Life is a Game

‘If you want to trace the history of Taifeng Building, it can be traced back to the middle of the Qing Dynasty. The founder was an imperial chef surnamed Jiang. He was first outside the customs and moved to Beiping during the Republic of China. Because it has not been in business for many years and has suffered from wars, this restaurant has not been well-known, and only a few older people may have an impression. Taifeng Restaurant has been closed for more than 70 years, and I have never had the chance to witness its former glory. The news about this restaurant was told to me when I was chatting with Master Peng Changping on the other side of the ocean a few years ago.

Master Peng admired and even admired Jiang Chengde, the former head chef of Taifenglou, saying that he is the only Chinese food master who concentrates the strengths of hundreds of schools. Even Master Peng's father was taught by Master Jiang Chengde in the early years. And the two head chefs of Taifeng Building are the third and seventh sons of Master Jiang Chengde, Mr. Jiang Weiming and Mr. Jiang Weiguo.

At first, I didn't see the real faces of these two chefs, but only tasted a few of their dishes. Because of my friend Han Guishan, I was honored to be invited to participate in the opening of Taifeng Building. There were several dishes on the banquet that surprised me, all of which were made by Mr. Jiang Weiming and Mr. Jiang Weiguo.

Before talking about the dishes, I have to say a few digressions. Mr. Jiang Weiming is 99 years old this year, and Mr. Jiang Weiguo is also 84 years old this year. Because of their age, these two head chefs usually don't know how to cook, and most of the time they stay in the back kitchen to guide other young chefs to coordinate the overall situation. It is precisely because of this that even though I had some small selfishness when interviewing the other three young chefs and wanted to ask the two old gentlemen to cook a few dishes for me, I finally held back.

Through a simple chat with the two old gentlemen, I learned that although their father, Master Jiang Chengde, was a rare culinary master who gathered the strengths of hundreds of schools and almost established a school, but due to the turmoil of the times, they did not All the dishes and techniques of Xi Dejiang's family cuisine are basically based on Shandong cuisine.

Mr. Jiang Weiming has been in circulation several times since the fall of Beiping, and finally settled in Shu. He has been working as a chef until his retirement. It is precisely because of this that he is actually a master who is proficient in both Sichuan cuisine and Shandong cuisine. It is reported that the Sichuan cuisine Mr. Jiang Weiming is best at is actually bean curd with chicken sauce, but because I have no chance to try it, I can only talk about a few dishes I have tasted.

The first dish is the cold dish Jinji Mingchun. I rarely recommend cold dishes, because in my opinion, cold dishes do not fully reflect the true level of a chef in most cases. This is a colorful assortment platter, with rich materials and both meat and vegetables. The golden pheasant spliced ​​out of ingredients such as shredded radish, shrimp, cucumber and sashimi is semi-three-dimensional, with a high head and slightly curled feather tail. When it is first served on the table I almost thought it was a work of art. Among them, the largest and most conspicuous, the most complicated technique, and the most demanding knife skills, the golden pheasant is as vivid as spring, occupying 80% of the entire platter, and the composition of the entire platter is very complete. Part of the golden pheasant's feather tail, cucumber shreds and radish shreds are as thin as hair. In my knowledge, there are only a handful of chefs who have such superb knife skills.

I seldom feel luxurious when eating a dish, even if it is made with the most expensive ingredients. But when I eat such an assortment of colors that I don’t usually pay attention to, I feel that every stretch of chopsticks is a luxury and waste, because this dish is not only excellent in knife skills, but also has an impeccable taste. Every ingredient in Jinji Mingchun is processed and shaped for platter after careful cooking. The collocation of different ingredients is also carefully considered. This is not only a dish that will give people a strong visual impact, but also A dish that will delight the palate.

If you want to rate this dish, it is undoubtedly above 95 points. As a assortment platter, I don’t think there is any problem with a full score. As a diner, I strongly recommend this dish, even though the price may make many people who come here to escape, because the assortment platter not only costs up to 4 figures, but also cannot be ordered as a banquet dish. Considering Mr. Jiang Weiming's advanced age, I believe that even if it is sold as a banquet dish, the volume may not be very large. If you have a happy event at home and want to spend some money to hold a big one, you may wish to consider Taifenglou. This assortment of colors will definitely not let you down.

Another dish is also made by Mr. Jiang Weiming - Pao Pork. This is definitely a table-setting dish. Before describing this dish, I still want to remind all diners that this dish is also expensive and needs to be ordered at least three days in advance. The price may be several times more expensive than the most expensive roast suckling pig you have eaten in the past, but I still say that it is worth the money.

Most of the roasted suckling pigs or porpoises on the market now have abandoned the ancient method, no longer stuffing the pig belly with dates, but adding more exciting and precious ingredients. There is nothing wrong with this approach. After all, the ancient method of filling jujubes is due to the lack of ingredients. Today, chefs will not follow the old-fashioned way when ingredients are becoming more and more abundant. It is precisely because of this that Mr. Jiang Weiming's cannonball gave me a bigger surprise.

Although I have never seen how this dish was born, Mr. Jiang Weiming did not hide his secrets. He generously told me the general method of making this dish and answered some of my questions at that time. Mr. Jiang Weiming's Paofu is very interesting after being cut open. The pork belly contains fresh bamboo shoots, mushrooms, duck meat, pigeon meat, glutinous rice, pigeon eggs and other ingredients, among which pigeons are stuffed in the duck belly. In addition to the pigeon, the belly of the duck is stuffed with fresh bamboo shoots and mushrooms, and the belly of the pigeon meat is stuffed with glutinous rice and pigeon eggs. This preparation method is somewhat similar to the three sets of duck, a famous Huaiyang dish.

When tasting this dish, it has a sense of layers. The suckling pig is crispy and tender, and the ingredients inside are not roasted, but rather carefully cooked in broth, stuffed in every corner of the three kinds of animals. In addition to the delicious and meaty aroma of glutinous rice, it also has the sweetness of jujube. It's a wonderful feeling, and it's definitely a wonderful dining experience to eat food cooked in many clever ways in one dish.

If you want to give this dish a score, there is no doubt that it must be above 95 points. The only disadvantage is that the portion is too large to be enjoyed by one person. It may be a selfish idea to enjoy it alone, but please believe me, diners, when such a delicacy is placed in front of you, as long as you can eat it, you will definitely want to have such a cannonball by yourself dolphin.

Readers who are familiar with me may know that I like to make some unprofessional comments on chefs from my personal point of view in the middle or at the end of an article. Mr. Jiang Weiming is undoubtedly a very good chef. I can even boldly guess that he may be ranked in the top 5 in this year's selection of famous chefs. After tasting these dishes, I regretted more than once why I didn’t know him decades earlier. After all, even a diner like me who loves food can hardly be ashamed to ask a 99-year-old man to cook for him. Cooking for me is just to satisfy my appetite. Of course, what makes me happy is that although the old Mr. Jiang Weiming has been cooking less, he is still trying his best to pass on his cooking skills to the younger generations. After all, the inheritance of cooking skills is the most important thing.

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