Li Bai has a poem called " Writing in Guests", which goes like this: "Lanling's fine wine is filled with tulips, and the jade bowl holds amber light. But it makes the host drunk, and the guest does not know where he is in a foreign country." In fact, This is the way of hospitality in China, a country of etiquette.
Whenever guests come to our home or there is a major banquet, we always try our best to entertain the guests with fine wines and delicacies, lest we fail to entertain them properly. What you eat is delicious food, and what you taste is feelings. As the chief executive of each region, I believe it best embodies this sentiment!
I went on a business trip to Henan with a colleague from Guangdong and a colleague from Henan. It happened that a colleague from Henan had a wedding banquet in his hometown, so we went with our colleague from Henan to have a feast. Colleagues born in the 1990s who grew up in Guangdong cities seemed to be extremely interested in this event.
Especially after hearing from a colleague from Henan that a table of 24 dishes cost only 500 yuan, the Guangdong guy was even more surprised. Not only him, but also many netizens and friends believe that there is no way this table of dishes is worth 500 yuan, it is worth 2,000 yuan!
As for whether it is worth it, Lao Yu will talk to you below:
One, four meat, four vegetarian and eight cold dishes.
As soon as he took his seat, eight cold dishes were already placed on the table. And these eight cold dishes are a combination of four meat and four vegetables. Although it is a cold dish, the table is full.
These eight cold dishes are not just thrown together casually. They represent "service", "propriety", "tao", "desire", "art", "literary", "Zen" and "politics" respectively. Eight themes, pay attention to the big works.
As time goes by, these 8 cold dishes only retain their main meaning and appearance, and each family has modified them according to their actual situation. So, it doesn’t really cost much to have a seemingly full table.
But obviously, the Guangdong colleagues who were born in the 1990s were attracted by these eight beautiful dishes and ate them happily. His colleagues in Henan advised him to take it easy, because this was just the beginning, and the highlight was yet to come.
two and four major items.
The "Four Big Pieces" are also called the "Four Big Table Dishes" and are also the main dishes of this banquet. They are: peony agar , grilled tiger head carp with green onions, cloud cover fermented bean curd pork , and sea rice with a hundred colors.
Peony agar-agar:
In my impression, peony agar-agar has a high reputation in Henan cuisine. Go to Henan to taste local dishes. It is a dish that must appear in various banquets in Henan.
In the middle of a soup bowl, there is a peony flower made of egg yolk, with shredded carrots, radish, and other colorful vegetables underneath. All of this is soaked in a special soup stock, which is really beautiful.
Don’t be like my colleague from Guangdong who just enjoys it and doesn’t eat it quickly. Because, soon this dish will be removed and a new dish will be served.
Grilled tiger head carp with green onions: While
was talking, grilled tiger head carp with green onions was served. The speed is really fast, and the dishes are changed one by one like a cloud. No wonder the banquet in Henan has its own name, called " water banquet ".
The "carp" in the tiger carp grilled with green onion actually refers to the long-bearded carp from the Yellow River. This carp has golden scales and a red tail. It is very valuable and is known as the first of China's four famous fishes. It has the reputation of "Luo Li Yifang, as valuable as cattle and sheep".
But it is precisely because of its high price that most water mats now use ordinary carp instead of long-bearded carp, or use farmed ones instead of wild ones. But no matter how it changes, the etiquette of Henan water banquet remains unchanged.
After this dish is served, the fish mouth should face the host and guest on each table. And you have to wait for the host and guest to move their chopsticks and taste it before other guests can eat.I have to say, Henan people are really important guests!
Cloud-covered bean curd pork:
Cloud-covered bean curd pork can actually be understood in a layman’s terms, it is steamed pork with bean curd or stewed with bean curd. The fat and lean pork melts in your mouth and is full of fragrance. It also has a strong flavor of fermented bean curd, which is very delicious.
The taste of this dish is of course not important, but what is more important is its meaning. If the host and guest of each table eat the tiger carp and green onions first, then the cloud-covered fermented bean curd pork must be eaten first by the guests of each table.
Haimi Shengbaicai:
Haimi Shengbaicai is actually a dish made by blanching the cabbage, placing it neatly on a plate, sprinkling it with sea rice, and then pouring it with broth. "Baicai" is homophonic to "Baicai", which is also a way for Henan people to seek good luck. Nowadays, winter melon is also used instead of cabbage, that is, winter melon and dried rice.
After eating so many meat dishes, it is quite good to have such a vegetarian dish to relieve fatigue. Take some relief and continue eating! Don’t forget, there are 12 more dishes!
three, eight major items.
The eight pieces represent the eight dishes, divided into the first five and the last three. Compared with the previous dishes such as peony agarwood, grilled tiger head carp with green onions, etc., these eight dishes can be considered more homely.
In some areas of Henan, these eight items are also called "Eight Big Bowls" or "Eight Big Button Bowls". Although these eight items are divided into the top five "quick three kinds", " five-leaf fish ", "fish kernels", "diced chicken" and "exploded crane breasts", they have all been improved now.
such dishes as "squeak, ten thousand taels of gold" burnt croquettes, Luoyang crispy pork, raw braised meatballs, Luoyang meat slices, etc. are all served on the table according to the actual situation of each restaurant. No matter how it changes, most of the dishes still have soup in them. Of course, this is also the local eating habit in Henan. Only soup and water are comfortable to eat.
And these "last three" are not fixed. In short, it must be sweet. Eight-treasure rice , shredded yam, shredded sweet potato, shredded apple , sweet and sour pork , etc.
four, four cleanup.
So far, can you still afford it? Just look at the Cantonese guy next to me! It seems that eating a banquet in Henan is like eating a buffet, and you need to prepare a strategy in advance!
At the end, choose four dishes from "Shark's Fin Illustration", "Golden Monkey Exploring Spring", "Egg Soup", "Luoyang Sea Cucumber" and so on, which constitute the last four dishes of this water banquet.
However, the dish "Luoyang Sea Cucumber" must be mentioned here. Note that we added the word "Luoyang" in front of sea cucumber . The reason why it is called this is because the sea cucumber used in this dish is not a real sea cucumber, but a fake sea cucumber.
Regarding this, this is something that the locals have a clear understanding of. Many restaurants even directly name the dishes like " fake sea cucumber ". These sea cucumbers are made from vermicelli mixed with sweet potato flour. They look exactly like sea cucumbers and have a similar taste. Although it is not a real sea cucumber, it is also very unique in taste.
In fact, this is also one of the characteristics of Henan water banquets - "filling the meat with vegetarian food", which is unique! Of course, even if it is a "fake" sea cucumber, it still has to be made into a soup dish and accompanied by soup.
In addition, "egg soup" must be mentioned among these four dishes. The so-called egg soup is actually , seaweed and egg drop soup, , or tomato and egg drop soup, etc. It is the last dish of the banquet. As soon as it is served, it means that the banquet is over and the guests can leave. Therefore, we all jokingly call it "egg soup".
In summary, do you think this table seat is worth 500? Or is it worth 2000? Everyone is welcome to leave a message in the comment area!
