Water Banquet facts for kids

The Water Banquet (Chinese: 水席, shǔixí) is a special set of Chinese dishes. It includes eight cold dishes and 16 warm dishes. All the warm dishes are cooked in different broths, gravies, or juices. This banquet is one of the "Three Wonders of Luoyang" in Henan, China. Luoyang was once an important capital city. The other two wonders are the beautiful peony flower and the Longmen Grottoes (ancient cave temples). The Water Banquet has a history of over 1,000 years. People in Luoyang often use it to welcome important guests or for big celebrations.

What is the Water Banquet?

The Water Banquet is a unique part of Henan cuisine. It has been around since the Sui dynasty. Some people say it was created during the Tang Dynasty by a person named Yuan Tiangang. The story goes that the dishes were made to show the life of Wu Zetian. She was a powerful empress who ruled China. When this story is told, the banquet is sometimes called the "Empress Wu Banquet." During the Song Dynasty, it was known as the "Luoyang Banquet."

Luoyang has a dry climate with mountains and not much fruit. Because of this, soupy meals like the Water Banquet are a great choice for people living there.

The 24 Dishes

The Water Banquet has a total of 24 dishes. You'll find both vegetables and meat, served cold and warm, with all kinds of flavors. Every dish is served in a bowl, not a plate. The name "Water Banquet" also comes from how the dishes are served. They come one after another, like flowing water.

First, you get eight cold dishes, along with drinks. Then, 16 warm dishes are served in beautiful blue bowls of different sizes. These warm dishes are divided into five parts, or "courses."

• The first four courses each have three dishes. They usually have similar flavors.
• In each of these first four courses, there's one "big dish" and two "small dishes" on the side. This special arrangement is called "going to the imperial court with sons" (带子上朝).
• The "big dish" in the first course is made from shredded turnip. It tastes like swallow's nest soup and is called the "Swallow Dish."
• The fourth "big dish" can be either sweet vegetables or a soup.
• The last course has four dishes, and they are all soups. One of these is a sour vegetable egg soup, which is called the "farewell dish."

The Famous Swallow Dish

The "Swallow Dish" is the first main dish in the hot courses. It has a very interesting legend!

Legend of the Peony Swallow Dish

The story says that when Empress Wu Zetian was in Luoyang, a huge turnip weighing many kilograms grew in a place called Dongguan. Farmers thought it was a miracle and gave it to the Empress. Empress Wu was tired of fancy meals, so she was curious about what the cooks could make from this giant turnip.

The imperial cooks worked hard. They steamed shredded turnip mixed with starch, then blended it into a delicious broth. The Empress was very impressed! The dish tasted so much like swallow's nest soup that she loved it and gave it its name, the "Swallow Dish."

Many years later, in October 1973, Premier Zhou Enlai visited Luoyang with the Prime Minister of Canada. Chefs Wang Changsheng and Li Daxiong made the Swallow Dish for them. The two leaders liked it so much that they ordered it twice!

There was a beautiful carved peony flower in the dish. Premier Zhou noticed it and said, "Luoyang's peonies are the best in the world. It even grows in these dishes! They should be called the 'Peony Swallow Dish.'" Since then, the dish has often been known by this longer name.