Empress Dowager Hot Pot

Empress Dowager Hot Pot

　　The world-renowned "Xi'an Dumpling Banquet" is a fine example of Chinese cuisine, and the final dish, the "Empress Dowager Hot Pot," brings the banquet to its climax. Legend has it that during the time when Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu took refuge in Xi'an, one evening after watching a Qinqiang opera performance, the Empress Dowager felt hungry and ordered the imperial chefs to prepare a midnight snack she had never tried before. The chefs, well aware of the Empress Dowager’s preferences, racked their brains and made tiny pearl-sized dumplings with chicken filling, which were then cooked in a hot pot filled with chicken broth. Each small bowl contained three, six, or nine dumplings. The Empress Dowager was puzzled, and the chef smilingly explained, “The numbers three, six, and nine signify moving upward.” The Empress Dowager was delighted. Nowadays, the "Empress Dowager Hot Pot" in the dumpling banquet is prepared and served publicly by the serving staff, who also recount the interesting story from back then as they cook. Each guest receives a varying number of the tiny pearl dumplings and is given a corresponding auspicious blessing: one dumpling means “smooth sailing”; two, “double happiness”; three, “three promotions in a row”; four, “prosperity in all four seasons”; five, “a bumper grain harvest”; six, “everything goes smoothly”; seven, “blessed by the seven stars”; eight, “like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea”; nine, “supreme excellence”; ten, “perfection.” If a guest doesn’t receive a single dumpling, they are wished “freedom from worries, long life, and a warm welcome to return.” With this, guests from both China and abroad leave filled with joy. The dumpling banquet is especially famous at Defachang Dumpling Restaurant and Jiefang Road Dumpling Restaurant.