Water Banquet

The Water Banquet is an offshoot of Henan cuisine and has existed since the Sui dynasty. It is sometimes credited to the Tang dynasty's Yuan Tiangang, with the story that the dishes were supposed to mimic the life of Wu Zetian, who seized power to rule as the empress of the restored Zhou dynasty. When this story is alluded to, it is known as the "Empress Wu Banquet". It was known as the "Luoyang Banquet" during the Song. It particularly suits the city of Luoyang, whose dry climate, mountainous terrain, and lack of fruit makes soupy meals an attractive option.

There are vegetables and meat dishes, cold and warm, and all kinds of flavors. There are, in total, 24 dishes. Every dish is served in bowls rather than plates and another meaning of its name comes from the way that diners are served their dishes in sequence, like flowing water. First, eight cold dishes are served with other drinks. The next 16 are the warm dishes, served in different-sized under-glazed blue bowls. They are divided into five courses, four courses of three dishes with similar flavors and then a final course of four dishes served at the end. In the first four courses, there will be a "big dish", accompanied by two "small dishes" as side dishes. This is called "going to the imperial court with sons" (带子上朝). The first course's "big dish" is made of shredded turnip, which mimics the flavor of swallow's nest soup and is called the "Swallow Dish". The fourth "big dish" is either sweet vegetables or soup. The four "end dishes" are all soups, including sour vegetable egg soup, the "farewell dish".