Huicaipengrenjiyi
01 · Historical Records
Huizhou cuisine is the sum of the regional dishes of the Huizhou area. Its cooking techniques originated in the one prefecture and six counties of ancient Huizhou, namely present-day Xiuning County, Yi County, She County and Qimen County in Anhui Province, Jixi County in Xuancheng City, and Wuyuan County in Shangrao City, Jiangxi Province. Huizhou cuisine took shape in the Northern Song dynasty and became widespread in the Southern Song.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The landforms of this region are mainly mountains and hills; the mountain valleys are limited in area, with elegant peaks and a crisscross of ravines. Lying in the humid monsoon climate zone of the northern subtropics, the area is mild and rainy with four distinct seasons, highly suitable for the propagation and growth of all kinds of plants and animals, providing abundant ingredients for the transmission and development of Huizhou cooking techniques. Huizhou cooking technique is extremely particular about the selection of foodstuffs, with strict requirements as to the place of origin, season and part of the ingredient, and it emphasizes making the dish according to the ingredient, fully bringing out the dish's original flavour. The processing requirements of Huizhou cuisine are likewise highly particular: different ingredients and different dishes call for different cooking methods. The cutting and assembling of dishes is sometimes bold and sometimes fine, with emphasis on varying the treatment and applying the knife according to the dish. Cooking methods include deep-frying, sautéing with sauce, quick-frying, stir-frying, frying in sauce, covered simmering and roasting, with particular mastery of braising, stewing and steaming. It is known for its attention to heat control in cooking, with gentle heat, moderate heat and fierce heat each having their own use. Huizhou cuisine likes to use ham to season and rock sugar to bring out freshness; its dishes are well balanced in richness, with their original juices and flavours. Braised dishes are soft and glutinous without losing their shape and are bright in colour; stewed dishes have rich broth and fresh flavour without losing their essence, and they suit a wide range of tastes. Huizhou cuisine has always emphasized dietary nourishment, using food to preserve health. Traditional banquets of Jixi such as the "Ten Bowls and Eight" of the Lingnan area and the "Yipin Pot" and "Ten Bowls with Four Fine Pastries" of the Lingbei area are typical representatives of Huizhou cuisine, combining a rich local culture and deeply loved by the people. According to the Huizhou Prefectural Gazetteer: "Emperor Gaozong of Song asked the academician Wang Zao about the flavours of She County, and Wang Zao answered with a poem by Mei Shengyu: horse-hoof soft-shelled turtle from the sandy ground, ox-tail civet on snowy days. "Thus the snowy-day ox-tail civet and the sandy-ground horse-hoof soft-shelled turtle became representative tribute dishes of Huizhou cuisine, famous throughout the country. The fame of Huizhou cuisine also came from Huizhou merchants: it grew up alongside them and spread at home and abroad wherever their footsteps went.
Cutting to suit the ingredient
In Hui cooking the cut may be coarse or fine according to the material: dried bamboo shoots and pickles are cut coarsely so they hold the sauce, while tender greens and fish are sliced thinly to show their own flavour.
Low, gentle and fierce fires
Hui cooking is judged by its management of the fire: gentle fire for braising to concentrate the juice without toughening, long gentle fire for stewing; hurry leaves the taste thin, slowness lets it dissipate.
Ham for savour, rock sugar for freshness
Ham is diced to enrich the broth while rock sugar is used to reduce and glaze it; the braises stay soft yet keep their shape and the soups stay full without losing substance.
Ten bowls and eight dishes, and the tiered pot
Huizhou banquets follow set formulas — ten bowls and eight dishes south of the range, a tiered pot and ten fine dishes to the north — laid out according to the rank of the guests with no detail omitted.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Huizhou cooking technique has a strong local character and is an important part of Huizhou culture and Chinese food culture; it embodies the Huizhou people's intellectual pursuit of harmony and mutual support among heaven, earth and humanity, and has high social and cultural value. The cultural industries related to this item have become one of the important forces in the local economy and have made positive contributions to promoting sustainable local economic development and advancing cultural exchange.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
With the development of intangible cultural heritage protection work, research, talent cultivation, productive protection and publicity and exhibition activities related to Huizhou cooking technique have continued to advance, effectively promoting the transmission and development of this item.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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