The Manchu and Han Banquets in Qing Dynasty

Do the dishes made by the Manchus taste better or the dishes made by the Han people? "

Kangxi didn't speak, and motioned her to continue talking.

"The concubine thinks that it would be better to find a Manchu chef to have a food battle with Lin Yuchu. Everyone knows that Mr. Cheng is the best cook in the palace. If you don't know Mr. Cheng, you can cook both southern and northern dishes. It's Lin Yuchu's master, so he can't come forward." Xueshan deliberately paused, seeing that the emperor didn't show any impatient expression, she felt that the chances of winning were increased by one point.

She smiled and glanced at Zixiu, and continued: "I think Hesheli Xuesong is the most suitable."

Kangxi finally had an expression, but it was a mocking expression.He opened his mouth and said, "Hesheli Xuesong? If I remember correctly, he is the queen's cousin, right? I wonder what the queen's intention is for recommending this person Doucai?"

Xueshan was shocked, and quickly explained: "Back to the emperor, this is not the meaning of concubines. Everyone in the palace knows that except Mr. Cheng, Xuesong's cooking skills are the best, and Lin Yuchu is the best among the Han people. So..." She looked at Kangxi in a panic, afraid of arousing Kangxi's suspicion.

Kangxi said: "Queen, don't panic, Zixiu, what do you say?"

Zixiu said: "The servant thinks this method is feasible. Exchange cooking skills is the most common way for chefs to express friendship. Only by comparing can there be progress."

He paused, and then said: "I don't know much about Beicai, maybe I can learn a thing or two through this trip."

"That's good. As for the detailed rules, let Shangshan Supervisor deal with it." Kangxi called Liang Jiugong, briefly explained the matter, and Liang Jiugong took orders to handle it.

Seeing that she had achieved her goal, Xueshan happily went back to the palace.Hmph, can't I kill you this time?

To say that the palace's work efficiency is high, all the detailed rules were finalized the next day.The time for Doucai is set on May [-]th, at the square where Kangxi held a birthday banquet last time, and there are eight judges: the emperor, queen and six ministers.

Doucai is not uncommon in the folk, but it is the first time that such a large-scale Doucai is held in the palace.From inside the palace to outside the palace, everyone is very excited. Food is the most important thing for the people, and no one will refuse delicious food.

This time, the ingredients for Doucai are all prepared by myself, and as for what to do, they are kept secret. Zixiu represents the Han cook, and Xuesong represents the Manchu cook. From this point of view, Zixiu is at a disadvantage.

The Qing Dynasty was dominated by Manchurians. 90.00% of the palaces were Manchurians. Among the royal chefs, only he and his master Cheng Li were Han Chinese. The ending can be imagined. Almost everyone supported Xuesong.

This would invisibly put pressure on the unsupported side, but Zixiu's dazedness also played an advantage at this moment. He didn't care what others thought, and he didn't even think he had to win this time.It is his consistent philosophy to work hard to learn cooking skills and enrich his experience.

"Zixiu, don't feel pressured, you just entered the palace, even if you lose, it doesn't matter. Besides, Xue Song is the queen's cousin, so the queen will naturally help him; the six ministers are also Manchurians, they have always looked down on the Han people... oh ..." Cheng Li patted Zixiu's hand, not knowing what to say.

Zixiu said: "Master, I know that no matter what the result is, I will do my best. Moreover, I think whether I can learn from it is the most important thing. I know that I am not good at learning. People dare to challenge."

Cheng Li smiled and said, "It's best for you to think this way. With your ability, I believe you will surpass Master in a short time. If possible, Master still hopes that you can win."

"Well, I will try my best to fight for vegetables. It's okay for me to lose face, but it's really wrong for Master to lose face."

"You kid." Cheng Li tapped his head, and the two laughed together.

The days of waiting are always so long, and May [-] has finally arrived amidst the long-awaited calls of everyone.Although the scale of this time was much different from the birthday banquet, there were quite a few people who came to watch the battle. With Kangxi's approval, some ministers even brought their family members over.

Rong Ruo was banned from entering the palace for a month, and now that the deadline has passed, he also followed Mingzhu.Mingzhu, as Minister of the Ministry of War, is one of the referees. Rong Ruo had begged himself, Ama, to judge Zixiu to win.

Mingzhu agreed with her mouth, but groaned in her heart: "Let a Han win? Where do you put the face of the Manchus?" As a proud student of the Eight Banners, how can he be suppressed by the Han?

Rong Ruo didn't know that Ama had such thoughts, and if he knew, he might be depressed for a long time.He sat in the auditorium and watched Zixiu intently, silently encouraging him.

The emperor, empress and the six ministers sat in the referee seat in turn. On both sides were the concubines and their family members who came to watch the battle. The Dou Cai seat was set opposite to everyone, with Zixiu on the left and Xuesong on the right.There are a few little eunuchs around the two of them to help them when cooking.

The same kitchen utensils were placed in front of the two sides, and the ingredients were prepared by themselves. Until now, the dishes they each made were still a secret.

Standing between the two, Liang Jiugong said in a sharp voice: "In order to exchange culinary skills, we are holding a fighting vegetable competition today. The two contestants are the imperial chef Lin Zixiu and the imperial chef Hesheli Xuesong. Lin Yuchu represents the cook of the Han people. Hesheli The cedar represents the Manchu cook. The two cook a dish each, and then the emperor, empress and six adults taste it, and finally decide who is the winner. If the number of people supporting one side is more than the other, then this person wins. "

The people below were chatting with each other, guessing who would win.Most of them know Xuesong, not only because he is Manchurian, but also because he is the queen's cousin.And the people who knew Zixiu were very few, except for Rong Ruo, almost no one else.Everyone unanimously supports Xuesong, but is not optimistic about Zixiu.

Rong Ruo feels a little bit wrong for Zixiu, he knows Zixiu's culinary skills, but at this time, because he is a Han Chinese, he is not favored by everyone.Are Han Chinese and Manchurians really that important?Now that the country is unified, aren't they all the people of the Qing Dynasty?

He thought so, only to hear Liang Jiugong say again: "The time limit for cooking is half an hour. If you can't finish it within half an hour, then you will naturally lose. If everyone has no objections, let's start fighting."

The author has something to say: GN said that there are no dishes coming out in several chapters, okay, the next chapter will be there.

No.15 dishes

When the fight started, everyone became excited and wanted to witness the duel between the two masters in the palace.Xue Song glanced at Zixiu contemptuously, Zixiu smiled politely, the two of them did not speak, and started cooking at the same time.

The little eunuchs on both sides also started to get busy, some lighting the fire, some passing the knife, some washing the vegetables, some preparing the dishes... The whole scene was in full swing, and the audience was also boiling.

Hesheli Xuesong on the right picked up something from the table, and everyone stretched their necks to see that it was a red song duck.I saw him holding the knife in his right hand and turning it in the palm of his hand, and then slashed at the duck a few times. When everyone was guessing what he was going to do, he had already stopped the knife.

A second later, the bones of the duck's body fell one by one, but the flesh was not injured at all.

Everyone couldn't help but applaud, it takes more than a year or two to master this skill, no wonder he can become the most powerful Manchu imperial chef.

Xue Song smiled triumphantly, split the duck's body in two with a light knife, then picked up half of the duck's body with his left hand, and replaced it with a smaller knife with his right hand.This time everyone has experience, watching his movements without daring to blink.

Xue Song put the duck body flat in the palm of his hand, then raised it to his eyes, his right hand approached slowly, and then suddenly accelerated the movement.There was a cold light shining on the edge of the blade, and small arcs were drawn on the duck's body. The posture was not elegant, but it was quite calm.

Everyone didn't see any changes in the duck's body this time, so they speculated about what he did just now.In fact, they couldn't see the change because they were too far away. The little eunuchs nearby could see many regular arcs on the duck's body, and those arcs formed the feathers of the phoenix.

Xue Song didn't stop, and picked up the other half of the duck again. Not many people paid attention to him this time, because most of the attention was attracted by Zixiu.

After Zixiu soaked the cooked shiitake mushrooms in water to cool, he performed his sword skills again.Zixiu, who is immersed in cooking, can't take his eyes off, exuding a deadly allure all over his body. This is the first time Kangxi saw Zixiu cooking.

There was a faint smile on the corner of his mouth, warm and confident, his eyes were bright and clear, and he only had the food in front of him in his heart.He picked up a shiitake mushroom in his left hand and a small sharp knife between the two fingers of his right hand. When he raised his arm, everyone felt dazzled, Zixiu had already started cutting the shiitake mushroom.

The shredded shiitake mushrooms flew neatly into the plate on the table, and everyone noticed that the shiitake mushrooms that flew in turned into a branch of a tree!Everyone exclaimed, this... isn't this Lin Zixiu really a martial arts master?Speed, strength, and accuracy are all unqualified!

Rong Ruo smiled smugly, it seemed that he was the one who was admired, and he had seen Zixiu cook, so he was not so surprised at this moment, instead, he felt an uncomfortable feeling of being robbed of his personal things.

Kangxi narrowed his eyes, unwilling to take his eyes off that eye-catching figure.

But Zixiu didn't know what they were thinking. In his eyes, he only had the mushrooms and the sharp knife in his hands. His movements seemed to form a kind of inertia. Everyone felt that as long as he was cutting, the flying trajectory of the mushroom slices would not appear. Accident.

Cheng Li watched his movements from a distance, and thought, "This kid's knife skills have improved again."

"This Yuchu Lin really has some skills." Concubine Rong praised in a low voice.

"Yes, the dishes he cooks are all delicious, my sister must come and try them if she has the chance." Concubine Hui whispered to her