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Chinese dishes are classified in two ways: One is by region. One of
the regional methods defines four major cuisines based on the
eating habits of the people in different regions. They include
Sichuan, Guangdong, Shandong and Huai Yang cuisines. Another
regional division comprises nine schools. They are the Beijing,
Shandong, Sichuan, Guangdong, Fujian, Huai Yang, Hubei, Hunan, and
Jiangsu Zhejiang cuisines.
The second classification is based on the origin of the dishes.
This system includes the palace, officials', common people's,
mountain and forest temples', and ethnic minorities' dishes, and
dishes of foreign countries. This second classification is very
old. It was based on the rigid stratification of China's feudal
society, which lasted for thousands of years and forced different
ways of living upon the people. The differences in the
stratification of the foods were recorded in the Unofficial
Annals of the States in the Spring and Autumn Period as
follows: "The emperor ate ox, sheep; officials ate pig; scholars
ate fish; and the common people ate vegetables." Feudal ethics and
different living standards among the differing strata resulted in
Chinese food being classified into the palace, officials', and
common people's cuisines.
Officials' cuisine, also called the cuisine of the officialdom and
literati, included the famous dishes of the wealthy people. The
standards for the officials; cuisine were lower than for palace
food, but remained far superior to the common people's cuisine.
Official's dishes were created by working people, but were eaten
only by feudal bureaucrats, aristocrats, and the rich.
Many bureaucrats and aristocrats ate luxurious food. Huang Sheng of
the Tang Dynasty "cooked three catties of venison from dawn to
sunset every day, and said with joy: It is well done now!' He did
this for 40 years." Lu Mengzheng of the Song Dynasty had chicken
tongue soup every day, the result being that chicken feathers were
piled up like a hill. The family cook of Cai Jing, a prime minister
of the Song Dynasty, killed 1,000 quail every day.
Family cooks knew how to make tasty dishes and gradually created
their own cooking styles. The luxurious life, rich resourced, and
abundant raw materials provided important conditions for the
creation of officials' cuisine.
Another important condition that aided the creation of officials'
cuisine was the combination of famous cooks and gourmets. Famous
dishes require cooks and gourmets, and these required education,
culture, and a high standard of living. Cooks improved the dishes
based on the gourmets' comments so that each dish became better and
better. The gourmets helped discard bad dishes and retain dishes
with good color, fragrance, and taste.
Gourmets were common throughout history. Most were literati,
ministers, or officials, such as Confucius in the Spring and Autumn
and Warring States Periods, Su Shi and Lu You in the Song Dynasty,
Ni Zan in the Yuan Dynasty, Li Yu in the late years of the Ming
Dynasty, and Yuan Mu in the Qing Dynasty. They were food and drink
experts who left behind many penetrating remarks and special
writings. For example, Dongpo pork, Yunlin goose, Confucian dishes,
Sui Garden dishes, and Tan family dishes were all famous officials'
dishes that have been passed down to later generations.
The special features of the officials' dishes are that the
materials are carefully selected and the cooking is exquisite. Yuan
Shikai, the first president of the Republic of China, had many
family cooks with excellent skills. He liked to eat duck,
especially steamed duck. In winter, he ate duck steamed without soy
at every meal. To make sure the duck was more nutritious and tasty,
he ordered the farmers to powder pilose antler, mix it with
sorghum, and feed it to the ducks.
Pan Zuyin, minister of the board of works during Xianfeng's region
in the Qing Dynasty, has a profound knowledge of how to eat well.
In his home, bean curd was braised together with the brains of live
ducks to make a delicious dish.
Great attention was paid to cooking methods and careful
preparation. For example, Dongpo Pork was named after Su Dongpo (or
Su Shi) who described it thus: "Clean the pan, put a little water
into it, and cook the pork over a low fire. Don't hurry, but wait
until it is well done. It tastes natural and good when it is
ready."
Diced chicken with peanuts stir fried with chili sauce was a dish
created by the family cook of Ding Baozhen, an imperial inspector
for Shandong Province and the Governor of Sichuan Province The main
ingredient is the breast meat of roosters several months old. The
meat is fried over a medium to hot fire. When the chicken cubes
separate, add the mixed gravy and salted peanuts. Then shake and
turn the ingredients several times.
Official's cuisine stresses a family atmosphere during meal times.
At that time, there was no etiquette to make people overcautious at
meals as there was in the palace, nor was there interference from
neighboring tables as in a restaurant. It was similar to common
family life, where there is no restraint and diners concentrate on
eating.
In the feudal society, the literati and officials always enjoyed
food and drink as a fruit of the culture. They liked natural
tastes, cleanliness, beauty, and sought benefit from their food.
They were interested in tasting the deliciousness of their food and
they treated good food ant they treated good food as a work of art.
Tan Zhuanqing, founder of the Tan Family cuisine, was a connoisseur
of cultural relics as well as a gourmet. The Tan Family cuisine
stresses both the original juices and taste of the ingredients.
Both Tan Zhuangqing and his father, Tan Zongjun, preferred their
food to have a natural taste.
Pan Zuyin was a man of letters and a gourmet. Toward the end of the
Qing Dynasty, the Guangheju Restaurant had many renowned cooks and
was famous throughout Beijing. Pan Zuyin was a frequent customer of
the restaurant. He taught the cooks how to cook fish, then had them
cook it for him using this procedure: Boil the cleaned carp for a
few minutes, then use your hands to break the fish into two parts.
Add the minor ingredients and flavorings and steam the fish until
it is done. The special features of this dish are that neither a
cutting tool nor cooking oil are used. The fish is steamed to keep
its original flavor. It is tender and both the meat and soup are
delicious. The cook found it satisfactory and guests spoke highly
of it. This Pan Family dish was later introduced in restaurants as
"Pan's fish" or "Pan's steamed fish."
There are many other dishes that were originally created for
official's families, then later became popular in restaurants.
Their common feature was to preserve the original taste and
stock.
Exquisite dinnerware serves as an accent to tasty dishes and adds
glory to banquets. Today, people can see the exquisite dinnerware
from Confucius' mansion, including silver and porcelain sets. Many
sets are uniquely shaped and are very beautiful. Some dinnerware
was especially designed and made for special dishes. The Tan Family
Food Restaurant in Beijing has many specially designed sets, such
as the plates for shark's fin, which are slightly higher in the
center to make the shark's fin more appealing.
The shape of dishes should not affect their natural taste and
flavor. Loss outweighs gain if the taste of the dish is lost for
the sake of shape. Yuan Mei in his Sui Garden Menu said,
"Good food should be matched by good dinnerware." Officials'
cuisine stresses taste foremost, then uses good dinnerware to
accent the good taste.
Many dishes were named after the literati who invented or
especially liked them. For example, Dongpo pork, stir fried diced
chicken with peanuts, and Pan's fish. Many years ago some Beijing
restaurants that were frequented by literati and officials, served
dishes named for famous people. For example, Wu's dishes in the
Sansheng Restaurant, of which the most famous was Wu's fish slices:
Cut fresh fish into long slices with good quality soy sauce and
water from Yao's family well in the south. Wu here referred to Wu
Junshe or Wu Yansheng, an imperial cook.
Hu Shi's fish in the Chenghuayuan Restaurant: Cut fresh carp into
small cubes and cook it into thick soup with three fresh
delicacies, such as abalone, sea cucumber, shrimp, chicken cubes,
mushrooms, or bamboo shoots. The dish was invented by Dr. Hu Shi
and prepared for him by his cook.
The Guangheju Restaurant was known for its wide variety of famous
dishes. Most of these were officials' dishes. When these literati
and officials met in restaurants, they taught the cooks how to make
their family delicacies. Apart from Pan's fish, the restaurant also
served Jiang's bean curd, a soft bean curd prepared with shrimp
roe, fermented soybeans, and bamboo shoot cubes. It was taught by
Jiang Yuntao, magistrate of a prefecture, hence the name. Other
dishes were Han's pork leg, a dish prepared from the top part of a
pig leg along with five flavorings. It was taught by Han Xinshe.
Tao's dish was taught by Tao Fu, a vice minister in the Qing
Dynasty; Hu's fish was taught by Hu Guqing, a vice minister in the
Qing Dynasty, and Zeng's fish was taught by Zeng Guofan.
Today, the Beijing Television Station has a special program on
Chinese cooking that invites famous chefs to demonstrate their
cooking skills and literati and artists to teach their own
specialties.
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