XI XI FAN DIAN SHI BO YUAN DIAN

The most famous dish of Changyuan Xixi Restaurant is fried eight pieces, which is also known as the originator of KFC. In addition, traditional Changyuan dishes such as fried spring rolls and pork ribbon bottom are also good. But now because it mainly operates private tables, the quality of the dishes has declined and there is no innovation. Therefore, except for attending wedding banquets, single-table dinners are rarely visited.

Fried Eight Pieces is a traditional famous dish with a long history and unique flavor in Changyuan, the hometown of cooking. The origin can be traced back to August of the tenth year of Xining in the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Northern Song Dynasty (1077 AD), when the Yellow River broke through Cao Village in the north of Changyuan City. 　　According to historical records, the Yellow River broke through, flooding 300,000 hectares of farmland and damaging more than 380,000 houses. Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Xu, ordered Cheng Hao, the judge of Zhenning Army, to lead troops to rescue and block the breach. Cheng Hao personally led the soldiers and civilians to rescue, and after fighting day and night, he finally blocked the breach. In order to comfort the officers and soldiers such as Cheng Hao who had made great contributions, the local government wanted to hold a celebration banquet to comfort them. However, due to the fierce flood, the land was flooded and the pigs and sheep were washed away by the flood. They could only catch chickens roosting on the roofs and trees to reward the officers and soldiers. In this difficult situation, the killed chickens could only be chopped into small pieces, marinated with onions, ginger, pepper, soybean paste and salt, fried in a frying pan, and presented to Judge Cheng and others for consumption. However, the red and yellow, crispy and tender fried chicken nuggets were unexpectedly praised by Cheng Hao and others. When Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty inspected the river and came to Kaifeng Prefecture, he tasted the fried eight pieces made by the chef of Changyuan, which was close to Kaifeng, and praised it highly. This dish became famous. During the Republic of China, Mr. Lu Xun often ate fried eight pieces at Liangyuan Yucai Restaurant founded by Changyuan people in Shanghai. The famous contemporary writer Yao Xueying also said: "I like Henan's fried eight pieces the most, they are fragrant and tender." The most famous restaurant in Changyuan that makes this dish is Xixi Restaurant. However, due to the expansion of its business scale, Xixi Restaurant now mainly operates on reservations. They fry the dish in advance, and when it is served, it is rare to taste the crispy outside and tender inside. However, there are still some small restaurants that make it very well. The one I often eat at is Kaile Noodle Restaurant at the back door of the hospital (opposite the old Public Security Bureau). The chef is an apprentice of Xixi Restaurant. Many locals go to this restaurant for this dish. Remember, you have to eat it fresh out of the pot! Figure 1.2. Crispy outside and tender inside. Figure 3 The authentic Changyuan fried eight pieces is to cut the whole chicken into eight pieces, marinate it with secret ingredients and then fry it. Because the thickness of each piece of meat is different, each piece has its own taste, which is the characteristic. (These three pictures are the actual pictures taken at Kaile Noodle Restaurant yesterday); Figure 4 is the improved version of the restaurant outside. It looks good, but the taste has lost its heritage. (Changyuan fried ba kuai is ready to eat. The flavor has been absorbed by the marinating process, so no other dipping sauce is needed as shown in Figure 4. The only reminder is that we don’t like spicy food. If there is no special request, the fried ba kuai is all original flavor. Figure 5.6 Xixi Hotel Food Expo Park Branch and the owner, the top chef, Master Zhao, are making fried ba kuai.