【原】译研专栏|文化名家崔岱远带你吃遍中国——宫保鸡丁（双语）

CCTSS 2021-05-19

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专栏作家

崔岱远

崔岱远，北京读书形象大使，作家、文化学者，现任中国财经出版传媒集团副编审。全民阅读积极推广者，应邀担任第十二、十三、十四届北京国际图书节主讲专家，北京大学生阅读联盟导师，中央电视台、中央人民广播电台、中国教育电视台学者嘉宾。系列作品《京味儿》《京味儿食足》《京范儿》引领人们寻着文字感受京城民间最本真的性情气韵。《吃货辞典》入选“中国影响力图书”，“中国好书”，被誉为接地气的好作品。

Cui Daiyuan is a writer, scholar in cultural studies, and the Image Ambassador of Reading in Beijing. He currently holds the position of associate senior editor in China Finance and Economy Publication Media Group. An active promoter of Nationwide Reading, he was invited to be the keynote speaker during the 12th , 13th and 14th Beijing International Book Festivals. He is a mentor of Beijing College Students Reading League as well as a guest scholar of China Central Television (CCTV), China National Radio (CNR) and China Education Television (CETV). His Beijing series: “Tastes of Beijing”, ”Food and Drink of Beijing ” and “Beijing Style”, lead the readers to experience the most authentic nature and spirit of folk life in Beijing. Honored as a down-to-earth book, his “Foodies’ Dictionary” has been selected as a “Book of China Effect” and a “Good Book of China”.

零四年七月二十三日，新华社发布了一条有关驻伊拉克多国部队的新闻，题目是“伊拉克中餐馆生意红火，美军爱中餐”，还特意配了张一名上尉津津有味享用“宫保鸡丁”的大照片。的确，宫保鸡丁在欧美相当知名，简直成了中国菜的代名词，这恐怕是它的发明者丁宝桢万万想不到的。

The Xinhua News Agency published a news article about the multinational forces stationed in Iraq on July 23rd, 2004. The title was “Business is booming at Iraq’s Chinese Restaurant. American troops love Chinese food”. The article even specially came with a large picture of a lieutenant enjoying “Kung Pao Chicken” with keen pleasure. Kung Pao Chicken truly is quite famous in Europe and America, and has virtually become a synonym for Chinese cuisine. This is probably something that its inventor Ding Baozhen never would have expected.

2004年7月20日，在伊拉克巴格达多国部队总部所在的绿区，几名驻伊美军士兵在一家中餐馆内用餐。新华社记者黄敬文摄

丁宝桢，就是那个杀安德海的山东巡抚。他不仅是忠臣，同时还是吃主儿，在山东时就酷爱吃当地名菜酱爆鸡丁。光绪二年调任四川总督之后，也把这个癖好带到了成都。当时吃辣椒之风在四川刚刚盛行，豆瓣辣酱更是新鲜。丁大人入乡随俗，把酱爆鸡丁的面酱改成了豆瓣辣酱，还用时髦的辣椒之辣代替了传统的大葱之辣，并且加进了花椒和花生米。不想，火辣的辣椒和香脆的花生裹挟着鲜嫩的鸡丁，产生出一种全新而变幻丰富的口味，让这道菜在丁大人的家宴上抢尽风头。因为丁宝桢在同治年间被加封为太子少保，尊称“丁宫保”，这种改良的酱爆鸡丁也就被叫成了“宫保鸡丁”，日久天长名扬天下。至于后来有些餐厅写成“宫爆鸡丁”，则是以讹传讹了。

Ding Baozhen was that Governor of Shandong who killed An Dehai. He was not only a loyal minister, but was also a food connoisseur. He loved eating the famous local dish Diced Chicken in Bean Paste when he was in Shandong. He brought his fondness for this dish along with him to Chengdu after he was transferred to serve as Governor of Sichuan in the second year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu. Back then the eating of chili peppers had just started becoming popular in Sichuan and the fermented chili broadbean paste was particularly novel. Governor Ding observed the customs of his new home, and switched the fermented flour sauce in Diced Chicken in Bean Paste with chili broadbean paste. He even used the spiciness of popular chili peppers to replace the spiciness of traditional green Chinese onions, and also added in Sichuan peppercorn (numbing pepper) and peanuts. Unexpectedly, the hot, spicy and numb chili peppers and fragrant and crisp peanuts were drawn into the fresh and tender diced chicken, and produced a brand new, richly fluctuating flavor, making this dish steal the spotlight in Governor Ding’s family banquet. This modified form of Diced Chicken in Bean Paste was named “Kung Pao Chicken (gongbao jiding)” because Governor Ding was given the title of “Taizi Shaobao”, or “Kung Pao” meaning Mentor of Crown Prince during the reign of Emperor Tongzhi and was revered as “Kung Pao Ding”. Kung Pao Chicken became ever more famous as time passed. Later on some restaurants wrote the incorrect Chinese character 爆 for 宝 bao in Kung Pao Chicken (gongbao jiding) due to a distortion that spread around.

丁宝桢

也有一说，丁宝桢是贵州人，所以宫保鸡丁算是贵州菜。这其实混淆了黔味宫保鸡和四川宫保鸡丁的差别。虽只几字之差，却是两道不同的菜。黔味宫保鸡用的辅料是糍粑辣椒、甜面酱、切成马耳朵形的蒜苗和香葱节；而宫保鸡丁用的是干辣椒、干花椒、郫县豆瓣和花生米。再者，黔味宫保鸡可以是鸡片、鸡块、鸡条，而宫保鸡丁必是鸡丁。最关键的，黔味宫保鸡是棕红色，辣酱味浓厚，多辣酱皮；而宫保鸡丁色泽红亮、脆嫩酸甜，传统上是麻辣味的。

Another legend says that Ding Baozhen was from Guizhou, and so Kung Pao Chicken can be regarded as a Guizhou dish. This, in actuality, confuses the distinction between Guizhou Kung Pao Chicken and Sichuan Kung Pao Chicken. Though only a few characters are different in their names, they are two different dishes. The supplementary ingredients that Guizhou Kung Pao Chicken uses are ciba peppers, sweet fermented flour sauce, green onion, and garlic sprouts cut up into the shape of horse ears, whereas Kung Pao Chicken uses dry red peppers, dry numbing Sichuan peppers, chili broadbean paste from Pi County, and peanuts. Furthermore, Guizhou Kung Pao Chicken can be made from chicken slices, nuggets, or strips, whereas Sichuan Kung Pao Chicken must be diced chicken. What’s most different is that Guizhou Kung Pao Chicken is brownish red, has a strong chili sauce flavor with many chili peels, whereas Sichuan Kung Pao Chicken is bright red, crispy, tender, sour, and sweet, and is traditionally categorized as the spicy and numbing style.

菜无定法，在传播过程中口味发生变化很正常。就比如北京的宫保鸡丁口味小甜酸，微微有些麻辣，有个术语叫做“小荔枝口”。说起个中原委，不能不聊聊梅兰芳和新中国成立后北京第一家川菜馆子—峨嵋酒家的渊源。

No dish has a fixed recipe. It is very normal for the flavor of a dish to change over its spreading process. For example, Beijing Kung Pao Chicken is a little sweet and sour, and has a slightly spicy and numbing flavor, and there is a special term for it called “Little Lychee Flavor”. To tell the whole story one can’t help but talk about Mei Lanfang and the first Sichuan Restaurant in Beijing after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China – the origin of the E’Mei Restaurant.

峨嵋酒家开业于解放初期，当时离长安大戏院不远。梅先生唱完戏后特意过来品尝。祖籍江苏的梅先生口味清淡，而且为了保护嗓子也不能吃得太刺激。考虑到他的特殊需求，厨师专门对这道菜进行了改革—既不失川菜特有的麻辣，又兼备江南菜的甜酸，而且选的原料特别讲究，用的不是通常的鸡胸脯，而是带皮的小公鸡腿，爆出的鸡丁松散利落，质嫩弹牙，而且是只见红油不见汁。梅先生尝了尝，先是感觉甜酸，再嚼起来鲜咸，品一品，香辣里带着些椒麻，可谓是五味迭出，但味道多而不乱，精准鲜明。梅先生不禁大为赞叹，以致后来经常专门过来吃这道宫保鸡丁，吃完了还要装到饭盒里带回家去。那时峨嵋酒家条件简陋，梅兰芳这么大的名角儿经常光顾，酒家的伙计总觉得有些“对不住”。梅先生知道后笑了笑，诚恳地说：“我是来吃菜的，又不吃桌子、凳子腿的。”

The E’Mei Restaurant was opened in the early 1950s. Back then it was not far from the Chang’an Grand Theater. Mr. Mei would specially come here after a performance to sample its food. As a Jiangsu native Mr. Mei had a preference for light flavors, and what’s more, in order to protect his voice he could not eat food that was too fiery. The chef made a distinctive innovation of this dish in consideration of Mr. Mei’s special needs – the dish did not lose the spicy and numbing flavor characteristic of Sichuan cuisine, and also contained the sweet and sour flavor of Jiangnan cuisine. Moreover, particular care was given to the choice of ingredients. What were used were not average chicken breasts, but cockerel drumsticks with skin on them. The diced chicken after being stir-fried got loose and orderly, tender and chewy. What’s more, only the red oil was visible but the sauce. Mr. Mei tasted it. At first he felt it was sweet and sour. After chewing some more he thought it was fresh and salty. A few more bites and there was a bit of a numbing flavor inside of a fragrant spiciness. Five flavors alternated, as it were, yet the flavors were manifold but not disordered. Just precise and distinct. Mr. Mei couldn’t help but highly praise it. Since thenhe frequented the restaurant to eat this version of Kung Pao Chicken specially. He would even put the leftover in a lunch box and take it home after finishing enjoying the dish at the restaurant. Back then the E’Mei Restaurant was in a shabby condition. The frequent patronage of a celebrated Peking Opera starlike Mei Lanfang always made the waiters of the restaurant feel a bit “sorry”. Mr. Mei laughed after learning of this, and sincerely said: “I come to eat the food, not the tables or the legs of the stools.”

十年之后，梅大师再一次来到这里，品尝了宫保鸡丁之后意犹未尽，挥笔题写了“峨嵋灵秀落杯盏，醉饱人人意未澜”，而这里的菜也被大师誉为“峨嵋派川菜”，并从此声名远扬。直到今天，您来到峨嵋酒家，仍然会看到梅兰芳亲笔题写的店名，品尝到这道有着太多故事的看家菜。

Master Mei came here once again ten years later. After tasting the Kung Pao Chicken, he improvised “The beautiful E’Mei has wine cups scattered throughout it. The lingering charm of intoxicated and satiated people billows” to fully express his satisfaction. The cuisine here was also praised by the Master as the “E’Mei School of Sichuan Cuisine”, and became famous far and wide since then. Even today when you go to the E’Mei Restaurant you can still see the restaurant name handwritten by Mei Lanfang, and are able to taste this signature dish that has so many stories.