There used to be a legend that human milk was used to cook for the emperor, and there was even a wild story that the emperor ate a living brain. However, judging from the imperial diet spectrum of Ming and Qing dynasties, there is no such thing. However, it is an indisputable fact that imperial cuisine is more exquisite. What are the royal dishes? There are many varieties, but they are generally inseparable from pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks and fish. The key is that there are many stresses in practice.
Take the imperial cuisine of the Qing Dynasty as an example. According to the archives of the Qing Palace, the daily duties of the emperor are-
22 kg of vegetable meat, 5 kg of soup meat, lard 1 kg, 2 sheep, 5 chickens, 3 ducks, Chinese cabbage 19 kg, spinach, parsley, celery, leek, 60 radishes, melon 1 kg, and wax gourd respectively. 6 kg of kohlrabi and water spinach, 6 kg of onion, 3 kg of clear sauce, 2 kg of vinegar and 4 Liang of yuquan wine.
8 cakes in the morning and evening, 30 cakes each (4 kg of top-grade white flour, sesame oil 1 kg, 5 tablespoons of sesame seeds 1 kg, 3 pieces of sand mud, sugar, walnut kernels and black dates 12), and 50 cows for the imperial tea room. Each cow produces 2 kilograms of milk every day, and Yuquan water is 654302.
This example cost 50 taels of silver at that time, which was 65438+8250 taels a year. If you add the expenses of festivals and festive activities, it is common to eat tens of thousands of silver a year.
Emperors in the Qing Dynasty liked Nanjing people ―― they liked ducks, and ducks were always indispensable for every imperial meal. In the fifty-third year of Qianlong (A.D. 1788), on the seventh day of July, breakfast in Qianlong included stewed duck with wine, duck in soup and steamed duck.
Gan Long likes to eat ducks, and he also eats a famous dish "Duck with Dried Vegetables". According to a big restaurant, when Gan Long went to Jiangnan, he heard that the ducks in the water town were delicious, so he planned to try them early. It's almost noon, and I'm still worried about it. The cook was so anxious that he didn't even pluck the duck feathers. What should I do? The cook can also fool, and conveniently sprinkled a handful of dried black vegetables and covered the duck feathers with the light duck. Who would have thought that they used to eat palace flavor at ordinary times, and they felt fresh when they changed their mouth, praising the delicious taste. Because the emperor loves to eat, he made such a famous dish. This legend is not credible. This may be made up by the restaurant, but it shows that Gan Long likes to eat ducks.
For another example, Empress Dowager Cixi's daily imperial meals include braised duck, braised duck, roast duck, duck tongue, duck paw, duck gizzard, duck liver and duck intestines, which she likes to eat.
Puyi, the last emperor, copied a rough list of Xuantong's four years in February in the book My First Half Life. At that time, Puyi was only 7 years old, but she ate nearly 30 dishes for breakfast, including three fresh ducks, fried sea cucumber with duck strips and diced duck with Gexianmi.
Because Cixi likes to eat ducks, someone has made good luck. Xiao, a famous eunuch in the late Qing Dynasty, is one of them. The reason why Zhang Xiaode can become a red man in front of Cixi can be found out because he is good at making a dish that Cixi likes to eat-stewed duck strips.
Recalling Wen Baotian, who once lived in the imperial dining hall of Qing Palace-
Because he can fry several dishes that Cixi likes, and he is "loyal" everywhere, Cixi ordered him to be the "case manager" in the "Shou canteen". Every day, he cooks several of his specialties, such as stewed duck strips, fried dried orchids, fried carrot sauce and fried cucumber sauce, for Cixi's exclusive use. Because he is famous for his ruthless beating, he won the trust of Cixi and thought that "accommodation is important". It is not safe to have such a "loyal and reliable" person to supervise everything, so he became an important figure in Cixi's mind. Needless to say, when she was in the palace, that is, when Cixi lived in the Summer Palace, she always ordered him to live in the south yard of Renshou Hall, specializing in diet.
In addition, the chefs of the imperial chefs in the Qing Dynasty were also good at cooking ducks. For example, stewed and steamed duck, which Cixi likes to eat, is washed, eviscerated, put into a porcelain jar and cooked with slow fire for two days to make the duck crisp and rotten. It takes three days to stew this duck. After removing the hair and viscera, put the duck in a crucible and steam it for three days. Goldfish duck's paw is unique. First, put the duck's paw in the pot, boil it in clear water for 15 minutes, and take it out when it is seven-ripe, remove the bones and hard calluses in the palm, then add the spices and Flos Magnoliae, and cook it together, which is refreshing and delicious.
Why did the Qing emperors like to eat ducks? It is still a mystery. It is said that duck meat can clear the fire and calm the air, such as the effect of stewed duck strips. The menu will indicate: nourishing, clearing away heat and fire, constipation, strengthening the spleen and appetizing. Is it just right to eat some ducks to "dispel fire"? Of course, the emperor likes to eat ducks for different reasons. For example, Cixi, who likes to eat ducks, may think more about "reinforcing deficiency for health". It is said that she still has hidden dangers of convenience, and it is also possible to "regulate constipation".