The records of Nanhu boat dishes in the Ming and Qing dynasties are all short, mostly saying that "it can cure the dishes" or that "shrimp and crab are the best dishes for boat dishes, and the restaurant has no such interesting taste".
Xu Keji, a famous scholar in Hangzhou at the end of the Qing Dynasty, wrote a detailed menu of the Jiaxing South Lake Boat Feast in the eighth year of the Republic of China.
Xu Keji's boat food feast includes two types:
1、 Six big bowls and six small bowls. Six bowls: Crab roe and shark fin, Babao duck, fish maw, cold mixed turtle skirt, ham, steamed pork with rice flour. Six small bowls are not recorded in detail.
2、 Four big bowls and four small bowls are not recorded in detail. But there are eight small bowls: shrimp, crab meat, tendons, mushrooms, spiced pigeons, shrimp balls, white fungus, lotus seeds. In addition, there are shelled crab legs in the cold meat basin, which are planted around and filled with crab roe and crab meat in the middle, similar to the "Hibiscus Crab" made by Zhu Erniang.
Wang Ziliang, a Jiaxing man later than Xu Ke, often participated in the boat banquet before and after the Anti Japanese War, and recorded the "choking shrimp" (also called "robbing shrimp"). He cut off the beard and foot of live shrimp, dipped it in red cream bittern with sesame oil and white sugar, and it was very fresh.
At that time, Liu Hexing Restaurant in Xuangong Bridge was also good at cooking boat dishes. Shark's fin, sea cucumber, scallops and fried shrimps were praised by diners today.
The above list of boat dishes and raw materials are roughly the same. In case of any increase or decrease, it is necessary to mainly take river fresh food, such as mandarin fish, black backed crucian carp, snails (black carp), etc., which are all aquatic treasures.
During the period of the Republic of China, the South Lake used many silk screen boats to carry passengers to the lake. There were two kinds of boats, namely, double lane boat and single lane boat. Single lane can hold more than ten people and hold a banquet; Shuangjianong is doubled. It can hold two feasts and more than 20 people to eat and drink on the ship. The cost of the boat fare banquet: On the 24th of June in the lunar calendar, the Lotus Festival and the Qiqiao Festival on the 7th of July, the two festivals have the highest value. The big feast is worth 16 yuan and 14 yuan, and the middle feast is worth 12 yuan and 10 yuan. At ordinary times, two yuan will be deducted respectively. The tips of boat lady, kitchen worker and alcohol are not included.
The boat banquet was scheduled to be held at the Lotus Embankment one day in advance. As Xu Ke said, "Yang Sanguan" was the owner of the boat. At that time, the silk mesh boats were all anchored at the Lotus Embankment outside the North Gate. Board the boat from the Lotus Embankment, go to the Luofan Pavilion for tea, and then flow into the South Lake from Xiushui River and Haohe River through the Lion at the East Gate.
For the flavor of boat dishes, take the "South Lake Crab Meal" as an example: four live lake crabs (about 750g in weight), steamed and shelled, cooked with cooked lard, ginger powder, refined salt, Shaoxing wine, etc., thicken the sauce and put it on a plate. The meat is as white as snow, as yellow as orange, and tastes delicious. The food tastes delicious.
