Wu Zetian at the table

At the court of Chang'an and later Luoyang, meals were not served as "starter-main-dessert" but as a lavish succession of small dishes arranged together on lacquered trays and precious tableware: roasted or steamed meats, pickled vegetables, grain porridges, fermented sauces (jiàng), fruits and pastries, tea and fine wines. The grand promotion banquet called Shaowei yàn ("banquet of the burned tail"), whose menu has survived, featured dozens of refined dishes. The emperor's daily routine, however, began at dawn before audiences with a bowl of grain porridge and pickled vegetables.

The Tang golden age brought black pepper (hújiāo), cinnamon (cassia), cloves, and ginger to the court—luxury goods from India and Persia. Combined with fermented soy and bean sauces (jiàng) and grain vinegar, they gave imperial cuisine its distinctive umami, salty, and delicately spiced profile that set it apart from the rest of the empire.