There are many hard dishes, for example, in the minds of northerners, braised pork, pork-killing dishes, stewed chicken with mushrooms, stewed ribs with sauerkraut, shredded pork with Beijing sauce and Beijing roast duck are all hard dishes; Kung pao chicken, spicy chicken nuggets, boiled fish, etc. In Sichuan cuisine; Shandong cuisine includes sweet and sour tenderloin, braised prawns, sweet and sour yellow river carp, nine-turn fat sausage, abalone baked in the original shell and so on. Huajiang dog meat, Tianma Yuanyang pot, Hongyun sparerib, gold hook hanging jade brand, paper-wrapped millet ham and so on in Guizhou cuisine.
Hard dishes are popular in the north. In the south, people may prefer light dishes such as green vegetables, but northerners must have a hard dish when ordering. In the minds of northerners, hard dishes are the center of the whole table, and the rest of the dishes are its foil, ranking first.
People in different areas have different standards for hard dishes. Some people think that only large pieces of meat such as pigs, sheep, cows, chickens and ducks can be counted, even if a few kale are added. For some northeastern people, braised pork is not a hard dish, but must be the level of stewed goose and big elbow. There are few vegetables in the dish, and the cooking is fine, and the oil and salt are heavy. To the extent that a dish will cause a full table of applause and exclamations as soon as it is served.
Not only in Northeast China, but also in Gansu Province, the standard of hard dishes is quite high, and it must be whole meat. And the food must be packed in an oversized pot, and the food can't fit. The quality and appearance are very eye-catching. Raw materials should be packed neatly, such as a whole sheep or half a pig. It's best to eat directly without chopsticks.
In South Guangdong, the standard of hard dishes is not reflected in the weight, but in the quality and quantity of dishes. Abalone shark's fin, boiled chicken and steamed fish, and a big bowl of stew are all hard dishes.