The vegetarian tradition in old Beijing was originally an integral part of a long-standing culture.
China's vegetarian food has a long history and has begun in the Spring and Autumn Period. In order to express respect during sacrifices, the ancients had to eat vegetarian food.Later, Buddhism was introduced to China, which greatly promoted the development of vegetarianism.By the Tang Dynasty, the court vegetarian cuisine had reached a very high level.However, at that time, the dietary level of the common people was not high, and there were almost no side foods besides the staple food.
During the Five Dynasties, Youzhou and other places were occupied by northern ethnic minorities for a long time. The Song Dynasty repeatedly tried to recover but never succeeded. The hundreds of years of confrontation made the lifestyles of old Beijing and the Central Plains different. During the Khitan and Jin dynasties, the lifestyles of Beijingers were close to those of the northern nomadic peoples, with meat as the main side food and fewer vegetables.At this time, the so-called Central Plains and the South have generally used vegetables as side food.
Beijingers ate vegetables on a large scale in the Ming Dynasty, especially the introduction of cabbage, and became the main dish in winter.In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, corn was widely introduced. It matured quickly and was still dozens of days before winter was harvested. It happened to be able to grow a crop of cabbage.Planting cabbage improves land utilization and labor productivity, bringing more benefits to farmers, so it is quickly promoted.In order to preserve cabbage, Beijingers began to make sauerkraut.However, in the Ming Dynasty, the cabbage was dried first and then marinated with salt, which made the taste slightly worse.By the Qing Dynasty, water staining method gradually became the mainstream, and the finished product was no different from the sauerkraut eaten today.
Old Beijing pays great attention to vegetarian food. In the late Republic of China, there were 10,000 restaurants in Beijing, of which 700 specialize in providing vegetarian food, accounting for 7 of the entire catering industry. ％。There are three reasons for such a high popularity rate: First, it is related to religious beliefs. Even ordinary people who do not have religious beliefs only eat vegetarian food during the sacrifices of their ancestors, making wishes and burning incense every year;Second, people have a strong sense of health care;Third, meat is too expensive, and the vegetarian taste is almost real and relatively cheap, so it naturally becomes the first choice.
Vegetarian food in old Beijing is divided into three types: court vegetarian, temple vegetarian and folk vegetarian.In terms of practice, there are three types, namely rolled goods, braised goods and fried goods.The rolls are made of oil-covered fillings, mainly made of mushrooms, and have a long taste;The braised goods are mainly gluten, etc., and the taste is important;Fried goods need oil to be used to imitate meat and vegetables, which can be almost real.
Old Beijing vegetarian cuisine combines the strengths of all schools across the country. In its heyday, the "Suju" in the palace was able to make more than 200 delicious dishes. Later, "Quansu Liu" inherited its skills and became famous throughout the country.
Today, there are very few restaurants in Beijing that specialize in vegetarian dishes, and there are few successors after poor inheritance of traditional skills.
However, traditional Beijing vegetarian dishes are derived from Shandong cuisine, and have high basic skills. They are complicated to make and use of ingredients. Some dishes take one week to prepare ingredients, which makes it difficult to put down their figure and enter the homes of ordinary people in their original flavor.Today, with the popularization of "artificial meat", chemical synthetic spices can imitate the taste of various meat dishes, and the cost is extremely low. Under their impact, the living space of Beijing vegetarian dishes is constantly being compressed. In addition, traditional culture is not well inherited. Today, there are very few restaurants in Beijing that specialize in vegetarian dishes, and there are few successors in traditional skills.
How to protect old Beijing vegetarian dishes is a question worthy of attention.
