Spareribs and turnip soup

抗战时我初到重庆，暂时下榻于上清寺一位朋友家，晚饭时主人以一大钵排骨萝卜汤飨客，主人谦逊的说：“这汤不够味。我的朋友杨太太做的排骨萝卜汤才是一绝，我们无论如何也仿效不来。你去一尝便知。”杨太太也是我的熟人，过几天她邀我们几个熟人到她家去餐叙。

席上果然有一大钵排骨萝卜汤。揭开瓦钵盖，热气冒三尺。每人舀了一小碗。喔，真好吃。排骨酥烂而未成渣，萝卜煮透而未变泥，汤呢?热、浓、香、稠。大家都吃得直吧哒嘴。少不得人人要赞美一番，并且异口同声的向主人探询，做这一味汤有什么秘诀。加多少水，煮多少时候，用文火，用武火?主人只是咧着嘴笑，支支吾吾地说：“没什么，没什么，这种家常菜其实上不得台面，不成敬意。”客人们有一点失望，难道说这其间还有什么职业的秘密不成，你不肯说也就罢了。这时节一位心直口快的朋友开腔了，他说：“我来宣布这个烹调的秘诀吧!”大家都注意倾听，他不慌不忙地说：“道理很简单，多放排骨，少加萝卜，少加水。”也许他说的是实话，实话往往可笑。于是座上泛起了一阵轻微的笑声。主人顾左右而言他。

宴罢，我回到上清寺朋友家。他问我方才席上所宣布的排骨萝卜汤秘诀是否可信，我说：“不妨一试。多放排骨，少加萝卜，少加水。”当然，排骨也有成色可分，需要拣上好的，切萝卜的刀法也有讲究，大小厚薄要适度，火候不能忽略，要慢火久煨。试验结果，大成功。杨太太的拿手菜，不再是独门绝活。

从这一椿小事，我联想到做文章的道理。文字而掷地作金石声，固非易事，但是要做到言中有物，不令人觉得淡而无味，却是不难办到的。少说废话，这便是秘诀，和汤里少加萝卜少加水是一个道理。

选自梁实秋《雅舍谈吃》

When I first arrived in Chongqing during the anti-japanese war, I stayed temporarily at the home of a friend of the Shangqing temple. At dinner, my host entertained guests with a large bowl of pork ribs and turnip soup, "the soup is not good enough," said the master humbly. "my friend Mrs. Yang, who is also an acquaintance of mine, makes a wonderful soup of ribs and turnips, which we can't imitate in any case. You'll see." A few days later she invited some of our acquaintances over to her house for dinner. Sure enough, there was a big bowl of spareribs and turnip soup. The lid of the earthen bowl was lifted and the air was steaming three feet. Each of you scoops out a small bowl. Oh, this is delicious. The ribs are crisp but not broken, the turnips are boiled through but not muddy, the soup? Hot, strong, fragrant, thick. Everybody eat straight up, Big Mouth. Without everyone to praise some, and with one voice to ask the master, do this soup has any secret. How much water to add, how much time to cook, with soft fire, with Martial Fire? The host just grinned and stammered, "nothing, nothing, this kind of home-cooked food is not really respectable." The guests were a little disappointed, is there some kind of professional secret you're not telling me about. At this time, an outspoken friend spoke up. He said, "Let me tell you the secret of cooking." Everyone listened, he said calmly: "the truth is very simple, put more ribs, less radish, less water." Perhaps he was telling the truth, the truth is often ridiculous. There was a faint laugh in the seat. The master is indecisive. He... After the banquet, I went back to my friend's house in the temple. He asked me if I could trust the secret of the spareribs and turnip soup I had just announced. I said, "Let's try it. More spareribs, less turnips, less water." Of course, ribs can be divided into color, need to pick up good, cutting radish knife also pay attention to the size of the thickness to moderate, heat can not be ignored, to simmer slow fire long. Test results. Big Success. Mrs. Yang's specialty is no longer unique. From this trifle, I thought of the reason to make a fuss. It is not easy for words to make the sound of gold and stone, but it is not difficult for people to realize that there is something in words that is not tasteless and tasteless. Less nonsense, this is the secret, and soup with less water and less radish is the same reason. From Liang Shih-chiu's a talk about eating 标题: 排骨萝卜汤
作者: 梁实秋
字数: 682
简介: 抗战时我初到重庆，暂时下榻于上清寺一位朋友家，晚饭时主人以一大钵排骨萝卜汤飨客，主人谦逊的说：“这汤不够味。我的朋友杨太太做的排骨萝卜汤才是