Wushi Zhongkuilu () is a late
13th century Medieval Chinese
Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the ''Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The S ...
culinary work on household
cookery
Cooking, cookery, or culinary arts is the art, science and craft of using heat to Outline of food preparation, prepare food for consumption. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from grilling food over an open fire to using electric ...
written by an anonymous author from the
Pujiang region known only as "Madame
Wu".
It is the earliest known culinary work written by or attributed to a Chinese woman and is believed to have been published in during late
Song Dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
or early
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...
.
Content
The full title of the work is "Song Dynasty Pujiang Woman of the Wu Surname Records on Household Essentials", which echo's the contents of the book as a detailed guide for preparing essential household dietary ingredients and dishes of the period.
This includes cooked items as well as various
pickled
Pickling is the process of preserving or extending the shelf life of food by either anaerobic fermentation in brine or immersion in vinegar. The pickling procedure typically affects the food's texture and flavor. The resulting food is called ...
and
preserved foods that can be eaten straight or used as ingredients.
Wu's work consists of three chapters grouped according to the types of recipes and originating ingredients:
# "Preserved Meats and Pickled Fish" (): 20 sections
# "Vegetable preparations" (): 38 sections
# "Sweet foods" (): 15 sections
It is also the first published work that described the use of
soy sauce
Soy sauce (also called simply soy in American English and soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermented paste of soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and '' Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''Asp ...
seasoning in dishes (referred to as "醤油") along with the more typical soy, fish, and meat based seasoning pastes common during Medieval China.
See also
*
Shilin Guangji
Shilin Guangji () is an encyclopedia written by Chen Yuanjing (陈元靓) during the Yuan dynasty and Mongol Empire. The book contains text written in Chinese characters, Mongolian script, and the ʼPhags-pa script. Chen Yuanjing was a native of ...
, another book on cooking written during the Yuan dynasty
References
External links
Textat Chinese Text Project
Chinese cuisine
Chinese cookbooks
13th-century books
{{China-lit-stub
Yuan dynasty literature
Song dynasty literature