In a nutshell, it's a hermit's cookbook.

For example, "Plum Porridge" is a white porridge cooked with withered plum petals and snow water; "Chrysanthemum Seedling Decoction" is a dish in which chrysanthemum seedlings are decocted with licorice water and powdered yam; and "Soup Bloom Plum" is a dish in which bamboo knives are used to extract plums from the leaves of a tree.

Rather than food, they are a piece of work reflecting the hermit's state of mind. Not only that, but the book also contains a number of fun and educational food activities, full of Song people's creativity in life.

There are also many dishes that aren't quite so white, and this Song dynasty cookbook contains many dishes that are still enjoyed at our tables today, and of course, unsurprisingly, in this book, they all have names that inspire respect.

Here's a selection of just a few of them, to give us a taste of how the literati of the Song dynasty had their fun.

▼ Bijian Soup

Many of the names of the dishes in this book come from allusions or metaphors for ingredients, and while often we don't know how good this can be based on the name of the dish, there is always a little bit of the color and flavor of the dish that can be discerned from the name.

For example, this "Bijian soup", although from the name we do not know how it is made, but just less we know it is green, right.

So how is it made? In fact, this is a celery soup, here celery refers to watercress, also known as chuqui, water Ying. Boiled in water as a soup, fresh and sweet, as if it were a green valley water, so borrowed Du Fu "celery Bijian soup" name.

▼ Stone Soup

Stone? This is an interesting metaphor, and the name goes well with the last dish of Bijian soup. How is it made?

"Take small stones from a clear stream, or one or two with moss, draw water from the spring and boil it, the flavor is sweeter than snails, and it has the smell of spring stones." That is to say... the so-called stone soup is really a soup cooked with stones.

Although many of the names of the dishes in "Qingsui Shanjia" are metaphorical or allusive, they are also directly named after ingredients. Of course, we won't go into whether or not the stones here can be categorized as an ingredient.

This is the first time I've ever seen a dish that is so dark that I can't even think about it.

In fact, this is a kind of oath of the literati hermits not to eat the world. It is said that the ancestor of the author of this book, Mr. Lin Honglin, was the famous Lin Bu, who took the plum as his wife and the crane as his son.

▼ Dialing the Xia for

Before we introduce this dish, let's look at the author's comments: "Waves of snow on the clear river, the wind turning to shine the evening sun," "Drunken memories of the taste of the mountains, forgetting that it is the noble family".

This is the first time I've seen this.

Before tasting its flavor and first look at its color, the waves of the river, white as snow, and the evening sun like fire, interlaced with which, thoughts suddenly flew to the leisurely life of the mountain hermitage, is not it a very good feeling?

How does this dish work? In fact, it is very simple, take fresh rabbit meat slices (pork and mutton can also be), and then use chopsticks to hold in the hot soup repeatedly dial, meat color like clouds, so the name "dial Xia for".

Does it sound familiar? Yes, this is shabu-shabu, and you can get it at Dong Lai Shun on your left.

▼ Plum Blossom Soup Cake

There was a man on Zimao Mountain in Quan who made this offering. The first dip white plum, sandalwood incense water, and pasta for wonton skin, each stack with five out of the iron chisel like plum blossom chisel to take it, wait for cooking, is too chicken in the clear juice.

In today's language, it means to make wonton skins from pasta impregnated with plum blossoms and sandalwood, and then cook them in the shape of plum blossoms.

In my hometown of Yantai in Shandong province, this is also available, but the name is not as good as in the book, it's called katazome, which is not impregnated with plum blossoms, but it's also very tasty when combined with shrimp and seaweed, and although it's not part of the mountainous countryside, it's always a little bit of a delicacy of the sea.

▼Tongshen Cake

First of all, I'll give you 100 points for the name, "Tongshen Cake"? It's almost as if God is with me after eating it. In fact, this legendary food can still be found in Japanese restaurants today. About its practice, the book is written:

"Ginger thinly cut, onion finely cut, each with salt soup blanch, and thin noodles,......, into the shallow oil frying, can have been cold. Zhu's "Analects of Confucius Note" cloud "ginger, through the gods", so the name."

Isn't this vegetable tempura? Of course, we're not sure if anyone has tried making tempura with the seasoning, but if you don't mind, it probably tastes good.

▼ Pine Jade

Prince Wen Hui asked Grand Zhou, "What is the best dish?" Grand said, "Early leeks in early spring, late woad in late fall."

The above allusion is from the Book of Qi, in which the phrase "spring leeks and autumn woad" has been passed down to this day, emphasizing a different season to eat different ingredients, respect for the laws of nature's dietary spirit, and the Japanese food in the "taste of the ten days" has a similar taste.

And Mr. Lin Hong, the old man, put forward a set of criteria for choosing "late autumn woad", saying that only white woad is crunchy and tasty, and called it "pine jade".

So what exactly does this "pine jade" refer to?

Yes, the Song Dynasty hermits and writers pay attention to the diet of light and simple, ingredients for vegetables, fruits, and even flowers are particularly respected, that they are really home cultivation, the immortalization of the choice.

Even a cabbage, in the kitchen of an immortal, is a noble, out of the low taste, cabbage.

▼ Citron Cup

There was a contemporary of Lin Hong, Xie Yizai, who did not drink but liked to watch people get drunk, according to the original words, "do not drink, but can watch drunken guests," more bad taste.

One day, the brother of the book (eat) Yu (full) zither (support) strike (of), let the left and right of the citron everything in half, carved with flowers, as a wine cup, warm wine to persuade guests. Sheng in the citron in the wine, "QingFenMeiRan", make people feel than this citron cup, what gold and silver wine cup are spicy chicken.

I was born late, this wine what taste in the next no chance to try, but can imagine with a little lemon juice in the wine is almost the same. Song people drinking wine, not only fragrant fruit accompanied, but also carved flowers on the fruit decoration, full of aesthetics of life ah.

▼ Bi-Tube Wine

In the cool of summer, they would "row their boats on lotus leaves", put the wine they brought into the lotus leaves, and wrap the fish, meat, wine and vegetables into other lotus leaves. Then they went into the lake and played happily, using the lotus leaves as cooking and the sunlight as salary.

Waiting for the tour back, wine, meat and accompanied by the fragrance of the lotus leaves, a beautiful picnic is so completed, "really good fit also. Poe Yun: "Bi tube when for the elephant nose bend, white wine slightly with lotus heart bitter."

This gives us a great example of a picnic, compared to the Internet rumors in the middle of summer on the roof of the car fried eggs or something natural high to know where to go.

Although the Southern Song Dynasty was isolated, the economy and culture reached a very high status. When we think of cooking, we always think of Japan and Korea, but we don't know that our ancestors left us such an elegant batch of food feasts.

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