A traditional banquet is a must. What are the eight bowls of Zhengding?

Zhengding Eight Bowls evolved from Manchu Eight Bowls in Manchu Banquet combined with Zhengding local unique dishes and dietary characteristics. As a representative, Song Ji Ba Wan has been listed as the second batch of intangible cultural heritage protection projects in Hebei Province. So, what are the eight bowls of Zhengding? Come and get to know me.

In Zhengding County, the custom of entertaining distinguished guests and rewarding outstanding workers with "eight dishes and eight bowls" has been circulating. The custom of entertaining guests with "eight dishes and eight bowls" on major festivals such as the Spring Festival has been circulated since ancient times, and it has gradually been used to entertain relatives and friends when getting married.

With the improvement of living standards, "eight dishes and eight bowls" have also evolved. Due to the lack of food in small counties, dishes have evolved into plates. From "eight" to "twelve", "sixteen" and "eighteen", the dishes on the plates are also very rich in content. However, because of its complicated workmanship and high technical requirements, the name of "Eight Bowls" changed from "Eight Bowls" to "Eight Bowls", and the contents of the dishes in the bowl remained basically unchanged, so "Zhengding Eight Bowls" became a traditional folk dish with quite characteristics.

It is said that when Changshan Zhao Zilong won the battle, he often entertained soldiers with four bowls of meat dishes and some vegetarian dishes. Zhao Zilong chefs and some soldiers retired and returned to their hometown, bringing Zhao Zilong's practice of rewarding soldiers and entertaining friends back to Zhengding, and constantly improving it. With the evolution of history, people's ideas began to advocate the word "eight". To celebrate their good luck, they changed the square table into a square table, sat eight guests and ate eight dishes (eight cold dishes and eight big bowls of dishes). This form of four bowls of meat dishes and four bowls of vegetarian dishes was stereotyped as "eight bowls" in the Tang Dynasty and was widely popular.

Zhengding eight bowls mainly include: four meats and four vegetarian dishes. Four kinds of meat are mainly pork, and four bowls of meat are selected from front rib meat, middle rib meat, rear hip meat and elbow meat. These four bowls of meat are made of different meat materials, and each bowl of meat has the names of elbow-buckled meat, crispy meat, pork-buckled meat and square meat. The four major ingredients are generally radish, kelp, vermicelli and tofu.

The eight bowls are not only well-selected but also exquisite in workmanship. First, put the selected pork into a large pot and cook it. After cooking, put a layer of honey on the skin while it is hot, and then fry it in the oil pan until the skin turns yellow and red. After the meat is cool, cut into pieces and put them into the bowls according to the requirements of the four meat bowls. Eight bowls have higher requirements for knife workers, and they pay attention to squareness when cutting meat, so they are squareness. Slice length is coordinated and thickness is consistent.

Vegetarianism is about knowing how to cut vegetables, and it is patchy and generous. After the meat bowl is installed, steam it in a steamer. The first steaming needs to be steamed for one hour (two hours) with a big fire, and no seasoning is put in this steaming. The fire steamed for two hours, and most of the oil in the meat was steamed out. Pour out the oil and steam it again. The second steaming should be done with slow fire (low fire) or without any seasoning. This time, it needs to be steamed for half an hour (1 hour), and then the steamed oil is poured out when the time comes.