As a famous Jiangnan dish, "Squirrel Mandarin Fish" has long enjoyed a high reputation at home and abroad. And the dish is just like its name, the fried mandarin fish looks like a "squirrel", which is colorful, fragrant, tasteful and tangible. So do you know where the name "Squirrel Mandarin Fish" comes from? Do you know the allusion of squirrel and mandarin fish? In this issue of Chinese Food Culture, I will tell you the story of squirrel mandarin fish.

When Qianlong was visiting Jiangnan, one day he came to Suzhou for a private visit incognito. It is March in spring, with pink flowers and green willows, birds singing and flowers fragrant, and people are going out in the countryside one after another. There are many tourists in and outside the city. After Qianlong watched several spring scenes with the people, he was tired and hungry. When he saw the Songhelou Restaurant on Guanqian Street, he walked in. It happened that the boss of Songhe Tower celebrated his mother's birthday on that day and was busy inside and outside. Qianlong sat down for a long time before he saw a waiter coming over. When the waiter saw that he was wearing cloth clothes and shoes with a lot of mud on them, he thought he was a farmer from the countryside, so he lazily asked: "Sir, what can you eat?" Qianlong said carelessly: "Just go ahead. Pick out the delicious food and bring it.”

The waiter thought to himself, look at how you are dressed, and you still want to eat well, can you afford it? With this thought in mind, he picked up the cheapest rags and gave them to him. When Qianlong saw that the clear soup of Huancai was watery, salty and tasteless, he asked: "Don't you have any better dishes in your store?" The waiter became impatient and said: "No." At this time, Qianlong suddenly saw a waiter holding a A large plate of fragrant and brightly colored squirrel mandarin fish comes out of the kitchen. Qianlong pointed at the mandarin fish and asked the waiter to bring it over. The waiter said arrogantly: "Squirrel and mandarin fish, can you afford it?" After hearing this, Qianlong became angry and threw the bowl of vegetable soup at the waiter's face.

With the sound of "crash", another elder dressed in normal clothes came in from the door. He helped Qianlong sit down and whispered a few words. The noise alerted the shopkeeper. He hurriedly came to the table to apologize. At this time, the elder took out two ingots of silver from his arms and asked the shopkeeper to quickly deliver good wine and food. The shop owner saw that although these two people were dressed in ordinary clothes, they had extraordinary bearing and generous dealings, so he expected that they should not be underestimated.

So, he quickly brought the squirrel mandarin fish, crispy rice dishes, barbeque soup and other dishes carefully cooked for his mother's birthday, placed a full table, and kept serving Qianlong. When Qianlong saw the squirrel mandarin fish with its head raised, wings and tail, bright red in color, tender and fragrant in the mouth, and slightly sweet and sour, he felt that it was not as delicious as the one in the palace in the past, so he praised it repeatedly.

At this moment, I don’t know where the Suzhou magistrate heard the news, and he led a team of people to wait quietly at the door of Songhe Tower, preparing to welcome him back to the mansion. Only then did the people in the store realize that it was Emperor Qianlong, and they were really surprised and frightened. Fortunately, Qianlong was very satisfied with the meal and calmed down his anger early. Before leaving, he asked the shop owner how to cook the squirrel mandarin fish and rewarded the shop owner with some money.

The shop owner was extremely happy, and from then on he launched the brand of "Qianlong's first creation, Jiangsu cuisine is unique". Later, when Qianlong went to the south of the Yangtze River for the second and third time, he always visited Songhe Tower and ordered to eat squirrel and mandarin fish. The squirrel mandarin fish at Songhelou has been passed down as a traditional dish to this day.