It is our eternal beloved countryman, who strives for excellence in his work, but has a simple and simple attitude towards life. According to his chef An Zhenchang, ** was quite frugal in terms of food, and one of the most touching points was that he liked to eat fish, eating only one side at a time, and saving the other side for the next meal.
In the West Flower Hall, two chefs, Gui Huanyun and An Zhenchang, are in charge of cooking for the prime minister and Deng Ying's eldest sister. Gui Huanyun is a native of Huaiyin, Jiangsu, and entered the West Flower Hall when the People's Republic of China was founded, mainly responsible for the prime minister's diet; An Zhenchang, a native of Tai'an, Shandong Province, worked in the West Flower Hall from 1969, serving as prime minister and Deng Yingchao's chef until Deng Yingchao's death in 1992.
According to An Zhenchang's recollection, the prime minister was very busy with work, and the eating time was neither regular nor irregular, although everyone around him felt that this was not good, but the chefs could only prepare in advance and try to accommodate as much as possible.
However, the prime minister's relatively "regular" thing is breakfast. An Zhenchang once mentioned that the chairman often works all night, so the prime minister will also follow all night, causing him and Sister Deng to have different schedules, so they usually rest in their own rooms.
Sister Deng woke up early in the morning, and the prime minister was still working. Sister Deng stood outside the prime minister's door and urged softly: "It's dawn, rest early." The Prime Minister's answer is always "just go to bed", but it is not clear exactly when to sleep.
In any case, the prime minister always has to have breakfast after getting up, but sometimes because he gets up late, breakfast may be solved together with Sister Deng's lunch. After breakfast, the prime minister began a busy day, his work schedule was planned in advance, who he wanted to meet, who to talk to, and what meetings to have, but the length of the work was unpredictable.
According to An Zhenchang's recollection, sometimes the prime minister was not busy with work, and he could come back for "lunch" at 6 o'clock in the evening, just in time to eat with Sister Deng, and at this time Sister Deng had dinner.
However, sometimes because of the long meeting time, the prime minister will not be able to come back for dinner until ** o'clock in the evening, and often continue to go out to run errands after dinner. For this reason, they have become accustomed to steaming and washing the vegetables in advance, and as soon as the prime minister returns, they can cook immediately, otherwise it will be too late.
The schedule of the country's prime minister is always fraught with uncertainty, and midnight and late-night meetings are commonplace. However, at all times, the Prime Minister's meals are always consistent, which can be described in the simplest two words - regularity.
For supper, supper and supper, the prime minister will always ask people to prepare some, such as fried peanuts, egg custard or white fungus lotus seed soup, etc., and choose one at will when you are hungry. Midnight snacks are kept in the refrigerator and are on standby, and the prime minister can enjoy them whenever he is hungry.
When the prime minister is in the office, he will also stop from time to time, pick up fried peanuts, chew while working, and when he sees the staff coming in, he will ask the other party if he is hungry, and when he hears that the other party has not eaten, he will propose to let the guard on duty hot supper again.
Whenever I think back to these scenes, I always feel sour and tearful, the prime minister of a country, actually eat a few peanuts for supper, and do not forget to enjoy every bite, such a picture is really moving.
In the early days of New China, the country was in a state of ruin, and the material conditions were not rich. The Prime Minister and Sister Deng have always taught us that whether we are cooking or doing other things, we should uphold the principle of "enough to eat", not waste, not luxury.
Their lives are full of thrift and simplicity, from shopping to daily expenses, all of which reflect their virtue of thrift. For example, when chef An Zhen often buys vegetables, he always only buys enough dishes for a day, such as only 3 taels or half a catty of pork, which not only ensures the quality of the diet, but also avoids waste.
Moreover, he will tell the ** department in advance the dishes and portions he needs before buying vegetables, and settle the bill directly the next day, never defaulting, and he does not take advantage of the country. According to An Zhenchang's recollection, the prime minister's breakfast was usually a cup of soy milk or milk cereal, served with butter bread baked on an electric stove, and occasionally fried ham slices and fried eggs were added.
The premier's niece, Zhou Bingyi, also said that this was a habit he had developed at the Whampoa Military Academy. However, after arriving at the West Flower Hall, the chefs will occasionally prepare some southern dim sum for him, such as radish cake and Jiang rice lotus, to change the taste and add joy to life.
The Prime Minister's diet is simple, and lunch is usually rice with millet, sorghum rice and other grains, as well as three dishes: one meat, one vegetable and one soup. Dinner is dominated by pasta dishes such as noodles, ravioli or small buns.
Chefs will innovate according to the premier's tastes, such as making stick noodles and fish stews, or minced pork pancakes. The Prime Minister is particularly fond of Beihai Fangshan's minced pork pancakes, which they will modify according to the premier's taste, such as adding camelina or winter bamboo shoots to make the pancakes taste better.
The menus of the Prime Minister and Sister Tang are usually arranged by the kitchen, and they will be delivered with breakfast before the beginning of the week, and Sister Tang will adjust the menu to suit her tastes.
The Prime Minister didn't ask too much about that.
When the prime minister is unwell, Sister Deng will carefully adjust the menu, arrange the daily diet according to the prime minister's physical condition, and discuss with the doctor to ensure the cooperation of the best plan.
For example, Sister Deng will avoid making the prime minister eat chicken and chicken soup, as well as fish and shrimp that can trigger colds. Although the Prime Minister and Sister Deng are very frugal with themselves, they are always generous and warm to their guests.
The prime minister often stayed with guests for dinner, and said that he was the one who invited them. However, Sister Deng once jokingly said: "Don't keep saying that you have a treat, we are all eating me." In 1964, the salaries of the prime minister and Sister Deng began to be divided separately, and the prime minister found that Sister Deng's words were not groundless, and there was not much left of his salary after deducting various expenses.
Since then, when the prime minister invites guests to dinner, he always emphasizes that "the eldest sister invites you to dinner".
The Prime Minister's frugality is manifested in the fact that he does not celebrate his birthday and does not like others to celebrate his birthday. On the Prime Minister's birthday in 1960, the Prime Minister's adopted daughter Sun Weishi wanted to celebrate his birthday, so she discussed with Gui Huanyun and others to make him longevity noodles and longevity peaches, and then buy a cake to celebrate together.
In order to avoid being disgusted and wasted by the prime minister, they first put the cake in the kitchen, and when the prime minister came home from his busy work, Sun Weishi beckoned Gui Huanyun to serve a bowl of fried noodles. When the prime minister saw Sun Weishi and others with happy faces, he immediately realized that there was a "problem" and asked what was going on.
If you don't tell him, he doesn't eat noodles. The staff hastened to explain that it was not for his birthday, just in time. The prime minister became even more angry when he heard this, but fortunately, at this time, the ** marshal came to the prime minister to talk about work and help everyone get out of the siege.
Mr. Chen walked into the house and said that he also liked to eat noodles and was willing to eat them together. Only then did the prime minister's face soften, and he ate this bowl of birthday noodles with Mr. Chen.
But in the end, they didn't dare to bring the longevity peach and cake to the table, so they had to eat it separately afterwards, which was considered to be a birthday for the prime minister. This shows the thrift of the Prime Minister.
Although the Prime Minister lives a modest life, he also has a unique taste for food. According to An Zhenchang's recollections, the prime minister prefers braised dishes because they are delicious and have a good effect on meals.
For example, the prime minister likes to eat the braised lion's head made by An Zhenchang and them, although it is only the size of a small sand fruit, but the meat filling will be added with camelina, shiitake mushrooms or seasonal vegetables, and then add Chinese cabbage when stewing, so that the stewed lion's head is delicious, the prime minister can eat one or a half every time, and the rest will be left for the next meal to eat together.
In addition, the prime minister is particularly fond of roasted pork with umeboshi vegetables, which they will steam and stew with pork belly stir-fried in oil. Although they only buy three taels of meat each time, An Zhenchang is also very troubled by this, because it is difficult to make a "meaty flavor" of roasted pork with umeboshi vegetables, and it requires high cooking skills.
In addition, Sister Deng also has some special requirements for this dish, such as not letting the chef put ginger in it, because ginger will be hot, although the prime minister likes to eat pork belly, but Sister Deng feels that the pork belly is too fat, which is not good for health, so she asked to use lean meat, but lean meat is too dry, and the prime minister doesn't like it, which makes them very embarrassed.
However, despite this, the prime minister cannot eat roasted pork with umeboshi vegetables on a regular basis, because they have to be careful and cannot afford every meal.
The Prime Minister loves to eat"Eyebrow balls", its unique shape, delicious and delicious, with sea cucumber stew, the flavor is unique. In addition, the prime minister is also fond of 1000 pieces of roast pork, which is made into 1000 knots from tofu skin, which is cooked with meat and is rich in nutrients.
The Prime Minister loves soy products, such as roasted tofu with minced meat and dried silk soup, and his flavors are diverse and deeply rooted in the bone marrow. The prime minister is a southerner, and he has a soft spot for fish, and his favorite is the crucian carp in Nanjing Liuhe, if not, herring and grass carp are also good choices.
An Zhenchang usually grilled fish is mainly braised in red, and the prime minister only eats one side each time, and the other side is reserved for the next meal. The prime minister loves to eat cold fish, because cold fish has "fish jelly", so the second meal is usually not heated, and the cold is eaten directly.
In addition, the prime minister also likes the anchovy of the Yangtze River, they will first marinate the fish, and then grill it red, the fish scales are crispy and delicious, even the prime minister and Sister Deng are very fond of it.
Wan's specialty dish is anchovies, and when she brings the cooked fish to the table, the fish is still covered in scales. But what is amazing is that Wan can easily lift all the scales by gently pinching the thread on the fish.
This may be because the scales of anchovy are rich in fat, making the fish fatty and easy to cook. Zhou Bingyi speculated that the prime minister may have also tasted this dish when he was a child, because when Wan died, the prime minister was already 9 years old, so it is possible to eat it.
But we don't know exactly what happened. An Zhenchang also revealed that they usually make braised dishes, but this is only for seasoning, because the prime minister is from Jiangsu, his taste is light, and he especially likes the light taste of Huaiyang cuisine.
Among the vegetarian dishes, the prime minister prefers fried loofah with walnut kernels, snow cabbage and fried amaranth, in addition, they will also make fried tender broad beans with fresh mushrooms, Kaiyang pu cabbage, etc., most of these dishes are southern dishes, and there are no ones in the northern region, so every time they have to go to the ** place to buy.
In general, they usually buy vegetables according to the season, but the prime minister does not like to eat leeks, bitter gourd, garlic sprouts, etc. In general, the Prime Minister's eating habits are simple, and his energy is dedicated to the country and the people.
Perhaps, the begonias in the West Flower Hall can best understand the Prime Minister's dedication and simple spirit.