"Hakka eight dishes" are actually eight delicious dishes with the most Hakka characteristics. Unlike most happy events held in hotels now, in the past, Hakkas usually held banquets in ancestral temples. Hakkas are simple neighbors. No matter whose family holds a wedding or funeral, the villagers nearby will help. Usually people clean the ancestral hall early, and the children set tables and stools together in the ancestral hall under the guidance of adults. After the formal banquet began, the strong women brought the steamed rice with rice retort, and then the younger generation began to put Hakka wine, snacks, fruits and other things on the table. Finally, when everything is ready, we can go to "Hakka Eight Disks". In this "eight dishes", the general order is: first stir-fry pig offal with gold needles, or stir-fry sauerkraut with fungus, stir-fry bamboo shoots with sauerkraut and so on. This is called appetizing; Then there is taro braised pork. Hakka people like to cut pork into cubes. This dish is a taro sandwiched between two pieces of pork belly, which not only avoids the greasy feeling of large pieces of pork, but also mixes the meat slices with taro. In addition to these two dishes, these eight dishes also include traditional boiled mushroom pork hands, fried rice noodles with sliced meat, Hakka meatballs (usually pork balls), and Hakka fermented bean curd, which is known as the first dish of Hakka. Of course, you can't have a banquet without chicken, but you should serve a plate of boiled chicken, which is a local chicken raised by yourself and an essential dish for Hakka people to entertain distinguished guests. Finally, there is one more point: vegetables grown by farmers themselves (usually cabbage and cabbage, meaning unity and unity). These are the most common "eight dishes" in Hakka rural wedding banquets. In fact, Hakka cuisine has its own deep-rooted food culture, which emphasizes "pastoral beauty". In addition to these common eight dishes, some people will also add their own fish, some wild vegetables picked in the mountains and other dishes that can reflect the rural customs.
Celebration, marriage, birthday, celebrating the full moon and so on are all great events in life. Since it is a happy event, it is necessary to make it lively and pay attention to ostentation and extravagance, not only to show the owner's economic prosperity, but also to show his enthusiasm and generosity. Therefore, the "eight dishes" in Heyuan banquet became the carrier of local people's wishes. As long as you have a deep understanding of the connotation of food, you must know that any kind of long-standing fixed mat, whether loved by the upper class or loved by the people, is bound to be recognized and adopted by the food groups at that level, and Hakka Bapan has such a mass base and has become a unique cultural form since ancient times. Whether it is a big or small happy event or a banquet for guests from far and near, Hakkas always take "eight dishes" as the protagonist. It is worth mentioning that in some villages in our city, there are customs such as "nine dishes", "eleven dishes" and "thirteen dishes" when handling funerals.
Rural people's "eight dishes" not only represent Hakka food culture, but also is an encyclopedia of Hakka people. Now, with the improvement of people's living standards, the traditional "Hakka eight dishes" will also add non-Hakka traditional dishes such as seafood, and the eight dishes will gradually develop into "twelve dishes", "fourteen dishes" and "twenty dishes", but no matter how they develop, they cannot be separated from the unique Hakka characteristics.