Man-Hanquanxi
The Manchu and Han banquets were a court feast combined with the Manchus and Han chinese in ancient times, but in the past, only the royal family and nobles were eligible to enjoy it, and the mountain treasures and seafood were all-encompassing, and it was said that it would take three days to eat this feast. You may not know that Fujian's Fujian cuisine also has a "full table of Manchu", with 108 dishes gathering in one seat, but there is no lychee meat and Buddha jumping off the wall.
1| the development of Fujian cuisine
There are two theories about the history of Fujian cuisine, the first one: in the early 1950s, it was said that the country was divided into four major cuisines, and Fujian cuisine belonged to the Cantonese cuisine system; the second theory: in the 1980s, it was said that the country was divided into eight major cuisines, and Fujian cuisine was one. These two claims are widely circulated, but they are not accurate.
In the 1920s, there was one of Beijing's premier restaurants, "Zhongxintang", a famous Min restaurant on West Chang'an Avenue in Beijing.
What is the concept of a grand hotel in Beijing? But it is not the current five-star hotel, at that time can be called the restaurant of the grand hotel, to the venue is bright, the building style, there are several sets of courtyards, the courtyard also has a large theater, specially to undertake a large number of banquets, while inviting the drama team to sing the opera restaurant, they are in the name of the "hall" word, to describe their own boldness, so big that they want to book a hundred tables of wine in the restaurant, the restaurant does not hesitate, dare to undertake. "Zhongxintang" was one of the few large restaurants in Beijing at that time.
In that year's Beiyang warlord melee, once, Zhang Zongchang defeated Feng Yuxiang's team in the Area of Xifeng in Nankou. As soon as he was happy, he announced that he would reward the three armies, so he sent someone to the city of Beijing to find a serious restaurant and order 1500 tables for the banquet.
Zhang Zongchang, one of the warlords of the Feng clan
No restaurant in the whole city of Beijing dared to undertake it, only the "Zhongxintang" gave this business to the next, and the 1500 tables of banquets were properly handled. Frying, frying, cooking, frying, boiling, boiling, stewing, steaming are complete. For example, the Fujian dish "fried shrimp", do not use a pan, use a frying pan, seven shovels and half a pot; mountains and treasures and sea mistakes, listed in front, so that the soldiers can eat enough wine and food, and cheer. The reputation of "Zhongxintang" has become even louder in Beijing.
Because of the reputation of Zhongxintang and the characteristics of Fujian cuisine, Zheng Dashui, the chef of Fujian cuisine in Zhongxintang, was hired as the imperial chef by the last emperor Puyi. Zheng Dashui's superb cooking skills became the most famous chef among the more than a dozen chefs in the imperial dining room. He used the technique of Fujian cuisine to create the dish of "Bailu Chicken", which was cooked on the imperial dining table, and spread to the famous Halal Hotel Xiweishun in Beijing, and later spread to other hotels and villages, famous in Beijing. Fujian cuisine is called "white snow chicken".
Snow White Chicken
In Fuzhou, there are also local Fujian restaurants that are comparable to "ZhongxinTang", that is, Guangyu Lou. At that time, many people in Fuzhou said that they had not eaten the dishes of "Guangyu Lou", but they were not counted as having come to Fuzhou. "Guangyu Lou" in Cangxiazhou, that is, fuzhou Taijiang area, is a restaurant-style theater garden, built with a stage. (Due to the age, I can't find the picture anymore)
2| "Full Han Seat" in Guangyu Building
Guangyu Lou Fujian cuisine "Full Table of Man Han" has 108 dishes, which can be said to be quite precious! From this menu, it is a relatively complete, high-grade 108 Fujian cuisine full of Han seats, the name of the word dish used in the menu, and the cooking method of the raw materials and auxiliary materials of the dish are all Qing Dynasty specifications.
What are Qing Dynasty specifications?
First: The Qing Dynasty talked about the eight treasures of the sea, the eight treasures of water, the eight treasures of birds, and the eight treasures of grass, all of which are included in this list.
Second: because the emperor of the Qing Dynasty liked to eat curd milk, although it was common, it was a must in the dish.
Third: In addition to the four barbecues in the dishes, other dishes are basically Fujian cuisine cooking techniques.
Fourth: the name of the dish is very particular about the use of words, such as talking about the battle, the meaning.
Min cuisine · 108 pieces
1． Four fruits: Tianbao banana, Laiyang jade pear, Chengde cherry, Yongchun snow mandarin
2． Four fruits: peach, apple, red lychee, yellow grapefruit
3． Four fruits: horseshoe, lotus root, diamond horn, and mustard fruit
4． Four sour fruits: sour green fruit, sour buckwheat head, sour ginger, sour carved plum
5. Four honey fruits: honey kumquat, honey red date, honey hawthorn, honey begonia
6． Four candies: sugar lianzi, sugar melon, sugar chrysanthemum cake, sugar coconut horn
7. Four dried fruits: grape beads, walnut crisp, cinnamon balls, apricot preserved treasure
8． Hundred Sons Worship Birthday Star: Hundred Sons Shou Peach full seat
9. Portions are Blessed: Golden Melon Seeds, Ginkgo Almonds (meaning peeling melon seed shells in place)
10. Four double spells: pineapple spelling brine fragrant goose breast, fresh mushrooms spelling spiced waist flowers, cucumber spelling crispy shrimp, dew shoots spelling drunken fragrant chicken shreds
11. Four cold meats: sprouted ginger skin eggs, fairy oyster nests, crispy fried silver fish, and rotten eels
12. Tetragonal: Vegetarian Spring Roll, Jai Bamboo Shoot Tip, Vegetarian White Mushroom, Jai Gluten
13. Four hot meats: melon sturgeon dragon, shiitake crab yellow, jade hairpin concubine (chicken), crystal shrimp ball
14. Four major pieces: a pint of official swallow, phoenix skirt wings, anointed bear paw, and money deer tail
15. Four pieces: bamboo sun holding yao pillar, silver ear simmered Zhu (pig) lips, mushroom soup and western tongue, red shell braised belly
16. Four large plates: lotus-scented scallops, scallion and white roasted ginseng, honey net abalone slices, steamed anchovies
17. Four small pieces: minced garlic with fish lips, partridge drizzled with sesame oil, white boiled belly silk, leek fried deer tendon
18． Four roasts: roast suckling pig whole, ruyi chicken pair, halba 1 za, hanging stove duck pair
19. Four-heeled cake: mille-feuille cake (with suckling pig), slice roast (with ruyi chicken), bergamot crisp (with sliced skin duck) ruyi roll (with hulba)
20. Four-heel soup: moth soup (with suckling pig), ham soup (with ruyi chicken), milk soup with milk (with sliced duck), mushroom soup (with halba)
21. Four-colored seat: spiced pigeon, purple crispy prawn, lamp roasted leg of lamb, Koying stone scale (meaning Wuzi Dengke)
22. Four auspicious positions: purslane snail slices, turtle skirt in the soup, honeycomb mushroom meat pot, monkey mushroom lobster ball (meaning immediately sealed)
23. Four staple foods: pearl white rice, lotus leaf black rice porridge, eight zhen yellow braised noodles, asparagus red bean flour
24. Four side dishes: butter perch strips, braised lion's head, drunken yellow croaker, crab paste braised gourd (for rice)
25. Four small plates: red square curd milk, green shell salted egg, cucumber sauce, purple bean curd (for porridge)
26. Four salty points: mother and child shrimp crisp, radish golden silk roll, winter shoot mushroom roasted wheat, gold and silver nest
27. Four desserts: Hemp Walnut Cake, Jade Mung Bean Cake, Two-color Horseshoe Cake, Osmanthus Lotus Seed Cake
28. Two sweet soups: red date clam soup, rock sugar almond soup
29. Two Fragrant Teas: Beautiful people offer jasmine, distinguished guests pin red robes
30. Tonghe Tongxi: Yipin Cobalt Gongfeng (Yipin Cobalt is a utensil used in fuzhou old restaurants to deliver dishes to the door, generally containing six or eight kinds of dishes. This is a gift of six or eight dishes prepared by the owner after eating and drinking enough, and the original fruit, preserves, etc. are distributed)
These 108 dishes combine frying, stir-frying, cooking, frying, boiling, boiling, stewing, stewing and steaming, which can be called the highest realm of Fujian cuisine. Although Guangyu Lou is long gone, this long-lost and precious menu will surely prove the glory of Fujian cuisine!