纽约麻酱凉面传奇再续：唐家川菜馆回归唐人街

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英里长的麻酱凉面，我才知道它是有故事的。要是稍微想想，其实我应该也能想到每样东西背后都有个故事，但我没去想。1980年我刚来纽约的时候，这是中餐外卖里必点的东西，因为总是有人想吃，虽然那味道就像是不新鲜的意面加上点“四季宝”(Skippy)花生酱。

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，纽约的麻酱凉面只是一位人称唐矮子的四川厨师唐宇发(音)的特色拿手菜。60年代初，在台湾工作了十多年的唐师傅来到了纽约。1967年，他在东百老汇大街已经有了自己的餐馆华园川菜馆。在各式川菜中，独有他做的这道麻酱凉面留在了几代纽约客的记忆之中，也被全城的外卖厨子悲哀地争相效仿。据说在巅峰时期，餐馆一天卖出的面条重达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.

想知道更多有关这道菜的背景以及在餐馆关门后的命运，推荐去读2007年山姆·斯福顿(Sam Sifton)为《纽约时报》写的一篇文章。要是想尝到原汁原味的手艺，我推荐十月在原址新开张的高档餐馆。现在它的名称被缩短成了“华园四川”，使它值得一看的理由远不止是为了怀旧。

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.

华园是一家气派的餐馆，由唐矮子的儿子唐承烈和孙子唐逸仙创办，为的是让自己的家族招牌在这个世纪也能深深扎根。入口的左边是一个休息室，从后照亮的半透明挡板让一切都笼罩在了橘子果酱色的条纹光线之中。正前方是第一间餐厅，从右手边的楼梯往上还有更多。

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.

桌子罩着白桌布，四处都摆放好了镶金边的白色瓷器。餐盘的右边是两双摆在白陶瓷筷架上的筷子，一双用来夹菜，一双用来吃饭。

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.

不用说，麻酱凉面是必点的，至少是第一次去时的必点。首先，它真的很凉。不是在柜台上摆放太久的那种凉，是高山上涓涓水流的凉。这样的温度凸显了它的光滑，就像薄片的黄瓜，这让辣油的冲击更加清晰。第一次吃的时候，我觉得酱汁还需多放些盐和醋，但第二次便有了精心调配的张力。如果你只知道甜腻的花生酱仿品，尝一口华园的原版，一定就像听着艾德·希兰(Ed Sheeran)长大的人第一次听到范·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.

唐承烈是华园的主厨，虽然他的厨艺不难领会，但一点指南或许会有些帮助。首先，提个醒：那些认为只有会让你辣到流泪、抽鼻子、惨叫或是打911、钻到桌子底下的菜才是正宗川菜的人，你们需要调整标准了。华园供应的许多家常菜肴，反映了川菜的早期阶段和唐矮子的台湾时光。虽然常能看到辣椒，但它们很少占据主导。后厨也不会往每道菜里特意增添鲜味。华园靠魅力而非逼迫来让人记住他们最好的菜品。

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.

家族自豪感是这里的重点，带有“唐”或“华园”字样的菜肴一般都很出色。不过我得说华园的干式熟成前腰脊牛排就不行了，骨髓汁口味不错，但是吃起来有太多硬的筋膜。

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.

不过，川香鸡十分美味，非常嫩的大块黑色鸡肉置于用绍兴黄酒、豆瓣酱和辣椒油做成的美味酱汁之中。川香豆腐算是此行一个不小的惊喜，煎过的豆腐干与新鲜绿尖椒搭配，泡在看似平淡无奇其实很有意思的浅棕色酱汁里。担担面(Hot Tang Tang noodles)可能听起来像是川味凉面在微波炉里加热，但实际上它是完全不同的东西，短面条放在热气腾腾的酸辣浓汤里，汤里有点烤干辣椒的精练味道。

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.

豆瓣鱼是名副其实的明星菜，我知道，下次就算没有吃凉面的兴致，也一定会再点这道菜。它在老店里有一群忠实的追随者，当时是用鲤鱼做的。现在是用鲈鱼，精心烹饪好之后，放在用辣油、豆瓣酱和葱花做成的酱料里。这道菜力道不小，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.

至于华园蟹饼，我不知道它是否名副其实。因为它总是售罄，鸭肝酱和水果鹅肝等其他有趣的东西也是如此。

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.

另一个重要警告：我吃到的北京烤鸭(Peking duck)配不上它在菜单上——在那上面被称为Beijing duck——得到的赞美。我提前打了电话，为我的一大群宾客订了一只半烤鸭，结果到了以后被告知，那半只鸭还没准备好，只好用那一只鸭子将就，结果发现，它根本不值得提前预订，也不值得花65美元。片鸭子的刀功十分马虎，让我暗自庆幸刀下只是只烤鸭，而非在接受心脏手术的病人。虽然鸭肉多汁、粉嫩、可口，但鸭皮软塌塌的，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.

不过，菜单上不那么张扬的菜也值得一看。在唐矮子鼎盛时期过后很久才经由上海传入纽约的水饺，很难相信会是华园里的拿手菜。但实际上，这里的水饺很好吃。厚实、多汁的煎饺也是如此。

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.

我永远无法抗拒豌豆苗，而且从没吃过比华园做的更好的。干煸四季豆一般般，不过，炒抱子甘蓝是川味猪肉炒包菜的改进版本。

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.

川菜厨师似乎对土豆有种特别的理解，这也许可以解释为什么搭配花生和干辣椒的玻璃球大小的宫保土豆异乎寻常地好吃。

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复制这道菜，这会让我成为一长串华园模仿者中的最新一例。