Northeast cuisine refers to one of the culinary dishes that exist in the Northeast region. Due to the unique cultural environment and natural environment in Northeast China, the food in Northeast China is highly similar, but there are also Ji cuisine, Liao cuisine, and Longjiang cuisine (except for Jiaodong cuisine represented by Dalian cuisine). Among the "eight majors" cuisines, Northeast cuisine is not ranked first, but this has not hindered its business, and it is even called the "ninth major cuisine". Even in Guangzhou, far from its birthplace, Northeast cuisine can bloom like kapok, with enthusiasm and heroism. The formation of Northeast cuisine also incorporates some characteristics of other Chinese cuisines and Han Chinese cuisines. Northeast cuisine is characterized by a dish with multiple flavors, salty and sweet, a wide range of materials, sufficient heat, rich taste, strong color and umami, crispy and crispy, the cooking method is long in boiling, exploding, grilling, frying, burning, steaming, stewing, with slipping, frying, sauce, stewing as the main characteristics, Northeast cuisine pays attention to eating bold, enjoyable to eat, so the color in the color and fragrance can hardly enter the hall (with menu one, generally only two or three ingredients, only simple seasonings such as green onions and chili peppers, so the dishes are not good).

Chinese name: Northeast cuisine

Foreign name: The Northeast Food

Category: Dishes

Style Northeast cuisine

Representative dishes: white meat and blood sausage, pork stewed vermicelli, and pot-wrapped meat

The characteristics are mainly stewed and slippery

Branch: Longjiang cuisine, Ji cuisine, Liao cuisine

Historical process

Northeast China is a multi-ethnic region that includes eastern Inner Mongolia, northeastern Hebei, and the former province of Rehe (which is the area outside Shanhaiguan in today's Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province). In the book "Qi Min Yao Shu" written by Jia Siqian of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the cooking methods of "Hu braised pork", "Hu soup method" and "Hu rice method" of the northern ethnic minorities were described, indicating that their cooking techniques had a high level very early. Shenyang, Liaoning Province is the former capital of the Qing Dynasty, there are many palace dishes and palace dishes, and the Northeast cuisine is influenced by it, the production methods and materials are more exquisite, and the essence of the cooking methods of Beijing, Shandong, Sichuan, Jiangsu and other places is incorporated, forming the Northeast cuisine rich in local flavor. The characteristics of Northeast cuisine are: the cooking method is longer than stewing, roasting, cooking, and exploding;

culture

The food culture circle in Northeast China is a sub-cultural location type with strong style specificity in the food culture circle of the Chinese nation, which has been gradually formed in the long historical process. As an objective location type of food culture in history, the food culture circle in Northeast China includes a wide range of varieties including Shandong cuisine, Jiaodong cuisine, and Northeast cuisine (Liao cuisine, Ji cuisine, Longjiang cuisine, Mengdong cuisine, etc.) represented by Dalian cuisine along the coast. Generally speaking, a certain style or type of food culture has corresponding cultural native regional attributes. The native or regional attachment of this kind of culture is deeply rooted in the soil of natural ecology and cultural ecosystem, and as an element of spiritual food culture at the traditional, fashion, and psychological levels, they have obvious super-temporal attributes. This spatiotemporal nature of food culture is often out of sync with changes in political factors such as easier administrative divisions. As an important component of regional food culture, it not only clearly reflects the specific content of regional food production and food life in the spatial scope, but also records the changes in people's food behavior and food culture style in time, so it is undoubtedly a meaningful work to examine the food culture in Northeast China from the perspective of historical and cultural evolution and development. Not only does a deep understanding of the cuisine culture of the Tohoku region itself require this historical observation, but its significance can also be amplified to a much broader and multitude of other cultural fields.

Dietary environment and cultural characteristics

Ecological environment and cultural and historical characteristics of the food culture circle in Northeast China

The northeastern region of China, located between 42° and 53°34′ north latitude, is the coldest natural region. Being colder than any other region in the region due to the strong Mongolian pressure is undoubtedly a fundamental feature of the natural ecology of the Northeast region, and thus a primary environmental factor in the region's cultural history. The abundant surface water sources such as rivers, lakes and marshes in Northeast China not only ensure the flourishing vegetation, but also create superior conditions for the growth and variety of terrestrial animals and plants, and also make it the most advantageous area of extensive forests and grasslands in China's history, and it is also the most ideal natural comprehensive economic zone for hunting, animal husbandry, fishing and planting.

Food raw materials and natural resources should be the decisive environmental factors of food culture, especially the food culture of human beings who rely more on nature itself. Today, after a long period of great ecological changes, there are still 17 million hectares of natural forest area, accounting for 60% of the country's total forest resources. A large number of species and numbers of animals inhabit the area, and together with the abundant plant-based mountain products, they contribute delicious food to the people here. The abundant waters provide humans with a wide variety and abundance of fish. The vast plains and grasslands are blessed with a paradise for animal husbandry. According to the author's preliminary study of the food resources that were used as food feed in the 14th to 19th centuries in Northeast China, the situation is roughly as follows: more than 70 species of poultry, more than 50 species of livestock and animals, more than 100 species of fish, more than 60 species of fruits, more than 100 species of vegetables and vegetables, and more than 40 species of cereals. Until the middle of the 20th century, most of the Northeast was still basically "beating roe deer and scooping fish" and "pheasants flying into the rice pot". "The vast area and sparse population should be another very important cultural feature of the Northeast food culture circle that cannot be underestimated. The sparse population and vast living space in the Northeast region have determined the economic life of the simple "relying on the sky for food" model. The pressure of the population on nature is so weak that it seems to be nothing, the ecological environment is almost in the state of the first text, and the consumption of the thin population is only a very small part of the countless natural products such as birds, animals, fish, fruits and vegetables. As a result, the Northeast region has maintained a state of basic equilibrium for a long time. Until the beginning of this century, the food paradise of Northeast China was not seriously damaged by food stress. A reasonable coordination has been formed between the abundant food resources and the relatively scarce population, and in the process of the natural food chain cycle, there has not yet been the subversion and collapse of the trophic hierarchy caused by human insertion in many parts of the interior. "Hang Erlang should be mixed with the great wilderness", a rural proverb that was still popular until the 50s of the 20th century, reflects the basic historical fact that the farmers in Northeast China are extensive and not difficult to make a living. For a long time, the inhabitants of the inland of Northeast China have been animal husbandry, hunting, fishing, gathering, and planting, and they have all had a rational food structure based on meat (animals, birds, fish, milk) and supplemented by plant foods (grains, vegetables and fruits). Due to the long-term geographical and historical conditions in southern Liaoning and the inland, a food structure has been formed with plant food as the main food and seafood as the supplement.

From the end of the 19th century to the 40s of the 20th century, contrary to the trend of "declining rivers" in the mainland, the Northeast region showed a phenomenon of cultural activity in small regions. Large numbers of Europeans, Russians and later Soviets, French, Greeks, Germans, Poles, Yugoslavs, Hungarians, Jews, Japanese, Koreans, and other foreigners flocked to the Northeast. The influence of their respective ethnic food customs is still in play, for example, the Jews once wanted to establish a state in Northeast China, and worked with the Japanese invading army to formulate a "guinea fish plan". Many foreigners not only use their own special ethnicity, skin color, clothing, language, habits, livelihood, and residence, but also make the modern Northeast region, especially the large and small cities, full of Western culture and exotic with their own food and food habits. According to a survey conducted in 1937, there were more than 260 Western restaurants in Harbin alone, and a considerable number of them were run by foreigners. At the end of the 19th century, due to the complete breaking of the "Kanto" blockade policy, mainlanders also flocked to the northeast in large numbers to "break through the Kanto". During this period of time, there was an unprecedented new situation of economic development and food culture in the northeast region, and a new situation of enthusiastic exchanges between China and foreign countries emerged. The sparsely populated and natural economic patterns of the past have changed. However, the historical characteristics of Wugao Minfeng were not completely reversed during this period. As "foreign" foreign cultures, beer, bread, sausages, Western food, and related cultures have taken root in the black soil moistened by snow.

The history of food culture

The historical features of people's lives in the food culture circle of Northeast China

Meat-based food should be said to be one of the basic characteristics of the dietary life of the people in the inland of Northeast China for thousands of years or even longer. This characteristic was maintained until the end of the 19th century, and the indigenous people here, such as the Manchus, Mongols, Dahaners, Oroqen, Evenki, Xibe, Hezhe, Jili, Kuyi, etc., were basically the same. The only exceptions were the Koreans, some Han people in Shengjing, and the Han people who left the customs one after another (this was mainly after the middle of the 17th century). Their meat mainly comes from sheep, cattle, horses, camels and other large animals, birds and beasts that are hunted, fish fished, and of course pigs, geese, ducks, chickens, etc., but they are mainly animal husbandry, hunting, and fishing. This kind of life, even in 2013, in the pastures and along the Heilongjiang and Ussuri rivers, the food structure of those ethnic minorities is basically the same. As a non-staple food, grains are mainly meat-based. There was a grain planting industry in Northeast China for a long time, and since the Book of the Later Han Dynasty left a record of "Tuyi Five Grains" in Northeast China, there are countless official history books and private histories about agriculture here. However, the earlier and richer records are the remains of a large number of prehistoric cultures that have been excavated. Among the prehistoric cultural sites that have been excavated and discovered in 2013, the Xinle site in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province can be called a representative. This 7,200-year-old early Neolithic clan commune site recreates the development of primitive agriculture with its grain processing plant of about 100 square meters. It is worth noting that almost all the varieties of cereals in the interior, especially in the Yellow River Basin, are found in the northeast region, and the veritable "cereals and grains" are complete. Whole grains are complete, and they are only used as non-staple foods, as non-staple foods other than meat staples composed of many varieties and structures, which is very meaningful. Because it makes people's food content richer and the nutritional structure more reasonable.

The characteristics of large anorths and more soy products are another food culture characteristics that cannot be ignored in the cultural region of Northeast China. Soybean, the king of mushrooms, is an invention of the northerners and a traditional food raw material for the northern people. There are more than 20 varieties of soybean plants, such as soybeans, adzuki beans, mung beans, peas, broad beans, cowpeas, lentils, cloud beans, sword beans, kidney beans, etc., which can be used as staple food for cooking, porridge and steaming, and can also be used as non-staple food. At the same time, soybeans can also be used to make sauce, soy sauce, tofu, bean sprouts, soybean milk and other finished products.

The abundant winter storage is the clever creation of people's food culture in Northeast China. Due to the short frost-free period, people only eat local vegetables for about 6 months (the north-south span is large, so there is also a big difference). In order to solve the need for vegetables in the long winter, the people of Northeast China, especially the people of the lower classes, should prepare a large number of dried vegetables (more than 10 varieties) in the summer when there are many varieties, large quantities and low prices. In autumn, a large number of overwintering vegetables such as cabbage, radishes, and potatoes are stored in the kiln. At the same time, it is necessary to marinate a large number of sauerkraut and pickle various pickles with a variety of varieties. This is a historical tradition, and it is also a custom that is still preserved in the vast countryside to this day.

Frozen food is one of the typical food customs of the people in Northeast China. The long cold winter has brought many difficulties to people's food life, but it has also determined a unique cultural style. The harsh winter is a unique cold storage given by nature. It can store all kinds of food and raw materials in unlimited quantities and at no cost, sterilize, preserve and preserve freshness, and have a unique flavor. Meat can be buried under the snow or drenched in water and hung with ice clothes to keep it fresh for a long time, and vegetables can also be buried under the snow to keep it fresh and colored. You can freeze tofu, frozen milk, freeze-dried grains (steamed buns, bean buns, dumplings, rice cakes), and frozen fruits. As for the magic food "rock sugar gourd" dipped in rock sugar with red fruits, it is a custom delicacy in the winter of Northeast China. Frozen meat can be easily cut into very thin slices and very fine shreds. Frozen fish has a more beautiful taste and is easier to process and cook. Of course, not to mention the ice cream and other ice creams that people love in their lives in 2013. Not afraid of ice and snow, love ice and snow, not only in summer to eat frozen food to cool down and prevent heatstroke, but also in winter like frozen food refreshing appetizing. This is indeed the unique taste of the Tohoku people, who are both envious and timidly by the residents of the southern country.

Since the 80s of the 20th century, a series of new national policies have had a significant positive impact on the social economy and the dietary life of the people. The peasants' enthusiasm for production and their living standards are markedly higher than before. But their diet hasn't broken out of a long-established pattern. The staple food is still corn, sorghum, millet, wheat, rice, and millet. However, the proportion of "fine grains" in wheat and rice has increased markedly. However, it is only with the reproduction of the natural and rational food structure in history, of course, at a higher historical and cultural level, that the regional revolution in Northeast people's diet is completed. To this end, the people of Northeast China may have to put in at least half a century of hard work.

National food customs and cultural characteristics

The Chinese nation is a historical aggregate of many ethnic groups and a multicultural community. Northeast China is one of the important cultural regions inhabited by many ethnic groups in history, with many ethnic groups and colorful customs being another important feature of the rich connotation and colorful colors of the food culture in the region, so it is also one of the cultural regions that can best reflect the aggregation and commonality of the Chinese nation.

From the "Three Dynasties Period" to the "Ming and Qing Dynasties" in the history of Chinese food, ancient historical books clearly record that the ethnic groups that lived and lived in Northeast China have successively been: the three major ethnic groups of Sushen, Zhanqi and Donghu in the pre-Qin period; Fuyu, Xianbei, Rulou and Beiwo in the Han and Jin dynasties; Fuyu, Beji, Murowei, Wuluohou, Didouyu and Dou Molou in the Sui Dynasty in the Northern Dynasties; the Jin, Murowei, Khitan, Jurchen, Mongolian, and Han nationality in the Tang and Northern Song dynasties; the Jurchen and Mongolian tribes and the Solon tribes in the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties (Evenki, Oroqen, Manchu, Mongolian, Oroqen, Evenki, Hezhe, Feiyaka, Sakhalin, Qiler, Chakhala, Xibe, Korean, Hui and foreign immigrants who were once few in number and had many nationalities since the end of the Qing Dynasty. The unique natural and geographical conditions of the Northeast region have generously provided a variety of rich raw materials for the people who have lived on this land for generations, and the industrious and brave people have made full use of their ingenuity in the process of seeking from nature, and they have not only used the material nutrients provided by nature to nourish their bodies, but also developed and used these material nutrients to expand their minds at the same time.

Food customs and cultural characteristics

The heavy national food customs and cultural characteristics can be understood from the following aspects:

1. The abundance and rationality of food raw materials and the scientificity of food structure. The above statement has already told us such historical facts. Grain varieties of sand grain, sesame grain, millet, millet (sorghum), sticky millet, rice, sticky rice, seed, wheat, buckwheat, pink, bran, maize, soybeans (can be made into water tofu, ice tofu, dried tofu, tempeh, soybean paste, bean skin, bean curd, bean curd, bean juice, various soy products, etc.), adzuki beans, mung beans (can be made of vermicelli), cloud beans, white cloud beans and other 20 species. Vegetable varieties of peas, broad beans, cowpeas, lentils, kidney beans, sword beans, (all kinds of beans into the staple food can be vegetables when tender, soybeans, mung beans into grains and bean sprouts; into vegetables, into the grain can also be into the staple food), sunflower, leeks, onions, garlic, song, mustard, celery, spinach, radish, cucumber, carob, eggplant, gourd, fern, wei, yellow flower, safflower, fungus, lion's mane mushroom, mouth mushroom, yellow mushroom, yuan mushroom, mushroom, mushroom, pine mushroom, etc. Among them, there are dozens of kinds of fresh wild vegetables and mushrooms that can be eaten regularly. Plus the total number of cultivars is on top of hundreds. Meat includes pigs, cows, sheep, chickens, ducks, geese, etc. In addition to hunting birds and beasts, the total number is greatly more than 100 species, among which bears, livers, deer, flying dragons, sand chickens, pheasants, clams and toads are precious raw materials, and cannot be included in the dish.