Miss. Delicious #19: A journey through the cuisine of the Tang Dynasty
Dear Steemit Friends:
The Chinese Culinary Arts have existed for as long as the span of Chinese history. Much of the modern Chinese cuisine was developed some thousands of years ago by my ancestors. Some of you might be curious what these ancestors used to eat, whether it differs much from today, or if there are any surprises in store.
I'm very lucky to be living in Xi'an as it is home to one of the only traditional Tang Dynasty cuisines in China. The Tang Dynasty represents some of the most adventurous cutting edge culinary arts in all of Chinese history, therefore it's cuisine holds extra value even today, where many modern dishes pay homage to the traditional recipes.
Let's take a look at what the ancient Chinese used to eat then!
Today, i'm taking us to Xi'an's YongXing Fang, when you think of food in Xi'an, Hui Min Street usually comes to mind, if you haven't read about that, you can find it in my previous post HERE. Actually, in YongXing Fang, you can taste the entire cuisine of Shaanxi province, it's even more fully featured than Hui Min street. This place used to be the living quarters of the Tang Dynasty's officials and is now considered a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage site.
Follow me into the restaurant
Before eating food, lets first enjoy a bowl of shatter bowl wine. Its popularity I suspect has a lot to do with why it's named as such..
Usually, after the wine is consumed, the bowl is smashed. It's quite a waste of a bowl really, but it does have it's place in history. In ancient times, soldiers and officers would drink before battle and smashing the bowl was suppose to represent their bravery for the upcoming battle.
At the front entrance of the restaurant, there are these Chinese Twisted Steamed Rolls on display. They are not to be eaten, but rather viewed as a work of art.
As today is a big feast with many guests, as per usual we have our own private dining room. On the roof of this dining room, is a beautiful traditional landscape painting.
Below, let us begin our journey through Tang Dynasty Cuisine!
Spicey Dried Beancurd
Threads of Sesame Radish
Cold Bamboo Strips
Dried meat threads
Pork Slices
Vegetable Egg Rolls served with a variety of sauces. These remind me very much of the Vietnamese spring rolls.
Nothing is complete without the Moutai White Spirit
Egg meat rolls
Fried sweet and sour fish. It's quite a beautiful presentation, definitely stirs my appetite.
Steamed Fish
Rolled Pastry dipped with Hot and Numbing Spicy Chilli Sauce
Hand Torn baked Sesame Seed-coated cake
Pigeon Meat
Steamed Fruits.
The Tang Dynasty was the most flourishing dynasty. The people of that time lead very leisurely lives and even had a specific way of eating fruits. They are the only dynasty to eat fruits after they have been steamed. For instance, the steamed Pear which actually has some health benefits. It helps to ease coughs, and moisten the lungs. It's also supposedly good for sobering up, so it's a popular dish for the resident alcoholics !
Seeing this Tang Dynasty specialty, it reminds me of hot or cold water dilemma. Would you appreciate having steamed fruits as a cold water drinker?
你们一定知道食物在中国有很长的历史，那么你们会不会好奇中国的古人都吃一些什么样的食物？我很荣幸在西安吃到了唐代的菜系，唐朝是中国最繁荣的朝代，他们的食物在中国历史上有着独特的意义。现在，让我们来一起感受下古人都吃些什么食物吧！今天我带大家来到了西安的永兴坊,提起小吃, 人们大多先想起回民街,这是我之前的贴。其实永兴坊能吃到整个陕西的美食，比回民街更全面。它曾经是唐朝官员的住所，是非物质文化遗产美食街区。跟我一起进餐厅看看吧！吃饭前，先来一碗摔碗酒，这个酒的走红，我想应该和它传统的喝酒方式分不开。那就是每个喝完酒的人都要把碗摔碎，虽然我觉得确实有些浪费碗，但是摔碗酒也有它的历史。在古代，它是将士打仗前喝的酒，摔碗显示出英雄气概也为自己壮胆的意思。餐厅门口摆放着花卷馒头作成的艺术品。因为今天是大聚餐，所以我们坐在餐厅包间里，屋顶上是漂亮的古代山水画。下面就一起来感受一下唐朝的美食之旅吧！麻辣豆干丝，芝麻萝卜丝，凉拌芦笋丝，肉脯丝，猪肉片，蔬菜类的春卷，蘸各种酱汁，让我想起了越南餐厅的spring roll，各种小菜配上白酒，鸡蛋卷肉，跳起来的鱼，形状保持的真漂亮，口味也不错呢！，清蒸鱼，卷饼蘸麻辣的酱汁，非常香，手撕烧饼，鸽子肉，唐朝蒸水果，唐朝是中国古代最繁华鼎盛的时期，人们的日子过得悠闲，连吃水果也非常讲究，他们是唯一一个只吃蒸过得水果的朝代，例如梨蒸熟了吃，可以止咳润肺消痰，还解醉，也最受酒鬼们欢迎了。看到唐朝特色的蒸水果，让我再一次想起了热水和冰水的问题，作为爱喝冰饮料的你，会接受唐代的蒸水果吗？
If you are interested in my other blogs related to Food please check out these other blogs below ^^
Miss. Delicious: Why don't you try some Asian hamburgers with special drinks?
Eating Oysters is all about the mood and feel..
The night bazaars of Xi'an - A walk through Hui Street.A Chinese twist on Japanese Cuisine. Introducing Steemit to the best duck in town.
Travel with me: My unforgettable night in a mountain village.
I'm very lucky to be living in Xi'an as it is home to one of the only traditional Tang Dynasty cuisines in China. The Tang Dynasty represents some of the most adventurous cutting edge culinary arts in all of Chinese history, therefore it's cuisine holds extra value even today, where many modern dishes pay homage to the traditional recipes.
Let's take a look at what the ancient Chinese used to eat then!
Today, i'm taking us to Xi'an's YongXing Fang, when you think of food in Xi'an, Hui Min Street usually comes to mind, if you haven't read about that, you can find it in my previous post HERE. Actually, in YongXing Fang, you can taste the entire cuisine of Shaanxi province, it's even more fully featured than Hui Min street. This place used to be the living quarters of the Tang Dynasty's officials and is now considered a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage site.
Follow me into the restaurant
Before eating food, lets first enjoy a bowl of shatter bowl wine. Its popularity I suspect has a lot to do with why it's named as such..
Usually, after the wine is consumed, the bowl is smashed. It's quite a waste of a bowl really, but it does have it's place in history. In ancient times, soldiers and officers would drink before battle and smashing the bowl was suppose to represent their bravery for the upcoming battle.
At the front entrance of the restaurant, there are these Chinese Twisted Steamed Rolls on display. They are not to be eaten, but rather viewed as a work of art.
As today is a big feast with many guests, as per usual we have our own private dining room. On the roof of this dining room, is a beautiful traditional landscape painting.
Below, let us begin our journey through Tang Dynasty Cuisine!
Spicey Dried Beancurd
Threads of Sesame Radish
Cold Bamboo Strips
Dried meat threads
Pork Slices
Vegetable Egg Rolls served with a variety of sauces. These remind me very much of the Vietnamese spring rolls.
Nothing is complete without the Moutai White Spirit
Egg meat rolls
Fried sweet and sour fish. It's quite a beautiful presentation, definitely stirs my appetite.
Steamed Fish
Rolled Pastry dipped with Hot and Numbing Spicy Chilli Sauce
Hand Torn baked Sesame Seed-coated cake
Pigeon Meat
Steamed Fruits.
The Tang Dynasty was the most flourishing dynasty. The people of that time lead very leisurely lives and even had a specific way of eating fruits. They are the only dynasty to eat fruits after they have been steamed. For instance, the steamed Pear which actually has some health benefits. It helps to ease coughs, and moisten the lungs. It's also supposedly good for sobering up, so it's a popular dish for the resident alcoholics !
Seeing this Tang Dynasty specialty, it reminds me of hot or cold water dilemma. Would you appreciate having steamed fruits as a cold water drinker?
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great post
thanks! Its crazy how many dishes they have in a single sitting, so there was even more which i couldn't fit into this post!
I'm hungry after that! I'm really interested in trying Spicey Dried Beancurd, I'll have to see if I can hunt down somewhere that makes it.
great choice! as long as you can handle spicy food you should be fine!
Alright I can spend the whole day just takin my time enjoying the food. The pics just came in one after another! lol
haha, i have tried to resize my pictures but they're still really large! I'll have to figure out how to compress them in the future! Hope you liked the looks of them though!
Big is good for food pics, no worries :D
Hectic... I am now starving ! Great post and the food looks stunning. Errrr, except for the pigeon {smile}
Thanks ! To be honest I was quite hesitant on the pigeon too. The claws look a bit scary!
as always, amazing and stunning photography and of course food photography. You are always great!
thanks gringalicious! congrats on your own milestone too! Steem on!!