What are the Eight Bowls of Old Beijing?
When it comes to the food in old Beijing, I believe many people will miss the eight bowls of old Beijing. But for the younger generation of friends, it may still be very unfamiliar to the eight bowls of old Beijing. So what exactly are the eight bowls of old Beijing? What is the origin of the eight bowls of old Beijing? Let's take a look.
The Origin of the Eight Bowls in Old Beijing
When it comes to the origin of the "Eight Big Bowls", there is such a mythical story. The origin of the food allusion "Eight Big Bowls", according to legend, the Eight Immortals crossed the sea and angered the Dragon King.
Uncle Cao worked tirelessly, soaring through the clouds and fog, walking to the mainland, a strange fragrance hit the nose, and he immediately searched for incense and entered the mortal world. He disguised as a peasant villager peeked at the manor's courtyard, and saw eight people sitting around the four-sided table, guessing fists, drinking freely, and tempting dishes one after another.
Uncle Guo thought: I used to be the uncle of the imperial court, I was tired of enjoying the dishes of the imperial court, and I have never seen the dishes of the peasant family. Why not let me eat a lot first, and suddenly I think that I can't enjoy the empty belly of all immortals and friends. Then I brought seven dishes, and I remembered that the fairy aunt does not eat meat, so I brought it alone - vegetarian dishes - green vegetable tofu, counting eight bowls and leaving a message: Uncle Guo borrowed eight bowls of dishes for the immortals, and will be used as a picture newspaper in the future.
The Eight Immortals felt even more amazing when they devoured it. After they were full of wine and food, their spirits doubled, and they won a great victory in the battle with the Dragon King. In the future, people changed the square table to the Eight Immortals table for good luck and celebration, sat eight guests, and ate eight dishes (eight cold dishes, eight bowls of dishes). It has been passed down to this day.
What are the eight bowls of Old Beijing?
In the folk, the "Eight Big Bowls" in old Beijing originated from the running water mat, which is a kind of ordinary and affordable dish. It is to make chicken, duck and fish through eight kinds of careful cooking with good color and aroma, and use traditional porcelain bowls to hold the delicacies on the table. Traditional weddings, funerals, and even social days, etc., all need to gather a crowd for dinner. This is a folk celebration as important as singing a big opera. Due to the lack of scenes, tables, chairs, bowls and chopsticks, etc., it has to adopt the method of "eating as you come, eating as you go".
Although the "Eight Bowls" in old Beijing were popular among the people, they were once a delicacy in the imperial palace. According to legend, Empress Dowager Cixi encountered a wedding event held by the people on her way to escape and tasted the "Eight Bowls" among the people. After returning to Beijing, she asked the imperial kitchen to cook it according to the folk method and entertain the civil and military.
Eating the flowing water table, according to the affinity and reputation to determine the order of seating, although there are points in order, but the content of the table is the same, with big fish and big meat and other rare things as the main ones. It is required to be made fast, available, sufficient, and basically the same taste. It is mainly cooked, and it is served in a large bowl of coarse porcelain to show that the amount is sufficient. After hundreds of years of running in, the menu of the "eight big bowls" of the old Beijing folk has been basically fixed, that is, the big bowl of three yellow chicken, the big bowl of yellow croaker, the big bowl of elbow, the big bowl of meatballs, the big bowl of rice noodles, the big bowl of pork, the big bowl of loose meat, and the big bowl of ribs.
But this is just a low-grade eight bowls, popular in the Qing Dynasty, "Manchu eight bowls", which come from outside the customs, namely, fried small tofu with snow vegetables, braised shrimp tofu eggs, grilled pork hands, burnt chicken, chicken mushroom powder, New Year's pig risotto, Yufu Tsubaki fish and Amadzun meat. It is easy to make and easy to store. After marching to win a war, it is often used to worship ancestors and share with soldiers.
Due to the extensive production, with the Dingding Central Plains, there were "eight thick bowls", namely fried green shrimp, braised shredded chicken, stewed egg soup and crab roe, sea cucumber balls, ingot meat, clear soup chicken, braised chicken and home-cooked carp. Later, there were "eight thin bowls", namely fish fillets, braised shrimp, family photos, osmanthus fish bones, braised slippery fish, Sichuan shredded pork, Sichuan big balls and loose meat.
The thickness of the "Eight Big Bowls" is mostly an upgraded version made by restaurants, with exquisite materials and fine workmanship, but taking traditional weddings as an example, there are often hundreds of guests, and only larger restaurants can provide it, otherwise there will be not enough noodles. The folk "Eight Big Bowls" are mostly made by the chef himself, and the guests are invited to prepare the ingredients. The chef brings his own tools and buddies, and sets the table with a stove in the open air.
"Eight Big Bowls" is convenient, practical, lively, and popular. In old Beijing, there are also the so-called "Halal Eight Big Bowls", which are introduced from big factories, namely, stewed karma mutton, braised yak meat, steamed fragrant hairtail fish, hot and sour soup tenderloin, beef ball roasted cabbage, smoked bamboo shoots braised tofu, Yipin Babao rice, etc. It also has a simplified version, namely stewed beef, stewed offal, carrot, long yam, kelp, vinegar and cabbage, vermicelli, balls, fried tofu, etc.
"Eight bowls" were not necessarily eight bowls, but eight bowls for the main course. Cold dishes and staple dishes were not counted, and sometimes fried vegetables were added in the name of side dishes.
In the era of scarcity, the "Eight Big Bowls" narrowed the distance between people and diluted the boredom of daily life, but eating in a crowd is prone to infectious diseases, and overeating is also unhealthy. With the improvement of life, the "Eight Big Bowls" in old Beijing gradually drifted away, and it was once lost. Although some merchants have restored it now, it is not as lively, and it is all meat dishes. Today, people really can't eat it.
After reading the above about the origin of the old Beijing Eight Bowls and what the old Beijing Eight Bowls are, I hope you have a deeper understanding of the old Beijing Eight Bowls. Although time is passing quietly, I hope people will not forget the food culture of old Beijing.
