According to legend, in the Qing Dynasty, the palace and palaces held rituals such as offering sacrifices to heaven, earth, sun, moon and gods. They used high-quality whole pigs to cook, part of which was used as a sacrifice, and part of which was eaten by the guests who participated in the ceremony. It can only be dipped in salt and soy sauce, and has no unique taste, so it does not arouse the appetite of the princes and nobles. After each use, the remaining rewards are often given to the ministers to share, and some are sold to the guards at a low price. Because there are many sacrifices in the palace, there will be more leftovers. What should I do if the watchman (street watcher) can’t finish his meal? So he became a shopkeeper and set up some old tables and stools to start a business. On the one hand, he could increase his income, and on the other hand, he could pass the boring time. As time went by, the watchman was dissatisfied with the status quo and wondered how to make the food more delicious. Then he remembered the cooks who had worked in the imperial kitchen and decided to cooperate with them to use pork and offal as raw materials, using roasting and burning methods. , boiled cooking methods to make a variety of delicious dishes, sold to some petty officials and eunuchs. In this way, it was spread to ten and hundreds, and the common people also came to have a feast, and the cooking techniques of the royal palace were also introduced into the society.
As their business prospered day by day, they opened a shop outside Prince Ding's palace. The shop was named "Heshunju", which means harmony and harmony. In the 25th year of Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty (AD 1845), Yang Jingting's "Du Men Ji Lue" contains "white meat slices, liver and intestines, burned into pieces, and burned under the chin." ” record. Interestingly, it is said that Heshunju used a large clay pot from the Ming Dynasty with a diameter of four feet and a depth of three feet to cook meat, which could cook a whole pig at a time. People who had eaten it vividly called the store "Casserole Ju". As time went by, the name of the store was replaced by "Heshunju".
The dishes at Claypot Ju are delicious, the owner is friendly, and the business is fair, so there are many customers. At the beginning of the opening, only one pig was cooked every day. There were many good eaters and the seats were packed. By noon, they were sold out, and the high-hanging guise was taken off. Therefore, there is also a popular saying in Beijing: "Under the guise of clay pot residence," there is no waiting after noon. It seems that if you want to take a bite of this, you have to hurry up early.
It is said that Shaguoju once had an imperial pen left by Emperor Qianlong. When it first opened in the Qing Dynasty, civil and military officials from the palace often came here to taste it. The folk saying that "white meat is the best" gradually spread to the palace, and Emperor Qianlong heard about it. One day, the emperor was in a good mood and sent someone to tell the chef of the casserole house to the palace. After the meal, he was still enjoying himself, so he wrote "This is a rare delicacy with a unique taste". From then on, Shaguoju became famous. During the Jiaqing period, the prosperity was unprecedented. There is a saying that "if you eat white meat in Gangwa City, it will be late before the sun rises." Have you experienced the prosperity of this restaurant from this? Seeing the benefits, Kyoto merchants followed suit one after another. Shaguoju quickly hung a couplet on its front door that said, "It has been famous in Kyoto for three hundred years, and its flavor surpasses that of North China's white meat" to show its integrity.
During the Republic of China, dinner was added and the restaurant was no longer closed after noon. Lou Rui praised in "Miscellaneous Odes of the Capital":
Exotic delicacies are said to be of old Beijing, and the taste is left to the public to judge.
Make pork into various kinds, and cook liver sausage in thousands of ways.
Break the old rules and sell things later, and make sacrifices to keep up with the times.
Why not take a look at Lushan noodles and ask how old the casserole is. After liberation, Hua Dewang and other master chefs created and launched a veritable casserole dish - White Pork Casserole in 1952. The selected meat is lean but not dry, fat but not greasy, and the soup is pure and rich in flavor. In the middle of winter, eating a casserole with white meat will be fragrant in your mouth and warm in your heart. Later, clay pot three whites (white sausage, white tripe, white meat), clay pot meatballs, etc. were introduced one after another, and were very popular among customers.