The main dishes at the State Banquet and the 50th Anniversary National Day Banquet were all Huaiyang dishes. It is estimated that the main dishes at this year’s State Banquet will also include Huaiyang dishes. Why choose Huaiyang dishes as the main dish at the State Banquet?
What’s so magical about Huaiyang cuisine?
Huaiyang cuisine is one of the four major cuisines and the representative faction of Jiangsu cuisine. It refers to the regional cuisine centered on Yangzhou Prefecture and Huai'an Prefecture. It began in the Spring and Autumn Period, flourished in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is known as "the best in Southeast Asia"
"Taste, the most beautiful in the world".
First of all, Huaiyang cuisine carefully selects ingredients and prepares them according to the materials; it mostly uses fresh food from rivers, lakes and rivers as the main ingredients, is supported by top cooking skills, takes the original flavor as the best, and pursues the delicious taste of people. For example, Taihu white fish is also known as Taihu white fish.
Taihu Silver Knife is famous all over the world for its white, tender meat and delicious taste.
Du Fu once wrote a poem "white fish cut like jade" to praise it.
The second point is that Huaiyang cuisine is exquisitely made and elegant in style. For example, the dish of boiled dry shredded noodles is a specialty dish in Huaiyang cuisine.
The knife skills are extremely fine. A piece of dried tofu is cut into 18 neat and even slices. Chicken soup is used to simmer it over a slow fire. The delicious flavor of the chicken soup completely penetrates into the dried shredded pork. Many diners only order a portion of dried tofu and don’t want anything else. This shows that this
The enticing charm of the dish, and the craftsmanship of this dish have been included in the intangible cultural heritage list.
The most outstanding skill of fine knife skills is hand-cut tofu. A piece of tofu can be cut into thousands of tofu shreds. When placed in clear water, the roots will be clear, even in thickness, and as thin as hair.
It must also be non-sticky and non-broken.
Recently, Master Hou Xinqing, who studied under the Huaiyang master Zhou Xiaoyan, came to Shenyang to perform the knife skills of cutting tofu. He is nicknamed the Huaiyang Swordsman. The Wensi Tofu shown in "A Bite of China" is as thin as a hair, making Huaiyang cuisine famous.
His sword skills became famous.
The third point is to pursue the original taste, freshness and peace. Take simple soup dumplings and lion heads as examples. The old saying that you can never tire of fine food is very true. The more common ingredients are, the more cooking skills they show.
The preparation of lion's head is very sophisticated, because the meat is all cut out and melts as soon as you take a sip. Moreover, egg starch cannot be put in lion's head. If you want this pile of disjointed meat to stick together, you need to put in some real effort.
, from left hand to right hand, from right hand to left hand, and so on until it stops falling apart.
After putting it in the pot, heat it over gentle low heat for 4 hours. The noodle soup should always be in a state of boiling but not boiling. Otherwise, if the heat is too high, the lion's head will become a soup filled with meat. You can tell whether this dish is difficult or not.
The soft-double long fish is a traditional famous dish, the most famous dish in Huaiyang cuisine. At the end, there is a thickening process. All the flavor of the seasoning must be applied to the eel strips, and the tenderness of the eel meat should be maintained.
The skin also needs to be softened in the gravy.
The dishes should be dark and shiny. When you pick them up gently with chopsticks, they will tremble slightly and be smooth and tender in the mouth. At this time, another bowl of rice will be all over the place.
Chef Hou Xinqing can talk about dozens of classic Huaiyang dishes like this. The well-made and elegant dishes are a perfect match for the appetites of banquet guests. He is now the Chinese executive chef and senior technician of Shangri-La Hotel, Nanjing
, Chinese cooking master.
The head chef of Jiangnan Zao, who won the Black Pearl Two Diamond Restaurant in 2019, has been named one of the "Top 50 Chefs in the Country", "Top Ten Famous Chefs in Beijing" and "China's Young Famous Chef Mentor". He has been responsible for 25 chefs on behalf of the country and hotels.
We arrange meals for the activities of heads of state and are responsible for the meals of party and state leaders when they visit abroad, which has been well received by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and embassies abroad.
The photos below were taken during the Lantern Festival hosted by Chef Hou Xinqing, who hosted the Shenyang Xunwei Jiangnan. He was the special host of the second season of the Huaiyang Food Festival in Northeastern Shenyang. The address was Shang Palace and Coffee Garden of Hotel Jen. The author was fortunate enough to taste his state banquet dish combinations twice.
Paired with it, the feeling is profound.