Author Topic: The Manchu Han Imperial Feast (Read 1853 times)

hubag bohol · « **on:** August 31, 2013, 01:57:36 PM »

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A legendary banquet, as grand as you can imagine, only for the emperors of ancient China. Six meals a day for three days, with as many as 108 courses, including 134 hot dishes and 48 cold ones. That is Manchu Han Imperial Feast.

When the Manchus conquered China and founded the Qing dynasty in 1636, the disempowered Han people were demoted to lower ranking posts across the kingdom and a latent social power struggle between Manchu and Han peoples emerged. In order to resolve the dispute and further promote peaceful integration between the two groups, Emporer Kangxi held a magnificent banquet for his 66th birthday.

The banquet consisted of exotic and marquee dishes of Manchu and Han cuisine, and select court officials from both ethnic groups were invited to attend the banquet together. This opulent show of culinary skill and decadent feasting established a bridge between the two groups and contributed to a binding sense of unity that strengthened the imperial court, and the country as a whole.

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hubag bohol · « **Reply #1 on:** August 31, 2013, 01:58:13 PM »

From that point on, both ethnic cultures began to take pride in catering their specialties for the other to enjoy, influencing each other toward harmonious co-existence, and finally developing into the expectation of hospitality that has become integral in Chinese culture today.

The Manchu Han Imperial Feast was more than just a lavish buffet of food, it was the pinnacle of culinary art and aesthetics. The banquet was a feast of both sight and taste, with great pains made by the chefs to create dishes that were visually enticing as well as savory and delicious. Dishes were laid out with great fanfare and even given poetic names, such as water lily crisp, peach-shape birthday cake, golden thread porridge and so on.

It is believed that many of the actual recipies for dishes at the Manchu Han Imperial Feast failed to be handed down and have been lost, while other recipes used ingredients such as exotic plants and animals which are now protected. As a result, even though some five-star hotels claim that they serve a recreation of the Manchu Han Imperial Feast, many of the recipies and dishes are modified from their predecessors.

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hubag bohol · « **Reply #2 on:** August 31, 2013, 02:01:11 PM »

Manchu Han Imperial Feast
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Manhan Quanxi, literally Manchu Han Imperial Feast was one of the grandest meals ever documented in Chinese cuisine. It consisted of at least 108 unique dishes from the Manchu and Han Chinese culture during the Qing Dynasty, and it is only reserved and intended for the emperors. The meal was held for three whole days, across six banquets. The culinary skills consisted of cooking methods from all over Imperial China.

Manchu Han Imperial Feast displayed at Tao Heung Museum of Food Culture

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hubag bohol · « **Reply #3 on:** August 31, 2013, 02:02:24 PM »

Quite a number of English names have been used to describe the dish combinations:

Manchu Han Imperial Feast

Qing Han Imperial Feast

Manchu Han Feast

Feast of Complete Manchu-Han Courses

Man Han Quan Xi

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hubag bohol · « **Reply #4 on:** August 31, 2013, 02:04:22 PM »

History

Qing Dynasty

When the Manchus conquered China and founded the Qing dynasty, Manchu and Han struggled for power. Kangxi emperor wanted to resolve the disputes, and held a banquet in his 66th birthday. The banquet/imperial meal consisted of Manchu and Han dishes, both groups also attended the banquet together. After the Wuchang Uprising, common people learned about this royal cuisine. The original meal was served in the Forbidden city in Beijing.

Preparation

The meal was prepared comprising six banquets over three days with over 300 dishes. Altogether there are said to have been 196 main dishes and 124 snack dishes, for a total of 320 dishes sampled over three days. Depending on how the dishes are counted with the samples, at the absolute minimum there were 108 dishes.[1] The emperor, after previewing the dishes, gave the feast its present name. The feast was divided into inner-palace and outer-palace banquets; only the imperial family and meritorious officials, including Han officials above the second rank, were invited into the inner-palace banquets. A book from the reign of Qianlong gives a detailed description of the feast and the dishes and ingredients.

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hubag bohol · « **Reply #5 on:** August 31, 2013, 02:05:11 PM »

The meal

It is said that there were "Thirty-Two Delicacies", referring to the more exotic ingredients used for the banquet. The "Eight Mountain Delicacies" includes such dishes as camel's hump, bear's paws, monkey's brains, ape's lips, leopard fetuses, rhinoceros tails and deer tendons. The "Eight Land Delicacies" includes several precious fowls and mushrooms, and the "Eight Sea Delicacies" includes dried sea cucumbers, shark's fin, bird's nest and others.

Utensils

The utensils, like the food, were also lavish; the majority of utensils were finely crafted bronzeware, and porcelainware in the shape of many animals were designed with mechanisms for keeping the dishes warm throughout the meal. In general the Manchu dishes were first sampled, followed by the Han dishes.

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #6 on:** September 05, 2013, 04:19:58 AM »

How very beautiful ! Colorful ! Very Imperial...

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hubag bohol · « **Reply #7 on:** September 05, 2013, 10:08:59 AM »

The "Eight Mountain Delicacies" includes such dishes as camel's hump, bear's paws, monkey's brains, ape's lips, leopard fetuses, rhinoceros tails and deer tendons.

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Author Topic: The Manchu Han Imperial Feast (Read 1853 times)

hubag bohol

The Manchu Han Imperial Feast

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