Dongpo Meat
The legend "Dongpo Meat" was invented by Su Dongpo when he was an official in Hangzhou, and the local people felt fat but not greasy, crisp and delicious after tasting it. At that time, Hangzhou restaurants were all competing for imitation.
On this day, a dignitary in Beijing came to Hangzhou to eat in a restaurant. The waiter handed in the menu, and the dignitaries took it and saw that the first dish was "Dongpo Meat". Su Dongpo was honest and had offended this powerful person before, so he had a plan to collect the menus of all restaurants in Hangzhou, and went back to Beijing to meet the emperor. He said, "Your Majesty, Su Dongpo was corrupt and perverted the law in Hangzhou, and the people wanted to eat his meat." The emperor asked, "What evidence do you have?" The dignitaries presented the big stack of menus. As soon as the emperor looked at the menu, he did not distinguish between green and red, and immediately handed down the imperial edict, dismissed Su Dongpo and sent him to Hainan.
After Su Dongpo was assigned, people in Hangzhou handed down Dongpo Meat from generation to generation.
West Lake Vinegar Fish
When Su Dongpo was in Hangzhou, he made good friends with Fo Yin monks. Although Fo Yin is a monk, he doesn't avoid wine and meat. On this day, Fo Yin made vinegar fish from the West Lake, and it happened that Su Dongpo was visiting, and Fo Yin was busy hiding the fish under a coat. As soon as Su Dongpo entered the door, he smelled the unique sour and sweet fragrance of the West Lake vinegar fish, and saw the inverted chin on the table, so he knew it. Su Dongpo was interested in joking with Fo Yin, so he pretended to be serious and said, "I came to ask the elder for advice when I met a difficult problem today."
Fo Yin asked what the problem was, and Su Dongpo said, "Today, I saw a pair of Spring Festival couplets in front of a house. The first couplet was' Spring is always at Xiangyang Gate', but the second couplet was torn off. I don't know what the sentence is. Please give me your advice." Fo Yin didn't know it was a trick, and blurted out: "man of great talent, a layman, why are you so forgetful today? This is an old couplet, and the bottom line is' It's more than a celebration of a good family'."
When Su Dongpo heard this, he couldn't help laughing: "Since there are fish (surplus) in Qing, the elder should accumulate good deeds and take them out to have a good meal!"
deep fried chicken
Fried dough sticks were originally called "deep fried chicken", and it is said that they were first made by Hangzhou people.
During the Southern Song Dynasty, the news that Qin Gui and his wife killed Marshal Yue spread, and all the people were angry. When Wang Er, who made sesame cakes, heard about this, he pinched two dough figurines. He glued the dough sticks together back to back, threw them into a frying pan and fried them. While frying, he shouted, "Let's see' Fried Ji'! Let's look at' Fried Chicken'! "
It happened that Qin Gui was passing by in an eight-foot sedan chair, and when he saw the brown-fried dough figurine in the oil pan, he got out of the sedan chair with anger and shouted, "How dare you! How dare you abuse your official name? " Wang Er said with a smile, "Prime Minister, you are a' pot' by the wood, and I am talking about a' stew' by the fire!"
At this moment, all the people on the sidelines shouted, "Yes, it's different in pronunciation and characters!" Qin Gui had nothing to say for a moment, so he had to drink, "How can you eat this fried brown thing? It is clearly a matter of gathering all beings and deceiving the government! "
After hearing what Qin Gui said, a man immediately stood out from the crowd and shouted, "Why can't you eat?" As he spoke, he fished up the dough figurine in the oil pan, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it, and repeatedly said, "Delicious, delicious! The more I eat my roots, the more I itch. I can't wait to swallow them in one bite! " Everyone around applauded, and Qin Gui was afraid that the public would be offended, so he had to leave despondently.
after the news spread, people came here in droves, all wanting to taste "fried cassia". Originally, "fried sesame seeds" were two people facing back to back, which was very troublesome to do, and then it gradually became what it is now.
Shrimp in Longjing
The famous dish "Shrimp in Longjing" is related to Emperor Qianlong's trip to the south of the Yangtze River. Once, when Ganlong cruised around the West Lake in incognito, it began to rain lightly, so Ganlong went to a tea farmer's house to take shelter from the rain. The tea farmers were hospitable and presented Qianlong with mellow Longjing tea before Ming Dynasty. Ganlong was overjoyed to taste such good tea. He thought it would be nice to bring some back to the palace, but he was embarrassed to ask the tea farmers for it, so he grabbed a handful of tea and hid it in his sleeve while his master was not looking.
After the rain cleared up, Ganlong said goodbye to the tea farmers and continued to visit the West Lake. He didn't come to a pub for dinner until dusk. He ordered several side dishes, one of which was stir-fried shrimp. After ordering, Qianlong remembered the tea in his sleeve and took it out to the bartender to make him a cup of tea. When the bartender saw a corner of the robe in his sleeve, he was startled and took the tea and ran into the kitchen. When the chef who was frying shrimps heard that the emperor had arrived, he panicked and sprinkled the tea brought by the bartender into the dish as chopped green onion, and the bartender gave the "Fried Shrimp with Tea" to Qianlong in a panic.
Hungry Qianlong saw that the shrimp was white and tender, the tea was green and fragrant, and his appetite was wide, and he repeatedly praised it: "Good food!" "Longjing Shrimp" has been handed down from this.