There is an unwritten tradition in most parts of China: the number of dishes in "red and white" weddings (that is, what we call wedding banquets) is even; The number of dishes in a white wedding (which we call a funeral banquet) is odd. The number of wedding dishes is usually eight dishes symbolizing wealth, ten dishes symbolizing perfection, and twelve dishes symbolizing the happiness of the month.
For example, the popular "August 8th Banquet" in Jiangnan consists of eight cold dishes and eight hot dishes. Moreover, the wedding date is generally chosen on the eighth, eighteenth and twenty-eighth day of the second lunar month, which means that "if you want to get rich, you can't do without August 8 and get rich again". Common menus are as follows:
Eight cold dishes: roasted bones, fried chicken, red duck, wind fish, prickly skin, eggs, mushrooms and celery.
Eight hot dishes: Ruyi Sea Cucumber, Babao Crispy Duck, Stuffed Mushroom, Sanxian Haiyuan, Lotus Seed Chicken Chopped, Yipin Jujube Lotus, Kirin Pine Nut and Shijia Albizia. (Excerpted from China Banquet Festival, Chen Guangxin)
Principle 2: Try to use auspicious words in the naming of dishes, express good wishes to newcomers, please guests psychologically and set off the atmosphere.
For example, we can name the pearl shrimps as flying with me, the fish balls in milk soup as fish and water dependent, and the jujube longan lotus seed peanut soup as early-born sons. If the dishes at the wedding banquet are matched with color, material and taste, we usually name them after Yuanyang, such as Yuanyang fish fillet, Yuanyang chicken brain, Yuanyang crisp and so on. I wish the couple harmony and happiness. The names of dishes are taboo, such as two dragons playing with pearls, Yi Long playing with pearls, and two phoenix rising in the sun.
The following is the wedding menu of the first family in Taiwan Province Province, in which twelve dishes have been given auspicious names, which have achieved the effect of setting off the atmosphere, pleasing the guests and blessing the new couple.
Singing with the Same Rhyme in the Four Seas —— Dragon and Phoenix platter —— The couple happily reflected the fairy pool —— the mini Buddha jumps over the wall
A Hundred Years of Good Harmony —— Yuhuan Yuanyang Cup and Dragon and Phoenix vowed to each other —— Steamed lobster with garlic
Old Moon Red Line Leads Deep Feelings —— Braised Stichopus japonicus and Braised Fish Belly —— Fly with me to Huihe Bridge —— Braised Chicken Wings with Money.
Celebrate forever sweet and sour fried tuna screen window embroidered mandarin duck pillow assorted stew
Red sturgeon rice cake lovers holding hands on Tanabata.
Flowers are clustered and lotus is connected-lotus seed reunion, Guo family reunion-global fruit bowl
For example, traditional wedding banquets, such as flying with me, dragon and phoenix banquets, and vows of eternal love banquets, all follow this principle.
Fly with me, Xi
Eight cold dishes: mandarin duck eggs, ruyi chicken rolls, lotus seeds in syrup, satisfactory fish sticks, red barbecue, shrimp cakes and crispy flower kernels.
Love toast
Eight hot dishes: family fun-braised seafood accompanied me to fly-crispy fried quail, fish and water-fish balls in milk soup.
Concert of Qin and Se-Pipa Prawn Hidden in Golden House-North Spring Festival Roll Early Birth-Huaren Jujube Soup
Dapeng spreads its wings-Wan Li gallops clean chicken wings-stewed golden kick
Four fruit points: sweet honey-the joy of a festive cake-the excitement of a crispy sandwich-fried chestnuts with sugar.
Round whole red bean paste jiaozi
Principle 3: The wedding banquet menu should follow the principle of catering to different people in the design process.
China is a multi-ethnic country, and each ethnic group has its own unique customs and dietary taboos. First of all, we should know the nationality, religion, occupation, hobbies, taboos, etc. of the guests, and flexibly master and match the menu that the guests are satisfied with. For example, in the traditional Muslim wedding banquet, the dishes in the eight bowls and the ten bowls are usually mainly beef and mutton. Pay a little attention to the local chicken, duck and fish, which has strong national characteristics.
I attended a wedding banquet of a Hui friend in June, which was very distinctive. The special menu is as follows:
Braised mutton and spiced beef steamed strips (cattle) braised whole chicken with three fresh tremella Four Joy Meetballs (cattle and sheep)
Ruyi duck liver braised fish dishes hot and sour soup
Staple food: rice, steamed bread, sesame oil and glutinous rice balls.
According to the different occupations and hobbies of newcomers, we can design distinctive menus to entertain guests. For example, a reporter from Taiwan Province Province reported that Zhang Zhijia, a Japanese baseball player, held a wedding reception at Hao Tong Hotel in Taichung to entertain many Japanese baseball stars. The menu is carefully designed by the hotel chef, and all the dishes are baseball-themed, as follows:
Seibu/Zhonghua (the name of the Japanese baseball team) candlelight fight, Zhijia/Ming Sheng (the name of the newcomer) dragon and phoenix roll, hole leading the red line, flying wings full, fish shining in China, relay pitcher grilled stickleback fish, world baseball treasure fight, Yuhuan in the ball, Sapporo black bone ginseng chicken, marching into Athens to reflect double glow, flower group Olympic red round soup, guerrilla sweet fruit and so on.
During the dinner, the hotel chose Zhang Zhijia's song "That Day" as the background music, and produced "A Review of Newcomers' Growth" to play during the wedding banquet, so that all the guests could participate in the romantic history of the couple from acquaintance, love to decision. The whole wedding banquet was carried out according to the elaborate and unique design, which was very successful and was called "the wedding of the century in baseball".
Principle 4: The choice of raw materials for wedding dishes must be based on customs and pay attention to taboos.
The dishes of wedding banquets are generally not restricted by the gang genre, and the raw materials are not required to be expensive, but the weight should be slightly larger, the taste should be appropriate, and the wine should be matched as much as possible. There must never be a situation where guests are not full or feel that they have nothing to eat. I personally heard that a friend went to a five-star hotel to attend a wedding banquet, and when he came back, he complained that he didn't have enough to eat, which brought a very bad impression to the guests.
The raw material of traditional wedding banquet dishes must have chicken, which symbolizes auspiciousness and celebration; There must be fish, which symbolizes more than one year, and is generally used as a meat dish. Generally, there should be Chinese dates, peanuts, longan, lotus seeds and homophonic sounds. I wish the new couple an early birth. Most of the dishes in the wedding banquet are mainly in red tones, which brings a festive feeling to the guests. There are generally "sauce red, brown red, orange red, carmine, etc." At traditional wedding banquets in Sichuan, there should be braised pork and beets, such as sweet boiled vegetables; Wedding banquets in Northeast China are generally attended by "four happiness balls" as a symbol of celebration. In Hong Kong, there must be no dishes such as tofu and lotus leaf rice in the wedding banquet.
Pomegranate (because it has many seeds, it means many children), watermelon, bayberry and peach (meaning a sweet and happy life in the future) are usually used as fruits at wedding banquets. Avoid pears and oranges, because pears sound the same as "leaving", and oranges should be eaten separately.
In addition to the design of wedding menu, the layout of wedding environment is as important as the choice of wedding tableware. Let me briefly introduce here that the layout of the wedding environment must be festive, peaceful and lively. There is a saying in China that weddings are "no trouble, no hair, no hair". Humorous wedding jokes, wedding quotations and wedding sketches are interspersed in the wedding process, so that some well-designed wedding games can lead the wedding atmosphere to a warm and warm atmosphere. Tableware should use red and gold disks and round bowls, red tablecloths and red painted chopsticks. In the past, it was taboo to break tableware, tea sets and wine sets.