After eating for a while, the children shouted that they were full and wanted to go out to play.

"Uncle, I'm full! Can I go catch fish? Tian Tian tilted his little head and asked Wang Yong.

"Yes, okay! But you have to listen to Brother Mingming's words, don't be naughty, you know? Wang Yong instructed kindly. After that, he turned around and said to Mingming, who had already eaten enough and was eager to leave the dinner table to play:

"Obviously, every day they have to be younger than you, you are the big brother, you have to take care of your younger brothers and sisters, you know?"

Obviously, when the little guy heard this, his eyes lit up, and he said with his little chest: "Well, I am my brother, and they all have to listen to me." ”

As soon as Wang Yong heard Ming Ming's words, he knew that his hopes would definitely be disappointed. I'm thinking about how to keep these naughty and mischievous children, and no one looks at them and is estimated to be able to turn the sky upside down. Suddenly, a voice sounded, Wang Yong's eyes lit up, and he thought of an idea.

"Mom, I still have tofu."

The little chubby boy who was big and strong was pointing to a plate of mapo tofu and said to his mother. Because the little guy has just learned to use chopsticks, this is completely beyond his ability to deal with this plate of soft tender tofu. This made him, who liked this dish very much, very anxious, but he couldn't deal with it, so he had to ask his mother to help.

"Da Zhuang, uncle asked you, do you know what kind of dish this is?" Wang Yong looked at Da Zhuang, who was staring at the plate of tofu and drooling, and said.

Before Da Zhuang could answer, Tian Tian took over the conversation on the side, waved his two little hands and replied, "I know, I know, uncle, I know." ”

"Okay, okay, then what is the name of this dish that you tell your uncle?"

"Mapo tofu."

"Well, every day is so smart!"

Hearing his uncle praise himself, Xiao Tiantian immediately looked at his little friend proudly. It just hasn't been long in coming. I heard my uncle continue to ask.

"Did you know that it was called mapo tofu that day?"

When this sentence came out, the answer to him was a small head shaking from side to side. However, Wang Yong still underestimated Tiantian's cleverness, and the little guy came up with his killer trick - ask his mother.

"Mom, Mom, weishenme it's going to be called Mapo Tofu?"

Looking at his son with a puzzled face, he raised his little head and asked his son, Qiao Man lovingly picked up Tiantian, put it on his lap, and said with a loving face: "It's because the person who invented this dish was a mother-in-law with pockmarks on her face." That's why everyone calls it mapo tofu. ”

When Tian Tian heard his mother's explanation, he immediately turned back to Wang Yong with excitement on his face and said, "Uncle, Tian Tian knows." Because it was made by a pockmarked mother-in-law, right? ”

Looking at the excited little guy, Wang Yong shook his head. This action immediately caused the surprise of the parents of the children on the table. What's going on? Isn't that right? It shouldn't be! This is also the version of this story that I heard!

"Okay, sit down, and listen to my uncle tell you the story of this dish. When the time comes, you have to tell the other children around you! ”

Wang Yong beckoned to a group of little guys who had been successfully attracted by his attention, and told a little-known story at the same time.

Outside the north gate of Chengdu, Sichuan at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, the turning point of the Fu River. There is a place called Wanfu Bridge, there is a city god temple at the north end of Wanfu Bridge, every summer, people in the city will flock here to enjoy the cool and drink tea, especially Qingming. Mid-Autumn Festival, it is even more busy, crowded with people.

On this day, there was a young couple who came from the countryside to the city to make a living. Seeing the cars coming and going, it is very popular. So he rented a thatched hut by the bridge and opened a small restaurant.

This couple. The man's name is Chen Chunfu (some say it is called Chen Senfu), and the woman's name is Wen Qiaoqiao.

At first, the two of them felt that their capital was small and their ability was small, so they just sold a little side dishes and provided some tea to earn two dollars to support their families.

At that time, there was a tofu shop surnamed Wang near the restaurant, and the tofu was delicate and soft. Every morning, I always make a few plates of tofu and put them in front of the restaurant to attract customers. On this road, there are often some hawkers who carry pork and beef to sell them. When passing by, I will also enter the restaurant to rest and wait for customers.

The main guests of the restaurant are some porters who pick up oil and grain, every day, they get up early in the morning, go into the city to deliver the grain and oil, and when they return to Wanfuqiao, they are all sleepy and hungry.

So they would go to the restaurant in groups of three or five, get together, share the money, cut a few taels of pork or beef, or a few pieces of tofu, and then serve a bowl. Turn the oil-picking basket upside down and drip the remaining oil into the bowl little by little. zuihou: They took these ingredients and a piece of oil and handed them to the proprietress to ask the restaurant to cook them on their behalf.

Chen's wife, Wen, knew that these coolies had a heavy taste and preferred spicy and fresh hot. So, she used homemade coarse chili noodles with some peppercorn noodles and tempeh, and then cut the meat bought by the guests into slices and cooked tofu together.

As a result, the tofu produced in this way is bright and attractive, spicy and fragrant, and hot and hot, and the porters eat it to satisfy their hunger, satiety, and labor.

In this way, Chen's wife's tofu with a "numb, spicy, and hot" flavor spread as soon as it spread ten, ten and hundred. And this Chen wife is gentle and skillful, fair and beautiful, intelligent and capable, very likable, and has a cheerful and friendly personality.

What about her husband Chen Chunfu? There are pockmarks on his face, pitted, and the surrounding neighbors call him Chen Mazi. Since she is Chen Mazi's wife, everyone jokingly calls Wen Qiaoqiao Chen Mapo.

Tofu became famous, and the big guys were naturally happy to call it "mapo tofu". So, Mapo Tofu was called down like this. Later, after the improvement of Guan Zhengxing, a generation of imperial chefs and a master of Sichuan cuisine, mapo tofu has been passed down to this day and has become a very famous representative dish of Sichuan cuisine.

"When the story is over, do the boys understand?" Wang Yong smiled and asked the group of little guys beside him.

"Understood!" The little ones replied in unison, and then they began to express their opinions.

"It's not Mazi's grandma who did it, it's because the old man is Mazi, and his wife is Mapo."

"It's because the old man has pockmarks on his face, and his daughter-in-law is called Mapo."

"None of that is right, none of what you are saying is right. Mapo doesn't have pockmarks, but her husband has pockmarks? ”

"You're so stupid, you can't understand what people say."

"Wow! Uncle, you are so talented! Ming Ming, who was lying on Wang Yong's lap, stared at him with big eyes. looked at Wang Yong with great admiration and said.

In his careful eyes, his uncle was the most learned person in this shijie. One day in the future, I must be like my uncle, I know everything, and I will be admired everywhere, how amazing it will be!

"Yes! Today is a long insight. Mr. Wang is really knowledgeable! ”

"If it weren't for your explanation to us, I'm afraid we would have always thought that Mapo had pockmarks on her face!"

However, there are also some people who don't seem to agree with what Wang Yong said, and look at all this calmly without saying a word. The representative figure is the little cub.

"Wang Yong, who are you listening to? Really? Didn't you make up stories to amuse us? ”

This was the voice of all those who doubted it. Everyone looked at Wang Yong and waited for his reply.

"Teasing you? I don't have that kind of idleness. I heard what Uncle Zhang said, do you think it might be fake? ”

"Ugh! All right! Since it was Uncle Zhang who said it, then I will believe you! ”

"What do you believe in him? Do you dare to believe his words? ”

As soon as the words fell, David carried a basket of strange vegetables, and fruits appeared behind the cub.

"Dawei? You came just in time, Wang Yong just said the origin of this mapo tofu that everyone knows is different, and Ya also said that he heard it from Uncle Zhang. You're a professional, and you're here to tell us about it. Does this mapo have pockmarks on her face? The little cub couldn't wait, and without waiting for David to greet everyone, he pulled him and began to interrogate.

"Mapo tofu? Oh, that's what he just heard from my master yesterday. ”

"You bastard, you don't even need a draft when you lie. I didn't see Uncle Zhang at all yesterday, okay? Wang Yong immediately refuted such inappropriate remarks that had a very bad impact on his reputation.

"Alright, alright. Now that you know it's true, it's okay. That's right. Let me tell you about it. This is one of the shareholders of the restaurant, a well-known man in the country, Mr. Gao Wei. The little cub said with a serious face.

These words immediately provoked Dawei's fierce counterattack: "Comrade Little Cub, please pay attention to your words!" ”

"Who's the little cub?" A little girl asked timidly beside Wang Yong.

Gave her a blank look every day. He said proudly: "The little cub is my father!" ”

"Poof—"

Several people couldn't help but squirt. No one expected that Mr. Meng, who was tall and strong, would have such a nickname. Especially this nickname shouted proudly from Tiantian's mouth.

"Alright! Stop it! What are you doing here? Wang Yong hurriedly persuaded the two guys who had already begun to stare at each other.

"Oh, I almost delayed this guy. It's all your fault! The little cub glared at the little cub viciously before continuing: "The fat man said that Sister Xiaomei is going back to Tianhai, let me get some vegetables from our village or something?" No, I just picked it, and I'm about to go to the farm to get some more golden eggs. ”

"Well, don't go yet! Get more for Sister Xiaomei! ”

"Don't worry, you still need to say it! I've always been generous with your stuff. ”

"Get out!"

"I'm going too." When he heard that his uncle was going to the farm, he immediately jumped out.

"I'll go, I'll go!" Seeing that the elder brother was leaving, the little brother naturally followed.

So, Dawei shouldered the heavy responsibility of the child king, and led a group of noisy little ones through the restaurant to the farm located halfway up the mountain in Beishan (that is, the one behind Wang Yong's house).

"Don't stop, everyone, keep eating!" Wang Yong beckoned: "I patronized these children just now, hurry up, let's continue to eat." ”

"What to eat! I've eaten everything I should eat, and this stomach is almost over! The little cub sat crooked in the chair and said in a solemn manner.

"yes, I've almost eaten, let's sit and rest!"

"Yes, yes! This super vegetable is truly worthy of its name! I really don't want to move this food. But he was reluctant to put down his chopsticks. ”

"Brother, why don't you let the waiter remove the empty plate and serve some tea, there are so many fruits here, let's chat." Tell us the story of this famous dish! Qiao Man suggested beside Wang Yong.

"Okay, then I'm going to make up for you, I'll tell you one, well, just talk about it!" Wang Yong pointed to a plate of dishes on the table and said.

"Gong Bang Chicken?"

"Wrong! It's all called the wrong name! It's called Kung Pao Chicken! Gong Bao is actually the honorary title of Ding Baozhen, the inventor of this dish. There is such a record in the dictionary of officials in the Chinese dynasties: officials at all levels in the Ming and Qing dynasties all had false titles, and the highest honorary official titles were Taishi, Shaoshi, Taifu, Shaofu, Taibao, Shaobao, Taizi Taibao and Prince Shaobao. All ministers have the title of minister or give the official after death, commonly known as the palace title.

After Xianfeng, he no longer uses the teacher, but uses more protection, so it is also called 'palace protection'. ”

Speaking of this, Wang Yong paused for a moment, saw that everyone was looking at himself very seriously and waiting for his next words, and then continued to tell everyone the origin of this famous dish that almost all Chinese know, and even many foreigners know.

Ding Baozhen governed Sichuan for ten years, was an official and upright, and made many achievements, and died in office in the eleventh year of Guangxu. In recognition of his merits, the Qing court posthumously awarded the "Prince Taibao". This official title is one of the palace guards, so the dish he invented was named "Kung Pao Chicken".

Ding Baozhen is very fond of dishes with chili and pork or stir-fried with chicken. So the chef at home made him all kinds of dishes with chicken as raw materials.

Once he went to Bai's brother's house to play, and his brother killed chickens to entertain him, but because he was in a hurry to eat, he didn't have time to stew. The elder brother ingeniously cut the chicken breast into diced chicken and stir-fried the diced chicken pieces with chicken fat. Add dried chilies, olive vegetables, garlic sprouts, etc., and then add water to cook.

After Ding Baozhen ate it, he felt that it tasted very good and was full of praise. Later, he often made this dish and ate it. It is said that when he was working in Shandong, he often asked the cook at home to cook dishes such as "fried chicken with sauce", which was very appetizing. But at that time, the dish was not yet famous.

After Ding Baozhen became the governor of Sichuan, during a private visit to Weifu, he ate spicy chicken fried with peanuts in a tavern. When he got home, he asked his cook to copy it. Since then, whenever Ding Baozhen meets a banquet guest, he has the chef stir-fry peanuts, dried chili peppers and tender chicken together. The meat is tender and delicious, and it is very popular with guests.

This dish was originally just a private dish of the Ding family, but later it became more widely known.

Nowadays, in restaurants and hotels, the dish of Kung Pao Chicken can be said to be commonplace. In some menus, Kung Pao Chicken is written as Gong Bao Chicken, some people think that this may be due to the cooking method of stir-frying.

In fact, this is a misunderstanding, because these people have not figured out the origin of this dish. (To be continued......)

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