Ankang's "Eight Big Pieces" are the most authentic representatives of Ankang's dietary customs. According to legend, in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, there were great immigrants from all over the country, southern residents migrated to Sichuan, and southern immigrants lived in Ankang, forming a mixed pattern of north and south people. In the forty-eighth year of Qianlong (1783), in order to strengthen local rule, the Qing government promoted Jinzhou to Xing 'an Prefecture, and set up Ankang County in Fucheng, meaning "peaceful and kangtai". Subsequently, the population of Ankang increased greatly, and all trades flourished. The court sent the governor to inspect it. In order to thank Huang En, all the famous families wanted to invite the governor's adult to have a family dinner. The magistrate then ordered the Plutocratic family people in the city to serve a cool and hot exquisite dish, and every eight households served as a group, which not only tasted the north-south cuisine, but also gave the families face. For three days in a row, the governor was overjoyed. Later, due to rumors, plus eight hot and cold dishes, the dishes of eight people were called "eight big ones"

"Eight Big Pieces" is the name of a combination of dishes on the Ankang banquet table, just like when the imperial palace held a grand banquet in the Qing Dynasty, it was necessary to have a "Manchu-Chinese banquet". In Ankang, the "Eight Big Pieces" are used to entertain very distinguished guests, or when there is a big happy event at home, the host carefully prepares the "Eight Big Pieces" to share with relatives and friends and reward the villagers, with the exception of the New Year. Every household in Ankang receives guests with the "Eight Big Pieces", exquisite dishes and very particular eating methods, which can show the host's hospitality and joy while showing respect for visitors.

In Ankang, eating the "eight big things" is extremely important. Although during the Chinese New Year, every household has to prepare "eight big pieces" and other relatives and friends to come to He Xinchun, the workmanship and materials selection are not familiar to ordinary housewives, but according to the song of "eight big pieces", "four meats and four vegetables, vinegar in the middle; It can also make "eight big pieces" with good color, fragrance and taste.

The "Eight Big Pieces" dishes are divided into two categories: cold dishes and hot dishes. Cold dishes are also appetizers. Spinach from Julia must be placed in the middle of the table, with stewed pig's ears and sauce-flavored beef on the left and right sides, stewed vegetables on the left, stewed konjac on the right, and lotus roots in the middle of the bottom, with white river as the egg and hot and sour chicken gizzards on the other. We must follow the arrangement that the top is green and the bottom is white, and the four corners are meat and the four sides are vegetarian dishes. The idea that green leaves represent the blue sky, lotus roots represent the earth, and respect for heaven and earth is perfectly reflected in the diet. Cold dishes are mainly sour, spicy and salty, which just provides the best appetizer for those who are good at wine, and also opens the appetite for tasting food for the elderly and young friends who are not good at wine. Those who accompany cold dishes must be exquisite vinegar soup. The "eight pieces" of cold dishes have a beautiful appearance under careful knife skills, but no seasoning is added. Before eating, they should be placed in the seasoning tray in the middle of the table to take vinegar soup and absorb the hot and sour hemp and other flavors in the soup. The preparation of this vinegar soup is very particular. In Ankang, ten cold dishes are the same as nine. The forever difference is the preparation of vinegar soup. When boiled with vinegar, the taste of the soup is bound to be bitter. If you pour vinegar with scalding oil, the sour taste will be dull. If you mix the fragrant soup boiled with eight spices with boiling water, then inject the fragrant vinegar made by hand in Ankang, add a little soy sauce made of soybeans, and transfer sesame oil and spicy oil to a plate after the soup is boiled. This wine quickly entered the throat of the heroic men and women, and the appetizer played a role in guiding the cups of liquor.

Bad drinkers also have good dishes to serve, cold dishes are being eaten, and hot dishes come slowly in the order of "one soup is dry, first steamed and then fried, first salted and then sweet". Hot dishes are mainly braised, steamed and fried, with different tastes of sour, sweet, light and mellow. According to Mr. Zhang Feng, a celebrity of Ankang culture, during the New Year's Eve, there is a established rule that Ankang people eat the "eight big pieces", that is, the first hot dish must be steamed chicken skin powder, the chicken should be skinned and the vermicelli must be wide; The second course is sweet and sour carp. Taken together, it means "Ji (chicken) celebrates more than fish" for good luck in the coming year. The rest dishes are arranged on time, with a steamed dish with soup and a stir-fried dish as the order, and eight dishes are served as the standard. Steamed dishes provide sufficient time for housewives in the kitchen to cook the next dish. The last dish is either steamed meat with bean curd or steamed rice, which is one of the two, and the banquet. When it's time for dinner, there are also hosts who like to play. After the rice wine is served, they will sprinkle white sugar on the spot, pour a little home-baked wine, and light it with fire. After the blue flame, the rice wine is more fragrant, which is also a symbol of prosperity in the new year. Everyone moves chopsticks together and eats rice wine, and the main dishes are considered to have been served. When eating, four vegetarian dishes are served as the next meal, one is water mung bean sprouts, the other is hot and sour pickled cabbage, the other is dried bean curd with pig blood, and the other is auricularia mixed with peach kernels. After a full meal, I sang the flowers and drums of Ankang, knocked on the gongs and drums, and forgot the "eight big pieces" of Ankang. I was happy until late at night, and the festival of 2008 continued until the next day, when I returned to the banquet, I faced the "eight big pieces" again and forgot the flowers and drums of joy.

Ankang is located in the intersection of north and south, and its dietary customs show distinct mountainous and blending. In terms of food composition, there are both the color of rice culture and the imprint of wheat-chestnut culture. The Sichuan Road is dominated by wheat and rice, and the two mountains are dominated by wheat and corn. There are many varieties of food crops, and both north and south fruits are planted. Dried fruits and fresh fruits can be tasted every month. There are all kinds of special products such as auricularia auricula, shiitake mushrooms, pine mushrooms and tremella. There are many kinds of meat, poultry, fish and eggs, which have become the blending zone of rice culture and wheat-chestnut culture, showing both the wisdom born from eating rice in the south and the simplicity from cooking in the north. Moreover, Ankang people are good at storing food. Dried peppers, Jiangdou Gan and dried radishes can be seen everywhere in urban and rural areas. Smoked bacon and tofu are hung on the stove. Pots and pots are filled with dried fermented beans and bean curd, and various vegetarian dishes are preserved in big jars and small jars. These various foods are either dried in the sun, soaked in salt, or smoked. Can be used as the main raw materials of the "eight big pieces". All the year round, VIPs come, walk into a house at will, and you can serve seven dishes and eight bowls for a while without leaving home, and the vegetables of the four seasons are gathered at one time, and a table is full, which makes people dizzying.

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