When it comes to imperial meals in the Qing court, many people think of a "Manchu-Chinese banquet". Come on, who said that the emperor ate a "man-Han banquet" every day? As far as the cooking level is concerned, the imperial palace meal enjoyed by the Qing emperor is the ultimate version of the feudal dynasty. As far as scale is concerned, the scale of imperial meals in Qing Dynasty was also one of the best in ancient times. As far as the effect presented to the emperor at last is concerned, the imperial diet of the Qing Dynasty is really dirty!
Perhaps influenced by Empress Dowager Cixi and the "Man-Han Banquet", many people thought that the imperial meals in the Qing Dynasty were hundreds of dishes per meal, but they were not.
The emperor of the Qing Dynasty was very frugal. For example, Qianlong heard that the minister ate four eggs this morning and felt extravagant. Because, the eggs eaten by adults in Qianlong are worth 10 silver! By Emperor Guangxu, an egg had reached 30 taels of silver! Just eggs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will spend hundreds of thousands of taels of silver a year.
The above matter, although it is difficult to distinguish between true and false. However, it reflects at least one problem: corruption in the palace is very serious. No matter how the emperor eats, the cost of a meal will not be too high. Such a high cost was embezzled by all aspects of the Ministry of Internal Affairs responsible for procurement.
During the Qing Dynasty, the Ministry of Internal Affairs set up the "Imperial Tea Room", which was responsible for managing the palace diet. The daily food used by the empresses of the Qing emperor was fixed according to the grade, which was called "dividing the case". In terms of cooking methods, the imperial cuisine in Qing Dynasty also emphasized "ancestral system", and many dishes were stylized in raw material dosage, compatibility and cooking methods. For example, when people cook babao duck, they only use the main ingredient duck and eight kinds of auxiliary materials; However, the eight kinds of auxiliary materials used in the Babao duck cooked by the chef of Qing Palace are not allowed to be changed at will. Luxury and waste, emphasizing etiquette, although this is the common ground of imperial meals in past dynasties, the imperial meals in Qing Dynasty are particularly prominent in these two aspects.
The emperors of the Qing Dynasty had two meals a day. Breakfast was from 6 to 8, and dinner was from 2 to 4 in the afternoon. Before eating every day, the emperor should consult the menu, which indicates which dishes are cooked by who for the emperor to check and order. Unless otherwise specified, the dishes ordered by the emperor must be prepared in the royal chef every time. There will be another reward on the emperor's table. After the emperor has eaten, the leftover food can be distributed to others.
Emperors' ostentation and extravagance in Qing Dynasty
Dozens of eunuchs dressed neatly, wearing white sleeves, carrying dining tables, and holding red paint boxes with golden dragons, went straight to hall of mental cultivation. When he entered the Ming Temple, the little eunuch took it and stood in the East Nuange. There are three tables of vegetables, three tables of snacks, three tables of rice, three tables of porridge and one table of pickles.
According to the rules, the daily food standard of the emperor of the Qing Dynasty is: 22 kg of meat, 5 kg of soup, lard 1 kg, 2 sheep, 5 chickens, 3 ducks, Chinese cabbage, spinach, parsley, celery, leek 19 kg, 60 radishes, radishes and carrots, and 65,438 melons and wax gourd. 8 plates of cakes in the morning and evening, 30 for each plate. In addition, there are 50 cows prepared by the Imperial Tea Room for the emperor, and each cow gives 2 kg of milk every day, totaling 100 kg. Use 12 cans of Yuquan water, 1 kg emulsifiable concentrate and 75 packs of tea every day.
The recipes of imperial meals in the Qing Dynasty are recorded every day and integrated into a volume every month, because until today, people can still see a large number of imperial meals in the archives of the Qing Palace. At the same time, the minister in charge of the interior department is also responsible for supervising the chef's production. Each dish must be matched in strict accordance with the provisions of the ingredients, and it is not allowed to change or change at will, nor can the ingredients affect the original flavor of the main ingredients, so as to make the priorities clear.