If you want to talk about the famous foodies in history, the Qianlong Emperor can definitely rank in the top five. Noble status, but like to run to the Jiangnan area, but also love the food in the Jiangnan area, so that today's Jiangnan is left everywhere with the Qianlong Emperor's anecdotes, even special snacks with a touch of nobility.
The following is a brief introduction to the 3 major delicacies that were brought to the fire by the Qianlong Emperor. In fact, until now, the value of these foods has long been not so high, and it has become a common delicacy for people, and the price is not expensive. But if you look back at history, you will find that these delicacies have been publicized by the Qianlong Emperor, and the real emperor is the same. So, have you eaten all of the following delicacies?
Jade belt cake, also known as Funing big cake, a pint of jade belt cake, four inlaid jade belt cake. For funing people, this is the taste of hometown, and the first reaction to eating it is sweet, because the raw materials of jade belt cake are rice flour, sesame oil, osmanthus flowers, green plums, red plums, nuts and rock sugar.
Jade belt cake is white and thin, surrounded by white edges made of rice noodles, and the top is dotted with yellow nuts, green plums, red red plums and other ingredients, so that the whole cake appears to be very artistic, very in line with the royal aesthetics of the Qing Dynasty, so the pastry has the title of "jade belt cake".
According to legend, the Qianlong Emperor made the third southern tour of Jiangnan and stayed in Huai'an Province, and Funing County Ling brought Funing cakes to pay tribute. Qianlong looked at the Funing cake as white as snow, the aroma was fragrant, and after eating it, it was in line with his own taste, and bluntly said that the Funing cake was "jade belt also, a pint also", and also brought the pastry back to the capital to taste the pastry with his concubine.
One of the most favorite Jiangnan dishes of the Qianlong Emperor was squirrel mandarin fish. As early as the Qing Dynasty's "Tuning Ding Collection", there is a record of the practice of squirrel mandarin fish, indicating that this dish was already a dish brought by the Qianlong Emperor during the Qing Dynasty.
The Qianlong Emperor went down to Jiangnan several times, and the first time he paid a private visit to Suzhou, he had a meal at the "Songhe Tower". Because it was a private visit to micro-services, the dress was not so rich, the shop xiao er of the Songhe Tower looked down on the Qianlong Emperor and only sent a meal of clear soup and water, and Qianlong asked: "Does the shop have no dishes that can be handed?" ”
At this time, another shopkeeper passed by with squirrel mandarin fish, and the Qianlong Emperor pointed to the dish and said that he wanted to eat squirrel mandarin fish, but the shopkeeper replied, "Can you afford it?" Qianlong couldn't bear it anymore and argued with the shopkeeper, alarming the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper saw Qianlong's nobility at a glance, decided that he could not argue with this person, and quickly asked someone to send the squirrel mandarin fish that was ready to be sacrificed to his mother to Qianlong.
After Qianlong ate it, he only praised the squirrel mandarin fish, and also announced his identity to the shopkeeper. After the inspection in Jiangnan, before leaving, the Qianlong Emperor also came to the owner to ask for the method of squirrel mandarin fish, which shows how much he likes this dish.
Hot pot is a Chinese product, as early as the Qin Dynasty, hot pot has been invented in the form of bronze ding. In the Qing Dynasty, the Qianlong Emperor became a loyal fan of hot pot, not only often eating hot pot, but also inviting his courtiers to eat hot pot, eating many hot pot patterns, often changing the hot pot soup base and ingredients according to the season.
There are books in the Qing Dynasty that on the sixteenth day of the first month of the 30th year of Qianlong, the breakfast first ate the bird's nest red and white duck south fresh hot pot, and the dinner also ate the bird's nest duck hot pot. On the seventeenth day of the first month, I ate bird's nest fat chicken and fish for breakfast, and ate pheasant hot pot for dinner. On the fifteenth day of the first month of the forty-fifth year of Qianlong, I ate the hot pot of shallot and pepper duck soup for breakfast, and ate the hot pot of eight immortals of red and white duck in bird's nest and lamb slices for dinner.
So you can see in many daily utensils handed down from the Qing Dynasty that the stove is specially used to burn the hot pot, and there are already all kinds of beautiful hot pots. One of the reasons why hot pot culture was so popular in the Imperial Palace of the Qing Dynasty was the strong promotion of the Qianlong Emperor, so that Empress Dowager Cixi also particularly liked to eat hot pot.