Suiyuan Shidan
- Year
- 1792
- Era
- 18th century
- Origin
- China · East Asia
- Language
- Chinese
- Category
- China
Suiyuan Shidan, compiled by the poet and gourmet Yuan Mei and first issued in 1792, ranks among the most influential gastronomic treatises of late imperial China. Organised into sections covering culinary principles, taboos, and several hundred recipes drawn from across the empire, it codified Jiangnan refinement while articulating a discerning philosophy of taste. Early Qing printings are scarce, and the work has shaped Chinese culinary writing ever since.
Cooking from this book
Steamed whole fish with ginger and scallion
Signature dishAmong the many refined preparations gathered by Yuan Mei, the gently steamed river fish has become emblematic of the Suiyuan Shidan. The compilation, drawn from four decades of dinners at the poet's garden retreat, prized freshness, restraint and respect for a single ingredient's natural flavour. A perfectly timed steamed fish, finished with slivered aromatics and a whisper of hot oil, captures exactly the literati sensibility that made this Qing classic so influential in later Chinese gastronomy.
An editorial note on a dish associated with this book, written for The Coquinist. It is not a reproduction of the book's recipe.
