Author: Zhang Ningfang
(Cixi)
(1) The main dish of the Forbidden City Corner Tower Restaurant: marigold flower pot
What to eat in the winter when the air turns into ice, what is warm and stomach-warming? Hot pot, of course. Enjoying the snow fluttering outside the window, facing the steaming pot, picking up a slice of meat dipped in sesame sauce, and then taking a sip of it, this is the day of the gods. No, this is the life of the former emperor. A few years ago, the Forbidden City hot pot shop opened in the corner tower, antique decorations, holy scroll style menu, and then click on a fragrant marigold flower pot, sigh, you can enjoy the treatment of Lafayette. Of course, it is not easy to enjoy this blessing, the price is decent, not to mention, it is said that the reservation also has to queue up, so if you want to eat well, you still have to hurry up.
However, I didn't eat it in the store, study the recipe, let's also have a chrysanthemum pot of the same style as Lafayette. The Wanshou pot of the Forbidden City Corner Tower Restaurant specially selected gongju produced in Shexian County, Anhui Province, the bottom of the pot is boiled and the petals are sprinkled, the ingredients are accompanied by Songhua River black fish fillets and Changbai Mountain fresh chicken slices, dipping sauce has traditional sesame sauce small ingredients, salty and sweet seafood soy sauce small ingredients, more than addictive inner spicy ingredients, fresh garlic sesame oil small ingredients, vegetarian ingredients, etc., composed of five colors of green, red, yellow, white and black, it is really elegant and stylish to eat. The meat is tired of eating, and then a cup of Ume osmanthus flower drink, a healthy and delicious royal hot pot will definitely make you salivate.
Eat at home to make some adjustments to your own taste, prepare the broth, wash the fresh chrysanthemum petals and put them in a bamboo basket to filter, according to personal taste to prepare cut sashimi or raw chicken slices. When the fish fillet or meat slice is put into the pot, grab some chrysanthemum petals and sprinkle them into the soup, the meat slices can be fished up as soon as they are cooked, with the mahjong loved by Beijing people, not only the meat is delicious, but also with the fragrance of chrysanthemums, which makes people feel appetizing, this chrysanthemum pot is not greasy to eat, and there is a heat, flat liver, bright effect, but a delicious dish that cannot be missed in winter.
<h1>(2) Qianlong Ye also loves to eat hot pot</h1>
Looking at Cixi Lafayette's health system chrysanthemum hot pot, she must feel very creative, she can be regarded as a health master, for eating that is also particularly exquisite, in the Forbidden City exhibited in the menu can find Cixi has eaten several other kinds of pots: Eight treasures of milk pig hot pot, gold and silver duck hot pot, not only that, she also made full use of the ingredients, the northeast tribute of roe meat, pheasant, silver fish these three things, spelled into "Fu, Lu, Shou" three flavors, as a special hot pot eaten during the New Year, both to please the mouth, but also full of blessings. However, she is not the only hot pot lover in the Qing Palace, and the variety of hot pots on Qianlong's menu is impressive.
The popularity of hot pot is said to be closely related to the way of life of the Mongols in the Yuan Dynasty, hot pot can meet the large needs of nomadic people for meat, and with the pot of eating, steaming meat slices with wine, eating happily and happily.
In the Qing Dynasty court imperial meal also left a lot of hot pot figures. The Palace Museum has a Qianlong royal silver hot pot, which is composed of six parts: lid, pot, stove holder, furnace ring, stove plate, and alcohol bowl, and the chrysanthemum pattern on it is fresh and elegant, and there are clear charcoal burn marks at the bottom of the pot, which can be seen that its owner will often use it.
According to the Qing Palace Imperial Meal Menu "Meal Bottom File", Qianlong would eat more than two hundred meals of various pots a year. For breakfast, there are bird's nest red and white duck south fresh hot pot, stir-fried chicken big stir-fried meat stew sauerkraut hot pot, dinner has bird's nest duck hot pot, pheasant hot pot, lotus seed eight treasure duck hot pot and so on. Not only do you have pots in the morning and evening, but his recipes also pay attention to eating on time, in early spring there are hot pots for stewed sauerkraut, deer tendon folding (dismantling) duck hot pots, in early summer there are wild pots, yam duck soup hot pots, and in the winter solstice, there are chicken, mutton and mushroom hot pots. Qianlong is a famous longevity emperor, did he learn a little longevity secret from his rich menu of ingredients?
According to records, Qianlong feasted on the clan room, often using hot pot, and more than 500 tables were placed at every turn, and the ingredients were not only the common mutton, but also wild game outside the Guanwai such as pheasant, roe deer meat, and deer tail.
In the pen of the gourmand Yuan Ming, it is recorded that the Qianlong Emperor's "Feast of a Thousand Sorrows" was recorded, when Qianlong succeeded to the throne for sixty years, and in order to show respect for the Holy Ancestor, he did not dare to exceed the sixty-one years of his imperial ancestor, and decided to be inferior to his son.
The banquet was held more than 5,000 elderly people, and the grand pomp and circumstance were included in the pots and pans such as the "Jiazi Wannian" silver dollar treasure hot pot and the silver gilded shouzi hot pot, and there were twelve kinds of side dishes: venison slices, flying dragon breast, roe deer ridge, pheasant slices, wild boar meat, wild duck breast, squid roll, fresh fish meat, dragon teeth, large leaf parsley, eleuthero, and fresh bean fry. It was no wonder that Yuan Ming, who had not caught up with this sumptuous feast, was a little envious.
<h1>(3) Celebrity fans of chrysanthemum pots</h1>
The love of hot pot in the palace has naturally led to the spread of hot pot, and many princes and nobles also love this bite. According to the memories of posterity, the chrysanthemum pot of the famous gourmand Belle Grandpa Zaitao's family has a unique flavor. His approach is quite exquisite, after boiling the chicken soup in the copper hot pot, the fish fillet, chicken slice, venison, sea cucumber, squid shredded, vermicelli, etc. are put into the chicken soup hot pot in turn, and then the white chrysanthemum petals are added, and the flower flavor is immersed in the ingredients, and the whole house is fragrant. Prince Zaifeng was particularly fond of his family's chrysanthemum pot.
Not only that, chrysanthemum pots are also popular among the major restaurants in Beijing.
According to Tang Lusun, who was born into the Manchurian nobility, the chrysanthemum pot in Beiping was most famous for the Tonghetang of the Eight Great Restaurants at that time. His chrysanthemum pot must be made of good ribs hanging broth, so it is fresh and not greasy, and it is as clear as water. The pot must be filled with mandarin fish, small live shrimp, pork belly, loin slices, and cooked as soon as it is hot. The chrysanthemums are finely selected and washed, and the vermicelli and steamed buns are fried in a head pan.
This pot is the favorite of many people in Beijing, and the writer Zhang Hexhui, who is famous for novels such as "Laughing Causes" and "Golden Powder Family", has lived in Beiping for a long time, he loves chrysanthemums, and he also loves chrysanthemum pots, and often treats guests with chrysanthemums. In his essay, he recorded that there was a dream this night, sitting around with seven or eight friends in the dream, eating a chrysanthemum pot. I was eating hard when I suddenly woke up to the sound. "The more I think about it on the pillow, the more I think about it, the more delicious it is, and I want to eat the chrysanthemum pot that has not been eaten again." This real dream and impression, reading it makes his fans also a pleasure, it seems that the chrysanthemum pot in this dream is indeed nourishing.
Reading this, I am also a little hungry, and I also have a chrysanthemum pot with osmanthus bar in the evening!
【About the author】Zhang Ningfang, a lover of literature and history, lives in Shanghai. Graduated from the Department of History of Peking University, he has a strong interest in modern characters and culture. He has published more than ten works in various newspapers and magazines.
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