China's food culture has a long history, bearing the local customs, history and humanities, cooking characteristics, taste buds preferences and homesickness memories ... Those famous ministers who are commemorated and praised by ordinary people in the form of food are immortal and well-known; Those delicacies that were personally tasted, praised and recommended by the emperors have been continuously carried forward and passed down from generation to generation, which have a strong vitality for thousands of years and are widely welcomed by the people.
Qin Shihuang and cold rice noodles
Cold rice noodles are found in many places, but why are Shaanxi cold rice noodles so famous and delicious? Because it is the birthplace of cold rice noodles, it has become a royal tribute because of the favor of Qin Shihuang. The production technology has been continuously improved, and the patterns are numerous and refined, which has been popular in Sanqin, and then it has been fragrant in the Central Plains and the north and south of the Yangtze River for more than two thousand years.
Qin Zhen, also known as Qindu Town, is located in Huyi District, Xi 'an, and was once the capital of the Western Zhou Dynasty. According to legend, there was a severe drought in Qin Zhen one year, and the rice withered. The harvested rice was too small and dry to pay tribute. A farmer named Li Shier ground this rice into rice slurry, steamed it in a cage, cut it into thin strips and added seasoning, and presented it to the court. After Qin Shihuang tasted it, he was very happy, exempted from the local annual tax, and designated Qin Zhen cold rice noodles as a tribute, which became a long-standing traditional snack. Chang 'an County Records and Liuba County Records describe the origin of rice skin in Hanzhong, and there are similar stories related to Qin Shihuang.
cold rice noodles are divided into two categories: rice skin and dough skin. Rice skin is steamed by grinding rice pulp, and dough skin is steamed by washing wheat flour pulp. Cold noodles can stimulate appetite, relieve boredom, remove dampness and relieve summer heat, and reduce fire and relieve fatigue. "Compendium of Materia Medica" says: Rice can nourish the spleen, while wheat can nourish the heart. Spleen is good, people are healthy; If you have a good heart, you will be sincere. Since ancient times, Qin people have been blessed.
The skin as white as jade is poured with bright red oil and spicy seeds, and served with crispy bean sprouts, shredded cucumber or celery, which is full of color, flavor and taste. The smooth and refreshing Qin Zhen rice skin is made of locally produced indica rice, while the Hanzhong hot rice skin is soft, waxy and spicy. Guanzhong, a thousand miles away in Woye, is mostly made of wheat dough, which is elastic and chewy, and some of them are also mixed with gluten (quack) filled with soup, which is hot and sour and delicious. The tough Baoji Qishan handmade noodles are really tasty and energetic! There are also baked rice noodles, cold rice noodles with sesame sauce, cold rice noodles with konjac, cold rice noodles with black rice, and cold rice noodles with mung beans ... In northwest areas such as Gansu, Ningxia and Xinjiang, this kind of steamed rice noodles with flour pulp juice is called stuffed rice noodles, which is a favorite specialty food.
cold rice noodles are cheap, convenient and quick, and can be served cold or stir-fried, and can be eaten all the year round. For weddings, funerals, or various festive festivals, cold rice noodles are essential for local banquets. Cold noodle has become one of the main items of snack management because of its small investment, large profit and quick return. Ancestral secret recipe, folk master, seasoning varies from place to place and from person to person.
Liu Bang and Ziyang Steamed Pot
Ziyang Steamed Pot is a famous traditional snack that originated in Hanwang Town, Ziyang County, Shaanxi Province. It is widely circulated that it was founded in the Han and Liu Bang dynasties. When Liu Bang led the army to Hanwang City at night, the villagers were ready to give a big banquet, but the army was leaving the next day, and it was too late to cook step by step. Clever chefs add seasonings such as pig's trotters, hens, squid, black fungus, lotus vegetables, etc., put them together in a big black pot, and steam them overnight with high fire. In the morning, the soldiers woke up to the smell of incense, wolfed down their food and ate it upside down, all refreshed. Liu Bang greatly appreciated it and asked what the name of this dish was. The chef has never done this before. When he was in a dilemma, he saw the big black basin on the table and said that the dish was called "steaming basin".
Ziyang Steamed Pot was first a braised dish when Han smokers stopped to get together, and later it developed into the finale of the reunion dinner on New Year's Eve. Pay attention to material selection, fine workmanship and complicated procedures. The main materials are all from local products, including whole chicken (native chicken), trotters, lotus roots, red and white radishes, yellow flowers, fungus, mushrooms, egg dumplings, water-boiled cuttlefish and other dried vegetables. The main utensils are local big black pots, and the cooking time must be more than 8 hours.
ten thousand flavors come together in one pot, which is mellow and delicious. Yuanbao-shaped egg dumplings, meaning "four seasons get rich", are made into "goldfish" type, meaning "more than one year after another", and steamed pots symbolize reunion, auspiciousness, prosperity and prosperity. Entertain distinguished guests, hold weddings and funerals, and this is the most expensive dish at the banquet. Get a banquet for the return of close relatives and friends, or go out for a long journey, and also make steaming pots to express your kindness.
Tang Taizong's bamboo shoot banquet, wine and noodle soup
"Early adopters are like mushrooms after rain", which has been regarded as a "treasure in dishes" since ancient times. It is tender and crisp, nutritious and delicious. Emperor Taizong likes eating bamboo shoots very much. Whenever bamboo shoots appear on the market, he always calls his ministers to eat bamboo shoots, which is called a "bamboo shoot feast". He also used bamboo shoots to symbolize the prosperity of the state and the emergence of talented people, just like "like mushrooms after rain." During the reign of Zhenguan, there were many advisers and talented people. Twenty-four heroes of Lingyange were among them, and history said that Zaifu, the most Qingming dynasty in China, would meet with heroes. Emperor Taizong "drives talents, pushes his heart to treat scholars", accepts advice like a stream, and is talented, and the relationship between the monarch and the minister is extremely harmonious. According to Liu Zongyuan's "Dragon City Record", Emperor Taizong gave Wei Zhi "vinegar celery" at the banquet, because it was his favorite side dish. Wei Zhi, who is always unsmiling and outspoken, was overjoyed. Before eating, he ate all the vinegar celery, laughing and laughing.
in the 14th year of Zhenguan (64), after Emperor Taizong obtained the method of mare's milk grape and wine brewing from Gao Changguo (Turpan), he not only planted grapes in the imperial palace, but also personally participated in the brewing, and produced eight colors of wine. "Fang Xin cruel, taste and twips ang. Since it was awarded to the ministers, the capital began to know its taste. " (yuan gui, Book House, Song Dynasty, Volume 97) The brewing of wine moved from the palace to the folk, and the cultivation of grapes became popular. Datang is a glorious period in the history of China wine-making. People in the Tang Dynasty who used to drink rice wine fell in love with this healthy and beautiful grape wine.
under the Cuifeng Mountain in zhouzhi county, Shaanxi Province, Li Shimin, the king of Qin, met with immortals, and the legend of "Suogu green tea welcomes the king of Tang" came from here. After Emperor Taizong ascended the throne, Suogu was granted the title of "Quan Zhen Niangniang", and the Cuifeng noodles soup (noodle soup) made by Suogu for him also became the royal banquet of the court, which was very popular in northwest China. This Suogu, who became an immortal, is recorded in the Records of the Scenic Spots in Guanzhong, the General Records of Shaanxi and the Chronicle of Hengzhou by Zou Ru, the magistrate of Zhouzhi County in Qing Dynasty. The ruins of the bone-shedding cave where Suogu sits on the ancient cliff still exist. The Temple of Our Lady of Suo at the top of Cuifeng Mountain has been burning incense since the Tang Dynasty, and the folk call Xiangu the "Goddess of Sending Children".
Taizong had a special liking for "Shaolin Babao Crisp" and praised it as "rare and exotic". Unfortunately, the essence and secret recipe of Babao Crisp was lost after the Tang Dynasty.
when emperor Taizong visited jiucheng palace in linyou for the summer vacation and visited the countryside, he loved to eat fine and smooth blood noodles. This noodle is made of fresh pig blood (or sheep blood) and flour, steamed in a cage and dried for preservation, so it has a unique flavor. Also because the production process is complicated and troublesome, no one else can do it. Because the emperor likes it, the local people cherish it more. For thousands of years, linyou county people have passed down the craft of blood noodles from generation to generation, and almost every household can do it.
Song Taizu and mutton bread in soup
The most delicious dish with Guanzhong flavor is the famous mutton bread in soup, which is fragrant, tender and mellow, tough and tasty, warms the stomach, resists hunger and strengthens the body. Bold northwest men are holding sea bowls, sucking and working hard one by one, eating heartily and admiring others.
In the Western Zhou Dynasty, beef and mutton soup was listed as a gift for kings and princes, which was called "mutton soup" in ancient times. Beef and mutton bread in soup evolved from ancient beef and mutton soup. Tang Suzong (757) borrowed the Arabian army to quell the "An Shi Rebellion" with Tang Jun. People in Chang 'an see that big food soldiers often eat mutton soup mixed with "Turml" cakes, which is probably the predecessor of "mutton buns". But the most talked about and influential story is the story of Zhao Kuangyin, the Emperor of Song Dynasty, who invented mutton soup and steamed buns unintentionally.
Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin had a hard time when he was young and frustrated. According to legend, one winter, he went to Chang 'an, penniless, with only two pieces of steamed buns left, which were so hard that he could hardly swallow. As it happens, there is a small shop on the street cooking mutton. He asked the shopkeeper for a bowl of steaming mutton soup, and broke the buns into pieces to make them soft. This delicious "soup soaked buns" made Zhao Kuangyin feel hot, hungry and cold, and refreshed.
Ten years later, Zhao Kuangyin became the first emperor of DaSong, and he tasted delicious food all over the world, but he couldn't forget the bowl of mutton soup and steamed buns, which was fragrant to his heart and warm all over his body. He asked the chef to cook it several times, but he always felt that it was not the same taste.
Zhao Kuangyin went out to inspect, went to Chang 'an, and then came to the street where he once wandered. He got off the imperial chariot and went straight to the shop, and ordered a bowl of mutton soup and steamed buns. When the emperor arrived, Wang was surprised and flustered. The shopkeeper broke the dead (unfermented) bread that his wife had baked in a hurry, poured mutton soup and cooked it, added spinach, vermicelli, and a few slices of mutton, prepared the seasoning, and served the emperor a big bowl full of fragrance. Zhao Kuangyin tasted it, and the long-lost taste came back, and he ate it immediately. After eating, the whole body was comfortable, and the satisfied emperor immediately rewarded the store.
Soon, the story that the emperor came to eat mutton and steamed buns spread all over Chang 'an, and more and more people came here to taste delicious food. Many restaurants do the same thing, and their business is booming. Especially in the cold winter, people want to be as warm and warm as Zhao Kuangyin, so as to raise their spirits. Coupled with the inspirational stories, mutton paomo has become a favorite food from the top to the dignitaries to the bottom of the people. It looks simple and rough, but in fact, it pays special attention to the preparation of broth, the technology of cook the meat and the production of dry steamed buns, and is known as "the first bowl in the world". Even Su Dongpo, a great writer and gourmet, praised: "Qin cooks only mutton soup, and there is bear wax in the dragon." ("Kazuko will see you in addition to the day").
Kublai Khan and instant-boiled mutton
It's a cold winter night, and it's windy and snowy, and the room is hot and fragrant. Relatives and friends sit around eating hot pot instant-boiled mutton, and drinking wine is homely, which is both warm and nourishing and warm and comfortable.
chafing dish was called "antique soup" in ancient times, so it was named because of the "plop" sound when food was put into boiling water. The tripod in Zhou Dynasty should be the earliest prototype of chafing dish. The "five-cooked kettle" of Cao Pi, Wei Wendi of the Three Kingdoms, that is, a pot that cooks different ingredients in five grids at the same time, can be called the ancestor of "Yuanyang pot". By the Tang Dynasty, there had been a "warm pot" made of copper. Since then, it has spread all over the country for thousands of years. Sichuan's spicy food, Fujian and Guangdong's seafood, Hubei's game, and Beijing's shabu shabu shabu ... The hot pot is known as the "spring breeze on the table" in the cold winter.
mutton warms the heart and stomach, strengthens the yang, nourishes qi and blood, eliminates cold and keeps fit. It is a good food for winter tonic. "Mutton pot, the most common delicacy in cold years ... is the legacy of northern nomads ..." ("A Hundred Stories in the Old City"). According to research, the murals of ancient people sitting around the hot pot floor unearthed in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, painted the scene of Qidan people eating instant-boiled mutton in the early Liao Dynasty. After the alliance of Chanyuan, there was no war in the Song and Liao Dynasties for a hundred years, and economic and trade exchanges were frequent. Tea and silk were exported in the Northern Song Dynasty, and the fat Liao sheep were very popular among the officials and people in the Song Dynasty. In the tavern in Kaifeng City, Tokyo, there was a hot pot in winter. Lin Hong, a scholar in the Southern Song Dynasty, wrote in detail the process of washing rabbit meat in Shanjia Qinggong, and emphasized that the method of washing pork and mutton is the same. After Mengyuan entered the Central Plains, it brought the peak of mutton consumption in China, and the practices of mutton were diversified, among which "cuàn sheep" was the predecessor of instant-boiled mutton. Every winter solstice, Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty ate hot pots of chicken, mutton and mushrooms, and the longevity emperor hosted more than 1,55 hot pots. Mutton hot pot is also a popular diet full of fireworks in the market. "Clear barnyard grass banknotes" says: "In winter in the capital ... mutton is boiled quickly."
The most popular legend is Kublai Khan and instant-boiled mutton in Yuan Shizu. When Kublai Khan led the army south, he was camping and preparing dinner, and there was a battle report from the front. It was too late to stew mutton, but he couldn't fight with an empty stomach! At Kublai Khan's urging, the chef sliced the mutton, rinsed it in boiling water, fished it out and sprinkled it with salt. The soldiers ate quickly and hurried to mount their horses to meet them. Kublai Khan greatly appreciated this practice. Not only did he cook quickly without delaying the fighter plane, but he was especially fresh and delicious. Since then, the army has often cooked instant-boiled mutton.
Kublai Khan made Beijing his capital, and his favorite instant-boiled mutton was given a luxurious palace banquet. The copper pot of instant-boiled mutton is covered like a yurt, and opened like a helmet of Mongolian cavalry. It is said that Kyle? Polo ate this kind of Mongolian hot pot in the imperial palace of the Yuan Dynasty, so the English translation of instant-boiled mutton is Mongolian(Hot Pot), while the Japanese and Koreans simply call it Kublai Khan.
Kyle? Marco Polo's Travels, which was dictated by Polo and recorded by Ruth Tieqian (also translated as "Notes on the East"), mentioned that there were many banquet utensils and they were "extremely exquisite". "In Huang Jinguo in the East, residents like to eat milk ice" and "noodles". Unfortunately, there is no record of hot pot, and there may be abridgements in different versions. This wonderful book is still controversial, but the power of folklore should not be underestimated.
Instant-boiled mutton is not stewed and cooked slowly. Sliced meat is as thin as paper and smooth. When it is cooked and discolored, it can be eaten with sesame sauce and other seasonings. Authentic instant-boiled mutton pays attention to clear soup in copper pot. Just put some onions, ginger, medlar and dried seaweed in the bottom soup. What you eat is the freshness of mutton and the taste of nature. Finally, rinse some cabbage, tofu and vermicelli. Therefore, instant-boiled mutton requires very high meat quality. In the early years, all the good mutton restaurants in old Beijing chose sheep from Xilin Gol prairie in Mongolia, which were mellow, tender and delicious.
Zhu Yuanzhang and Baiyin ruyi
He was a poor cowherd, an orphan whose family was ruined, and a young monk who begged for food everywhere. Fortunately, a kind old woman saved him. This bowl of food made of rotten vegetable leaves, rotten tofu and leftovers became a delicious dish in his heart-Pearl Jade White Jade Soup.
This wandering monk, who slept in the wind and food, later became the first emperor to unify the whole country, and made expeditions to the north, recovering sixteen prefectures, the northern barrier that the Han people in the Central Plains had lost for 4 years. He was Zhu Yuanzhang (October 1328-June 1398).
All this happened on the eve of his 4th birthday (autumn of 1368). At the celebration banquet for the ministers, Zhu Yuanzhang named "Silver Ruyi". The chef was at a loss. He had never heard of it and didn't know how to do it. Only Empress Ma, who was familiar with the emperor's living habits and eating habits, understood it and told the chef the specific methods.
at the end of the yuan dynasty, the world was in chaos. Zhu Yuanzhang defected to the rebel army in Guo Zixing. Because of his strange face, brave fighting and fluent writing and ink, he was appreciated by Guo Zixing and became the commander-in-chief of the Marshal's Qinbing. Sending him to lead troops to fight will win every battle. He is brave and resourceful, and his ability is extraordinary. He is a wizard and a blessing! So Guo Zixing betrothed his adopted daughter Miss Martha (Ma Xiuying, later Ma Huanghou) to him, and 25-year-old Zhu Yuanzhang became the marshal's door-to-door son-in-law.
Shuaifu's chef is good at cooking pasta, and one of them is called "Silver Ruyi", which is cooked by kneading fermented flour and alkaline water thoroughly, removing the sour taste and adding sugar. As white as silver, it looks like a cotton peach, soft and rich, with a "smile" at the top, such as flower buds blooming, also known as "flowering buns" and "flowering steamed buns".
Zhu Yuanzhang, who suffered from hunger and cold, has never eaten such good steamed food. It is soft, delicate and flexible, and the more he chews, the more he loves it. It is rich in wheat flavor and slightly sweet. Paired dishes