I am from the South, where exactly? From Suzhou.

I went to university in Harbin and stayed there for four years. I can only say that what happened at that time is more than 20 years ago, and the current situation is unclear! There were six of us in one dormitory, plus six beasts in the dormitory next to ours, so there were twelve people at one table. It's enough to order four main dishes when you go drinking, usually chicken mushrooms, butcher's cabbage, three kinds of ground delicacies, hot pepper tofu, a plate of boiled peanuts, a plate of boiled edamame, which is enough to go with the wine, and then a box of 52 Longquanchun or black land. Two more boxes of Harbin beer, the 24-bottle kind with plastic cards! Black Earth and Longquanchun both come in 12 bottles per box. If you buy it at a canteen, Black Earth costs more than 4 yuan, Longquanchun costs 5.2 yuan, and if you buy it in a restaurant, it costs 8 yuan! But I personally think Longquanchun tastes better! Beer must be bought in the store, it seems to be 20 yuan a box, but at the canteen it is more than 60 cents a bottle!

We, twelve young men, ate four large dishes, two side dishes, and a soup, and we couldn’t finish it. The plate of butchered vegetables and chicken and mushrooms is not much smaller than a wok. The ground three delicacies and pepper tofu are slightly smaller, but two people will definitely not be able to finish the dishes on one plate!

I later ate these dishes in Liaocheng and Weifang in Shandong, Anyang and Puyang in Henan, Hengshui and Handan in Hebei, and the portions were not as large as those in the Northeast. Generally speaking, the portions in Shandong are larger. A little, a little less in Hebei, and a little less in Henan!

Then I went back to Suzhou. Twelve people ordered twelve dishes and it was not enough, so I added two more! One dish from Northeast China is worth more than five servings from Suzhou! The food here in Suzhou is small and expensive!

I really miss the time when I drank wine with those beasts, spanked and flirted with girls! Now that we are all far apart, it’s not easy to get together! I still really want to drink Longquanchun from back then, but unfortunately we don’t sell it here. Black Earth does have it, but it doesn’t have the same taste as it did back then!

Young and frivolous, your heart is as high as the sky. Wandering around in the world of mortals, crawling around. Time flies so quickly! Looking back again, the past is like a dream. What I once cared about, what I once loved, what I once hated, what I once struggled for, and what I once swore to protect have all become memories now! Everything turned into a sigh! ! !

In the 1990s, I went to Shanghai with my colleagues. We put down our luggage, locked the guest room door, and we went looking for a place to eat. I couldn't afford to go to a big restaurant, and I had no money, so I had to find a small restaurant. After wandering around, I finally found a restaurant with only five tables. When we arrived, we had two tables left. After sitting down and ordering the food, the two of us chatted here and there while waiting for the food and rice to be served. Twenty minutes later, the dishes we ordered were served, along with two bowls of rice. We, hungry, should have picked up our bowls and charged. However, when we saw the food placed in front of us, we both felt stupid: we ordered four dishes, and they were all served. But the food was served on a small plate as big as a teacup tray, and the two bowls of rice were also served in what seemed to us to be large teacups... As a result, we had to order more, and finally managed to eat it. He was full, but the Shanghainese next to him were dumbfounded. Later we learned that this is how Shanghainese eat and how much they eat.

In 2018, I traveled by car to a small town in Jiamusi, Heilongjiang, where I stayed and ate. Just as I was about to have dinner, the small restaurant was filled with local and out-of-town diners. I was the only one who called the waiter over to order. I had just ordered a piece of dried tofu with hot pepper and wanted to order another one. At this time, the waitress said, "Brother, don't order it. You can't eat it. This is the dried tofu with hot pepper." Eat those who can't eat. I'm surprised, after so many years of eating out, this is the first time I've encountered someone who refuses to order. I find it very interesting. When the dried tofu with hot peppers I ordered came, I was dumbfounded: I had never seen that big plate before, and it was just as big as a small pot. It’s so affordable and a full plate, I really can’t eat it! At this time, I had a feeling in my heart that it is better to be a fellow from the Northeast...

The next day, I went there to eat again, and the waitress said, "Brother, don't order food today, I will give it to you." It's easy to deal with. As a result, the dishes were served in two large bowls, and there were four dishes in a row, all ordered by the table next to me. The waitress told me that when cooking for the neighboring table, she added a little extra to each dish, which was enough for me. At this time, there was only one sentence that surged in my heart: When fellow villagers meet fellow villagers, tears well up in their eyes...

In 1998, I went to Heilongjiang and ordered two dishes at a restaurant, one was spicy tofu and the other was dumplings. . They are all served on large fish plates. The dumplings are three times as big as those in Tangshan. They are full of fillings and oily. They are very delicious! The price of the two dishes combined is more than 20 yuan, which is not expensive! Later, I went to Henan, Beijing, Tianjin, Langfang, and Hebei, and I never encountered the large and affordable dishes from Northeast China. Northeastern people are honest when drinking, and they don't cheat. In a word, Northeastern people are easy to make friends with!

Speaking of Northeastern cuisine, what I will never forget is the few meals our comrades had at a restaurant a few years ago. The place where we served as soldiers was in a county town in the Nenjiang Grassland. It was a small non-railway county town with relatively developed road transportation. But a small county is now covered by highways, so there are relatively few foreign guests.

In recent years, young people have gone to nearby big cities such as Harbin and Daqing to work. The actual situation in this county is that there is a national nature reserve in the summer, where tourism projects can be carried out for several months, and there are also some small shoe factories and other handicraft workshops and underground oil. collection. The county has a beautiful environment and the people's quality of life is good due to the combination of grassland ecology and wetland park.

We contacted local comrades in advance to organize a hotel gathering, and selected a comprehensive hotel among several for the event. For breakfast every day, you will find fried dough sticks, called Big Fruit by the locals. They are about one and a half feet long, shiny with oil and fragrant, and are freshly fried. The stir-fried dishes for the dinner are all made of stainless steel and are as big as the plates in the stores in the past. After one dish of ants growing on a tree was served, I couldn't talk to the person opposite me. It was nearly 40 centimeters high. At first I thought it was a handicraft, as all the dishes with soup were served in pots. The meat cubes of the kebabs are as big as the stinky tofu cubes we eat. I asked the boss if I could make money with these two hundred yuan per table? She said that the artificial materials here are cheap and the houses are built by oneself and every household is like this. If the quantity is small, no one will come. She hopes that we can come often in the future. There should be benefits from the happy face of the boss.

Internet pictures.

I have a colleague who is from the Northeast. During the break, we went to the Northeast together to taste the life in the Northeast. My colleague’s appetite was so big that he could eat as much as the three of us combined. Look at this dish. It wasn't enough for him to eat alone, so he needed two more steamed buns. To be honest, one Northeastern dish is enough for the three of us to eat. The Northeastern cuisine is one of the largest in the country.

Northeastern people’s eating bowls are particularly big. In our eyes, this and that place is a eating bowl, just a basin.

When 10 people go to dinner and order 5 dishes, they can’t finish them all. Northeastern people are warm and generous, and they are full of love for outsiders and guests. If you don’t believe it, you have the opportunity to come to Northeast and experience it.

In the winter of 2018, my friends and I went to visit Snow Country in Northeast China and stayed in Harbin for two days on our return.

A friend wanted to try the famous Northeastern Guobao Pork. After searching on his mobile phone, he found a good restaurant near the hotel. The two of us walked in excitedly, and as soon as we entered the door, we found a certificate hanging: first place in the Guobao Pork Competition. It seems that we have come to the right place, so I quickly find a little brother to order food. First, I ordered a pot-roasted pork dish, and then a vegetarian dish. I also wanted to order a soup dish and a carrot pancake that looked like a picture and made people drool. At this time, the little brother said: Sister, you two can’t finish eating. In the end, on my brother's suggestion, I only ordered one pot of pork, one vegetarian dish and two carrot cakes. We both thought to ourselves, if it’s not enough, we’ll order more. Unexpectedly, we were shocked when the food was served. The two of us couldn't finish the portion of Guobao Pork. In the end, the two of us went back holding on to the wall, still holding the packed carrot cakes in our hands.

Northeastern cuisine is so authentic!

I have been working in Harbin for many years and have rarely been to high-end restaurants. Eat at mid-range or small restaurants from time to time. As migrant workers like us who do heavy physical work on construction sites, you can imagine that we eat a lot. In this way, every time three or four people enter the restaurant, they will be very full after ordering a portion of pig meat and rice. Often there are leftovers. The basin for serving vegetables is similar to the washbasin we usually use. Do you think Northeastern cuisine is big?

I have been to Northeast China twice, each time it was Dalian.

The first time was when I was in Guangzhou. At that time, a very distinctive Northeastern restaurant opened in Guangzhou. The area was usually very large and the signboard was conspicuous. The person who came roaring through the door was a young man or a group of people. You are a beautiful girl who keeps following you, calling me brother before you and brother after you, just like brothers and sisters meeting each other after being separated for many years.

Before entering the store, I was no stranger to Northeastern cuisine, because a friend went to school in the Northeast and has already popularized the knowledge of Northeastern cuisine for us, including carrots, apples, bananas, and potatoes. You can choose any ingredient, chicken stewed with mushrooms, ground three delicacies, pork stewed with vermicelli are all classics among classics.

When I first arrived in Dalian, several burly men suddenly entered the hotel elevator. Those of us from the south stopped communicating instantly and got into the taxi. All of them were burly men. It turned out that they were burly men. It is standard equipment in Northeast China.

Big men must eat a lot of food. This left a deep impression on me after my second trip to Dalian. Three of us, friends from Nantong, sat down for a late-night snack in a busy restaurant. After ordering four dishes, the waiter suggested that we order more if we didn’t have enough.

Only when the four dishes were cooked did we realize how down-to-earth the Northeastern people are and how huge the Northeastern dishes are. For us in Nantong, four dishes are at least eight dishes. (I’ve eaten rice bowls in Xi’an before. The amount of rice and vegetables combined makes a very big plate, which is quite scary. Who knew that the dishes in the Northeast are bigger than those in the Northwest.)

The three of us old men, we had to eat and drink on our mission, but unfortunately there was no leftover food.

That night, I especially felt the generosity of the Northeastern people. There was also a scene. In the restaurant of Nuo Da, many tables were occupied by guests who had entered the hotel from the swimming pool. They were wearing swimsuits and swimming trunks. The men were shirtless, so we The three of them also imitated, taking off their shirts and drinking the combination of liquor and beer in the Northeast, how bold!

There are many dishes in the Northeast that are famous throughout the country, among which stews are the most common, such as pork stew with vermicelli, Northeast stew, chicken stew with mushrooms, butchered vegetables, etc. In the Northeastern way of making pig-killing dishes, it is a big pot dish that is prepared when the pigs are killed during the Chinese New Year.

As we all know, our country is vast and rich in resources, and each region has a different food culture, especially the difference between the north and the south. In the eyes of many people, Northeastern cuisine has the characteristic of large portions. The portion is unbelievably large, so large that it becomes a nightmare for southerners, who can’t finish it no matter how much they eat.

Why are the dishes in Northeastern restaurants so large? Facts have proved that in Northeastern restaurants, the presence of utensils such as plates is very low. Except for a few symbolic plates on the dining table, all dishes can be served in basins and never without plates. This is almost a law in the minds of Northeastern people. . Of course, you can also use a plate to serve dishes, but when you hold an exquisite Western plate with a depth of less than two centimeters and look at the corn, eggplant, potatoes and "diced meat" flying up and down in the big iron pot, which are as big as your fist, You will definitely break the plate in your hand like other Northeasterners, and rummage through the cabinets to find the enamel basin your grandma used to serve dishes. In the back kitchen of Northeastern restaurants, filling the pot is the final step of completing a dish. If you fill the pot with half the pot and serve it to the table, within three days, the neighbors will know that your restaurant is cutting corners. "This is more serious than the consequences of using a plate. As we all know, Northeastern people have two stomachs. The first stomach is responsible for tasting delicious food and supplying the body with daily energy, while all the food eaten in the second stomach will be sacrificed to the cold wind howling outside the house in winter, in order to fill up the stomach. With two stomachs, the dishes in Northeastern restaurants are naturally large. Going out if you don’t have enough to eat in the winter in the Northeast is a level of challenge, as is licking the iron railings in the winter. If you don’t want to freeze in the distance from the unit door to the car door, it’s best to ask your mother to cook more food to fill you up. Second stomach. Colder weather will consume more calories. All Northeasterners know this well, so all restaurants in the Northeast provide extra calories at absolutely no extra charge.

After eating Northeastern cuisine, I feel satisfied and peaceful.

I have always longed to eat a "stew" in a real Northeastern country house. I don't know when this great ideal will be realized. This is the most interesting dish name in Northeastern cuisine. An unstructured yet most delicious dish. Meat, vegetables, red and green dishes were served in one pot. And it is said to have a fragrant aroma. It should be able to intoxicate the taste buds of a person like me, who is deeply obsessed with food, with the rustic atmosphere.

I still have some say in answering this question. First, I am a native Northeasterner who is located in Shenyang. Second, I grew up eating Northeastern food. I love ordering Northeastern food when I go out to eat. Third, I love the so-called cooking skills, especially Love cooking Northeastern cuisine.

For the size of the dishes, let’s first look at the photos taken at the restaurant we’ve been to before, located in the urban-rural fringe area of ??Shenyang. I often accompany my father to visit my uncle's house in the countryside. In the past, we cooked at home and stewed in big pots. Now that they are older, they often go out to eat in rural restaurants, which saves trouble.

Northeastern classic dish: pickled cabbage, white meat and blood sausage. This dish in the Northeast is usually served in a basin or a large bowl, with garlic sauce or chive flowers.

One bite of the pork sausage is sizzling and oily. Such a large plate is enough for at least two plates even in a Shenyang city restaurant.

Grilled eggplant is also one of my favorite dishes. When eaten hot, it is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a caramel aroma.

Sometimes I wonder, the food is so big but the price is not much more expensive than in the city, and there are so few people that I can’t eat that much.

Stew a whole several kilograms of large river fish in stewed rice noodles

I often take my parents to restaurants to satisfy their cravings, so this dish is not a small one.

Four dishes almost fill the table

Many Northeastern dishes are famous for their stews, "Sauerkraut Stew" "Blood Sausage", "Pork Stewed Vermicelli", "Little Stupid Chicken Stewed with Mushrooms", "Iron Pot Stewed Fish, Stewed Goose"... I think the large amount of dishes has something to do with the cold weather in the Northeast. Stewing a large pot of dishes will solve the problem. You can quench your hunger and keep yourself warm by burning the kang, and the longer it is simmered, the more delicious it becomes.

Put on the Kang table and sit together as a family, cordial and lively. I remember when I was a child, I would go to my grandparents’ house for dinner. The adults would drink at the kang table, but the children could not enter the house at all, let alone eat at the table.

(Coordinates in the urban-rural fringe area of ??Xinmin, Shenyang, Northeast China)