In the history of Chinese food, the Song Dynasty is definitely a milestone.

The characteristics of the Song Dynasty were that wealth was kept among the people, and the level of social and economic development far exceeded that of the later Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty.

Due to economic development, the dietary structure of the people in the Song Dynasty also underwent earth-shaking changes, and people's demand for meat also increased.

Compared with the Tang Dynasty, livestock such as pigs, chickens, sheep, geese, etc. have increased significantly.

Moreover, in the Song Dynasty, chicken was also a common meat on the dining table, second only to mutton.

Chicken in the Song Dynasty became a common delicacy on the tables of ordinary people. This is also because chicken was also the most developed and widespread domestic animal in the Song Dynasty.

In the Song Dynasty, the scale of chicken breeding was greatly developed compared to before. Even ordinary farmers raised hundreds of chickens.

For example, it is recorded in "Shilin Guangji·Volume 2·Chicken Binding": "The little slaves tied the chickens to sell to the market, and the chickens were eager to fight with each other." This sentence also describes the excitement of the vendors selling chickens in the vegetable market, and also

Describing the large number of chickens sold, it proves the development of the chicken industry at that time.

Local officials in the Song Dynasty also required the people under their jurisdiction to raise chickens and vigorously develop the chicken industry.

For example, at that time, there was a minister named Song Chi in the Northern Song Dynasty. When he was serving in Henan Prefecture, he required every household under his management to raise chickens. It was stipulated that people who raised chickens should regularly bring chickens to a special government office for inspection.

Determine whether you are cheating or lying to him or fooling him.

Since local officials encourage people to vigorously develop the chicken industry, this has also stimulated an increase in the number of chickens. It is not surprising that chicken has become a delicacy on the tables of ordinary people.

For example, in the Song Dynasty, one person had to kill dozens of chickens every day. Such a large supply showed that people had a huge demand for chicken consumption.

The characteristic of the Song Dynasty is that the scale of chicken farming in the Jiangnan area is far greater than that in the northern area.

This is also because during the Song Dynasty, especially during the Southern Song Dynasty, the originally desolate Jiangnan area received the attention and development of the imperial court, and the grain planting area also expanded.

With more food, there will naturally be more feed for raising chickens, and the development of the breeding industry will naturally be better than in the north.

Business in the Song Dynasty was developed, and many vendors used chicken as a delicacy to attract customers.

For example, there were many types of catering shops at that time, with a wide variety of varieties.

Ordinary chicken is often processed by chefs and turned into delicious food.

Some towns also have "chicken shops" dedicated to supplying these chickens.

For example, in Hangzhou, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, there was a "Chicken and Goose Row" to meet the needs of urban residents for meat products such as chickens.

According to the income of ordinary people in the Song Dynasty and the price level at that time, ordinary people could buy and eat chicken without spending much money to satisfy their taste buds.

Moreover, the Song Dynasty also relaxed the curfew, and ordinary people could also visit the night market at night and eat delicious chicken as a midnight snack.

Due to the large number of chickens, there are many ways to cook chicken.

People in the Song Dynasty also pursued diversification of chicken cooking methods. For example, documents such as "West Lake Old Man Fansheng Lu" record that the main chicken cooking methods in the Song Dynasty include fried chicken, black bean chicken, roasted chicken, chicken head with sesame paste, etc.

For example, a prime minister in the Song Dynasty was known for his integrity, but he had to kill a hundred chickens to drink a bowl of chicken tongue soup, which proves that the chicken diet was developed at that time.