Kong Mansion Cuisine Technique

Kong Mansion cuisine, also called "the foremost cuisine under heaven," is the official-house cooking of the descendants of Confucius developed through the successive Dukes Yansheng, taking shape around 1038 in the Baoyuan reign of the Northern Song and carried on for nearly a thousand years. It absorbs the strengths of court, official and folk cooking, with broad ingredients, fine work, skilful seasoning and attention to vessels. It entered the third national ICH list in 2011 under traditional skills.

The cuisine excels in braising, stir-frying, slow-stewing, glazing, deep-frying and pan-braising, with a clean, fresh, tender and mellow flavour, its banquets divided into Manchu and Han settings and paired with five great occasions—longevity, flower, wedding, welcome and everyday; dishes are often named for literary allusions such as Yangguan Sandie, Shili Yinxing and Dangchao Yipin, prising one allusion per dish and equal weight to form and meaning.

Kong Mansion cuisine is the emblem of Chinese official-house cooking, carrying the Confucian food ideal of ever-greater refinement and the culture of rite and music, and holding real value for the study of Chinese banquet systems, cooking technique and food aesthetics.

The history and vessels of Kong Mansion cuisine can be explored at the Confucius Museum and the Kong Family Mansion in Qufu, and recreated dishes can be tasted at local Kong-cuisine restaurants.