肖寒

在中華傳統(tǒng)文化中，九是一個吉利的數(shù)字，因此也被廣泛應(yīng)用于飲食文化領(lǐng)域，魯菜中的“九轉(zhuǎn)大腸”就是一個典型的例子。這款菜品腸段外層焦脆，內(nèi)層細(xì)膩柔滑，入口即化又略帶韌性的口感，瞬間便可征服味蕾。

據(jù)歷代山東菜系濟南地方菜傳人口頭傳承，流傳至今的說法是，這款菜品首創(chuàng)于清光緒初年，首先正式使用“九轉(zhuǎn)大腸”這個名稱的是濟南九華樓飯莊。

濟南城內(nèi)的飯館靠泉吃泉、靠湖吃湖。后宰門街東首路南原有一處兩層樓繞成的四合院，即是九華樓飯莊，面積不大，但建筑考究，院中有眼泉池，系過去店里養(yǎng)魚做菜所用，久旱不涸。九華樓飯莊當(dāng)年與慶育藥店、同元樓飯莊、遠興齋醬園并稱后宰門街四大名店。

九華樓飯莊的店主姓杜，是當(dāng)時濟南的一名富商。他的生意涉及農(nóng)、工、商多個領(lǐng)域。杜老板對“九”這個數(shù)字極為偏愛，在各地開辦的店鋪都要取帶“九”字的店名，店鋪數(shù)目也要湊成九。九華樓飯莊就是其中的一座。

清光緒初年，九華樓的生意格外紅火，聚集了一批烹制山東菜的名廚高手，各式菜肴制作得色、香、味俱佳，尤其是用豬下貨烹制的菜肴更是分外講究。九華樓的廚師烹制的紅燒大腸，用料制料標(biāo)準(zhǔn)嚴(yán)格，制作方法別具一格：把豬大腸洗凈以后，采用“腸套腸”的辦法，把整條大腸一層一層地套起來。套好之后下入清水鍋中煮，并加入各種香料，將腸煮至肉質(zhì)緊湊，撈出，晾涼，切成小段，入鍋后加入各種調(diào)料進行紅燒，一道紅燒大腸就做成了。這就是“九轉(zhuǎn)大腸”的雛形，后來酒樓又進行了改進，即先焯，后煮，再炸，又燒，出勺，入鍋，反復(fù)多次，直至燒燜至熟，使大腸色澤紅潤，五味俱全，肥而不膩，香味撲鼻，被許多食客譽為“神品”。

那么“九轉(zhuǎn)大腸”的名稱是怎么來的呢？一次，杜老板在九華樓做東，宴請幾位文人雅士。席間，上了紅燒大腸這道菜，眾人品嘗后贊不絕口。席間有位名士為扣合酒樓名稱，同時也取烹飪大腸廚藝之繁復(fù)、精細(xì)之意，提議將這道菜更名為“九轉(zhuǎn)大腸”。同座都問何典？他說，道家善煉丹，有“九轉(zhuǎn)仙丹”之名，吃此美肴，如服“九轉(zhuǎn)”，可與仙丹媲美。舉桌都為之叫絕。杜老板大喜，將這一菜名確定下來。隨著烹飪技藝的不斷改進，此菜越發(fā)有影響力，遐邇聞名，一時間成為山東乃至周邊省份的老饕們垂涎的美味之一。

到了近代，廚師們又對“九轉(zhuǎn)大腸”予以改進，不僅規(guī)范了肥腸的長度，而且繁復(fù)了食材加工過程，“連環(huán)套”的腸層須套八九層，大大超出以前的兩三層，并在烹調(diào)過程中加入更多調(diào)料，如此做出來的“九轉(zhuǎn)大腸”，外觀色澤紅潤，湯汁濃郁，看一眼便能勾起人們的食欲。

食不厭精，膾不厭細(xì)。普通的食材，經(jīng)過精雕細(xì)刻，往往能幻化成餐桌上的精品。而這些精品通過味蕾的傳播，又會轉(zhuǎn)為飲食文化中的高光時代。“九轉(zhuǎn)大腸”的誕生、傳承和發(fā)展，更加驗證了中國飲食文化的這一道理。

200多年飛逝而過，九華樓早已無跡可尋，而“九轉(zhuǎn)大腸”這款山東名菜經(jīng)幾代名廚面教言傳沿襲下來，贏得了越來越多食客的青睞。

編輯/魏偉

According the traditional Chinese culture， nine （Jiu in Chinese） is a lucky number. Thus， the number is widely applied to food culture， and the Shandong dish“Braised Intestines in Brown Sauce”（Jiuzhuan Intestines） is a typical case. The intestinal segment of the dish is crispy with slight charring externally， and tastes smooth and delicate internally； besides， it melts in the mouth， with slight toughness， and thus could conquer your taste buds in an instant.

According to the oral inheritance of Jinans local cuisine（Shandong cuisine） inheritors， it is said that this dish was invented in the early years of the Guangxu Period of Qing， and Jinan Jiuhualou Restaurant first officially used the name “Braised Intestines in Brown Sauce”.

In the early years of the Guangxu Period of Qing， Jiuhualou thrived in business， and had a number of famous chefs of Shandong cuisine. In the restaurant， all sorts of dishes were made based on a perfect combination of color， fragrance and taste. It is noteworthy that Braised Intestines in Brown Sauce had particularly strict standards for the use and preparation of ingredients， and unique cooking methods. Thus， many diners praised it as a “Superb Dish”. One day， Mr. Du， the restaurant owner， entertained some guests. Among them， a scholar proposed renaming the dish “Braised Intestines in Brown Sauce” so as to cohere with the restaurant name and signify the complicated and exquisite cooking skills of large intestines. With the continuous improvement of cooking skills， the dish rose to fame， and became one of the mouth-watering delicacies for foodies in Shandong and surrounding provinces.

Two centuries have passed swiftly. There is no trace of Jiuhualou found. However， the famous Shandong dish “Braised Intestines in Brown Sauce” has won favor with a growing number of diners through the oral inheritance of several generations of famous chefs.