There are many treasures of Chinese food culture. Among them, the Manchu and Han dynasty seats that rose up in the Qing Dynasty are even more colorful. Today, Shang Yao takes everyone to understand this court feast during the Qing Dynasty - the manchu and Han all-seated.
The Manchu and Han Banquet is a famous Chinese banquet in history formed by combining the fine dishes of the Manchu and Han ethnic groups. The Manchu and Han chinese banquet has both the characteristics of court dishes and the essence of local flavors, and also highlights the special flavor of Manchu and Han cuisine, barbecue, hot pot, shabu-shabu almost indispensable dishes, while showing the characteristics of Han cooking, grilling, frying, stir-frying, boiling, roasting and so on, is the treasure of Chinese cuisine culture.
The Manchu and Han full seats were originally a kind of full seat where Manchus and Han Chinese sat together at banquets held at the Court of the Qing Dynasty. The full table of Manchu is generally at least 108 kinds of dishes, which are eaten in three days. The dishes of the Manchu Han whole table are salty and sweet, there are meat and vegetarian, a wide range of materials, fine ingredients, and mountain treasures and sea flavors.
Nowadays, the four words of the Manchu han full table are often used to refer to the extremely rich and dazzling food on the banquet. With the change of people's tastes, its dishes are also constantly updated and increased, and have become an important microcosm of Chinese cuisine.
The abundance of the manchu table
The specific origin of the Manchu han seat has always been controversial and inconsistent. One of the theories that has detailed text to examine is that the Manchu Han Quan xi was first recorded in Li Dou's "Records of Yangzhou Paintings" written by Li Dou during the Qianlong Jiashen period.
Before the clearance, the court banquet was very simple. In general banquets, animal skins are laid out in the open air, and everyone gathers together and eats on the ground. The Manchu Old Archives record: "When the Baylors set up a banquet, there were no tables, and they all sat on the floor. "Dishes are generally hot pot with stewed meat, pork, beef and mutton with animal meat. The banquet attended by the emperor was only set up with a dozen tables, dozens of tables, but also cattle, sheep, pigs, and animal meat, and meat was cut with a knife for food. After clearing the customs, the situation has changed a lot. Among the six ministries and nine secretaries, there is a special Guanglu Temple Secretary, who specializes in the affairs of the Great Inner Feast and the Banquet of the National Ceremony. When the Manchu Qing Dynasty first entered the customs, the diet was not very exquisite, but soon on the basis of the original Manchu traditional eating method, it absorbed the characteristics of the Central Plains Suzhe cuisine and Lu cuisine, and established a relatively rich court diet.
The book records: "The temples before and after the trading street are all large kitchens for the six divisions and hundreds of officials to eat." According to the "Yangzhou Painting Record", this Manchu han full table did not originate from the court as most people in modern times think, it was originally made by the local large kitchen in Yangzhou to welcome the six divisions and hundred officials who came to Yangzhou, and it was an official dish in the Jiangnan region, and then gradually developed into a qing court feast.
We now widely circulate the "name of the dish" in the "name of the dish", "steamed lamb, steamed bear paw, steamed deer tail, roasted duck, roasted chicken, roast goose...", counting the full set of dishes in the Full Han Dynasty. It can be seen that in the whole table of Manhan, the net is some rare ingredients that are difficult for ordinary people to taste, and the cooking techniques are both grilled, fried, fried, boiled, boiled, boiled, boiled and other skills, showing the essence of Chinese cuisine. There are at least 108 dishes served in the whole table, which are eaten in three days. The scene is not small, the specifications are not high, and its exquisite and complex degree can also be seen.
Full han full table dining etiquette
The Manchu Han whole table is not only large in regulation and content, but also in terms of dining etiquette. At the regular Qing court banquet, when the guests arrived, the musicians first played a small piece of music to show their welcome, and then invited the guests to change their clothes and change into civilian clothes. At the same time, the waiters are required to place two pairs of incense on the table of each diner, accompanied by tea and a hand dish.
Nuts and meat snacks on the table are also indispensable, and there need to be "four fours": four kinds of fresh fruits and dried fruits, then four kinds of preserves, and finally four kinds of fruits for ornamental purposes. After the placement is completed, each standby is required to sit down and serve the guests to eat and drink.
When entering the table, all guests are required to enter the table in order of position. After the Han Manchus have served, they begin to serve. Every time a wave of dishes is served, it is called a good "countertop". From the time of entering the table to the end of the meal, a total of three "countertops" have to be changed, so the bowls and cups need to be prepared three sets. In each "tabletop", the order of serving different types of dishes is also ruled, requiring cold cuts first, followed by hot stir-fries, large dishes, beets, and finally dim sum tea. During the banquet, there will also be special musicians playing ancient music to accompany the banquet, and the wine and music will be enjoyed together.
Today, as a cultural heritage of classical Chinese cuisine, the Manchu and Han Chinese seats have not been shelved.
Nowadays, many catering hotels like Shang Yao are committed to inheriting food culture, taking the Manchu Full Table as a model, studying it on the basis of the original Manchu Han Full Table dishes, simplifying and innovating according to people's taste habits today, and launching special dishes, which are still loved by people!