Suiyuan shidan 隨園食單

Suiyuan shidan 隨園食單 is a cookbook written during the mid-Qing period 清 (1644-1911) by the famous writer Yuan Mei 袁枚 (1716-1797), who retired from his office of district magistrate of Jiangning 江甯 and spent the rest of his life in his private "Garden of Accord" (Suiyuan 隨園), which gave the book its title.

Yuan's book is divided into 14 parts that only partially follow the traditional organization of cookbooks. The first part is a kind of theoretical and practical introduction into the topic of cookery. The part Xuzhi dan 須知單 includes the chapters: basic nature (Xiantian 先天), condiments (Zuoliao 作料), cleaning (Xishai 洗刷), seasoning (Tiaoji 調劑), accompaniments (Peita 配搭), lone ingredients (Duyong 獨用), heat control (Huohou 火候), colour and fragrance (Sechou 色臭), speed (Chisu 遲速), transformations (Bianhuan 變換), tableware (Qiju 器具), table service (Shang cai 上菜), cooking and the seasons (Shijie 時節), quantity (Duogua 多寡), cleanliness (Jiejing 潔淨), the use of starch (Yongqian 用縴), the choice of portions (Xuanyong 選用), thresholds (Yisi 疑似), rescuing dishes (Bujiu 補救), and foundations (Benfen 本分). These basic theories of cookingare eloquently explained in a comprehensive, thoughtful and very practical way.

In the second part, the author puts forward warnings against the prevailing malpractices in cooking, such as dousing with oil, cooking different things in the same pot, exaggeration, delay, waste, rendering fat, muddiness of dishes, etc.

The book contains detailed descriptions of the ingredients and preparation of 342 dishes, side dishes and beverages popular in China from the 14th to the mid-18th centuries. Most of these dishes belong to the traditional cuisine of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but they also involve local dishes from Beijing, Shandong, Guangdong and Anhui, as well as dishes of the palace cuisine.

The first edition of 1792 was followed by a dozen reprints, the most important of which is the 1893 edition of the Shanghai Tushu Jicheng Press 上海圖書集成印書局 which represents a high-quality facsimile of the original edition. Translations exist in many other languages.