China’s national dish is the Manchu-Han Banquet

The ancients said: "Food is its color and its nature." Chinese people talk about eating, not just three meals a day to quench thirst and satisfy hunger, it often contains Chinese people know and understand the philosophy of things. Eating, on the surface, is a kind of physiological satisfaction, but in fact, "the drunkard's intention is not in drinking." It expresses a rich psychological connotation in the form of eating. Color, aroma, taste, appearance, and nutrition are more important. The ultimate in Chinese cuisine is probably the Manchu-Han banquet. The Manchu-Han banquet began in the middle of the Qing Dynasty. It is a giant banquet with strong ethnic colors in my country. It is the most famous Chinese banquet in history that combines the essence of Manchu and Han dishes. It has the characteristics of palace cuisine and the essence of local flavor. The dishes are exquisite and the etiquette is exquisite, forming a striking and unique style. The Manchu-Han banquet was originally a banquet where Manchus and Han people cooperated when banquets were held in official circles. The public use occasion is when the local officials entertain the examiner after the imperial examination. The host is the highest local official, and the guest is the imperial minister; the host and guest are often "disciples and old friends", so the dishes at the Manchu-Han banquet are all exquisite and rich. When sitting at the table, all officials, big and small, wear court beads on their heads and sit in official uniforms. There are strict regulations on the scene, scale, level of the banquet, the positions of the people accompanying the banquet, the cooking ingredients used in the banquet, the types and quantities of fruits and wine, etc. When a Manchu-Han banquet is held in a government official's office, the first thing to do is to play music, fire cannons, and salute to welcome the guests to their seats. After the guests are seated, the waiter will bring them snacks. There are two kinds of snacks available at the door: sweet and salty, and dry and thin. After the entry snacks, there are three courses of tea, such as clear tea, fragrant tea, and fried rice tea, and then you can officially sit down. The Man-Han banquet usually includes at least 108 kinds of cold dishes, appetizers, stir-fried vegetables, rice dishes, beets, snacks and fruits, etc., and is usually eaten in three days.

Manchu and Han banquets use a wide range of materials and fine materials. All kinds of delicacies from mountains and seas are available. The cooking skills are exquisite and full of local characteristics. It highlights the special flavor of Manchu cuisine, and is good at barbecue, hot pot, and shabu-shabu. It also shows the cooking characteristics of Han nationality, including grilling, deep-frying, stir-frying, stewing, and roasting. The dishes are also very rich in taste. In terms of ingredients, bird's nest, shark's fin, sea cucumber, fish maw, abalone, anchovy, hump, deer sinew, bear paw, civet and other land and water delicacies are basically common to all kinds of Manchu and Han banquets; in individual dishes, roasted Suckling pig, roast duck, Harba (pork knuckle), roast chicken, grilled fish and other Manchu-style dishes are basically common to all kinds of Manchu-Han banquets; in terms of pastries, crispy boxes, siu mai, steamed dumplings, cakes Steamed buns, dumplings, dumplings, etc. are also common to various Manchu and Han banquets. The Manchu-Han banquet is not static. It is constantly changing with the development of cooking practice. The most famous one at present is Fangshan Restaurant in Beijing. Now there are Manchu-Han banquet in Tianjin, Guangdong, Hubei, Northeast China, Sichuan, Yangzhou, Changsha and other places. A hundred years ago, during the pre-Qing Dynasty, Guiliansheng Tavern in Guangzhou was most famous for its Manchu-Han banquet. There are ways to eat monkey brains, three squeaks, centipedes, etc. It should be the Cantonese style.

The "Yangzhou Shufang Lu" written by Li Dou during the Jiashen period of Qianlong contains a food list for the Manchu-Han banquet, which is the earliest record of the Manchu-Han banquet. The Manchu and Han banquets were divided into six banquets, all named after famous banquets in the Qing palace. Gathering together many famous delicacies from Manchu and Han Dynasties, we select seasonal fresh seafood and search for mountain treasures and exotic animals. The full banquet includes 196 items of hot, cold and meat dishes, 124 items of snacks and tea, and 320 items of delicacies. Use a full set of pastel Wanshou tableware and silverware, which makes you rich and gorgeous, and the dining environment is elegant and solemn. During the banquet, famous teachers were specially invited to play ancient music to accompany the banquet. Following the elegant tradition, the etiquette was rigorous and solemn, inheriting the traditional virtues, and serving meals to the royal court, making the guests linger and forget to return. After finishing the meal, you can appreciate the profoundness of Chinese cooking, the origin of food culture, and enjoy the supreme spirit of all things. The variety of cuisines, the fine ingredients used, the grand scale, and the complexity of the ostentation are all beyond compare.

There are two essences of the Manchu-Han banquet. One is the beautiful scenery of delicious food, beautiful utensils, which is called "shape"; the second is the leisurely state that permeates the shape, which is called "spirit". ". Both form and spirit complement each other, forming the kingly style of the Manchu-Han banquet.