Chapter 31 Tanjia Cuisine and Palace Cuisine

During the two Zhifeng wars, Zhang Xueliang was stationed in Beijing, so he had the opportunity to get in touch with Beijing's Tan family cuisine and palace cuisine.Officials of the Tan family for generations moved from Nanhai, Guangdong to Beijing.Tanjia cuisine was formed during Tan Zongjun's reign in the late Qing Dynasty, and it was already well-known in the capital when it was passed down to his son Tan Zhuanqing.Tan Zhuanqing was born in Beijing. During the Xuantong period, he served as a member of the Post Department, Wailang, and after the Revolution of 1911, he served as a member of parliament.Later, due to the decline of his family, he had to organize family banquets secretly to subsidize his family.

Lun Zheru, a native of Dongguan, once wrote a poem describing the old affairs of the Tan family in "Book Collection Chronicle Poems Since 1911".The poem said: "Yu Sheng's li style Licun poems, and finally Tan San is good at small words. The family has a lot of money and is lazy to clean up, but the recipes are paid in the capital." Tan Zhuanqing's Tan's restaurant can be said to be the earliest cultural restaurant in China. Favored by literati and politicians.As we have said before, gourmet Zhang Daqian once airlifted Tan’s Braised Shark’s Fin to his guests when he was in Nanjing. He praised Tan’s Braised Shark’s Fin, Braised Preserved Abalone, and Poached Chicken as the best in Chinese cuisine.Taiwanese gourmet Tang Lusun even believes that Tanjia cuisine is a divine product.Tanjia cuisine was not well-known in the early years of the Republic of China. After Cao Kun ascended to the presidency, eating and drinking became popular in the capital, and only then did someone accidentally discover the exquisiteness of Tanjia cuisine.

Zhang Xueliang likes the white-cut oily chicken in Tan's cuisine the most.In his opinion, the delicious taste and the tenderness of the meat are incomparable to all the chicken dishes he has eaten.This dish first came from Guangdong, and the ingredients are fifteen or six-month-old chickens that are free and unrestrained, pecking at bugs while walking.There are also skills in choosing chickens.There is a herringbone between the breast and neck of the chicken. If it feels soft and springy, it is just right.If the herringbone is hard, the meat will be "firewood" and can only be used to make soup.When making white-cut oily chicken, put the chicken in boiling water for fifteen minutes before taking it out, so as to ensure its fat and tenderness.The cooked chicken should have crispy skin and soft and tender meat.The chicken is then boneless and chopped into small pieces, and served on a plate as a whole chicken.The method of dipping is to mix ginger, green onion, salt, and mashed garlic, and put it into a small dish.Heat the oil to a slight boil and pour it into the dish.

Baiqie Youji is called Baiqieji in Sichuan, and it has developed into a famous river and lake dish saliva chicken in Chongqing.The method of the first half of the saliva chicken is similar to that of the white chicken, the difference is that the seasoning is directly poured on the chicken at the end, and spicy is added. Tan’s family cuisine was first managed by a chef named Tao San. Later, the third wife Zhao Lifeng, who Tan Zhuanqing brought from Guangdong, learned the recipes of various dishes while helping the cook.Zhao Lifeng is a culinary genius. She not only learned Tao San's craftsmanship, but also learned the essence of major cuisines in Beijing. Her specialty dishes, braised shark's fin and white-cut oily chicken, made her one of the top ten famous chefs in China.

Tanjia cuisine is still well-known at home and abroad, and it is an indispensable delicacy for entertaining foreign dignitaries. Zhang Xueliang got to know a large number of Manchu Qing elders, including Pu Jie, in Beijing.Pu Jie once introduced to Zhang Xueliang that he witnessed the scene of the emperor setting meals when he entered the palace.At that time, Pu Yi served meals in the Hall of Mental Cultivation in the Forbidden City. Its scale was much smaller than that of the previous Qing Dynasty, but it still opened Pu Jie's eyes.Pu Jie recalled that Puyi's breakfast in the Hall of Mental Cultivation usually had six or seven tables for the Eight Immortals, and there were more than a dozen eunuchs serving them, passing large and small dishes from the outside to the inner door and then to the inner hall.There are dozens of kinds of stir-fried dishes for breakfast, the portions are not big, but they are very delicate.There are seven or eight kinds of porridge in the staple food, which is even more ostentatious than the buffet breakfast in star-rated hotels.

Zhang Xueliang was very interested in imperial cuisine, so he asked someone to find the recipes of imperial cuisine to study. In 1925, Beihai Park was opened. Zhao Renzhai, a "vegetable store" (comprador) who was originally in the Qing Palace, invited Shen Zhaoran and other former imperial chefs to open a Fangshan Zhai in Beihai Park, which specially imitated court dishes. In 1959 After the expansion, it was renamed as Fangshan Restaurant until now.It is characterized by the operation of court dishes in the Qing Dynasty, and is good at cooking Manchu and Han banquets.The main famous dishes are fried chicken breast, first-grade official swallow, roast venison, toad abalone and so on.

At that time, the royal chefs heard that the young marshal was interested in court dishes, and they all expressed their willingness to show their cooking skills and cook a table of imitation dishes according to the traditional craftsmanship of the court in the early years.However, Zhang Xueliang considered the influence too extravagant, so he rejected the kindness of the royal chefs. Later, Zhang Xueliang's Fifth Aunt Shoushi celebrated her birthday. To celebrate her birthday, Zhang specially invited the royal chef to hold a birthday banquet in Beihai.At that time, it was hosted by Zhao Renzhai himself, which was completely modeled on the banquet on Cixi's 60th birthday.It can be seen that Zhang Xueliang really likes court dishes very much.