Once shaped by court rituals, China's imperial cuisine survives into modern times

China's imperial cuisine, once shaped by elaborate court rituals and the dining traditions of emperors and their households, continues to survive today through restaurants and culinary traditions that preserve dishes from the country's imperial past.

One story associated with Empress Dowager Cixi dates to the final decades of imperial China. It is said that Cixi once dreamed about a pastry and was served the same treat for breakfast the following morning. Delighted, she summoned the chef and rewarded him with a silver ingot.

"It was originally called 'minced pork pancake,' but because it had fulfilled her dream, it later became known as 'dream pastry,'" said Zhou Tong, a chef at Fangshan Restaurant in Beijing.

Fangshan specializes in imperial cuisine and preserves dishes associated with Cixi as well as other culinary traditions of China's imperial court. The restaurant was established in 1925 by former Qing Dynasty chefs at Beihai Park, a historic garden where members of several Chinese dynasties rested, conducted government affairs and held ritual ceremonies.

"The name Fangshan literally means 'imitating the imperial cuisine,'" said assistant general manager Di Xin.

Several other restaurants in Beijing also offer versions of imperial cuisine, while the Palace Museum preserves Qing Dynasty objects connected to court dining, including molds used to make pastries.

Every meal had its own rituals

Imperial cuisine included the food eaten daily by emperors as well as elaborate feasts held by the imperial court throughout the year.

Each occasion followed specific rituals. At Qing Dynasty banquets, for example, drinking milk tea was an important opening step, said Teng Deyong, a researcher at China's Palace Museum.

During banquets, emperors would present wine or food to princes and government officials. Those receiving the offerings were expected to perform rituals and pay their respects to the emperor before eating or drinking.

Sacrificial ceremonies followed a different set of rules and could include offerings of meat.

"At the Palace of Earthly tranquillity, there was the eating of sacrificial pork, which we know was one of the most important rituals of the Qing imperial court," Teng said.

The pork used in the ceremony was boiled without salt. Afterward, it was distributed among guests, and receiving the sacrificial meat was regarded as a significant honor.

The practice of serving unseasoned food also has roots in earlier Chinese ritual traditions. Wandi Wang, a professor of Chinese at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, said the "Book of Rites," a classical text on ceremonies and rituals, describes a meat broth known as "grand stew" that was served without seasoning during sacrificial ceremonies.

"The absence of added flavoring was itself meaningful: the unseasoned dish evoked an earlier and simpler way of cooking and thus expressed a ritual ideal of honoring antiquity and remembering cultural origins," Wang said.

Traditional methods preserve imperial pastries

Pastries played an important role in imperial cuisine, and the imperial court maintained a specialized institution dedicated to producing them.

At Fangshan, Zhou prepares pastries including Cixi's dream pastry and a small steamed corn bun, using recipes based on imperial court traditions.

"When customers visit, our servers often tell them the stories behind these dishes," Zhou said. "People enjoy them even more because they carry such meaningful history."

Zhou learned traditional pastry-making techniques from a master who had learned them from his own mentor, continuing a craft passed down through generations.

Traditional imperial methods require much of the preparation to be done by hand, without blenders or food processors. Beans, for example, are pulverized using sieves, while certain types of flour are prepared in specially made copper pots.

"A machine may be more convenient, but the texture is completely different," Zhou said. "You lose the delicate graininess and sandy mouthfeel that handcrafted pastries are supposed to have."

Fangshan's popular specialties include pea flour cake and red bean rolls. During peak periods, customers order more than 200 of the cakes each day.

Preserving ancient techniques in a changing world

When Fan Liangliang joined Fangshan as a kitchen apprentice, he had to relearn much of what he had been taught in culinary school. Instead of using faster techniques, he adopted slower traditional methods that were unfamiliar to him.

One such technique is known as "Nizihuo," which Fan described as mincing ingredients such as fish, shrimp or chicken into a smooth paste and then shaping it into decorative forms such as frogs, birds and flowers.

"This is one of the hallmarks of imperial cuisine," Fan said. "Every dish had to be innovative, visually beautiful, nutritious and worthy of presentation on the imperial dining table."

Some rare ingredients once used in imperial dishes, including bear paws, are no longer served. Fan said modern alternatives are used while attempting to preserve the original character and spirit of the dishes.

Chinese cuisine reflects culture, politics and ideals

Chinese cuisine has historically carried meanings beyond food, reflecting the country's cultural values, political ideas and aesthetic traditions.

Wang cited a famous Chinese poet's writing about cold noodles made with pagoda-tree leaves.

"The poem is not simply a description of a dish," Wang said. "Du Fu turns the verdant, fresh, yet modest dish into an expression of his political loyalty and thwarted ambition to serve the emperor."

She said Chinese cuisine has long reflected broader ideas about politics, culture and aesthetics, all of which have evolved as society and circumstances changed.

"Preserving a culinary tradition begins with taking its history seriously," Wang said. "Culinary heritage tells us not only how people ate in the past, but also how people in the present choose to remember and give meaning to that past."

According to Fan, Fangshan's imperial cuisine is rooted in a combination of Manchu and Han culinary traditions, bringing together the food cultures of the Qing rulers and China's majority population.

"It's not simply a collection of dishes from the two cultures," he said. "It represents the blending of their different approaches to food into a unified cuisine."

Traditional techniques such as stir-frying, braising and stewing have survived, although some ingredients have been replaced because of availability and changing tastes.

Fan said his team remains committed to preserving Chinese culinary heritage.

"When people dine at Fangshan Restaurant, I hope they experience more than just a meal," Fan said. "They experience the weight of history."