I am from Hubei. I grew up in Tianmen City, a land of plenty in the beautiful Jianghan Plain. It is rich in products and has simple folk customs. It is my lovely hometown.

When talking about the representative dishes of my hometown, the first thing that comes to mind is of course the top ten bowls that are essential for weddings and funerals in rural areas.

The so-called "Top Ten Bowls" refers to both bowls and dishes. First of all, the bowls used to serve dishes at these banquets are very large, much larger than the bowls commonly used at home. This bowl is called "Ten Big Bowls" and is a bowl specially used for banquets. The ten bowls of dishes at the banquet are also called the "Ten Big Bowls". The top ten bowls have a long history in Tianmen folklore, but due to factors such as age and region, the patterns of the ten bowls of dishes are also different. However, there are a few dishes that are must-haves. Here are a few that impressed me.

1. Family Portrait

Family Portrait is a soup dish that is a must-have for all banquets in Tianmen. The soup is chicken soup, with a hodgepodge of meatballs, chicken cakes, quail eggs, black fungus, ham sausage, etc. in it. The soup is delicious and rich in content. Since it is the first course, it is often eaten up as soon as it is served, not even the soup is left.

2. Steamed vegetables

Tianmen is the hometown of steamed vegetables, so steamed vegetables are naturally a must for banquets. There are many kinds of steamed dishes in Tianmen, including steamed meat, steamed fish (steamed seabass), steamed chicken, steamed ribs, steamed eel, steamed chrysanthemum, coir raincoat dumplings, etc. The specific steamed dishes will vary according to the chef's preference, but Steamed meat is a must. In addition, steamed eel, coir raincoat dumplings, steamed seabass, etc. are also famous dishes in Tianmen and are very popular among Tianmen people.

3. Stewed Pork Belly with Bamboo Shoot Tips

Stewed Pork Belly with Bamboo Shoot Tips is also a soup dish. Add bamboo shoots, pork belly and glutinous rice to the broth (glutinous rice is steamed and then dried. , can also be used to make Tianmen fried rice.) Boil together, the soup is milky white, the bamboo shoots are crisp, the pork belly is chewy, and the yin rice is soft and glutinous. Eat it while drinking the soup, which is delicious and nutritious. I like this dish better.

4. Steamed turtle

In the past, turtle was a rare item, and steamed turtle was a high-end dish that was not available in every banquet. Nowadays, turtle farming is relatively common, and the price is not too expensive. It is basically available at banquets. But for some reason, the chefs at Tianmen like to make this dish sweet and sour, and I don’t really like it.

5. Beef stewed with radish

In the past, every family in rural areas raised cattle. Cows were production tools and the "big labor force" of the family. People did not eat beef very much, only for banquets. Only then can we eat it. In the Tianmen "Top Ten Bowls", large pieces of beef are used to stew radish. The beef is stewed until the beef is crispy, the radish is soft, spicy, and the soup is delicious. It is a hard dish.

Nowadays, many chefs have replaced beef with mutton stewed with carrots, which enriches the taste, and I still prefer beef.

6. Sweet soup

Sweet soup is the only serious dessert in Tianmen Ten Bowls. It is usually stewed with white fungus and lotus seeds in sugar water, or mixed with bought Canned fruits, etc. are cooked together, and Tianmen specialty sweet rice wine is also used. After eating the first few salty dishes, the tableware was stained with various oily soups. It felt weird to eat this bowl of sweet soup again, but I couldn't help it. This is tradition.

7. The last hard dish

In the Tianmen folk banquet, after eating the first nine dishes in the "Top Ten Bowls", everyone is basically full of wine and food. , but you still have to eat some rice to put your stomach under pressure. At this time, you have to serve the last dish. This dish is usually shredded pork, stir-fried mustard with garlic, and stir-fried Tianmen local pickles. With this dish, you can eat it with a bowl of rice, wipe your mouth, and then sit down. Before leaving, do you want to say something to the other people at the table? Settle down, slow down! ?Be polite.