The history of Huai'an eel feast cooking techniques Huai'an eel feast is made with yellow eel as the main ingredient, through various cooking techniques such as roasting, frying, stewing, simmering, braising, boiling and blanching. The formation of the whole eel feast has a history of nearly 300 years. The Qing Bai Lei Chao lists five kinds of Chinese banquets: Manchu and Han banquets, bird's nest banquets, Huai'an eel banquets, Qingjiangpu whole lamb banquets and pig's trotter banquets. The introduction of the whole eel banquet says: "During the Tongzhi Emperor (1862-1874) and Guangxu Emperor (1875-1908), there were many chefs in Huai'an who were especially famous for cooking eels, better than the chefs in Yangzhou. Moreover, they could make all the dishes of the banquet with eels, and there were dozens of dishes, including plates, bowls, and dishes, all of which were eels, but the tastes were different. This was called the whole eel banquet." During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the Banquet House in Hexia Town, Shanyang County, Huai'an Prefecture, launched a whole eel banquet with eight large bowls, eight small bowls, sixteen dishes, and four snacks, a total of thirty-six dishes. In the early years of the Tongzhi period, the famous chefs who had performed in the Caohe Governor's Office and then became civilians, based on this, used a large number of superb skills that were difficult to obtain in the market, and created dozens of delicacies with yellow eels as the main ingredients, while ginseng, abalone, bird's nest, shark's fin, and Huai's specialties played supporting roles. Thus, there were 108 whole eel banquets that caused a sensation in Kyushu and were passed down as miracles. Basic content and characteristics The cooking of whole eel banquet dishes requires the selection of seasonal ingredients, the control and harmony of nature and flavor, the delicate and varied knife skills, the proper use of heat, and the rich and varied seasoning. Therefore, the finished dishes are characterized by being fat but not greasy, sweet but not spicy, sour but not harsh, spicy but not strong, and salty but not too salty. They are both fresh and mellow, and the taste is mild and praised by people from both north and south. The long fish from Lianghuai has the "five tendernesses": one is soft and tender, two is smooth and tender, three is lively and tender, four is crisp and tender, and five is loose and tender. The preparation of 108 whole eel banquets is the culmination of Huaiyang cuisine cooking skills. Roasting, frying, stewing, simmering, stewing, boiling, blanching, steaming, sautéing, frying, braising, grilling, frying, roasting, simmering, boiling, cooking, sautéing, and brewing are all used. The seven things to pay attention to during the processing are particularly important: first, pay attention to material selection; second, pay attention to preliminary processing; third, pay attention to the combination of main and auxiliary ingredients; fourth, pay attention to the use of heat; fifth, pay attention to maintaining the original flavor; sixth, pay attention to the use of starch; seventh, pay attention to making the best use of everything. Ingredients are divided into animal and plant. Animal ingredients mainly include pork, chicken, shrimp, eggs, pigeon eggs, water-soaked sea cucumber, abalone, shark fin, squid, dried shrimp, shrimp roe, etc.; plant raw materials mainly include purple garlic, leek, green pepper, water chestnut, cattail, green vegetables, green beans, wild rice, winter bamboo shoots, fried rice, rice crust, etc. Among the many ingredients, choose the corresponding ingredients according to the requirements of cooking dishes to help long fish dishes form different flavor characteristics to meet the needs of customers at different levels. The cooking technique system of the whole eel banquet inherits most of the cooking techniques of Huaiyang cuisine, and has a very high reference and innovation value: with a small fish, it can be used in a variety of ways, and finally turn stone into gold, making a high-end banquet that competes with ginseng, abalone, bird's nest and shark's fin. Therefore, its profound cooking techniques can also be applied to other common animal and plant ingredients, providing people with a more economical, nutritious and noble food enjoyment without sacrificing the environment and wasting resources. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)