The Manchu and Han Banquets in Qing Dynasty

I just wanted to meet you, so I came here, don't worry, the palace has already made arrangements, we will go back in a while, nothing will happen. "

"Yeah." Zixiu hugged the quilt, lying side by side with Kangxi, this warm feeling is so good, I really want to go on like this forever.

When putting on clothes, Zixiu screamed in surprise, and Kangxi fled away in a guilty conscience, pretending not to see Zixiu's angry eyes.Zixiu didn't dare to look at his body anymore, it was covered with red marks!You don't need to think about it to know that it is Kangxi's masterpiece.

He really wanted to yell: "I'm not a pork chop, do you need to eat it like this?"

The author has something to say: cover your face, try to get more next week

eight courses

Time flies to November, and it is the time when the Mongolian tribes pay tribute at the end of the year. This time of year is very lively. Not to mention the extra tribute from the palace, ordinary traders can also make a small fortune.

This year, the excitement has increased again. In order to show his importance to these tribes, Kangxi planned to hold a banquet specially for envoys from this year, and named it the Jiubai Banquet.

Jiubai refers to the tribute that the Mongolian tribe paid sincerely, including one white camel and eight white horses.

Because this banquet is held every year, Emperor Daoguang later wrote two lines of poems about it. The poem says: "Four puppet silver flowers and one jade camel are presented to Emperor Jingluo at the age of Xiqiang."

And this year is the first time to hold the Nine White Banquet, and everyone is very excited, especially the envoys and the imperial chef.Needless to say, the envoys, Kangxi's move is to attach importance to them, which is conducive to strengthening the relationship between the court and the tribes; and the imperial chefs are because they have one more opportunity to show themselves, let alone the never-before-seen event. banquet.

For a while, the court was discussing the Jiubai Banquet, which invisibly put a lot of pressure on the imperial dining room.

The most important thing to hold a banquet is the dishes. Since it is the first time to hold this banquet, how to arrange the dishes has become a big problem.The dishes that need to be presented at different banquets must be different. What kind of dishes should be served?How many dishes do you need to make?In what order should these dishes be served?These are all things to consider carefully.

The imperial dining room became a mess for a while, and everyone talked in a hurry. After three days of discussion, they barely reached the conclusion.After the results came out, they were submitted one level at a time for people to look at, and finally the emperor personally approved the dishes before finalizing the dishes.

During the past three days, Zixiu was also discussing with everyone, and the time he spent seeing Kangxi was cut in half every day, which made Kangxi regret it very much.

Two days later, the Mongolian envoys arrived in the capital and were warmly welcomed by the Qing Dynasty.The Mongolian envoys paid tribute, and Kangxi told them that a banquet would be held in Qianqing Palace the next day to entertain the envoys, and all the envoys were very excited.

For the upcoming Jiubai Banquet, most of the royal chefs are looking forward to it. Although most of the dishes in the Jiubai Banquet are familiar to them, there are a few exceptions.For example, golden toad and jade abalone, and three fresh dragon and phoenix balls.

There are very few people who can cook these dishes well, Cheng Li counts as one, and Zixiu counts as one. Therefore, the task of making golden toad, jade and abalone falls on Zixiu's head gloriously.

Jin Chan Yu Bao is not difficult to make, but it requires a lot of skill. In addition, this dish uses seafood as the main ingredient, so it is inevitably difficult for people living in the inland.Zixiu can do it because his master taught him in his previous life. Even so, he hasn't done it for more than a year.

"Master, do you really want me to cook this dish? I'm afraid I can't do it well." Zixiu was a little unsure, this was the first time he said such a thing.

Cheng Li patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Master believes in you, so just do your best."

"But……"

"Master, don't worry, I will help you." Cong Yuanren said in a big way.He has been with Zixiu for a year. He has been promoted from a fireman to a vegetable cutter, and now he has been promoted to a trainee cook. His growth rate is the envy of a lot of low-level cooks.

Zixiu didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he tapped his forehead and said, "Do you know what a golden toad and jade abalone are? How dare you boast about it?"

Cong Yuan said with a smile: "Master, you have to have confidence in yourself. If you teach me, won't I be able to do it?"

Zixiu was too lazy to talk to him anymore, so he asked him to bring all the ingredients.Cheering away from far away, Zixiu stood there and carefully recalled the steps of cooking.

He remembered that he used canned abalone to make this dish in his previous life. In this era, there is no processed finished product, so he can only put the abalone in a container, add scallions, ginger slices, etc. and steam it in a basket.After steaming the abalone until it was cooked and rotten, he sat down step by step according to the method he had learned before.

He arranged the steamed abalones one by one, then took out a willow knife as thin as a cicada's wing, and cut all the abalones in half with a few strokes.The cut abalones were arranged in a row, and he repeated the same trick, but with less strength, and made a cut in each half.

From a distance, he can see it with gusto. Although he has seen many of Zixiu's stunts, he still looks amazing every time.He carefully watched how Zixiu cut the knife every time, but he still couldn't grasp the essence.

After Zixiu cut the abalones, he shaped them into the shape of frog's feet, and then sprinkled a thin layer of dry cornstarch on top.

Next is the magpie egg. The magpie egg needs to be boiled and shelled first, then cut in half and placed in the center of the abalone as the body of the frog.Of course, this is not enough, the magpie eggs have to be covered with shrimp balls and egg whites, and the egg whites have to be smeared into the shape of a frog.

Doing this step well is more than half of the success. Although it is simple to say, it requires a lot of skill to do it. Egg whites are not so easy to wipe, and it will be scrapped if you don’t pay attention.

After the frog is formed, a few more things need to be added, one is to decorate the frog with cucumber skin on its back; the other is to use two green beans as eyes.Such a complete golden toad is considered finished.

After it is formed, it is steamed in a basket. The time is not too long, and only half a stick of incense is needed.After the golden toad is steamed, add the fried broccoli and other seasonings and you're done.

After one dish, Zixiu felt a lot. It seemed that no matter what he did, he had to practice constantly. He hadn't cooked this dish for a long time, so he was a little unfamiliar.

Of course, this is just his own feeling. From a distance, it is perfect and done in one go.

Looking at Cheng Li again, he has already made three fresh dragon and phoenix balls. The main ingredients of the three fresh dragon and phoenix balls are chicken breast and shrimp. This dish is mainly stir-fried. The difficulty lies in how to cut the shrimp and chicken breast with one knife. into a ball.Except for Cheng Li and Zixiu, no one knows this kind of saber technique. Ding Zhiyuan was one of them before, but since his hand was injured, it is very difficult to do it well.

There is another secret to making this dish, that is, the chicken must be boiled thoroughly in water so that the fishy smell of the chicken can be removed.

Having said so much, it was time for the banquet at the Qianqing Palace. Unlike the past, the singing and dancing this time incorporated Mongolian elements, which was very popular among the envoys.

At the beginning of the banquet, the beauties offered tea first. Since the protagonists were Mongolians, the tea was replaced by their favorite boiled milk tea.Then there are four kinds of dried fruit and four kinds of candied fruit... When it was the appetizer's turn, Kangxi found that there was Songhe Yannian which he was familiar with.

He smiled and remembered that this was the dish Zixiu made when he was fighting with others.He tasted it with great interest, and found that the taste was not as he imagined. He curled his lips, knowing that this dish was definitely not made by Zixiu.

He has been eating Zixiu's cooking for more than a year, and he is very familiar with the taste of Zixiu's cooking. He suddenly became interested. Since he is so boring, why not come and guess which dish is made by Zixiu.

Seeing Kangxi's complexion changing, Liang Jiugong couldn't help being very puzzled, but what's wrong with not making these dishes?

Of course the dishes were fine, but Kangxi had the problem. He tasted each dish, but was disappointed again and again.The Mongolian envoys were all praising the delicious dishes and singing and dancing, but Kangxi was concentrating on studying what was on the plate.

"One of the imperial dishes: Jin Chan Yu Bao." The little eunuch announced the name of the dish loudly, and a unique dish was placed in front of Kangxi.

Kangxi looked at the dishes on the plate, and found that the workmanship was exquisite and the shape was unique, and he looked like it was made by a master. He rekindled a little hope, picked up a piece of abalone and fed it into his mouth.

The dish is flavorful, tender and most importantly, it feels familiar.Kangxi smiled happily, he knew which dish was made by Zixiu.

Both the envoys and the courtiers of the Qing Dynasty were very satisfied with the banquet. There were many dishes in it that they had never seen before. Apart from being curious, they also satisfied their appetites.

"The emperor's royal chef is really extraordinary, and every dish can be called a high-quality product." Zaba, the leader of the envoys, praised.

Kangxi Long was overjoyed, and said modestly: "It's not worth mentioning that it's a trivial skill, as long as you like it."

Zaba stroked his beard, still greeted people with a smile on his face: "I have heard about the delicious imperial food in the palace for a long time, and now I have tasted it. I am really lucky. The emperor, there is also a person who is quite proficient in food in the accompanying team. He is very familiar with the imperial palace. I am very curious about the imperial cuisine, so I would like to take this opportunity to ask the imperial chefs for advice, and I wonder if the emperor can fulfill it."

Kangxi frowned unconsciously, fulfilled?In his opinion, this is a provocation, right?But could the royal chef of his Forbidden City be afraid?

"I didn't expect you to be interested in this. Why not, I will pass it on tomorrow, so that the royal chefs can communicate with the people brought by you."

Zaba said: "If this is the case, I will thank the emperor first."

Kangxi smiled, dared to come here to provoke, hum, let you know what failure is.

nine courses

As expected, the royal chefs were very excited when they heard someone challenged, not so much excited as angry.The royal chef, representing the highest level of culinary arts, is now being provoked by an unknown person, it is really hard for people to calm down.