Cao Xueqin, the author of "Dream of the Red Chamber", is a chinese poet with the character Mengruan. Cao Xueqin's grandfather Cao Yin ,曹寅, ziqing, Lixuan, also known as Neem Pavilion, works poetry, good calligraphy, and has a rich collection of books at home. Cao Yin's mother, Sun Shi, was the nursing mother of the Kangxi Emperor, and because of this relationship, Cao Yin and the Kangxi Emperor had a close relationship from an early age, and they were called young, and at the age of thirteen, they became the imperial bodyguards of the Kangxi Emperor, and were deeply favored by the Kangxi Emperor.
In the thirty-first year of the Kangxi Dynasty, Cao Yin oversaw the weaving of Jiangning, and forty-three years inspected the two Huaiyan governments, and the officials were appointed to the tongzheng envoys. The Kangxi Emperor toured the south, lived in the Jiangning Weaving Office several times, and was very happy to see Cao Yin's mother, saying: "This old man is also." ”
At that time, flowers were blooming in the courtyard, and the Kangxi Emperor personally wrote down the three words "Xuanruitang" and gave them to Cao Mu.
Cao Yin was rich and talented, and paid for the engraving and printing of many ancient books, and the "General Catalogue of the Four Libraries" included a "Record of Drinking and Eating habitually", signed by Cao Yin. This book is actually a compilation of some of the methods of drinking and eating in the previous generation, including "frosting recipes", "porridge and flour products", "method of making fish" and other parts.
In the early Qing Dynasty, the famous scholar Zhu Yizun had many contacts with Cao Yin, and once wrote a poem "Cao Tongzheng (寅) Sends Snowflake Cakes from Zhenzhou", which reads as follows:
Knead the old buds and refill the dust.
Powder mica fine, grits and ice cream evenly.
A smile opens the mallet, and he worries about the ice tooth gums.
Thinking about the secret method, the night cold said Wu Jun.
Zhenzhou is now Yizheng, not too far from Nanjing and Yangzhou, and far from Zhu Yizun's hometown of Jiaxing, Zhejiang. Cao Yin did not bother, and sent Zhu Yizun some snowflake cakes from Zhenzhou, indicating that this cake had a unique flavor. According to Cao Yin's status and economic conditions, he was more qualified than ordinary officials to pay attention to diet and had the conditions to make some exquisite delicacies.
The method of making snowflake cakes, "Zhuyu Mountain House Miscellaneous Department" introduced two kinds, one is the main ingredient is mung bean flour, the other is flour, it looks good. The problem is that any kind of pastry, eaten hot after being cooked, tastes best. Cao Yin sent the snowflake cake from Zhenzhou, and the taste must have been greatly reduced.
Cao Yin, who was fond of elegance, died of illness in the fifty-first year of the Kangxi Dynasty, leaving a huge financial deficit behind him. The Kangxi Emperor could not bear to pursue the matter, and let Cao Yin's son Cao Yong succeed him as Jiangning Weaving. Soon after, Cao Yin also died, and the Kangxi Emperor took the initiative to pass Cao Yin's nephew Cao Fu to Cao Yin and continue to serve as Jiangning Weaver, but was greatly distant emotionally.
Cao Hao and Cao Fu not only did not make up for Cao Yin's huge deficit, but instead lost more and more. In the Yongzheng era, the good days of the Cao family came to an end. Cao Fu was arrested and imprisoned, confiscating his family wealth. General researchers believe that Cao Xueqin is the son of Cao Fu, who spent his early years in Jiangning Weaving House, enjoying a rich life and luxurious diet.
The Cao family fell and moved from Nanjing to Beijing. At this time, Cao Xueqin was only a teenager, and her life of gold and jade food had undergone great changes, and Cao Xuesmith's family lived a difficult civilian life. The vicissitudes of the world are expressed by a clever pen in the "Dream of the Red Chamber", which is also true and illusory, which arouses people's speculation.
The Jia Mansion in the novel is rich in food, many things do not need to go out to buy at all, they have them in their own manors, and they are regularly sent to the house. A "Dream of the Red Chamber" shows Cao Xueqin's rich emotions and life experience, and her experience in eating is also unusual, I don't know if he has seen the "Record of Drinking and Eating habitually" compiled by his grandfather Cao Yin.
In recent years, some researchers have also attributed a "Collection of Waste Art Drafts" to Cao Xueqin's name. The content of the book is mixed, talking about gold and stone engraving, kite making, garden painting fans, and weaving printing and dyeing. The eighth of these, entitled "Extracts from the Cream of Si Yuan", is about drinking and eating.
Only a part of the fragments of the "Extract of SiYuan Cream" can be seen, which talks about the production of flower dew, peach paste, kimchi, wind fish, and fire meat, and the text is exactly the same as the account of diet in Maoxiang's "Yingmei An Memoirs", and there is no doubt that it was directly excerpted.
There is also a kind of steamed rice noodle meat, which has nothing to do with the writings of Mao Xiang. The preparation method can only be guessed by the fragmented text, the main ingredient of which is rice flour and fat and lean pork. Cut the pork into thin slices of meat of the right size, grind the fennel, large ingredients, pepper salt, spices and other flavors into fine mince, rub it on top of the meat slices, and then mix with sweet noodle sauce and sugar.
Spread the processed slices of meat at the bottom of the bowl. Blanch the white rice twice with boiling water, strain out the water, add water, crush into a powder, mix with the slices of meat in a bowl, put it in a pot, and steam it over high heat.
"Extracts from Siyuan Cream" commented that the characteristics of this dish are: "The oil is fragrant through the flesh, sweet and salty, the oil is into the powder, it is not greasy and does not dry, and it is sincerely the best product." ”
This is the preparation method of the north, and the steamed rice noodle meat in the south does not use the sauce, there is no sauce taste, only the sweetness remains.
Written by Yu Zuo