessed that this was a false name, but it was a product of speculation by some people, but if the story and false name of Tan Jiacai were stripped away, Tan Jiacai’s influence Still not to be underestimated.
The so-called Tan Jiacai also has a lot of controversy, is it just decent? /Weibo screenshot
Similarly, any genre of government cuisine is a well-known legend. To put it bluntly, there is actually no conclusive evidence for how many of the “fighting father” tricks.
Li Jiacai keeps emphasizing that the old signs hung on the wall were written by Pu Jie, the younger brother of the last emperor Pu Yi.
The leader of the Li family now proudly displays in the program/Video screenshots
Pu Yi once complained about palace dishes in the memoir “My First Half of My Life”. When he said “pass the meal”, the imperial dining room immediately brought it up. There were dozens of dishes on the floor, all of which were prepared overnight. .
Puyi usually eats more dishes, which are given to him by the toffees in the small kitchen, and he has never said that it is delicious. He also posted how much pork, lard, chicken, duck, fish, etc. are used in the imperial dining room each month. Finally, he concluded that palace dishes are expensive, unpalatable, and nutritious, which consumes manpower, material and financial resources.
I think of the cold knowledge mentioned in the program “New Forbidden City”, which explores the history and culture of the Forbidden City-Puyi is a fashionable technology house, and there is a phone dedicated to calling for takeaways.
Did you immediately understand? The palace cuisine does not seem to be as delicious as we imagined. It is more expensive because of the identity behind it.
Puyi can’t see the palace dishes/video screenshots
Like Li’s cuisine, the expensive ones are probably the added value behind the official cuisine. Our people are willing to pay for the stories of such traditional aristocrats and for the status symbol behind them.
Li Jiacai overturned and walked off the altar. Some bloggers analyzed from the perspective of changes in the times, saying that Chinese people’s dietary needs and structure have changed a long time ago, but they cater to the consumption habits of thirty years ago.
Some bloggers think that Chinese people’s dietary needs change are causing them to be untimely/microblog screenshots
I have to say that at this point, Li Jiacai is indeed different from today’s online celebrity dishes that focus on high-quality and refined decoration. They advocate strict adherence to the ancient methods of ancestors, no additives, etc., and they also uphold the current green color. Healthy nutrition concept.
In an interview on the show, the person in charge of Lijiacai was counting their standards-“The selection of materials, workmanship, and not flashy, even if it is a simple fried salty food, what kind of shreds should the carrots be? , More thick and thin, the same length.”
Is it stiff or rigorous? Different opinions/Video screenshots
Think about it carefully. When these ancient concepts are used to brag in front of foreign friends and the older generation, it is indeed easy to fool them. But it’s a little harder to fool contemporary people. Who cares if each carrot is the same length and thickness, and it’s the kingly way to make it delicious.
Many people who have been to Lijiacai believe that if private kitchens expand, it will be a matter of time before they overturn.
If the times have changed, the tastes of Chinese people have changed. Rather, there is another possibility that Li’s cuisine is no longer the original Li’s cuisine.
Cai Lam named Li Jiacai the best seven years ago/Weibo screenshots
In the beginning, the fame that the old man Li Shanlin earned back at a table every day relied more on the low fire and the slow cooking, and the materials were carefully high-quality. But the current Lijia cuisine is different from the past. The chef is busy socializing to be happy, and occasionally the chef is serving high-end customers. For ordinary guests, newcomer training is enough.
According to Li Jiacai’s response after the car overturned, his words revealed the arrogance of watching people order dishes—”They eat to the lowest standard, and there is nothing to say that they are not delicious.”
In the early years, the old man Li Shanlin declared that “No matter what customers go, Li Jiacai treats all the dishes and other aspects equally, there is no difference” is the consistent principle of Li Jiacai, and emphasizes the refusal of shoddy manufacturing-“In order to make money, he broke his own brand. I don’t do this kind of thing.”
Now it seems that the face is properly slapped, and the slap is still painful from the slap.
It still looks like a failure/Video screenshot
Beijing’s time-honored brand is so cheap
If the Internet still has memory, Beijing’s time-honored brands have overturned one after another, they can all be listed as the most catching incidents in 2020.
Some time ago, travel blogger Gu Yue was caught by Goubuli Wangfujing Store Newspaper for posting a video of negative experience GoubuliThe police responded, which also triggered a collective condemnation of this time-honored brand from the outside world.
Goubuli Wangfujing Store seems to be in a hurry/Weibo screenshots
Quanjude is not much better. He has been on the list all the year round. In the past, eating Quanjude was a standard banner for visiting Beijing, but now it has become a minefield to avoid. I finally lowered my body recently and cancelled the high service fee to declare that I could finally cater to the tastes of the public.
Today’s Lijiacai has been ridiculed by the circle of food bloggers, and it seems to some extent that it has announced the decline of Beijing’s time-honored brand.
Goubuli Baozi is now really ignored by dogs/screenshots
In spite of this, the Chinese still have an unspeakable complex for the traditional taste of old Beijing. Like some of the current Internet celebrity attractions, although you will feel that the filter is too deep, the real situation is lackluster. But as long as there are one or two punch-in photos that allow people to take a high praise ratio in the circle of friends, that’s enough.
The mysterious beliefs of the time-honored brands are also used as spectacles.
For many people, the charm of a restaurant may have to include the story and feelings behind it, which is universally penetrating. A restaurant that is good at telling stories, not to mention the Chinese belief in ancient law, even if the taste is bad, there are still tourists coming to visit.
The old artist once said that the god of sushi in Japan, many netizens left me a message, saying that my words revealed that I did not understand the essence of craftsmanship, which is a spiritual symbol that our age needs.
Jiro Ono, the God of Sushi/EPA: Shutte
Of course, I agree that this may be a spiritual appeal in the era of standardized fast food, because we yearn for such craftsmen who inherit the craftsmanship of our ancestors, rather than blindly cater to the trend, without our own attitudes and opinions to do business interests.
But the question is whether we should see the crisis of “elite arrogance” in the belief of ancient law and time-honored fans. It is not that there can be no high-end demand in the market, but how much reality and reality are hidden behind this demand. The real delicacy can’t fool people.
The warnings of Mr. Zhao Lirong’s sketch “Working Adventures” are still useful/screenshots
These time-honored brands can be unwilling to adapt to the times and make improvements, and they can have the obsession to protect the pure land of their ancestors.
But if you leave the original intention, lose the respect you should have for the ingredients, food and diners, no matter how good the story is, it will only save face and lose the embroidered pillow inside.
Reference materials:
The 3,000 yuan table of court food is not as good as the school cafeteria, so it’s no wonder Puyi wants takeaways. News brother
“Unknown Jue Li”‘s Li Family Cuisine Xia Ke Island
OldThe font size cannot be resigned to depravity in the mutual disgust with the market Huasheng Online
“Beijing people don’t eat Quanjude, Tianjin people don’t eat Goubuli” Where should old brands go? AI Finance and Economics Agency
Tan Jiacai’s false name Wang Lang
Official cuisine in old Beijing Beijing Morning Post
The gourmet and his “Li Jia Cai” Hu Chunmeng
Li Shanlin and his “Li Jiacai” myth Li Jing
Li Jiacai’s temper, Ye Keke
A top-secret “court recipe” Hu Miao
This article is from WeChat official account: nine lines (ID: jiuxing_neweekly) , author: old artists