What is the origin of "Ningyuan Blood Duck"?

Just as everyone is fighting for "Red Cliff" and "Huaguoshan", so are blood ducks. We prefer to call it "Ningyuan Blood Duck", while restaurants in Hunan call it "Yongzhou Blood Duck". Jiangxi is called "Lotus Blood Duck" and Guangxi is called "Quanzhou Blood Duck"; It is said that there are blood ducks in Paris, France.

Although the names of Chinese blood ducks vary from place to place, the practice is basically the same: choose a live duckling, drop the blood into a wine bowl and mix well when slaughtering to prevent the duck's blood from coagulating, then put a proper amount of oil, salt and lobster sauce into the pot, and then add a proper amount of water. When it is almost cooked, add pepper, star anise, ginger and agastache. Used for stirring and seasoning. After boiling and frying, pour the duck blood on the block and stir fry for a while.

By the way, it is said that the French blood duck (Canard Au Sang) has been the favorite dish of French aristocrats since19th century. The production process of French blood duck is complicated and looks a bit stupid: the chef cooks the duck first, then serves the freshly cooked duck spleen and duck breast, and then performs it live in front of diners. Squeeze the whole duck shell with special copper tableware, and drain the duck blood and bone marrow. Boil the duck juice and pour it on the duck breast and spleen. I haven't eaten, so I dare not comment more. It seems that 100% western food is similar to foie gras. However, from this perspective, the delicious duck blood was discovered by the people of two great countries, China and France.

Why are there blood ducks in Jiangxi, Hunan and Guangxi? Who was earlier?

Let's see what Jiangxi people say first. In A.D. 1276, Wen Tianxiang, Prime Minister of the Southern Song Dynasty, assembled a division to fight against the Yuan Army, and heroes from all walks of life gathered in the Lotus. * * * Shang Xingguo was going to open a handsome flag to drink blood wine. Because there was no chicken, he replaced it with duck blood. It is said that the chefs in the rotorcraft army were very nervous when entertaining Premier Wen, and they could not finish the duck for fear.

The other version is similar, a little more complicated. I was going to use duck blood to make blood wine. The chef in charge of killing ducks is from Lianhua County. After he made the blood wine, he drank it himself and got drunk. When cooking fried duck, I mixed blood wine into the dish as water in a muddle, only to find out that it was wrong after mixing it. I used my quick wits and quickly named this fried duck "Blood Duck". Everyone praised this dish at dinner, and Wen Tianxiang was very satisfied. Although there is no blood wine, since he has eaten blood duck, the significance of drinking blood wine is here. Wen Tianxiang asked everyone to work hard to kill the enemy, resist the Yuan Army and protect the land of Dasong, so he pardoned Lotus Cooking. Today, the "Lotus Blood Duck" in Lianhua County, Ji 'an City, Jiangxi Province is still a local specialty.

In Ningyuan, people regard fried blood duck, braised dog meat and fermented bean curd as three traditional famous dishes; It is essential for people to prepare "chicken, duck and fish belly" during the Spring Festival. Most ducks use the method of frying blood ducks.

In Quanzhou, Guangxi, there is a saying that fried duck in Quanzhou is the best in the world. According to legend, He Xiangu, the Eight Immortals, happened to pass by Quanzhou and was deeply appreciated. After a while, a bloody duck for a meal made her linger. Therefore, as the saying goes, "After eating the fried duck, the immortal will not go home."

It seems that only Jiangxi has a story about the origin of blood ducks, while Hunan and Guangxi are just bragging about how delicious their blood ducks are. This may be a manifestation of "Jiangxi fills Huguang" in the history of China immigrants, that is to say, the cooking method of blood duck originated in Jiangxi, and was later brought to Hunan and Guangxi with Jiangxi people migrating to Huguang. This "Huguang" refers to Hunan and Hubei in the Qing Dynasty, but before that, it was the general name of Jinghu South Road, Jinghu North Road and Guangnan West Road, so it is not surprising that there are blood ducks in Yongzhou, Hunan and Quanzhou, Guangxi.

Looking up the source of Ningyuan's surname, we can find that many of them are from Jiangxi. For example, Liu Zhongzheng, the ancestor of the Liu family, moved from Jiangxi to Dabeidong (now Yuntan) in Ningyuan in the Song Dynasty to avoid war, and his descendants lived in Liu Anzhong, Renhe and Heting arch bridges. A branch of Huang surname comes from Lingling County, and the ancestor of this branch, Huang Gu, originated in Fenning County, Hongzhou, Jiangxi Province. During the Ming Hongwu period, he moved to Lingling County, and one of them moved to Baijiaqiao and Shijiadong in Ningyuan. One of Chen's ancestors is Chen Zhide, whose ancestral home is Jiangxi. In the Yuan Dynasty, when the soldiers were in turmoil, he lived in Shima Village, Ningyuan Shuicheng. The second is Chen Sheng, originally from Ejingtang, Taihe County, Jiangxi Province. In the Ming Dynasty, he moved to Sizhou Village in Guiyang, and then moved to Shenxian Cave and Tang Yang in Ningyuan. His descendants were separated from Shanglongpan, Xiaomutang and Tongmuluo. Zhang Xuangui, the ancestor of Zhang, was originally from Taihe, Jiangxi, and was mutinied at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. He took refuge in Yongzhou with his three sons. The eldest son Wan Yi lives in Lingling Bridge, the second son Wan Er lives in Yuanyang Cave in Ningyuan, and the third son Wan San lives in Yuntan in Ningyuan (this is the origin of my mother's hometown Laozhangjia Village). Wang Xing was originally from Ji 'an, Jiangxi, and moved to Xiufeng Mountain, Shimen Mountain, Daqi Mountain, Lu Guan and Jiuyi Mountain in Ningyuan at the end of Yuan Dynasty. Ouyang, the largest compound surname in Ningyuan, was originally from Luling, Jiangxi (now Ji 'an). In the Northern Song Dynasty, his ancestors worked in Guiyang, and his descendants moved to Ningyuan, where they first lived in Shenxia Xizaohetian. Later generations lived in Zhonghe, Xinkai, Muwu, Luodi, Security and other places. My last name is Xiao Ye, and I come from Jiangxi. I can trace it back to Xiao in Lanling County. These facts can roughly reflect the previous assumptions.

Tracing back to the origin of the ancestors in Ji 'an, Jiangxi Province, most of them may come from the Central Plains and belong to Hakka people in a broad sense, which can be seen from the hostile attitude towards the Yuan Army in The Origin of Blood Duck. In diet, this hypothesis can also be embodied in fermented tofu, which will be discussed another day.