What are the "Eight Big Pieces" in Luoyang?

The eight parts are divided into the first five parts and the last three parts.

In the first year of civilization, Wu Zetian officially came to power, cut the gordian knot and did three major things. First, he abolished Zhongzong, and then made Li Dan emperor, leaving Li Dan idle; The second thing was the death of Emperor Li, which made the world at that time full of speculation and instability. Wuhou decisively moved Li Zhi's spiritual position to the west and buried him in Fengtian, far away from Luoyang, so that people would forget him forever as soon as possible. The third is to quickly quell the Yangzhou rebellion. This is the "three quick things" in the eight big things.

The "five-willow fish" in the eight major pieces refers to Wu Zetian's changing Luoyang into the capital of gods, changing her flag and clothes, changing her official position and changing her official name. "Fish kernel" is actually a fish kernel pill, which is a metaphor for Xue Huaiyi's bald head. "Chicken Ding" means that Wu Zetian has been casting bronze wares in the imperial court for two years, and all informers have to be summoned. Diced chicken means that chickens and dogs are treated equally. And "bursting the crane's chest" is the homonym of "worshipping the river". Wu Zetian was photographed in Luoyang for four years, and there was a scene on the screen where God told her to be emperor. With this voucher, no one in the world dares not to support her.

The last three courses of the eight big pieces are sweets, which generally include eight-treasure rice, My Sweetie and sweet and sour tenderloin, also called "changing sugar (soup)". Sugar is a homonym of the Tang Dynasty, which means that Wu Zhou replaced Li Tang.

Finally, there are four finishing touches: shark fin flower arrangement, golden monkey exploring the sea, squid in spring and Bibo umbrella pill. After Wu Zetian proclaimed himself emperor, she sealed herself four times. The first time was "Emperor Zhou". The second time was the "Golden Wheel Holy Emperor"; The third time was "The Ancient Golden Wheel Emperor"; The fourth time is "cishi Moon Valley Golden Wheel Holy Emperor".

It is said that although Wu Zetian ate water mat dishes for many years, she didn't know that this water mat predicted herself. Until she died, she fell ill in the Yang Palace and felt that nothing was right. She is still chanting the draft mat. At the end of the twenty-four courses, she asked what the last course was, and someone told her it was meatballs. Because the pill of Maruko is homophonic with the finished product, so is the child of Maruko. Wu Zetian was ill. She heard Maruko say "It's over". She sighed and shouted, "Me too …" She died. Therefore, in the Tang dynasty, this kind of banquet was called Wuhou water mat. Because of this, people later added a bowl of smooth and delicious egg-wrapped soup after these 24 dishes, one for removing the greasy food from the mouth of the eater, and the other for the golden color of the egg-wrapped rice, also called "satisfied soup" to show the end of the banquet.

On February 2nd, the dragon looked up and ate fried beans.

In fact, different restaurants have different understandings of these 24 dishes and different cuisines. For example, in an old shop specializing in water mats, "it's really different". Water mats are divided into low, medium and high-grade dishes, and different grades of dishes are different.

There is a "golden dragon exploring the spring" in the water mat of Good Different, which is actually fried beans eaten by ordinary people.

This dish is a typical "takenism", which is used by me and reflects the inclusiveness of Luoyang water mat.

According to records, since the Tang Dynasty, people have the habit of taking the second day of February in the summer calendar as a festival. Bai Juyi has a poem "February 2" handed down from generation to generation. He wrote "Go for a walk": "It rains and clears up on February 2, and the grass sprouts for a while. The light shirt is ok, Ma Qing is young and crosses the street. "

According to folklore, this festival originated in the Tang Dynasty: after Wu Zetian proclaimed himself emperor, she made a "holy" word "Sun and Moon", which angered the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor sent Taibai Venus to send a message to the Dragon King of the Four Seas: It is forbidden to rain on earth within three years! Seeing that the earth cracked and the river dried up, the seedlings died and the people died, a jade dragon in charge of the Tianhe River moved with compassion. It drank enough Tianhe River and began to rain. In an instant, the storm poured down and the world was full of joy. After the heavy rain, Yulong, who violated the law, was sent to earth by the Jade Emperor. He also ordered Taibai Venus to turn the dust in his hand into a mountain and press it on him, and erected a monument saying, "The dragon will be punished for violating the decree and suffer forever; If you want to turn over to heaven, unless the golden beans bloom. " The people were anxious, and they were all worried when they heard that Yulong had suffered such a crime. We can't let Yulong, who works hard for the people, suffer like this. They are busy looking for "Golden Bean Blossoming", not only to repay Yulong for saving his life, but also to hope that it will be useless. Of course, the result is nothing. Where will the golden beans bloom? Time flies, the annual rings fly, and next spring, people are discussing ways to save Yulong. Suddenly, an old man came with a bag on his back. When his foot slipped, the bag was scattered and golden corn was scattered all over the floor. When they saw it, they exclaimed, Isn't this golden corn like golden beans? Isn't the fried flower "golden bean blossoms"? It's really hard to find a place to get it, and it doesn't take much effort to get it. At the old man's command, everyone cooked corn together the next morning to realize the "golden bean blossom".

The next day is the second day of February. People make a fire and stir-fry corn in a pot. At the same time, they put plates of popcorn on the table and shouted in unison: "Golden beans are blooming!" " Venus, whose eyes were dim, saw a golden bean with white sheep on it in the underground palace, so she conveniently collected the dust. Then Yulong raised the faucet, turned over, jumped into the air, took a deep breath of Tianhe River, and sprayed a heavy rain on the earth. The jade emperor had a purpose first, so it was inconvenient to break his word, so he had to announce the pardon of Yulong.

Since then, people have called the second day of February "Dragon Head Up Day". On this day, every household fried corn and beans, and sang "February 2, the dragon looked up, the big hoard was full, and the small hoard flowed" while frying, praying for the dragon king to rain in time.

Luoyang water mat not only pays attention to all dishes, but also announces the start of the banquet by an imperial envoy. Therefore, some people say that Luoyang water mat is the most cultured Henan cuisine, a classic in Central Plains cuisine and a chapter in Chinese food culture.