“酱艺”功夫 从坚守“两万步”说起
"The artistry of sauced meat-making" Kung Fu Started from Sticking to "Twenty Thousand Steps"
有一种美食，历经数百年，口味工艺都未曾改变，这其间的“秘诀”却蕴含在步履间。
There is a kind of delicacy, after hundreds of years, the taste and craftsmanship have not changed, however the "secret" in the process is contained in the steps.
故事要回到清朝，山东人刘凤翔逃荒来京，靠做酱肉谋生。乾隆三年（1738年）的一天深夜，他的孙子刘抵明夜间守灶时睡着了，肘子煮过了火。恰巧宫中来采购，这煮过头的酱肘子却因“口味独特”被要求每日供应，随之名震京城。
The story goes back to the Qing Dynasty. Liu Fengxiang, a native of Shandong Province, fled to Beijing to make a living by making sauced meat. Late one night in the third year of Qianlong Dynasty(1738), his grandson Liu Diming fell asleep while guarding the stove at night, and the spiced pork shoulder was overcooked over the fire. It happened that the palace servants came to purchase, but the overcooked spiced pork shoulder with sauce was required to be supplied daily because of the "unique taste", and it became amazingly famous in Beijing.
“因祸得福”并非会相伴终生。此后，刘抵明在原祖传技艺的基础上，总结出一套独特的“六步”制作工艺，仅酱制时间就长达7-8小时之久。
"Blessing in disguise" does not accompany life forever. After that, Liu Diming summed up a unique "six-step" production process based on the original ancestral skills, and the sauced meat making time alone was as long as 7-8 hours.
中国功夫，动静开合。酱肉技艺的精髓所在，便是老师傅每天数小时、万步间的“看锅”，所有酱货都同时下锅、出锅，成败在此一举。
Chinese Kung Fu is dynamic and static alternatively. The essence of the sauced meat skill lies in the "pot watching" of the master chef for several hours a day and tens of thousands of steps. All sauced goods are put into the pot and taken out of the pot at the same time, and success or failure depends on this pot-watching action.
[传承人采访][Interview with the Inheritor]
宋子军（天福号酱肘子制作技艺第九代代表性传承人）
Song Zijun(Representative of the 9th generation inheritors of Tianfuhao sauced pork shoulder making skills)
宋子军：炖煮三到四个小时。这几个小时干嘛，这师傅要不停地在这锅边来回来去的走动，要调这个火，这个火一定要看，哪个火冲一点哪个火慢一点，同样的肘子不一样大，还要同样的时间出锅，还都要口感好、都要入味，这个真正的精髓就在师傅“看锅”这道工序上。眼勤、手勤、腿勤，总结一个“三勤”，这一班锅下来以后，一定在一万两千步左右。这个“看锅”的师傅，最少你得够十年往上，有十年往上你得有这个经验。第一就是经验嘛，第二它主要是一个责任心。
The simmering and boiling would take 3 to 4 hours. Through the whole time, the cook keeps walking from pot to pot, to adjust the heat of each pot. Controlling the heat is really important. Some pot needs a higher temperature, some lower. The pork shoulder don’t come in the same size, but they need to be served at the same time. Meanwhile each one needs to be deliciously cooked. So the essence lies in heat controlling. In a nutshell, it’s a job that requires a cook to use his (her) eyes, hands and legs industriously. For each batch of pork shoulder , the cook could take some 12,000 steps, just among these pots. To handle the heat controlling, at least ten years of experience is required. It takes ten years of actual practice. Experience is not the only thing. It also requires the cook to be really responsible.
美味珍馐能流传百世，得手艺真传需要的是一颗“诚心”，做事先做人，这是朴素的中华智慧。
Delicious delicacies can be handed down for generations, and the true transmission of craftsmanship requires a "sincere heart". To be a man in advance, this is the plain Chinese wisdom.
[传承人采访][Interview with the Inheritor]
宋子军（天福号酱肘子制作技艺第九代代表性传承人）
Song Zijun(Representative of the 9th generation inheritors of Tianfuhao sauced pork shoulder making skills)
宋子军：人品很重要。培养一个徒弟，一定要先看他人品，而且绝不是三五年就能培养出来的，一定要先看看他有没有这个，第一要看他的个人爱好；第二看他有没有这个耐力；还有一个要求最高的点就是，有没有奉献这种精神。作为传承人来说，你的任务是什么？你一定得把老祖宗给的东西传下来。怎么传？在传的过程中一定要每个把好关，是吧？完了以后你光传还是不行，你还得把这事发扬，还得有创新。
Personalities matter a lot. Before cultivating an apprentice, personality is my primary consideration. It takes more than several years of training. I have to see if he (she) has proper qualities. First, if he (she) is interested in the career. Second, if there is enough patience. Third, also the toughest one:Dedication. The mission for heirs is to pass on what we inherit from our ancestors. Such inheriting is quite detail-oriented. Moreover, Merely inheriting is not enough. It’s the heirs’duty to carry forward the tradition. Innovation is also indispensable.
几百年前，刘凤翔的锅里炖煮的是人间沧桑。今天，酱肉已经成为了非物质文化遗产。从市井到帝王，再到回归日常饮食，甚至走向世界，酱肉传承，用两万步的坚守秀出美食“真功夫”。那么，今天的你，该如何“接招”？
Hundreds of years ago, Liu Fengxiang's pot stewing were the vicissitudes of life. Today, sauced meat has become an intangible cultural heritage. From the marketplace to the emperor, and then returning to the daily diet, and even going to the world, the sauced meat inheritance, with 20,000 steps of persistence shows the "true kung fu" of food. So, nowadays，how do you take "that" ?
