紐約麻醬涼面?zhèn)髌嬖倮m(xù)：唐家川菜館回歸唐人街

I had eaten approximately 300 miles of cold sesame noodles before I knew they had a story. If I’d thought about them at all, I would have reflected that everything has a story, but I didn’t. Back in the 1980s, when I came to New York, they were simply a thing you had to order with Chinese takeout because somebody always wanted them, even though they usually tasted like leftover spaghetti with Skippy.

吃了快300英里長的麻醬涼面，我才知道它是有故事的。要是稍微想想，其實我應該也能想到每樣東西背后都有個故事，但我沒去想。1980年我剛來紐約的時候，這是中餐外賣里必點的東西，因為總是有人想吃，雖然那味道就像是不新鮮的意面加上點“四季寶”(Skippy)花生醬。

Before this, though, cold sesame noodles in New York were the specialty of one particular Sichuan-born chef, Yu Fa Tang. Called Shorty by everybody, Tang came here in the early ’60s after working for more than a decade in Taiwan. By 1967 he had his own restaurant on East Broadway, Hwa Yuan Szechuan Inn, where among other renditions of Sichuanese food he made cold sesame noodles that would lodge themselves in the memories of generations of New Yorkers and be imitated, lamentably, by takeout cooks all over town. At its peak it reportedly went through 500 pounds of noodles a day.

但在此之前，紐約的麻醬涼面只是一位人稱唐矮子的四川廚師唐宇發(fā)(音)的特色拿手菜。60年代初，在臺灣工作了十多年的唐師傅來到了紐約。1967年，他在東百老匯大街已經(jīng)有了自己的餐館華園川菜館。在各式川菜中，獨有他做的這道麻醬涼面留在了幾代紐約客的記憶之中，也被全城的外賣廚子悲哀地爭相效仿。據(jù)說在巔峰時期，餐館一天賣出的面條重達500磅。

For more details on the background of the dish and its life after the restaurant closed, I refer you to a 2007 treatise that Sam Sifton wrote in The New York Times Magazine. For a taste of the original and unexpurgated recipe, I refer you to the very good new restaurant that opened on the site of the original in October. Its name now shortened to Hwa Yuan Szechuan, it is worth visiting for reasons that go well beyond nostalgia.

想知道更多有關這道菜的背景以及在餐館關門后的命運，推薦去讀2007年山姆·斯福頓(Sam Sifton)為《紐約時報》寫的一篇文章。要是想嘗到原汁原味的手藝，我推薦十月在原址新開張的高檔餐館。現(xiàn)在它的名稱被縮短成了“華園四川”，使它值得一看的理由遠不止是為了懷舊。

Hwa Yuan is an imposing restaurant, built by Shorty’s son Chien Lieh Tang and his grandson James Tang to plant the family name solidly in this century. To the left of the entrance is a lounge where translucent backlit panels cast everything in a streaked-marmalade glow. Straight ahead is the first dining room, and there are more up the stairs to the right.

華園是一家氣派的餐館，由唐矮子的兒子唐承烈和孫子唐逸仙創(chuàng)辦，為的是讓自己的家族招牌在這個世紀也能深深扎根。入口的左邊是一個休息室，從后照亮的半透明擋板讓一切都籠罩在了橘子果醬色的條紋光線之中。正前方是第一間餐廳，從右手邊的樓梯往上還有更多。

The tables sit under white cloths, and the places are set with white china traced with gold. To the right of the plates are two pairs of chopsticks on a white-china rest, one for serving and the other for eating.

桌子罩著白桌布，四處都擺放好了鑲金邊的白色瓷器。餐盤的右邊是兩雙擺在白陶瓷筷架上的筷子，一雙用來夾菜，一雙用來吃飯。

Needless to say, the cold sesame noodles are mandatory, at least on a first visit. They are, for one thing, truly cold. Not left-out-on-the-counter cold, but trickling-mountain-spring cold. The temperature accentuates their smooth surface and, like the slivers of cucumber, makes the small zap of chile oil call out more clearly. The first time I ate them the sauce needed a little more salt and vinegar, but the next time it had a finely balanced tension. If you know only the sugary peanut-butter imitation, tasting Hwa Yuan’s original must be like hearing Van Morrison for the first time when you’ve grown up on Ed Sheeran.

不用說，麻醬涼面是必點的，至少是第一次去時的必點。首先，它真的很涼。不是在柜臺上擺放太久的那種涼，是高山上涓涓水流的涼。這樣的溫度凸顯了它的光滑，就像薄片的黃瓜，這讓辣油的沖擊更加清晰。第一次吃的時候，我覺得醬汁還需多放些鹽和醋，但第二次便有了精心調(diào)配的張力。如果你只知道甜膩的花生醬仿品，嘗一口華園的原版，一定就像聽著艾德·希蘭(Ed Sheeran)長大的人第一次聽到范·莫里森(Van Morrison)。

Chien Lieh Tang is the chef at the resurrected Hwa Yuan, and although his cooking is not hard to appreciate, a little orientation may help. First, a warning: Those who believe that the only good Sichuan food makes you weep, sniffle, moan, call 911 or crawl under the table will need to adjust their standards. Hwa Yuan serves many family recipes that reflect an earlier stage of Sichuan cooking and Shorty Tang’s time in Taiwan. While chiles are often present, they rarely dominate. Nor does the kitchen try to lard extra umami into every dish. The best food at Hwa Yuan tries to impress through charm, not arm-twisting.

唐承烈是華園的主廚，雖然他的廚藝不難領會，但一點指南或許會有些幫助。首先，提個醒：那些認為只有會讓你辣到流淚、抽鼻子、慘叫或是打911、鉆到桌子底下的菜才是正宗川菜的人，你們需要調(diào)整標準了。華園供應的許多家常菜肴，反映了川菜的早期階段和唐矮子的臺灣時光。雖然常能看到辣椒，但它們很少占據(jù)主導。后廚也不會往每道菜里特意增添鮮味。華園靠魅力而非逼迫來讓人記住他們最好的菜品。

Family pride being the point here, dishes that carry the names Tang or Hwa Yuan tend to be excellent. Not, I’m afraid, the Hwa Yuan dry-aged shell steak, which got impressive flavor from basting with marrow but was knotted with tough membranes when I tried it.

家族自豪感是這里的重點，帶有“唐”或“華園”字樣的菜肴一般都很出色。不過我得說華園的干式熟成前腰脊牛排就不行了，骨髓汁口味不錯，但是吃起來有太多硬的筋膜。

But Tang’s Amazing Spicy Wine Chicken was a treat, very tender hunks of dark meat in a delicate sauce of Shaoxing rice wine, bean paste and chile oil. Tang’s Amazing Tofu was a minor discovery, seared squares of pressed tofu with fresh green chiles in a sauce that’s more interesting than you’d guess from its pale tan color. Hot Tang Tang noodles may sound like cold sesame noodles run through the microwave; they are something completely different, short strands of noodle in a steaming cup of sour-and-spicy broth that has a businesslike edge of roasted dried chiles.

不過，川香雞十分美味，非常嫩的大塊黑色雞肉置于用紹興黃酒、豆瓣醬和辣椒油做成的美味醬汁之中。川香豆腐算是此行一個不小的驚喜，煎過的豆腐干與新鮮綠尖椒搭配，泡在看似平淡無奇其實很有意思的淺棕色醬汁里。擔擔面(Hot Tang Tang noodles)可能聽起來像是川味涼面在微波爐里加熱，但實際上它是完全不同的東西，短面條放在熱氣騰騰的酸辣濃湯里，湯里有點烤干辣椒的精練味道。

And Whole Fish with Hot Bean Sauce, Tang Family Creation is a bona fide star, the dish I know I’ll order again even if I’m not in the mood for cold noodles. It had a devoted following at the original restaurant, where it was made with carp. Now it is barramundi, precisely cooked and resting in a rusty mash of chile oil, fermented soybeans and chopped scallions. It’s a forceful dish that’s still noteworthy for its balance.

豆瓣魚是名副其實的明星菜，我知道，下次就算沒有吃涼面的興致，也一定會再點這道菜。它在老店里有一群忠實的追隨者，當時是用鯉魚做的?，F(xiàn)在是用鱸魚，精心烹飪好之后，放在用辣油、豆瓣醬和蔥花做成的醬料里。這道菜力道不小，但仍然不失均衡。

As for the Hwa Yuan crab cake, I have no idea whether it lives up to the name. The kitchen was always out of it, along with such other intrigues as duck liver pâté and foie gras with fruit.

至于華園蟹餅，我不知道它是否名副其實。因為它總是售罄，鴨肝醬和水果鵝肝等其他有趣的東西也是如此。

The other major warning: My Peking duck did not deserve the fanfare it gets on the menu, where it is called Beijing duck. I phoned ahead to reserve a duck and a half for a large group, was told on arrival that the half duck wasn’t available, settled for the whole duck, and found that it wasn’t worth ordering in advance, or the $65 it cost. The carving was imprecise enough to make me glad it was only a roast duck under the knife and not a heart-surgery patient, and while the meat was juicy, pink and flavorful, the skin was flabby and as crisp as boiled spinach.

另一個重要警告：我吃到的北京烤鴨(Peking duck)配不上它在菜單上——在那上面被稱為Beijing duck——得到的贊美。我提前打了電話，為我的一大群賓客訂了一只半烤鴨，結(jié)果到了以后被告知，那半只鴨還沒準備好，只好用那一只鴨子將就，結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)，它根本不值得提前預訂，也不值得花65美元。片鴨子的刀功十分馬虎，讓我暗自慶幸刀下只是只烤鴨，而非在接受心臟手術的病人。雖然鴨肉多汁、粉嫩、可口，但鴨皮軟塌塌的，口感如煮菠菜。

Less heralded menu entries warrant a look, though. There is no reason to believe that soup dumplings, which arrived in New York by way of Shanghai long after Shorty Tang’s heyday, will be any good at Hwa Yuan. They are. So are the thick and juicy pan-fried dumplings.

不過，菜單上不那么張揚的菜也值得一看。在唐矮子鼎盛時期過后很久才經(jīng)由上海傳入紐約的水餃，很難相信會是華園里的拿手菜。但實際上，這里的水餃很好吃。厚實、多汁的煎餃也是如此。

I can never resist snow-pea shoots, and have never come across any as delicious as Hwa Yuan’s. The dry-sautéed string beans are about average, but stir-fried brussels sprouts with bacon is a rewarding variation on Sichuanese cabbage with pork.

我永遠無法抗拒豌豆苗，而且從沒吃過比華園做的更好的。干煸四季豆一般般，不過，炒抱子甘藍是川味豬肉炒包菜的改進版本。

Sichuan cooks seem to have a special understanding of potatoes, which may explain why the little marble-size ones here, cooked kung pao style with peanuts and dried chiles, are so unusually good.

川菜廚師似乎對土豆有種特別的理解，這也許可以解釋為什么搭配花生和干辣椒的玻璃球大小的宮保土豆異乎尋常地好吃。

I hope to fake my way into reproducing the dish at home, which would make me the latest in a long line of Hwa Yuan imitators.

我希望自己能在家里復制這道菜，這會讓我成為一長串華園模仿者中的最新一例。