Luoyang Yancai, the “Bird’s Nest Dish”, is a specialty in Luoyang. It is said that when the Empress Wu Zetian lived in Luoyang, an extraordinarily large radish was picked out in a field close to the capital. The farmer thought it a marvel and contributed it to the Empress. The palace cook shredded it and dressed it with powder to steam it with delicious soup. The queen was satisfied with the taste and named it the Bird Nest Dish, because it had the flavor of an edible bird’s nest. Later the dish was introduced to ordinary people and they called it Luoyang Bird Dish. In October, 1973, Premier Zhou Enlai accompanied Canadian Premier Trudeau to visit Luoyang. The famous cooks, Wang Changsheng and Li Daxiong tried their best to cook the dish to serve the premiers. They ordered this dish twice and enjoyed it very much. Since there are peonies carved in the dish, Premier Zhou humorously called it, Peony Bird Dish. Thereafter, the Peony Bird Dish of Luoyang was well-known both at home and abroad.
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