The Forbidden City, the imperial palace in Qing Dynasty, as the center of feudal rule, has frequent political activities, constant banquets and strict dietary standards. According to "Qing Chao", the emperor's three meals are in charge of the chef, and the recipes of delicacies and delicacies are written on one brand. "Fish, chicken, sheep and other conventional products. Every meal, and it must be for two. The chef is the master. " No one can eat at the same table with the emperor without special wishes. Empresses, queens and concubines usually dine in this palace.
In the Qing dynasty, the rules in the palace were very strict. The emperor and the empress dowager can't express their "love to eat" at the dinner table, and they should strictly abide by the family law of "no more than three spoonfuls" for the food they like very much. It is said that this is to prevent someone from poisoning rice. The water used by the imperial chef, who is directly in charge of the emperor's diet, is spring water specially transported from Yuquan Mountain in the western suburbs of Beijing. The villagers all say that the water here is "the cleanest". There are yellow, white and purple rice to eat. This kind of rice is planted in Yuquan Mountain, Fengzeyuan Garden and Tangquan in the west of Beijing. In addition, there are polished rice tributes from all over the country, which are called "Gong Mi". Chicken, duck, fish, meat, fresh vegetables and game, etc. , mainly by local tribute and purchase. For example, General Shengjing in Northeast China pays tribute to the court every year, such as deer, bear's paw, wild boar, goose, bacon, salted fish, perch and miscellaneous fish. Zhangjiakou and other areas also have a large number of cattle, sheep and dairy products to pay tribute every year. All kinds of delicious food are available.
Due to the wide variety of tributes offered in various places, the categories of the emperor's diet are naturally colorful, and the diet of the imperial palace in the Qing Dynasty can be called "the best in the world". These are clearly recorded in the files of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The emperor recorded clearly where he ate today, what dishes he ate, what containers he used for each dish and how much he cooked.
Usually the emperor has dozens of dishes, four staple foods and two kinds of porridge (or soup) for each meal. The dishes are mainly chicken, duck, fish, goose, pork and seasonal vegetables, supplemented by precious seafood and exotic fruits and vegetables. For example, on December 30th, 11th year of Xianfeng, the newly enthroned little emperor Zai Chun (Tongzhi) had a dinner party on New Year's Eve: "Four kinds of big bowls of dishes, three fresh fat chickens with the word" Wan "in their bird's nest, roast duck with the word" Ru "in their bird's nest, and assorted shredded chicken with the word" Yi "in their bird's nest; Four small bowls of vegetables, bird's nest duck strips, shredded pigeon eggs, shredded chicken wings and duck loin; Four dishes, fried shredded duck with bird's nest, fried chicken feet with duck, fried carp and fried eggs with shredded pork; Two kinds of plates, duck, pig and cake, white sugar oil cake and wishful roll; Bird's Nest Eight Immortals Decoction. " There are dozens or even hundreds of kinds of rice at a table, and it is impossible for one person to finish it. Many things are just put out according to the rules of the Qing dynasty and then given to others. The food left by the emperor is usually for princes, princesses, concubines, ministers and so on. The meals left by concubines are mostly for ladies-in-waiting and eunuchs.
The diet of Empress Dowager Cixi is the most representative in the diet of Qing Palace. According to records, Empress Dowager Cixi usually has more than 100 dishes in a meal, and the utensils and tableware for holding food are also very elegant. Eat fruit and tea before meals. Among the dishes, there are about ten kinds of pork, several kinds of chicken, duck and mutton, and various cooking methods, such as roasting, steaming and frying. Chefs should rack their brains to arrange dishes into various auspicious patterns such as Jackie Chan, Phoenix, butterflies and flowers, or spell the words "Fu", "Shou" and "Ruyi". There are many famous chefs and big names in Cixi's royal chefs, such as Wang Yushan, who are good at "grasping stir-frying" and are known as "four major grasps"-grasping fried tenderloin, grasping fried fish fillet, grasping fried kidney flower and grasping fried shrimp.
The Qing court not only had special requirements for the emperor's diet, but also clearly stipulated the daily diet of the queen, and the queen's diet should not exceed that of the emperor. However, in her later years, Cixi used to eat more than 120 dishes with fresh fruit to go, which was a great violation of the rules of her ancestors. The Qing dynasty is not far from extinction at this time, because it is too violent and the people are miserable.