Innovative Shaolin vegetarian food
◎ Zou Xiang
Shaolin martial arts have long been famous, but people know very little about Shaolin vegetarian food. In fact, the vegetarian food of the Shaolin Temple is also innovative and delicious. To this day, in the Shaolin Temple's Wuguan Hall (i.e., Zhai Tang), the vegetarian food of the monks passing through the temple is made according to the traditional recipes handed down by the Shaolin Temple for thousands of years.
Shaolin vegetarian food has always been based on green vegetables, tofu, gluten, humus, vermicelli, edible oil as the main raw materials, and supplemented by enoki mushrooms, fungus, kelp, seaweed and other ingredients, through the burning, frying, stewing, braising, frying, slipping, frying, stir-frying, frying, mixing and other unique cooking techniques, can concoct thousands of kinds of vegetarian dishes.
Shaolin Temple Hall
According to historical records of food and drink, the monks of the Shaolin Temple used exquisite vegetarian food to entertain more than 20 emperors such as Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei, Emperor Taizong of Tang, and Emperor Gaozong of Qing who came to visit the temple. In the history of the Shaolin Temple, the three grandest vegetarian feasts have been held.
The first time was in February 629 AD, when master Tanzong of the Shaolin Temple set up 60 vegetarian dishes to receive Tang Taizong, called the "Dragon Feast". The main course of this feast is called "Old Dragon Pan Nest". The most popular dish of Tang Taizong is "Shaolin Eight Treasures Crisp". This dish is made from ganoderma lucidum, white fungus, fungus, monkey head, white fruit, Song mushroom, shiitake mushroom, poria and other mountain treasures collected from Songshan Mountain, mixed with honey, sugar and flour. It not only has the natural fragrance of the mountains, delicious and refreshing, but also has the effect of refreshing and prolonging life. After Tang Taizong ate, he said approvingly, "It's really a rare and strange taste!" ”
Shaolin Temple monks passed through the hall
The second time was after 41 years of Tang Taizong's visit to the temple, master Tanzong set up a "dragon and phoenix banquet" to welcome Wu Zetian's arrival. There are 220 dishes in total, the main course is "Dragon Flying Phoenix Dance". And Wu Zetian most appreciated the "Songshan Rootless Thousand Flowers Soup". This dish is mainly made by mixing honey with the rootless water of the Shishu Mountain Stream, the essence of a thousand flowers, mixed with chrysanthemums, honeysuckle, tangerine peel, sand kernels, etc. "Kaleidoscope Soup" is fragrant and fragrant, with appetizing, brain-clearing, anti-fatigue and blinding effects. After taking this soup, Wu Hou's spirit was multiplied. According to the Jiao Li Food Collection, Jiao Li was originally the chef of the Imperial Chef of Wu Zetian, and was named "Imperial Chef Zhongcheng" by Wu Zetian because he learned to make "Wanhua Soup Noodles" at the Shaolin Temple.
The third time was in 1292 AD, when the great monk Fuyu set up a "flying dragon feast" for Kublai Khan to tour the temple of the yuan dynasty. There are 90 vegetarian dishes in total, and the main course is "Carp Jumping Dragon Gate". Kublai Khan's most admired one was the "Eight Views of Zhongyue". This dish is prepared in the shape of "Songmen Waiting for Dan", "Luya Flying Waterfall", "Yuxi Fishing", "Shaomu Qingxue" and other eight scenery of Zhongyue. The raw materials are yam, lotus seeds, magnolia slices, green and red silk, etc. Among them, the shape of "Magnolia Fishing" is the "Jiang Ziya Fishing Platform" outside the Shiyang Pass at the foot of Song Mountain, the method is to buckle a bowl of Eight Treasure Rice in the lotus soup, sprinkle green and red silk on it, place several pieces of honey-stained yam, press the top of the round magnolia slice, and decorate it with upright fans next to it, just like the fisherman hanging hook, full of fun.
vegetarian diet
Shaolin vegetarian food is the expression of Shaolin dietary health, based on the traditional Chinese medicine idea, through the way of vegetarian health, and with Zen heart, compassion to observe eating, gradually developed into a unique diet concept. Nowadays, many people who visit the Shaolin Temple hope to taste the Shaolin vegetarian food at the Shaolin Temple and pray for health and merit!
(The author Zou Xiang is a well-known writer, poet and scholar of Shaolin culture.) He has published many works such as "Zen Heart Rhyme", "Bodhi Blossom", "And Listen to the Wind", "Su Xin Ruohe", "ShouYuan Past" and so on. Since 2008, he has been the editor-in-chief of the official website of the Shaolin Temple and the executive editor of the magazine "Zen Lu" of the Shaolin Temple. ）