Me and Empress Dowager Cixi

Chapter 12 The Imperial Dining Room (2)
Whether it is a "dinner" or a "snack", every dish is a boutique, worthy of a close-up.It's just that there are too many tricks, and it is difficult for ordinary people to remember clearly, so I won't say more.We Chinese have deep and extensive research on the issue of eating. I am afraid it is not an exaggeration to publish a book alone. The space here is limited, so I can only briefly introduce it.

One dish that the Empress Dowager likes very much is stewed fat duck.When making it, first remove duck feathers and viscera, wash it, put some seasonings on it, and pack it in a porcelain jar.This is not over yet, we need to prepare a crucible, pour half a pot of clean water into it, put the porcelain pot in it, and finally cover it tightly with a lid, put it on a slow fire and steam it, and it will take three days to get out of the pot.At that time, the whole duck will be crispy, and you can easily pinch it with chopsticks, which is a real treat for your taste buds.Duck skin is the empress dowager's favorite food. It is the essence of this dish and the best place to eat it.

In addition to stewed fat duck, the following dishes are the most popular dishes on the Empress Dowager's table.

The ones that most suit the Queen Mother's taste are smoked roasts, such as roast duck, roast suckling pig, smoked chicken, braised lamb leg, etc. These are almost never interrupted on the Queen Mother's table.However, it is not uncommon to see these things in the banquets of ordinary people or in ordinary taverns.The only difference lies in the method of cooking, after all, much more attention should be paid in the palace.

The queen mother once said that when she was young, her favorite dish was roasted pork skin.To make this dish, pork with the skin on is cut into small cubes and then fried in lard until the skin on the meat is very crispy.This dish is not only delicious, but also has a beautiful name. Northerners call it "ring bell", probably because it is so crispy that it makes a sound when eaten.With that said, the more crunchy the "ring" is, the better.

However, elderly people have poor teeth and mouth, so it may not be suitable to eat "ring bell".Therefore, the queen mother in her later years had to give up "ringing the bell" and prefer other foods, and cherry meat is one of them.When making this dish, you have to cut the good pork into small pieces and add the seasoning. This is just the first step, and then you need to add cherries.Fresh cherries are best. If the season is not right and there are no fresh ones, don't worry.There are cherries that have been candied or processed in the palace at any time. As long as they are soaked in warm water, they will be as beautiful as fresh cherries.Put the cut pieces of meat and cherries in a white porcelain jar, soak them in water, and simmer over a slow fire for more than ten hours.At that time, the meat was already crispy, and the aroma of cherries blended with the taste of the meat, making it mouth-watering.The taste of soup is several times better than that of meat!
As for vegetables, her Majesty's favorite food was peas.The peas in the palace must be very fresh and tender, so that it not only feels refreshing in the mouth, but also exciting to look at.The white porcelain bowl contains tender peas, which look like jade beads, which is really pleasing to the eye.

The radish was originally not favored by the palace people, who believed that this kind of vegetable was not in the elegant hall, so there was no place for radish in the imperial dining room.In the eyes of the people in the palace, radish is a lowly vegetable that only ordinary people eat, and sometimes they even use it to feed livestock. If such vegetables are brought into the palace, it is simply disrespectful to the Queen Mother.However, later the queen mother remembered it herself, and was ready to try something new, so the imperial dining room dared to prepare it.

The cooks were very clever, not only trying to get rid of the smell of the radish itself, but also mixing it with ham soup or chicken and duck soup, the taste is not generally good.

In addition to the two vegetables mentioned above, the Queen Mother also likes to eat fresh and tender bamboo shoots and very thin ginger sprouts. Whether it is a "dinner" or a "snack", they are indispensable for any meal.

There are about [-] or [-] species of fungi in China. The ones produced in Mongolia should be the best. Not only are they larger than those in other places, but they also taste delicious.The queen mother likes to eat this kind of food very much. No matter what kind of dish, as long as you can put shiitake mushrooms or mushrooms in it, it must be indispensable.

I don't like mushroom dishes very much.In my opinion, Jiaocai from Shandong is a rare delicacy.Its leaves are almost all white, tender and sweet, and I can never get enough of them.

In China, there are innumerable famous dishes, and Jiaocai is just one of them. The most expensive vegetable should be a specialty of Sichuan.Tremella is one of them, the price is always high, 20 taels of silver, only a small box can be bought.

It is said that tremella is a parasitic plant on old pine trees. Because it is very difficult to find, it is extremely precious and the price is always very high.For ordinary people, even officials, even if they are willing to spend a lot of money, they may not be able to buy the best tremella, because the best tremella is used to honor the Queen Mother.In order to please the Queen Mother, officials in Sichuan hired a group of people to search for the best white fungus.

Tremella is usually dried and dried before being transported away, and they are packed into boxes during transportation.This is also particular, as different grades of white fungus should be packed in boxes of different grades.These boxes are brocade boxes, and the best brocade boxes cost several taels of silver each. As for the price of the white fungus inside, it is not difficult to guess.

Although tremella is very expensive, the taste is hard to compliment. It is an indescribable taste, neither salty nor sweet, let alone unique.Therefore, it is generally cooked with chicken broth or other soups.

Compared with white fungus, the monkey head is even more rare.It is also produced in Sichuan, and it is about the size of a tennis ball. Basically, it is transported to the palace to honor the Queen Mother.It is also presented in the palace in a brocade box, usually with two monkey heads together.Compared with the brocade box containing white fungus, the monkey head box is more exquisite and luxurious, and even the interlining inside is very good yellow silk.

There are many ways to put Hericium erinaceus into dishes. It can be steamed, fried or mixed with meat.But in terms of taste, it tastes best when stewed with mutton; in addition, if you use it to make soup, it is even better than chicken soup.

There is another kind of dish that is rare to see now, because it is as thin as hair, so people called it "facai" at that time.In fact, Fa Cai is also a kind of fungus, and it is also produced in Sichuan.Although it is expensive, it is the same as white fungus, and the taste is not outstanding, so it can only be fried with pork.

As for seafood, shark's fin, fish lip, fish maw, sea cucumber, etc. are commonly used in the palace, and the way of eating is not much different from that outside, so I won't talk about it here.

Compared with ordinary beef, sheep, chicken and duck, seafood is always more expensive, probably because it is hard to come by.However, the taste is hard to say how good it is, and the Empress Dowager doesn't think much of it.Her least favorite is sea cucumber, which not only has no taste, but looks even more uncomfortable. It is only because of its nourishing function that people are rumored that it can be juxtaposed with the real delicacy.When it comes to preference, the queen mother has a soft spot for stewed duck tongue.When stewing, the duck tongue should be put into the pot with the duck meat, at least [-] to [-] pieces at a time.After it is out of the pot, it should be put into a special large bowl. This bowl is apricot yellow, and it must be placed next to the Queen Mother every time, because the Queen Mother likes this dish the most.

In addition to stewed duck tongue, a kind of duck feet made of salt water is also very popular with the Queen Mother. It is one of the must-have special dishes on "snacks".However, I can't praise this kind of food. Except for the layer of webbed skin that can be eaten, the rest is just bones.

Speaking of this, readers probably guessed that the Queen Mother really loves ducks, not only duck tongues, duck feet, but even the internal organs. Except for the extremely smelly duck buttocks, the cooks think Try every means to make the remaining part into dishes for the Queen Mother to enjoy.

When summer came, all kinds of melons and fruits came down, and the cooks in the imperial dining room began to make some side dishes with fresh melons and fruits as raw materials for the Queen Mother to taste.The queen mother's favorite is "watermelon cup". As the name suggests, watermelon is necessary, but all you need to make this dish is the skin of the watermelon.All the flesh inside should be dug out, and then the prepared diced chicken, diced ham, and fresh lotus seeds, longan, walnuts, pine nuts, almonds, etc. should be packed inside. It is still a complete watermelon from the outside, but the flesh inside But it is completely different.Next, put the watermelon in the water and stew it with a slow fire. After a few hours, the fresh and delicious taste will be mouth-watering.

I find it very strange that the queen mother has such a strong appetite.Whether it is walking in the imperial garden or sitting idle in the palace, the cooks must be ready at any time. As long as the queen mother gives orders, the eunuchs will immediately fetch those special small stoves and get busy in front of the queen mother. .The queen mother waited aside, ready to taste the delicious food.

On the way to Fengtian this time, the Queen Mother's appetite is still very good.As soon as she felt hungry, or simply less full, she would order the car to stop and let the cook prepare the meal.As soon as the queen mother moved her lips, the imperial dining room over there began to get busy, and fifty cooks hurriedly urged the cooks to light the fire.All of a sudden, fifty sunflower fans waved together, and the formation looked like some kind of large-scale group gymnastics.Soon, the briquettes in the stove were burning red and ready for cooking.

What was the Queen Mother doing when the cooks were busy?Her old man is leaning against the window leisurely looking at the scenery outside.In this kind of place, you can see a few people on weekdays, either working in the fields or passing by, but now you can't see a single person.Long before the Empress Dowager's train passed here, the local officials issued a ban on movement, and no one could move around.

After the fire was lit, the cooks started to act.One by one, they quickly brought the soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, etc. they needed to the "hands-on" chef, and the other party began to cook carefully.After most of the dishes were prepared, the eunuch began to send them to the queen mother in food boxes.They often have to pull out a long line to finish the dishes, because there are too many dishes.

But the queen mother may not feel hungry when she saw these dishes, so these dishes were brought back to the so-called "imperial dining room" compartment one by one, and the train started to move forward again.In fact, the purpose of stopping this time has completely changed. It seems that it is not for eating, but specifically for the Queen Mother to take a good look at the land under her rule.This was a pain for those who served her, and the tangy aroma of vegetables made people salivate.

Of course I am no exception, and I feel that my appetite seems to have grown a lot.

(End of this chapter)