舌尖上的美食 第18期:海参鹿鸣宴
Sea Cucumber-Venison Banquet海参鹿鸣宴
In Qing Dynasty, the most famous gentleman in Lijiang was named He Gengji who had passed the highest imperial examination. Naturally he should have been lucky to be present on the “number one scholar” banquet held by the emperor where he could have a taste of many delicacies like sea cucumber and deer lip. Later he held office in Sichuan , the most gastronomic province in China, which greatly enriched his experiences and knowledge of food.
丽江当时最有名的绅士老民和庚吉。和庚吉是清科进士，按例他中举当时应该有幸出席过皇帝恩赐同年举子们的“状元”宴，在皇家宴会上，他吃到过海参和鹿唇之类的好东西也是自然的，后来他又宦游在四川这个能吃又会吃的地方，对吃他是有见识的。The Chinese people have a strong sense of family consciousness which was the foundation of ideology from ancient times and produced great influences on the trend of Chinese history. Family status was always closely tied with one’s official position.
中国有很浓厚的家族意识，它是古代意识形态的基础继而影响了中国历史的走向。做官是和家族地位紧密结合的。It was a big event in China to have grandchildren, especially in those rich families. When He Gengji arranged a feast celebrating the first month of his grandson, he requested cooks to used sea cucumber and venison as major food material in the feast. Nobody in Lijiang had ever seen what sea cucumber looked like, but He Gengji knew how to do. According to his advice, the cooks first cut pig skin into pieces of two or three square inches and then made skew lattice slightly on the skins by knife. The latticed skins curled in hot water with many bulgy spinous shoots same as cucumber. After painting in brown sauce, it mixed with quick-fry lean venison. He Gengji named this dish as “ Sea cucumber and deer mince”, which became a famous course thereafter in Lijiang. Now, one harsh words in Lijiang to those who like to show off having delicacies is “ Can it be Sea cucumber and deer mince?”
传说和进士得孙，孙以祖贵是他家的大事，也是丽江人的大事。在给孙儿办满月客时，和进士请厨师要办一个有名的筵席，要用海参和鹿肉为主料。海参丽江是没有的，但和进士是见过的，按他的主意，厨师把猪皮改成两三寸见方的块，再用轻快的刀法在猪皮上切下葵花子一样的斜格纹路，下滚水焯氽让猪皮卷曲葵子纹突起如海参状，再着酱上色，猪皮便翻成了酱色的“海参”；配上鹿脯精肉过熘过烩成菜，和进士名之曰“海参鹿糜宴”。一菜成名，一宴传后，后来的丽江人中有意欲卖弄自己吃过的美味佳肴时，刻薄的人就会用“难道你吃的是‘海参鹿糜宴’不成？”来刁难他揶揄他。
