Henan cuisine and the culinary culture of the Central Plains

Henan cuisine began in Xia and Shang Dynasties, and developed continuously in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties. By the time of the Northern Song Dynasty, it had formed an important cuisine with unique flavor.

The Yellow River is the cradle of the Chinese nation. Henan is located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, more than 7 kilometers along the Yellow River. It is the center of the cradle and one of the important birthplaces of Chinese food culture. More than 4, years ago, Xia Qi hosted a banquet for princes in Yuxian County, which was called "Juntai Pavilion" in history and was the earliest banquet in China. "The Book of Rites. The King's System" states: "When providing for the aged, there are Yu's people who give gifts to Yan, and Xia Houshi gives gifts to them ..." And "Yin people give gifts to food ...", which is an ancient banquet system in China. The Yu family in this article is in Yucheng County, Henan Province. Yin Zhou Wang in Anyang area "takes wine as a pool, hanging meat as a forest ...... for a long night's drink". This is the earliest and largest court frolic banquet in history. Xia Shaokang was chased by the Yi people, and fled to the Yu family, who had a banquet system, as a chef. Later, the Xia Dynasty was restored, and Shao Kang became a monarch, which can be described as a "monarch chef". Yi Yin, the founder of Shangdu, was born in Yichuan County, Henan Province. He is good at cooking and can be called "Prime Minister Chef". Yi Yin was honored as the ancestor of cooking by later generations.

The development of cooking technology in China is closely linked with all the countries in the past. Of the seven ancient capitals in China, there are three in Henan. Anyang is the oldest capital city. Over 1,3 BC, Pan Geng, the king of Shang Dynasty, established his capital here, which was called Yin. Luoyang is the ancient capital of nine dynasties and the capital of eight dynasties; Kaifeng is seven dynasties. After the capital of Luoyang was established in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the catering system was further established, with officials such as cooks, blister people, wax people's food doctors and wine officials, who were responsible for the king's meals and sacrifices. The famous "Eight Treasures of the King of Zhou" in history has a great influence on Henan cuisine. After the inheritance and development of chefs in past dynasties, the content has been continuously enriched and the skills have been improved. In the Tang Dynasty, Empress Wu Zetian made the system when she was in the imperial court, and changed her name to Zhou, with Luoyang as her capital. Folk soup dishes from nearby mountains entered the court, and after being refined by experts, it became a customized "Luoyang water mat", which is a wonderful flower in Henan cuisine.

after the founding of the northern song dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin implemented the policy of "those who take advantage of hundreds of officials are afraid of their shortcomings, and those who take advantage of all the people are not left with their surplus". Bianjing, the capital city, is the largest consumer city in China, which has the characteristics of "collecting the treasures of the world, all of which belong to the market;" The peculiar smell in the Huihuan area is noted in the kitchen. These conditions make Henan cuisine form a complete system of color, aroma, taste, shape and utensils. It includes all kinds of palace cuisine, official cuisine, local cuisine, folk cuisine and temple cuisine. Palace cuisine is the essence of Henan cuisine, with wide sources and strict selection of materials, exquisite skills, pure taste, exquisite tableware and stress on diet therapy. Such as "Jiaoyue Spicy Chicken", "Wulong Panzhu", "Dragon and Phoenix Becoming Auspicious", "Fresh Soup" and "Pearl Soup". Official dishes pay attention to kung fu, require elegance, and deliberately innovate, and put forward the three-character formula of "rotten, hot and little", saying that rotten food is easy to chew and digest, hot food does not lose its fragrance, "one hot food is three fresh", and less food will not be bored. Such as "covering four birds", "seeking phoenix", "fermented bean curd", "purple crisp meat" and "snow in the green". Temple dishes are mostly vegetarian dishes, and a large number of monks and nuns develop vegetarian vegetarian vegetarian meals all day long, not only to kill time, but also to entertain donors in exchange for giving alms. Such as "vegetarian feet", "steamed vegetarian chicken", "jade filling the lungs", "mountains and seas" and "white grilled vegetarian sea cucumber". Henan folk cuisine is the foundation and source of Henan cuisine, and its raw materials are local products cultivated, raised, collected, fished and hunted by laborers in past dynasties. Its cooking methods are also constantly improved and innovated; Its characteristics are more prominent, that is, "heavy color, strong taste, full soup, ripe, hot to eat." Such as "braised pork", "braised chicken", "rolled meatballs" and "braised dishes". Market cuisine combines the essence of all kinds of dishes to meet the needs of market competition, especially in Bianjing, the capital of Song Dynasty. Hotels and restaurants are all over the streets, and there are countless varieties of snacks. Therefore, it can be said that market cuisine is the main body of Henan cuisine. In addition, there is a tribe of Henan cuisine called Mingshi cuisine, which was created by intellectuals. Among the four ancient Chinese academies, there are two in Henan: "Songyang Academy" and "Chengyang Academy", which are places for scholars' and humanities clubs, pen clubs, poetry clubs and lectures; The famous "Seven Scholars of Jian 'an", "Seven Sages of Bamboo Forest", "Twenty-four Friends of Jin and Gu" and "Eight Masters of Tang and Song Dynasties" all gathered in the Central Plains. There are also some mountain hermits living between the mountains and rivers in Henan during the war years. These literati often create some exquisite food to show the romance of celebrities. Such as "Dongpo Tofu", "Huoxiang Fish", "Fried Phoenix Tail", "Fried Laojunmei", as well as people's delicious flowers, traditional Chinese medicine, wild vegetables and so on.

The reason why Henan cuisine has a long history is also related to geographical phenology. There are mountains and waters in Henan, Taihang Mountain in the northwest, Funiu Mountain in the west, Tongbai Mountain in the south and Dabie Mountain in the southeast. Nanyang area belongs to Jianghan Basin, south-central and eastern parts belong to Huaihe River Basin, north-central part belongs to Yellow River Basin, and north part belongs to Haihe River Basin. Plains, basins and valleys account for 56% of the province, and the rest are mountains and hills. The whole province belongs to the transitional area between subtropical zone and warm temperate zone, with humid and semi-humid monsoon climate. Therefore, cereals, vegetables, dried and fresh fruits, livestock and poultry, fish and so on in northern China are produced in Henan. In mountainous areas, there are abundant fungus plants such as auricularia auricula, tremella, Hericium erinaceus, velvet antler, sheep maw, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, leeks, chestnuts, hawthorn, kiwifruit and Xinyang Maojian tea, which is famous both inside and outside the province. In the plain, Chen Zhou day lily, Shangqiu Huqin, Zhoukou asparagus, Huaifu yam, Linxian pepper, Jiaozuo Toona sinensis, Yongcheng pepper, Zhongmou white garlic and Qinghua old ginger are also famous at home and abroad. The main meat of Central Plains residents is pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks and fish. The fish are the famous Carassius auratus and Huaiyang Carassius auratus, Yellow River Carp and Luo Carp, Weiyuan Monopterus albus, Luohe Monopterus albus and Huainan Yuanyu. Huainan eggs, especially the "three yellow chickens" in Gushi and Zhengyang, are very popular in cooking. Historically, shipping in Henan extended in all directions, and seafood entered Luoyang in the Sui Dynasty. By the Northern Song Dynasty, seafood had become an indispensable raw material for Henan cuisine. Coupled with high-quality brewed products and bean products with a long history, Henan cuisine has a complete set of main ingredients, auxiliary ingredients, small ingredients and seasonings.

Yuan Zicai, a famous litterateur and gourmet in Qing Dynasty, wrote in "Menu with the Garden": "As the old saying goes, food is not as good as beautiful utensils, and Si language is also true". Explain the important position of tableware and tableware in food culture. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Yan, Ru, Jun, Ge and Ding were five famous kilns, and there were three in Henan. The official kilns are located in Kaifeng and Zhengzhou. Their glazes are azure, blue and white under the moon. The porcelain is extremely fine, and they have the reputation of "blue as the sky, bright as a mirror, thin as paper and loud as a silk ribbon". Ruyao is located in Linru County, a kind of fetal bone is fragrant gray, and the glaze color is close to egg green; The other fetal bone is light gray and the glaze color is nearly green. Patterns include flowers, water waves, fish and birds. Jun Kiln is located in Yuxian County, and the tableware and cutlery produced by Jun Kiln are dignified, simple, elegant, with rich enamel and vivid crystal. It is "green like spring water for a birthday and red like sunrise", and it has the artistic effect of kiln transformation. Porcelain from the above-mentioned three kilns is an indispensable dish in food and cultural activities, which is collected by the Palace Museum in Beijing and listed as a treasure.

China's diet is divided into southern flavor and northern flavor, and the southern flavor is represented by Nanjing, Hangzhou and Jiangling. Beiwei is represented by Xi 'an, Beijing and Shenyang. Although Luoyang and Kaifeng belong to northern flavor, they are different from northern flavor because of their different geographical location and phenological conditions. If Xi 'an cuisine is "salty in taste", Kaifeng cuisine is light, plain and low in salt. The central plains diet is related to the people's nature of "simple and honest, square and benevolent". Cooking must be even and smooth, except for special flavor, enhance flavor, hide salt flavor, set flavor, reconcile five flavors with a hundred flavors. Therefore, Henan cuisine has strong adaptability, is palatable to men, women and children, and is popular in all directions in Xian Yi. In order to take care of the unique taste, Henan cuisine has the tradition of "helping yourself with other small ingredients". In small and exquisite cups, bottles and pots, Chili oil, pepper and salt, Jiang Mo, garlic paste, onion, mustard, sesame sauce, fermented bean curd, soy sauce and balsamic vinegar are filled for customers to choose.

"All the delicacies are in a bowl of soup", "Opera cavity, chef's soup" all indicate the position of soup in cooking. Henan cuisine can be divided into soup, white soup, hairy soup, clear soup and clear soup, while the thick one is milky white, mellow and delicious. In the selection of materials, ingredients, knife work, pyrotechnics, vegetables, table setting, table watching and other aspects are very elegant, meticulous and serious. To sum up, the characteristics of Henan cuisine are: fresh and light, with four distinct seasons. Elegant color and moderate taste. The taste of the Central Plains diet is generally "sour in spring, light and bitter in summer, moderately spicy in autumn and slightly salty in winter". On the color of the dishes, it is said that "the spring is green and gorgeous, the summer is bright and elegant, the seven colors of Sanqiu are harmonious, and the winter is red, orange, purple and yellow".

Many famous people at home and abroad yearn for Henan cuisine. For example, Mr. Lu Xun lived in Beijing for nearly fifteen years and in Shanghai for ten years. According to Lu Xun's Diary, there are more than 5 restaurants he has been to in Beijing, among which the frequency of going to Henan restaurant accounts for a large proportion. When I lived in Shanghai, I often went to Liangyuan Zhimeilou Yu Restaurant to entertain my relatives and friends. On December 9, 1934, Lu Xun wrote in his diary that "... invited guests to dinner at Liangyuan ... and the guests were Jun Xiao, Earye, A Zi, Zhongfang and Guangping Haiying." On May 8, 1935, "Hu Feng and his wife were invited to have dinner at Liangyuan .....". In addition, words such as "ordering dishes in Liangyuan Henan restaurant" are also scattered in Lu Xun's Diary. Lu Xun likes to eat "Sour and Hot Belly Shredded Soup", "Fried Walnut Waist", "Fried Carp Baked Noodles in Sweet and Sour" and "Baked Eggs in Sanxian Iron Pot" in Henan cuisine.

Another gentleman, Liang Shiqiu, has been away from the mainland for more than 4 years. He used to be the curator of Taiwan Province Compilation Museum and Literature Museum, and he has translated a lot of works in his life. In 1985, Mr. Liang, who was 8 years old, wrote the book "Elegant House Talking about Eating", in which there was a lot of space to talk about Henan cuisine. He especially appreciated the Yellow River carp dishes in Henan cuisine, and he said that "it can be unique in the restaurant industry"; Say "sweet and sour carp" is "vaguely transparent and delicious"; "two fish" and "unique"; It is said that "tile fish" is "a must in carp dishes, and it will make people salivate to see the color", and "iron pot eggs" are still fresh in my memory.

Since the reform and opening up, the influence of Central Plains food culture among compatriots in Hong Kong and Taiwan and overseas Chinese has been further expanded. A few years ago, several intellectual friends returned from the United States and Taiwan Province together, and after eating a meal at the Songdu Hotel in Kaifeng, they were full of praise, saying that "this is not a meal, but a high degree of enjoyment by the China Food and Culture Department". Some say, "Beauty lies in what you can eat, but you can't tell"! They are particularly envious of "braised tripe", "crispy duck", "soft fried carp noodles with sweet and sour sauce" and soup. When I came back, I brought back several books of Henan recipes.

Henan cuisine has been researched, excavated, inherited and innovated by famous chefs, diners, scribes and the masses in past dynasties. There are more than 6 cooking techniques and thousands of famous dishes, which is one of the important cuisines in China. "Brahma Lu Si Lu" contains: "Shanxi, Shandong, Sichuan, Yunnan, Henan, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other provinces, food has its own flavor, food has its own specialty, people are different, and everywhere is different ...", and points out my eight major cuisines. In the early 195s, when eight famous wines, eight famous dishes and eight major cuisines were discussed in the food culture session, Henan cuisine was one of the eight major cuisines.