The Manchu And Han Dynasty of the Capital and the Fine Points of the North and South
Wen | Wang Xifu
Illustration | Zheng Li
In the old days, walking on the streets of Beijing, I often saw the signs hanging high on the shops that read "Man Han Rao Nan Bei Xiao Dian", which is the outline of the business content of the Rao Shop.
The food and pastries in Beijing can be roughly divided into two categories: Manchu and Han. Manchu pastries are called "dumplings" according to Manchu customs. Rao is not only a pastry category, some staple foods such as dumplings, corn flour stickers, Manchus also call it rao. Those who were poor and begging for food often cried, "There are some leftover bread for the dry bread." "Dry bread refers to the remaining uneaten, dried nests, pasted cakes, etc., and it is impossible to ask for any "pastry dumplings". In fact, the pastry food that the Han people used to call dim sum was also changed to the name of the Manchus, and even the shops that operated dim sum were renamed "Rao Shop". As for the taboo of "dim sum", it comes from "one knife to the heart" to save the pain of those who have been "tortured" to avoid the misery of "a thousand knives". This is the case.
The capital city was originally divided into two categories: the southern case and the northern case. Most of the southern cases are operated by Jiangsu and Zhejiang merchants, mainly making southern-style pastries; the northern cases are operated by Gyeonggi and directly subordinate merchants, mainly making northern-style dim sum, and mainly in Beijing-style, and the halal dim sum in Beijing generally belongs to the northern style.
In the Qing Dynasty, because the Manchus were in charge, the Food Industry was classified by the Manchu and Han ethnic groups, and the Manchu Han Food Actually divided all the dim sum into two categories: one is the Manchu-style dumplings, and the other is the Han-style dim sum. Manchu food is the Manchu people from the nomadic period to eat, until the entry into the pass to sit firmly in the jiangshan, it has become the Manchu food in the capital. Manchu dumplings are especially common in Sachima, hibiscus cake, milk utah, leth strips, and milk rolls. Chinese dim sum actually contains more complicated content, because the Han people live in the south and the sea, and there are customs in the north and south of the river. The original types of dim sum in Beijing have been extensive, collectively known as "Beijing-style dim sum". In addition, the Cantonese and Su-style styles in the southern dim sum also had a great influence in The capital.
During the old Beijing period, Cantonese dim sum was not famous in the capital, because the relics of the Han people in the capital loved to eat after all, the Beijing style and The Su style. The qing dynasty court imperial dining and the craftsmanship of the eight halls and eight buildings were based on Lu cuisine, so there were very few Cantonese dishes in dim sum. Because the emperor of the Qing Dynasty went down to Jiangnan many times, he took a look at the Suzhou-Hangzhou diet, not only "developed" some famous dishes of southern cuisine to the imperial dining hall, but also set up a single stove to make it, and also introduced The Su-style fine dim sum into the imperial court meal. The so-called "Gusu Fine Point" entered the capital and was incorporated into the imperial diet, and its excellent production was even difficult to compare with the fine points in the capital at that time.
Cantonese dim sum, on the other hand, hardly won a seat at the imperial dinner and was also dragged down by Cantonese cuisine. Due to the complexity of Cantonese raw materials, and eat cats, snakes, monkeys, tanuki and other strange foods, cooking is similar to the West, at that time Western cuisine was called "Fan Cuisine", "Fan" contains contempt for the country, Fan cuisine naturally can not enter the palace, Cantonese dim sum is also the same situation. Therefore, the Beijing sweets have become the world of "Manchu Han Bao", but in the Beijing folk, Cantonese dim sum is included in the "Han Rao".
Full of food
In other words, what is the relationship between this Manchu and Han Bao and the north and south fine points, in fact, these are two classification methods and titles, which are intertwined.
First of all, let's talk about full-style food. Before entering the customs, the Manchus lived between the white mountains and black water in the northeast, and were local nomadic people, with local products as the main raw materials in their diet, beef, mutton and dairy products. However, "things are precious when they are scarce", the upper echelons of the Manchu people have always regarded noodles as a nobleman, and when there are banquets and grand gatherings, they will put up a "feast table", and whoever is tough will show their faces at the table. Because wheat flour is rare and expensive in nomadic areas, the Manchu dumplings will not have too many varieties, and they are even more precious.
The Manchus did not come to Beijing with the Manchu soldiers and horses. As early as the time when Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan Dynasty, abandoned the Capital of Jinzhong and built the Capital of the Yuan Dynasty, a large number of Mongols had already entered Beijing to live with the Han Chinese. At that time, the Mongols were good at growing miscellaneous grains, such as millet, millet, and rice, which were used to make Mongolian food. Therefore, the Mongolian dumplings in the capital, such as Suziye Rao, Rubbing Strips, Beating Cakes, and Sprinkling Cakes, are actually in the same line as the later Manchu Dumplings, and they all enter the list of Manchu Dumplings.
When the Manchus entered Beijing, there were Sachima, Hibiscus Cake, Leth Strips, Hard Noodle Dumplings, Cheese, etc. fused with Mongolian Dumplings, expanding the lineup of the original Manchu Dumplings. Since the Qing court and the Rao industry both stipulated that Manchu food was used for national sharing, inner court hall test, Buddhist pre-Buddhist offerings, flag people, monks, etc., the industry was unprecedentedly developed, and the so-called Manchu style also evolved more Manchu food from Han-style pastries. If milk skin is added to the flower cake, it is "milk skin flower cake"; adding milk skin to the Lantern is "Milk Skin Lantern"; adding milk skin to the moon cake is "milk skin moon cake"... This change has led to an increasing number and variety of Manchu dumplings.
In the development of dumplings in the Qing Dynasty and later in the capital, Manchu-style dumplings not only had a very high commercial status, but also had a high political status. The state stipulates that the "wedding table" uses Manchu feasts, and almost all celebrations must be placed in full-style "tables". As a result, the Manchu-style food industry has developed exceptionally.
The so-called "table sheet" is a table full of food. There are a number of copper plates on it, and the copper plates are filled with 10 plates per layer, 20 pieces per plate, and more than 9 floors. There are more than 1,800 pieces in one class, which is the head of the feast, and no one can eat it all. There are more layers, up to the roof, and the number of dumplings is innumerable. Especially in royal affairs, regardless of marriage and funeral, there must be subjects to send "food tables". The emperor of the great name did things, and the "rao table" collected thousands of pieces, and there was almost nowhere to stack it. Therefore, the development of the Manchu-style food industry at that time can be imagined.
The grand development of the Manchu food in Beijing is far from this, and the production of the food is really a stunt. The noodles used for the dumplings must be "heavy noodles", the oil must be "white oil bureau real goods", the rock sugar must be "stone ice", and the white sugar must be "Hong Kong" white sugar. Moreover, the appearance of Manchu dumplings is by no means comparable to that of ordinary dumplings, especially a kind of "pulp mooncake", which was originally made in Han and later developed into full mooncakes. The production process is extremely complex, the dough is delicate and flexible, and it has both a chewy head and no mouth. The dough is made by beating the dough with very high-grade flour, such as water, and then fermenting and precipitating to produce a delicate surface like "puree mud". The general feeding shop is difficult to bear the cost of craftsmanship of this practice, but the court offerings do not care about the cost, so the pulp moon cake is popular. Moreover, the appearance of the high-grade pulp mooncake is also colored with pigments, and the colors used are supplied by the relevant departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, including flying gold, silver sand, big green, stone blue, color yellow, su mu, Guangjiao and the like. The mooncakes produced are colorful and colorful. But now the pulp mooncake has almost completely disappeared in Beijing. When I replied to the pulp mooncake production process and taught and trained, there were also experts who said that "the pulp mooncake is a Cantonese-style mooncake", which shows how much technology has been lost in the production industry in Beijing today.
In addition to the offerings of the inner court and the needs of manchu large families, Manchu-style dumplings are also sold in large quantities in manchu shops, including milk tea shops that specialize in selling Manchu food, and also specialize in selling various types of Manchu dumplings. At that time, Manchu Rao had a very good reputation in Beijing, and one of the most important reasons was that the quality was excellent and tongsu was not deceived.
Chinese-style food
Before the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Han-style dumplings were always known as dim sum. In addition to the Manchu-style snacks, the dim sum in Beijing mainly includes Beijing-style, Su-style and Cantonese-style. Although practices in other places are also occasionally found in the city, they have not become a large genre, so the three major schools of Handian familiar to the people of Beijing are generally known as The Beijing style, the Su style and the Cantonese style. Among them, during the period when the capital was mainly inhabited by Manchus, the development of the capital city's gluttony was influenced by the imperial enshrinement of the interior office and the imperial dining room, mostly in the Beijing style and the Su style.
The development of Beijing-style snacks in the capital has gone through many dynasties, so it has the greatest impact on the people of the capital.
The rough classification of Kyo-style sweets is eight large pieces and small eight pieces. Da Eight is to summarize the main dim sum of Beijing dim sum into "eight pieces", which has the characteristics of large standard blocks, high sales volume, high popularity and customer favorite. Generally, there are turned moon cakes, large rolls of puff pastry, large oil cakes, butterfly rolls, crisps, chicken fat cakes, yuan cakes, seven stars and so on. Each of the small eight pieces is about half the size of the large eight pieces, and the workmanship is fine. Generally, there are fruit pie, small roll puff pastry, small peach crisp, chicken fat cake, small screw crisp, salty canon, jujube flower, pit noodles and so on. Due to the different skin, filling and appearance patterns, there are also many variations in various types of eight pieces, such as waist shape, drum shape, bergamot shape, bat shape, peach shape pomegranate shape and so on. There are also molds into three immortals, silver ingots, osmanthus flowers, fu, lu, shou, hi and other patterns.
Nowadays, the Beijing-style dim sum has shrunk, and after the reform and opening up, the upstart has been prominent for a while, and there has been a trend of eating Cantonese-style dim sum, and the Cantonese-style mooncake has swept away the Beijing mooncake market and pulled out the top spot in the sales of mooncakes in these years. Cantonese-style dim sum is indeed a variety of tricks and beautiful, and in recent years, with the development of Cantonese cuisine into Beijing, Cantonese-style mooncakes have also developed in Beijing and even the whole country, occupying many commanding heights.
In recent years, every August Festival, as long as the moon cake is sent, it is Cantonese, and finally tired of the appetite of the people in Beijing. The Cantonese-style mooncakes of that year were not like today, full of beds, full houses, and full cabinets. At that time, the development and layout of various types of dim sum were always high and low according to the law of commercial development, and their quality maintained their respective advantages.
Because of its economic strength and consumption level, the people of Beijing generally buy Manchu food. In addition to the outdoors, ordinary people consume various types of snacks in the three festivals and two birthday activities. Therefore, consumer goods have seasonal characteristics. In the lunar calendar year, that is, before the Spring Festival, it is mainly used for the table with snacks. The royal palace aristocracy must have set the number and category with each bounty shop in advance, which is a large consumer group. The second is the offerings of the major temples, which is also a large quantity of orders. General customers order the dumplings in advance at the dumpling shop, most of which are used for offerings, when it is according to the "table". Small households have no money to order, so they adopt the method of "printing seeds" and "zero deposit and whole take": usually pay a small amount of change to the rao shop on a monthly basis, and the rao shop keeps the account, stamps and prints the letter; at the end of the year, the goods are picked up with the "seal letter" and the food offerings are taken for the New Year.
Years later, it is the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month, the rice dumplings in the Dragon Boat Festival in May, the mooncakes on august 15, and the flower cakes in September... This time-order makes different snacks than the sale. At that time, the biggest feature of the dumplings was that they had a wide range of categories, suitable for the needs of different groups, including hard crusts, sugar crusts, puff pastry, fried, cakes and other categories. Nowadays, many dim sum dumplings have been lost, such as milk skin cakes, melon oil muffins, dried vegetable mooncakes, dried almond grains, Sunnifern fen white cakes, Lete strips, Woguo flower cakes, eight treasure jars, cream chess pieces osmanthus fragrant breasts, honey cakes, etc., even if today's famous factories, it is difficult to produce such original food.
In addition, what is more worth remembering is the quality of the food at that time. Due to commercial competition, every shop regards quality as life, and there is no negligence or ingenuity. Today's businesses really need to think about the reasons for this: one is to "eat a big pot of rice", do a good job and do a bad job; second, people's perception of the importance of quality is superficial; third, the huge increase in the consumer population, consumers' perception of quality is different; fourth, the lack of technology and quality management level in the entire industry; fifth, education and training, if even teachers can't make high-quality snacks, how can students "be better than blue out of blue"?
Also needed to be mentioned are the merchants. At that time, there were many famous shops in Beijing, and in the so-called "oven line" in the capital, there is no need to say that the Manchu Food Shops in the streets and alleys are meticulously made, and there is no one who cut corners, even the small Dumpling Shops do have a head and a horn, and the development is unlimited.
For example, at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the well-known Raopu Yongxingzhai in Beijing, because it undertook the supply of food and tribute to the royal and royal palaces in the capital, so the quality was by no means half negligent, supporting half of the world of the Beijing rao industry, and also inherited many excellent gluttonous products. Another example is the Zhengming Zhai Rao Shop, built in the Ming Dynasty, passed down to the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, until the Cultural Revolution, and the quality of its food was maintained impeccable. Zhengmingzhai's tap red, tap white, flower cake, rose cake, sage horse, hibiscus cake, the skills are amazing, and it is still fresh in people's memories. Not only in the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China period, but also in the 1950s, Zhengmingzhai's gluttonous dim sum was still among the best in Beijing, and I remember that there were customers queuing outside the front door in the early morning, and there were also difficult roads from Far Suburbs such as Fangshan, Daxing, and Miyun. The white mouth melts, the red crisp and dry fragrance, the sweet and moist fragrance of the sage horse, and there is nowhere in the capital.
In addition to the Rao Shop, there were also zhuangguans at that time, namely the Eight Buildings and the Eight Halls, which also produced various types of Manchu dumplings. His father, Wang Dianchen, was once a famous chef in Zhimei Lou, and he was especially good at making all kinds of Manchu food. In the early years, Zhi Mei Lou was famous for its southern taste of Gu Su Rao, and her father's mooncakes were famous in Beijing. There is also the mooncake that has long been nowhere to be found, which is also my father's skill. His father taught these skills to the eldest brother Xi Rong and the second brother Xi Hua. In the first few years, the two brothers were still alive, and they could still eat the delicious snacks they made, which was still the same old taste.
My brothers always said that at that time, ZhengMingzhai was the only example that could be compared and tasted in the production of sweets. I have repeatedly explained and emphasized these examples for students in my teaching, and I have also cultivated several pastry sages. But after all, the times have changed, and the famous Manchu and Han Food Shops in The capital and those precious examples in history have long disappeared in the turmoil of ten years.