1 Dongpo Pork, a famous dish in Hangzhou, is stewed with pork.
According to legend, it was created by Su Dongpo, a poet of the Northern Song Dynasty (from Meishan, Sichuan). The earliest birthplace of Dongpo Pork is Huanggang, Hubei Province. In 1080, Su Dongpo was exiled to Huanggang. Because the local pigs were plentiful and cheap, he came up with this method of eating meat.
Zhou Zizhi, a native of the Song Dynasty, recorded in "Zhupo Poems": "Dongpo liked pigs by nature. When he was in Huanggang, he tried to compose "Pork-Eating Poems" and said: 'Slow down the fire and use less water. When the heat is sufficient, he feels good. He gets up and drinks a bowl every day, so that his family will not care. '" Later, Su Dongpo returned from Huangzhou in 1085, and returned to the capital Kaifeng from Changzhou and Dengzhou to serve in the imperial court. Not long after, he was excluded and asked to be transferred to Hangzhou as the prefect in 1089. Only then did he develop the experience of Huangzhou roast pork into the dish of Dongpo pork. As a delicacy of the Han nationality, it later became popular in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. "Dongpo Meat" was first created in Xuzhou. "Xuzhou Ancient and Modern Famous Foods" records that when Su Shi was appointed magistrate of Xuzhou, the Yellow River burst. Su Shi took the lead and built embankments with the people of the city to protect the city. The people of Xuzhou slaughtered pigs and slaughtered sheep to show their condolences to the government. Su Shi couldn't refuse, so he instructed his family to cook braised pork and give it back to the people. After eating it, the people felt it was fat but not greasy, crispy and fragrant, so he called it "return meat." . When Su Shi was demoted to Huangzhou, he wrote a song about cooking meat: "The good pork in Huangzhou is as cheap as dung. The rich refuse to eat it, and the poor don't know how to cook it. Slow the fire and use less water. When the heat is sufficient, it will be beautiful. People They began to imitate it and nicknamed it "Dongpo Pork". When Su Shi was the second governor of Hangzhou, everyone carried wine and meat to him to celebrate the New Year. Su Shi ordered the pork and wine to be cooked and eaten by the migrant workers. It is said that when rice wine and pork are cooked together, everyone feels that it is more crispy and delicious. The reputation of "Dongpo Pork" gradually spread throughout the country. Su Shi was a famous writer in the Northern Song Dynasty. He was not only famous for his poetry and calligraphy. He is very accomplished and can be called a gourmet in ancient my country. He is also very good at cooking dishes and is especially good at making braised pork.
2 The emperor of the Qing Dynasty was the same as the Nanjing people - he liked to eat duck and always included it in every imperial meal. Duck is indispensable. On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month in the 53rd year of Qianlong's reign (AD 1788), Qianlong's breakfast included duck stewed in wine, duck in soup, and steamed duck.
Qianlong liked to eat duck. We also had a famous dish called "dried duck". According to the chef of a large restaurant, when Qianlong went to the south of the Yangtze River, he heard that the duck in the water village was delicious, so he wanted to try it. It was almost noon, and he was worried that Qianlong would blame him and the cook was in a hurry. Even the duck feathers were not plucked, so what should I do? The chef was also fooling, and he threw some black dried vegetables into the pot with the duck to cover up the duck feathers. It felt fresh and praised the deliciousness. Because the emperor loved it, this famous dish was not credible. It was probably made up by the restaurant, but it showed that Qianlong liked to eat duck. /p>
For another example, the Empress Dowager Cixi’s daily royal diet includes steamed duck, stewed duck, roast duck, duck tongue, duck paws, duck gizzards, duck liver, and duck intestines. She loves to eat them all.
The last emperor Puyi copied a "Rough Roll List for February of the Fourth Year of Xuantong" from the book "My First Half of Life". Puyi was only 7 years old at the time, and had nearly 30 dishes for breakfast, including three fresh ducks, Duck strips braised with sea cucumber, duck diced braised with ge xian rice.
Because Cixi liked to eat duck, one of them was Xiaode Zhang, a famous eunuch in the late Qing Dynasty. The reason why Cixi is famous is that he is good at cooking a dish that Cixi likes to eat - braised duck sticks.
One of Cixi's hobbies is eating flowers and bathing in flowers. Medical records from the Qing Dynasty show that. The Empress Dowager Cixi, who loves beauty as much as her life, is the best "consumer" of flowers. De Ling, a Chinese-American who once served as a personal maid next to Cixi, once wrote a book "The Second Year of the Qing Palace", which wrote: " Like ordinary people, she (Cixi) loved all kinds of living things, such as flowers, plants, trees, dogs, horses, etc. She liked them all. ”
General Nian Gengyao in 3 years
The material in "Qingbai Leichao" talks about the famous General Nian Gengyao. After he was dealt with by Emperor Yongzheng, his family power declined. When it was ruined, those concubines fell down and scattered, marrying into the homes of ordinary people.
One of the concubines married a poor scholar from Hangzhou. Soon after the marriage, she revealed to her current husband that she was one of the chefs of General Nian.
What’s interesting is that she only cooked one dish for General Nian Gengyao, which was stir-fried pork. She didn’t care about anything else at all, and she relied on this dish to get a high salary in the Nian Mansion. The specific situation is: Nian Gengyao's daily menu must be handed over to the chef one day in advance. If it’s “small stir-fried pork”, the people in the General’s Mansion must be busy for a long time. However, General Nian only eats small stir-fried pork once or twice a month. ." This "small stir-fried pork professional chef" only works once or twice a month.
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Li Yu, a gourmet in the Qing Dynasty, had a light, natural and compassionate view on food in his "Xian Qing Ou Ji". Many modern people advocate light food and People who are animal rights activists should take it very seriously. Because Li Yu always feels that "meat eaters are despicable" and "vegetables are not as good as meat, and meat is not as good as vegetables", so the more food is separated from complicated cooking procedures, the better, and the more authentic the taste, the better. Therefore, the current American-style healthy salad restaurants You can translate Li Yu's quotations in English and post them on the wall to encourage everyone not to numb themselves with big fish and meat after work, but to come to such a restaurant to eat a pot of fresh vegetables like grass for lunch.
Among all kinds of food, Li Yu admires bamboo shoots the most, followed by mushrooms that resemble matsutake mushrooms. He is also particularly interested in spicy mustard, and his favorite meat dish is crab. From this point of view, if Li Yu lived to this day, he would be very keen to join a luxury food tour group to Japan. Living in modern times, Li Yu should have a more exciting and good life, and his happiness should not be inferior to Yuan Mei.