Reporter: Ding Si

  In order to practice ramen skills repeatedly, he ate 15 bowls of beef noodles a day; founded "Beef Noodle University", breaking the inheritance model of the industry for many years, and initiated the establishment of the Lanzhou Beef Ramen International Alliance, with "foreign disciples" all over the world ; Free training for people in poverty-stricken areas to make beef noodles a poverty alleviation skill...

Photo courtesy of Liang Shunjian interviewee

  He is Liang Shunjian, who sold Lanzhou beef noodles to the world. The 52-year-old said, “60% of the people who sell beef noodles in the world are related to me.”

  This is no exaggeration.

In August 2019, Lanzhou Beef Ramen opened in Auckland, New Zealand. Liang Shunjian (fifth from left) attended the opening event. (Data Map) Photo courtesy of respondents

 Learned ramen skills in 40 days and ate 15 bowls of noodles a day

  Smooth and silky noodles, sprinkled with green coriander garlic sprouts and secret beef diced, topped with rich and mellow beef broth, and topped with a few spoons of red oil chili...A bowl of authentic Lanzhou beef ramen is out of the pot, Lanzhou people This day was awakened.

  Lanzhou Beef Ramen, which was founded in 1915, is generally called "beef noodles" by locals, also known as "niu big" or "niu big bowl", which means "big bowl beef noodles".

Lanzhou Beef Noodles, founded in 1915, is world-renowned for its unique style of "the soup is clear, the meat is fragrant, and the noodles are long", and it is known as "the first side of China". (Data Map) Photograph by Yang Yanmin

  Before the 1980s, beef noodle restaurants were state-owned enterprises, and few private noodle restaurants were opened. At that time, a bowl of beef was not often eaten by ordinary people.

  Later, there were more privately opened shops, and the skilled ramen masters became "sweet and sweet". The ramen skills were not easily passed down. There was a family inheritance of "passing males but not females", or formal apprenticeship and apprenticeship were needed to learn. It must be at least one year or more before you can "get a teacher."

To make a bowl of beef noodles, you need to go through various processes such as kneading, drawing, kneading, slipping, stretching, and ramen. (Data Map) Photo by Yang Yanmin

  It was a pure coincidence that Liang Shunjian entered the industry at the age of 16. Liang Shunjian, currently the deputy secretary-general of the Lanzhou Beef Ramen Industry Association and chairman of Gansu Jinweidela Noodles Cultural Industry Group, recently accepted an exclusive interview with reporters and recalled the story of "One Side Fate".

  The 16-year-old came to Lanzhou from his hometown in Pingliang, Gansu to make a living. “The steaming beef noodles on the street were so delicious. There were very few people doing this at the time, so I went to work in a noodle shop.” He said.

  "First of all, you have to start with the miscellaneous activities, such as sweeping the floor, washing the dishes, peeling garlic, cooking meat, kneading noodles, etc." The teenager Liang Shunjian kneaded the noodles on a stool, "After kneading for a long time, the master just doesn't teach the technique of ramen noodles. Learn secretly, observe the master’s behavior in the back kitchen every day, and buy delicious food for the master, thinking of trying to please the master and let the master teach himself skills."

The specifications of beef noodles are divided into two pillars, two thin, three thin, thin, capillary, large width, thin width, leek leaves, buckwheat ribs, and a nest of silk. (Data Map) Photo by Yang Yanmin

  The hard work paid off, and the master finally agreed to teach him ramen techniques, but there was a rule at the time that the apprentices had to eat the noodles by themselves. “Only by eating by yourself can you know whether the noodles are thick or thin, and whether the soup is appropriate.” Liang Shunjian tried and practiced ramen skills repeatedly, and he had eaten 15 bowls a day at most.

  After 40 days of "stealing the master and learning skills", he mastered the whole process of making beef ramen. At that time, it took at least one year to learn the whole beef noodle making process.

  The arrogant teenager has a "chef dream" in his heart. At the age of 18, he has become a popular ramen master, resolutely left to work in a restaurant, and won the title of Chinese cooking master.

Lanzhou Beef Noodles unified the standard of Lanzhou Beef Noodles with "one clear (soup), two white (radish), three red (spicy), four greens (parsley garlic seedlings) and five yellows (noodles yellow bright)". (Data Map) Photo by Yang Yanmin

  After 2000, the local snack "Niu Da", which was originally hidden in the streets and lanes, quickly transformed into a mass fast food, becoming a popular food for people in Lanzhou to queue up in the morning.

  "When cooking, I still pay attention to the development of beef noodles. From another perspective and as a bystander, I find that there is a huge talent vacancy in the beef noodle market." Liang Shunjian said that in Lanzhou in early 2000, it was still difficult to find one. A master who understands a full set of Lanzhou beef noodle technology and management.

 Break the tradition of openly running schools, pass on art and cultivate international all-round talents

  In 2006, Liang Shunjian founded the Lanzhou Beef Ramen Professional Technical Training Course, which attracted many students from overseas. This has caused a lot of controversy in the catering industry.

  "Some masters believe that the craftsmanship of beef noodles is passed down by secret methods and cannot be easily taught to others." Liang Shunjian said, "Only by letting more people know about this technology can it continue to be passed on and even go overseas. "

The picture shows Lanzhou beef noodles that can be taken out and eaten during the epidemic. (Data Map) Photo by Yang Yanmin

  All beginnings are hard. In Lanzhou at that time, there was no teaching material for beef noodles. What was taught in the training courses?

  Liang Shunjian used his professional knowledge and consulted information to print out the technical essentials of beef noodle making on a piece of paper, and distributed it to the students in each class. In the classroom, students kept asking various questions. He then looked up the materials to answer the questions, sorted them out and summarized them into the content of the teaching materials, and then distributed them to the students. In this way, the content of the teaching materials became thicker and thicker, and the ordinary staplers also ordered them. Can't get up.

  "Then make it into a book." In November 2007, Liang Shunjian systematically organized the contents of the accumulated teaching materials and edited and published the book "The Book of Lanzhou Beef Ramen". This is the first book about Lanzhou beef ramen technology. The most comprehensive book, involving the full set of Lanzhou beef ramen practices and related operations and management methods.

In 2019, a beef noodle restaurant in Lanzhou innovatively launched the "Super Bull Bowl" and became a "net celebrity", where multiple people can eat together. (Data Map) Photo by Yang Yanmin

  With the advanced global development concept, more and more trainees go to Lanzhou to approve skills, and the training class is expanded to "Gansu Xinglong Lanzhou Beef Ramen Vocational Training School", through theory, practice, internship, etc. 3 months ".

  "Learning beef noodles is not just about ramen noodles, but also learning the theory and management of beef noodles, and establishing a beef noodle university" has become Liang Shunjian's wish.

 what? Is it crazy to spend three years learning Ramen?

  In 2018, Liang Shunjian initiated the joint Lanzhou Resources and Environment Vocational Technical College to establish the "Xinglong Lanzhou Beef Ramen International Business School". Amid the doubts of parents, Liang Shunjian was responsible for the enrollment promotion and explanation, and explained the beef to the parents and students who came to apply for the exam. Ramen market prospects.

The picture shows representatives from countries along the “Belt and Road” come to Lanzhou to explore the production process of beef noodles. (Data Map) Photo courtesy of respondents

  There are more than 30 students in the 2018 class, and more than 50 in the 2019 class. The number of enrollment in 2020 will be expanded. This is the first beef noodle university in China, and the Lanzhou beef ramen noodle training has been officially incorporated into the national higher vocational education system.

  Up to now, the school has trained more than 40,000 ramen talents at home and abroad, with students in the United States, France, Canada, South Korea, Australia and other places. The training aims to establish a high-quality talent training system that combines Lanzhou beef noodles with technical management, establishes standards, and understands management and operation.

As some of the physical work of making noodles and kneading noodles is replaced by machines, the noodle-raising technology gradually attracts more women to join with its soft artistic performance, becoming "Lanzhou beef noodle ambassadors." Photo courtesy of respondents

  "Foreign disciples" all over the world: Ramen is no longer a hard work, it is an art

  In the practice classroom of "Beef Noodle University", the 58-year-old teacher Zhou Xingguo was from Lanzhou. He followed his father to ramen and opened a shop when he was 16 years old. After teaching students for 6 years, he lamented, "Foreigners come to learn ramen and feel happy. I'm afraid they won't be able to learn it; now there are more and more girls, and girls are still learning fast; ramen has a sense of beauty, and it is no longer a laborious task, but an art."

The picture shows students from overseas are learning how to make Lanzhou beef noodles. (Data Map) Photo by Yang Yanmin

  “Eating full, eating well, eating nutrition, eating culture, and eating art. Beef noodles are all available.” Liang Shunjian said, as the manual work of making noodles and kneading noodles is replaced by machines, ramen noodle technology is based on its soft art. The form of performance attracts more women to join. They can not only take up positions such as ramen, cashier, cooking, housekeeping, etc., but also participate in business, teaching and other activities, and become Lanzhou beef noodle ambassadors.

  Jin Youqi, a master's student from Lanzhou University in Nigeria, is Liang Shunjian's "apprentice". At the age of 22, she came to Lanzhou to study in 2016 with a keen interest in Chinese culture.

  As a "foodie", she was looking for delicacies on the streets of Lanzhou and was impressed by the mellow Lanzhou beef noodles. Watching the dough in the hands of the ramen master turn into noodles of different widths, she bluntly said, "It's a magician."

  The idea of ​​learning to make ramen was born. Liang Shunjian became Jin Youqi's master, not only teaching her ramen techniques, but also teaching her knowledge of Chinese dining culture and etiquette in daily life.

  "It's too difficult to learn ramen." Recalling the steps at the beginning of making noodles, kneading noodles, rolling noodles, stretching noodles, and ramen noodles, Jin Youqi often practiced soreness in her arms and her arms were so painful that she couldn't lift them.

  In order to study the shape and thickness of the noodles, she can pull more than 500 times a day. After learning, Jin Youqi finally mastered the full set of techniques for making beef noodles and became the "Golden Signboard" of the African Confucius Institute, showing Chinese culture to the local people through food.

  Due to the epidemic situation, Jin Youqi still has not been able to return to school. She often told her master through video about her miss for beef noodles.

  Dreaming of becoming a "ramen ambassador", she said that she hopes to return to China to open a beef noodle restaurant and beef ramen training school after graduation, so that everyone can taste the unique Chinese cuisine and learn more about the history and culture of Chinese cuisine.

  "Beef noodles has become the absolute protagonist of overseas Chinese fast food." Liang Shunjian said. At present, Lanzhou beef noodles are not only spread in various cities in mainland China, but there are more than 100 Lanzhou beef noodle restaurants going global, distributed in Russia, Canada, Singapore, Japan, and the United States. , Brazil and more than 40 countries and regions.