In May of the 22nd year of Guangxu, Li Hongzhang, as the "imperial envoy", led a delegation to Russia to attend the coronation ceremony of Tsar Nicholas II. After leaving Russia, Li Hongzhang and his party visited Britain, France, Germany, the United States and other countries. This trip is more of a leisure trip than a visit, with no substantive state activities.
Li Hongzhang’s overseas visit left a deep impression on the United States. At the end of August this year, Li Hongzhang's mission received a warm welcome in the United States. "The New York Times" published a message saying, "The American people want to see the style of the prime minister of the Qing Dynasty, because this man ruled a population larger than that of all European monarchs combined."
This It is also a long-standing Chinese tradition, never be rude. Therefore, in order to thank the American officials and people for their warm hospitality, Li Hongzhang decided to hold a Chinese banquet in New York to entertain and thank people from all walks of life in the United States, and sent people to Chinatown where Chinese people lived together. At this banquet, Li Hongzhang inadvertently created a medium-sized miracle.
On the day of the banquet, people from all walks of life in the United States gathered in Chinatown, attracting the attention of the curious American public. In the past, Americans rarely went to Chinatown, and it was even more difficult to eat there. Liquor and food shop owners in Chinatown serve Chinese people living in the United States, allowing them to taste Chinese food in a foreign country and feel homesick for once.
At the banquet, Chinese dishes with various colors, flavors and unique shapes were served one after another. People from other countries were dumbfounded and thought the taste was unique. After several hours of eating, they refused to sit down. This made the manager on the side worried. He quickly approached Li Hongzhang and asked, "Master in the main hall, what should I do if the dishes are all finished?" Li Hongzhang thought about it quietly for a moment, and immediately said: "Take out the food that has been taken out." Heat up the leftovers and serve them in a big basin."
After a while, a large pot of steaming soup and leftovers were served, and the foreigners rushed to taste them and were full of praise. One of them even asked Li Hongzhang: "Why does Chinese food always put the best dish last? What is this dish called?" Li Hongzhang was too embarrassed to answer for a while, so he had to say: "Eat more! Eat more!" . The foreigners present all thought the name of this dish was "Eat More". Who would have thought that it turned out to be Li Hongzhang's unintentional remark, which was wrong, because the pronunciation of "eat more" is exactly the same as the pronunciation of "hotch-potch" in English.
Since then, many foreigners have come to Chinatown to taste Chinese-style meals. Each meal must be a hodgepodge of "famous dishes" used at Li Hongzhang's banquets. The owners of Chinatown restaurants also took the opportunity to make mistakes, combining various excellent materials and refining them into "Li Hongzhang's hodgepodge." Originally, Chinese cuisine was about beauty, fresh color and good health. By chance, they became a household name due to Li Hongzhang's fame, which attracted many foreigners to visit Chinatown, setting off a whirlwind of "Li Hongzhang Hodgepodge". Chinatown's restaurant industry was booming at the time, earning millions of dollars a year. It's so amazing!
In this way, there are three to four hundred chowder restaurants in New York alone. They have also spread to Boston, Washington, Chicago, Pittsburgh and other places, becoming an important source of income for Chinese living in the United States. Later, in order to attract celebrities and curious Westerners, all Chinese restaurants in the United States bought food menus such as "Li Hongzhang Chowder", "Li Hongzhang Noodles" and "Li Hongzhang Rice". Li Hongzhang's name has become the bread and butter of many Chinese living in the United States.
Of course, there are many so-called "Li Hongzhang hodgepodges", named or unknown. The cooking skills were poor and the ingredients were unrecognizable. Chinese people don't care at all, but Westerners think that this is what "Li Hongzhang Hodgepodge" tastes like. Instead, there is an endless stream of tasters, just to satisfy their strong curiosity.
Li Hongzhang also likes to eat roast mutton. Through this visit, his hobby was also publicized and a barbecue street was opened in Washington, the capital of the United States. Although Li Hongzhang's visit to the United States did not involve substantial state affairs, only this "Li Hongzhang Hodgepodge" dish became popular throughout the United States. This was also Li Hongzhang's "victory" and "brilliant achievement."