First, the Qing emperor only ate two meals a day. Breakfast usually starts at 6 o'clock in the morning, sometimes it is postponed until 8 o'clock in the morning, and dinner is usually 12 to 2 o'clock in the afternoon. In modern terms, this should be regarded as lunch. After two dinners, add a snack when you are hungry.
Second, the imperial cuisine in Qing Dynasty is mainly composed of three local cuisines. Manchu cuisine is a national snack, with all kinds of meat and game, sticky cakes, pickles and so on. It is a delicious food that emperors and empresses are reluctant to give up; After the Qing palace entered the Central Plains, it followed the characteristics of the court diet in the Ming Dynasty, and the diet was gradually dominated by Shandong flavor; During the Qianlong period, Suzhou and Hangzhou cuisines were appreciated and popular in the palace because of several southern tours.
Third, the Qing emperors had different dietary preferences. For example, emperor Qianlong's diet is coarse and fine, and it is reasonable to eat complementary food; Emperor Guangxu likes seafood dishes, and every meal must be cooked with raw materials such as shark's fin, sea cucumber, jellyfish and kelp. Cixi's favorite dishes are roast pig skin, stewed duck tongue and feet, watermelon cups and so on. There are also snacks such as steamed buns and fried triangles. Puyi is very interested in western food, and once set up a western food kitchen in the Forbidden City.
Fourth, there were various banquets in the Qing Dynasty, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. Besides New Year's Day, Longevity and Winter Solstice, there are also triumphal banquets to celebrate the victory of the campaign, banquets for thousands of people to defeat their subjects, grand wedding banquets for emperors, princesses, North Korean envoys and envoys to Tibet, New Year's Eve banquets for Mongolian princes, birthday banquets for the Empress Dowager, Qian Qiu banquets for Empresses, birthday banquets for all concubines and wedding banquets for princes. In addition, there are various festivals and banquets.
Fifth, pay attention to health preservation and pursue immortality. Emperor Long often took turtle-aged wine, pine-aged Taiping Spring wine, spleen-invigorating and kidney-tonifying wine 1, and often ate "eight-treasure cake" in his later years. Cixi began to drink Ruyi Changshou wine after middle age. This wine can dispel wind and remove dampness, promote digestion and quench thirst, dredge blood vessels, strengthen tendons and bones, and is a good health care product.