The most interesting folklore

Chapter 6 The most interesting food culture (1)
1. What are the "seven things to open the door"

The so-called "seven things to open the door" by the ancients refers to the seven daily necessities of firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and tea.The theory of seven things about opening the door is generally believed to have originated in the Song Dynasty.To the people at that time, the seven things that opened the door were new things.Rice (that is, rice) was the main grain in the Song Dynasty.Sauce did not explicitly refer to soy sauce until the Song Dynasty.Before the Song Dynasty, vinegar was still not a necessity of life.Tea was a luxury in the Tang Dynasty and even the Northern Song Dynasty, and it was not common.As for oil, it refers to the oil pressed from sesame, perilla, and hemp, popularized by the development of handicrafts and commerce in the Southern Song Dynasty.

Tang Bohu in the Ming Dynasty wrote a poem titled "New Year's Eve Kou Zhan", which described how he had nothing to do on the busy New Year's Eve because of his poor family, so he had to go to the temple to watch plum blossoms. The lines are filled with self-deprecating, self-deprecating humor and wit:
Chai Rice Oil Salt Sauce Vinegar Tea,
Generally in other people's homes.

There is nothing to do at the end of the year,
Watch plum blossoms in Zhuliang Temple.

According to the records of Zha Weiren's "Lianpo Shihua" and Yuan Mei's "Suiyuan Shihua" and other books, the poem "Untitled" written by Zhang Can, a poet of the Qing Dynasty:

Calligraphy, painting, piano, chess, poems, hops,
In the past, every piece was inseparable from it;
Now seven things have changed,
Chai rice, oil, salt, sauce and vinegar tea.

In this poem, the poet compares the seven things of "calligraphy, painting, piano, chess, poetry and hops" that he loved when he was rich and wealthy back then with the seven things that he has to do now, "firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar and tea", vividly depicting the essence of life. Back and forth.

2. Was it also "three meals a day" in ancient times?
According to ancient records, before the Qin Dynasty, people only ate two meals a day, and there was a strict time limit. If you did not eat on time or ate more than two meals a day, it was considered a disrespectful act.After the Han Dynasty, three or four meals a day became popular.By the time of the Tang Dynasty, breakfast was already called breakfast.Lunch, also known as lunch, the ancients said that eating lunch is "over the middle".

In ancient times, people had two meals a day, expressing a concept of division of time. After breakfast, it means the beginning of the day, and after dinner, it means the end of the day.Now people's three meals a day are also often used to express the division of time.Did the ancients start to eat oil? In ancient times, the ancients in our country have already started to eat oily food. Not only that, but according to the records of ancient books, different seasons have to eat different oils.Lamb and suckling pig are fried in butter in spring, pheasant and dried fish are fried in dog oil in summer, calves and deer are fried in lard in autumn, and fresh fish and geese are fried in sheep oil in winter. Animal oil is eaten at this time.

After the Han Dynasty, vegetable oil began to appear, but it was not edible and was only used to make silk cloth.It was not until the Song Dynasty that there were records of edible vegetable oils, including sesame oil, soybean oil, vegetable oil, and camellia oil.What are the main types of ancient cooking utensils? Ancient Chinese cooking utensils include tripod, wok (huo), steamer (zeng), 甗 (yan), 鬲 (li) and so on.

The tripod was first made of pottery, and it was made of bronze after the Yin and Zhou dynasties.The belly of the tripod is generally round, with three legs underneath, so it is said that "three legs stand together"; the upper edge of the tripod has two ears, which can be inserted into sticks for lifting.It can be grilled under the belly of the tripod.The size of the tripod varies greatly due to different uses.In ancient times, the whole animal was often cooked in a tripod, which shows that its volume is relatively large.The Nine Tripods of Xia Yu's time were handed down to the Zhou Dynasty through the Yin Dynasty, symbolizing the supreme power of the country. Only those who have obtained the Nine Tripods can become the emperor, which shows that it is a treasure handed down to the country.

The wok is a tripod without feet, similar to the current big pot, and is mainly used to cook food such as fish.Later, it developed into a tool for torture of prisoners, that is, throwing people into a wok and boiling them alive.

Zong, a utensil for steaming rice, is similar to today’s steamer and cage drawer. It was first made of pottery, and later made of bronze. It has a straight mouth and ears, and there are many holes at the bottom. For the food to be steamed, after the water is boiled, the steam passes through the holes to steam the food.

Po, is a food steamer, which is divided into upper and lower parts, zeng and geng, some of which are connected, and some of which are separated.

Li is similar to Ding, but it is empty and connected to the abdomen. This is to receive heat transfer in a wider range and make the food as thoroughly cooked as possible.Li and steamer combined into a set is called "po".Li is only used as a cooker, so it is smaller than a tripod.

Cooking utensils can be divided into two categories: pottery and bronze.Ordinary people mostly use pottery, and bronze cookware is used by nobles.

3. What are the main types of ancient wine vessels?
Zun is a general term for ancient wine vessels. As a proper name, it is a kind of wine container with an open, high neck and ring feet.The statue is often decorated with animal images.

The pot is a long-necked, big-bellied, and round-footed wine container, which can hold not only wine but also water, so later generations use "tanshihu" to refer to rewarding the army.

Yi, You (Y6u), Jing (Hui), and Fou (f6u) are all wine containers of different shapes.

Jue, the general name of the ancient drinking vessel, is used as a proper name for warming wine. It has three legs at the bottom, which can raise the fire to warm the wine.

Angle, a drinking vessel in the shape of two angles.

Gong (g6ng) is a utensil for both holding and drinking wine, shaped like a square ring with a cover, and mostly in the shape of an animal. Gong is often used as a fine wine.An ox horn cup placed horizontally, oval in shape, is a utensil for soup, wine and water.The cups are made of jade, silver, and porcelain, and the small cups are small cups and cups.

卮 is also a kind of wine container.

4. Are chopsticks invented by Dayu?
China is the birthplace of chopsticks, eating with chopsticks has a history of at least 3000 years, so who invented chopsticks?According to legend, Dayu accidentally invented chopsticks while controlling water.

Legend has it that in the era of Yao and Shun, floods caused floods, and Shun ordered Yu to control the floods.In order to eliminate the danger of the flood, Dayu went through the house three times without entering.Once, Dayu came to an island by boat. He was so hungry that he set up a clay pot to cook meat.After the meat is boiled in water, it is impossible to eat it with your hands because it is too hot.So he cut off two branches, took the meat out of the hot soup, and ate it.From then on, in order to save time, Dayu always fished food from the boiling hot pot with branches and thin bamboo.This saves time to subdue the flood.Over time, Dayu became proficient in using thin sticks to pick up food.Seeing that he ate like this, his hands were neither hot nor greasy, so they followed suit one after another, and gradually formed the prototype of chopsticks.

In fact, this is just a legend. The main reason for the birth of chopsticks should be that cooked food is hot.In ancient times, because there were no metal utensils, and because the animal bones were short, extremely brittle, and difficult to process, the ancestors picked thin bamboos and branches to fish for cooked food.Back then in the wilderness environment, human beings lived in dense forests and grass caves, and the most convenient materials were trees and bamboo branches.Because of this, the prototype of chopsticks gradually appeared after the ancestors fiddled with small sticks and thin bamboos when roasting food, scooped them up when they were hot, stirred them when cooking millet, and so on.From the current shape of chopsticks, it still has the characteristics of the original bamboo and wood sticks. Even after thousands of years of development, its originality still cannot be changed.

5. Was "chowder" invented by Qin Hui in the Southern Song Dynasty?
"Chowder" refers to dishes made by mixing several raw materials.In the history of Chinese cooking, Lou Hu of the Qilu Gang was the first to invent "chowder". He was a native of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and was an official of Jingzhao.At that time, Lou Hu often traveled to and from the homes of the five "Five Marquises" who were conferred at the same time, Wang Tan, Wang Gen, Wang Li, Wang Shang, and Wang Feng, the uncles of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, so he created the "Five Marquis Mackerel" delicacy.Mackerel is a chowder cooked with fish, meat and delicacies from mountains and seas, that is, "five princes' chowder". Volume [-] of "Xijing Miscellaneous Notes" contains: "The five princes are not able to meet each other, and guests are not allowed to come and go. Lou Hu and Feng Bian passed on food to the five princes, each of whom got his own jb, and competed for a strange meal. Hou mackerel, I think it has a strange taste." Later, it was used to refer to delicacies, and it had a wider influence.

There is also a rumor that in the Southern Song Dynasty, the famous anti-gold general Yue Fei was framed to death by the traitor Qin Hui.At that time, there was a chef in Fuzhou who specially cooked a dish named "chowder" with a variety of ingredients.Once, the government received a high-ranking official from Kyoto and specially tasted the famous chef's "chowder". When the guest officer asked what the name of the dish was called "chowder", the chef boldly replied: "I don't have much literacy. I only heard people say that the miscellaneous is the hybrid, and the stewed is the juniper of Qin Hui, and the side of the wooden character is replaced by the side of the fire character." The high official from Kyoto was terrified when he heard this, but he didn't know whether it was because he drank too much wine or he also Hating Qin Hui, he just yelled in a bravado: "Get out!" From then on,
The word "chowder" spread from Fuzhou to various places.

6. The relationship between Qin Hui and his wife and fried dough sticks

Fried dough sticks are a breakfast food that many people love to eat.It was originally called "fried cypress" and "fried ghost". It is a traditional breakfast snack. According to legend, there is a story.

"Song History" records that in the 1142th day of Shaoxing, Emperor Gaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty ([-]), Qin Hui and his gang of traitors killed Yue Fei and his son at the Fengbo Pavilion in Lin'an on "unnecessary" charges.When the people in the capital city of Lin'an (now Hangzhou City) learned about this incident, they were all filled with righteous indignation, and hated Qin Hui and Wang's deeply.

At that time, there was a restaurant specializing in deep-fried food near Fengbo Pavilion, and the owner of the shop was frying food by the frying pan. After hearing the news that Yue Fei was killed by Qin Hui and his wife, he couldn't hold back his anger, grabbed a piece of dough from the basin, and Made into two villains, a man and a woman, a rascal with a raised eyebrow, and a cunning woman with a crooked mouth.He grabbed the noodle knife, and stabbed the scoundrel's neck horizontally, and stabbed the belly of the crooked woman with a vertical knife.And glued them back to back, threw them into the oil pan, and shouted again and again: "Eat fried Qin Hui!" He shouted, and the crowd who bought early shouted comprehensibly: "Eat fried Chinese juniper! Eat oil Fried cypress!" He helped to make it and ate it.

The common people ate "fried juniper" in the first place to dispel the resentment in their hearts.But once you eat it, it tastes really good and the price is cheap, so more and more people eat it.For a while, many stalls in Lin'an City and outside the city learned to make it, and then it gradually spread to other places. Over time, this snack was called "fried dough sticks".

7. What is the meaning of the Manchu name "Saqima"

Saqima is a traditional pastry of the Manchu people. It was originally called Manchurian pastry, and some people gave it a Chinese translation, called Tangtang or Golden Silk Cake, but now it is called Saqima.

Why is the pastry called Sachima?There is another legend: It is said that a Manchu general in Guangzhou in the Qing Dynasty, surnamed Sa, liked to hunt on horseback, and he must eat dim sum after every hunting.Once, before General Sa went out to hunt, Tezu ordered the chef to "bring something fresh", and if he was not satisfied, he was ready to go home!When the chef in charge of dim sum heard this, he was naturally very nervous, and in a daze, he blew up the dim sum covered in egg liquid!But at this time the general was urging for dessert again, and the chef cursed angrily: "Kill that rider!" and brought out the snack in a hurry.

Unexpectedly, General Sa was quite satisfied after eating it. When asked the name of this dim sum, the chef was still in shock, and then replied: "Kill riding horses!" It's quite wonderful, so he praised it repeatedly, and Sachima got his name from it.

8. How did hot pot evolve?

It is recorded in "Han Shi Wai Zhuan" that in ancient sacrificial ceremonies or celebrations, it was necessary to "beat the bell and set up a tripod" to eat, that is, people gathered around the tripod, and put beef and mutton in the tripod to cook and share the food. This is the germination of hot pot. .

There are two theories about the origin of hot pot: one is that it was in the period of the Three Kingdoms or Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty, and the "copper tripod" at that time was the predecessor of hot pot; the other is that hot pot began in the Eastern Han Dynasty. "Dou" refers to hot pot.It can be seen that hot pot has a history of more than 900 years in my country.

It was not until the Ming and Qing Dynasties that hot pot really flourished.On the tenth day of the first lunar month in the 48th year of Qianlong’s reign in the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Qianlong hosted 530 tables of court hot pot, which was the most grand hot pot in China at that time.When Emperor Jiaqing of the Qing Dynasty came to the throne, he once held a "Thousands of Seniors Banquet", and used 1550 hot pots. Its scale is astonishing and amazing.

9. Why is it said that "Man-Han Banquet" is a treasure of Chinese cuisine culture

The Man-Han Banquet originated in the Qing Dynasty. It combines the essence of Manchu and Han dishes. It is the most famous Chinese banquet in history.In the "Yangzhou Shufang Lu" written by Li Dou during the Jiashen period of Qianlong, there is a list of Manchu and Han banquets, which is the earliest record about the Manchu and Han banquets.

The Manchu Banquet is divided into six banquets, all named after the famous banquets in the Qing Palace.Gather many famous delicacies from Manchu and Han Dynasties, choose seasonal seafood, and search for rare and exotic animals.There are 196 crystals of cold meat and hot dishes, 124 crystals of snacks and tea, and 320 dishes in total.Use a full set of famille rose longevity tableware with silverware, rich and gorgeous, and the dining environment is elegant and grand.

The Man Han Banquet is considered a giant banquet.It not only has the characteristics of palace dishes, but also has the essence of local flavors. The dishes are exquisite and the etiquette is exquisite.The Manchu Banquet was originally a kind of banquet where Manchus and Han people sat together when banquets were held in officialdom.There are generally at least [-] kinds of dishes served at the Manchu Banquet, which can be eaten in three days.The Man-Han Banquet draws a wide range of materials, fine materials, and all-encompassing delicacies from mountains and seas.Exquisite cooking skills, full of local characteristics, highlight the special flavor of Manchu Lai Dian, barbecue, hot pot, and shabu-shabu have become indispensable Lai Dian, and at the same time show the characteristics of Han cooking, such as grilling, frying, frying, simmering, roasting, etc. It is a treasure of Chinese Lai culture.

10. Is "Ma Po Tofu" really invented by women with pitted faces?
Mapo tofu is a famous crystal in Sichuan Lai, one of the eight major cuisines in my country.The main raw material is composed of tofu, which is characterized by the eight characters of hemp, spicy, hot, fragrant, crisp, tender, fresh and alive, which are called the eight-character proverb.

How did "Ma Po Tofu" get its name?There is such a legend circulating in Chengdu, Sichuan:
During the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, a shopkeeper surnamed Wen in Chengdu Wanbao Sauce Garden had a pockmarked daughter named Wen Qiaoqiao. She married Chen the shopkeeper of an oil workshop in Majia Nian. At 10 o'clock in the afternoon, her husband died accidentally while transporting oil.After the death of her husband, the life of Qiaoqiao and her sister-in-law became a problem.Oil workers and neighbors brought rice and lai to help them every day.Qiaoqiao’s left and right neighbors are respectively a tofu shop and a mutton shop. She stewed minced mutton with tofu to make mutton tofu.So, the two sisters-in-law turned the house into a restaurant, with a shop in the front and a house in the back, and served customers with mutton and tofu as their signature dish.The price of the snack shop is not expensive, the taste is good, and the business is very prosperous.Qiaoqiao did not remarry after being widowed, and has been making a living by selling mutton and tofu.After her death, in order to commemorate her, people called mutton tofu "Ma Po tofu" and it has been called so far.

Now, "Ma Po Tofu" has become a home-cooked dish that can be seen everywhere.

11. How did the dish "Buddha jump over the wall" come out
The original name of Buddha Jumping Wall is Fushouquan.In the 25th year of Guangxu (1899), an official from the Fuzhou Official Money Bureau hosted a banquet for Zhou Lian, the governor of Fujian. More than ten kinds of raw and auxiliary materials such as seafood are made by simmering, and it is named Fushouquan.After Zhou Lian tasted it, she was full of praise.Later, Zheng Chunfa, the government chef, learned how to cook this dish and improved it. When Zheng Chunfa opened the "Juchunyuan" restaurant, it caused a sensation in Rongcheng. "Fu Shou Quan" has become the main dish of this restaurant, because the pronunciation of "Fu Shou Quan" in Fuzhou dialect is similar to that of "Buddha Tiaoqiang".

There is also a saying that in Fujian, on the third day after marriage, a new daughter-in-law has to cook in person and show off her tea and rice skills, serve her in-laws and win their appreciation.It is said that a rich girl, spoiled and spoiled, was not used to cooking, and was in great distress on the eve of her marriage.Her mother took all the delicacies from the mountains and seas at home to make various dishes, wrapped them in lotus leaves one by one, and told her how to cook them.Unexpectedly, this young lady forgot all about the cooking method, and poured all the vegetables into a Shaoxing wine jar in a hurry, covered with lotus leaves, and put it on the stove.The next day, the strong fragrance wafted out, and the whole family praised the delicious dish. This is the origin of "Buddha Jumping Wall" of "Eighteen Lai Cooked in One Pot".

12. How Su Dongpo cooked "Dongpo Meat"
Su Dongpo (1036-1101) in the Song Dynasty, when he was demoted to Huangzhou for offending the emperor, often cooked dishes himself and tasted them with friends. Su Dongpo's cooking was best at braised pork.

At that time, most of the West Lake had been submerged by Fulchus.After he took office, he mobilized tens of thousands of migrant workers to remove the fennel fields, dredged the lake port, piled up the excavated mud to build a long embankment, and built bridges to unblock the lake water, so that the beauty of the West Lake can be restored, and water can be stored for irrigation.This piled long embankment improves the environment, not only brings water benefits to the masses, but also adds to the scenery of the West Lake.Later, "Su Causeway Spring Dawn", which was listed as the first of the ten scenic spots of West Lake, was formed.

At that time, the common people praised Su Dongpo for doing this good deed for the local people. They heard that he liked to eat braised pork. When the Spring Festival came, they all gave him pork by coincidence to show their hearts.Su Dongpo received so much pork, he felt that it should be shared with the tens of thousands of migrant workers who were dredging the West Lake, so he asked his family to cut the meat into cubes, cook it with his cooking method, and share it with the wine according to the list of migrant workers to every household.When his family was cooking, they interpreted "sending with wine" as "cooking with wine". As a result, the braised pork was more crispy and delicious. Eaters praised the unique cooking method and deliciousness of the meat sent by Su Dongpo. tasty.After the Lunar New Year's Eve, every household in the folks makes Dongpo pork.It has become a custom and is used to express the nostalgia for Su Dongpo.

13. Why do you say Sixi Maru but not Sanxi Maru?
According to legend, Sixi meatballs were created in the Tang Dynasty.One year when the imperial court opened a subject examination, students from all over the country flocked to the capital, among them Zhang Jiuling.As a result, Zhang Jiuling, who was poorly dressed, won the top list. The emperor appreciated Zhang Jiuling's talent, so he recruited him as his son-in-law.At that time, Zhang Jiuling's hometown was hit by floods, and his parents left their hometown without hearing from him.On the day of the wedding, Zhang Jiuling happened to know the whereabouts of his parents, so he sent someone to bring them to the capital.Joy comes with joy, Zhang Jiuling asked the chef to cook an auspicious dish to celebrate.Lai brought it up and saw that there were four big meatballs that were fried thoroughly and steamed and poured with soup.

Zhang Jiuling asked the meaning of the dish, and the clever chef replied: "This dish is 'four rounds'. First, the master's title on the top list; second, getting married; third, being a son-in-law by riding a dragon; fourth, family reunion." Zhang Jiuling laughed and praised again and again, saying: "'Siyuan' is not as loud and pleasant as 'Sixi'. Let's just call it 'Sixi Wan'." This dish is a must.

(End of this chapter)