In old Beijing, fresh fruits can hardly be seen in winter. Only candied haws and frozen persimmons can satisfy the appetite, and dried fruits are one of them.
Dried fruit is a traditional snack in Beijing in winter. It is made of dried apricots, dried persimmons, fresh lotus roots, raisins and other fruits. Amber persimmons, orange-red dried sweet apricots, snow-white lotus root slices, poured with osmanthus juice, and placed in a fruit bowl with ice. Eating in your mouth is cool and crisp, sweet and sour, and very refreshing. In the past, this kind of snack was often sold by street vendors and was called "ice cup". They usually take two copper ice cups and tap them up and down with a crisp voice, which travels far. They also knocked and shouted "dried fruit ~, sour plum soup ~, rose jujube ~, boiled begonia ~" and so on. When the children living in the street heard the sound, they quickly dragged the adults out with pots and bowls, fearing that they would not be able to eat if they were late.
It is said that when Emperor Tongzhi was nine years old, he also left Fengze Gate and the Forbidden City and ate this dried fruit.
It was the first time that Comrade Xiao slipped out of the palace. It's an eye-opener. Everything is so fresh. He saw a group of children gathered in front of a booth, each with a small bowl in his hand. The vendor is scooping a spoonful from the car and putting it in a small bowl. The children ate it all with spoons. Little comrade is drooling. He went over and asked, "What is this?" The stall owner said, "Young Master, this is called dried frozen fruit. Sweet, sour and cold. It is delicious. Try it? " The little comrade had never heard anyone call him "little master", and found it very interesting, so he happily picked up the bowl and began to eat. It's cool to take a bite, so happy! While eating with relish, he was seen by several eunuchs who were anxious to find him. In desperation, the little comrade lifted his skirt, poured the remaining frozen fruit into his pocket and ran back to the palace wet. At this time, everyone knows that this is the little emperor of the dynasty. Being brought back to the palace, I was reluctant to throw away the dried fruit, which really made a splash.
Such delicious dried fruits are rare in the market today, but you can still eat them in the right place.
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Before the Spring Festival, the rich wanted to eat jiaozi, and the poor could only eat steamed stuffed buns. However, this kind of chestnut-faced steamed bread used to be dedicated to Cixi, and it didn't flow into the people until after the Republic of China.
It is said that during the Gengzi period, Cixi was hungry on the way to the west, and a woman gave her a big steamed bun. The hungry Cixi naturally tasted delicious food. After returning to the palace, one day Cixi suddenly wanted to eat this bite, so she ordered it, but the chef was afraid to make this kind of real folk nest for Cixi, so he racked his brains, used finely ground corn flour, and added appropriate amount of bean flour, sugar and osmanthus flowers to make sweet and soft chestnut nest for Cixi to enjoy. Cixi was really satisfied after eating, and repeatedly praised her incomparable sweetness.
Chestnut flour steamed stuffed bun noodles are only the size of chestnuts and taste as soft and waxy as chestnuts. According to the chef who imitates food, to make this kind of steamed bread, it is necessary to use good new corn flour, which is too thin, and then mix with good soybeans, and add sweet-scented osmanthus sugar when steaming, so as to be sweet. Moreover, a catty of flour needs to be steamed into 100 steamed bread to be considered "small", so steamed bread shaped like chestnuts is named after it.
On the National Day of 1956 after the founding of New China, at the banquet hosted by Premier Zhou Enlai for foreign guests, there was also this imitation dessert-Xiaowotou, which was refined by the old chef of Qing Palace. When these 4000 lovable steamed buns were put on the table, all the foreign guests were full of praise, and many people shouted: Pyramid! Pyramid! This is a wonderful metaphor for all kinds of steamed buns. Fangshan Xiaowotou has since become famous at home and abroad.
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Sheep eye steamed stuffed bun is a good food in Hui people's diet. Each steamed stuffed bun is as big as a sheep's eye. Now it's steamed, with all kinds of fillings. The gravy is soaked in the dough when it is out of the pot. It is soft and chewy and tastes very delicious.
According to legend, Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty wanted to eat this bite, so he disguised himself and went to the Huimin mutton steamed stuffed bun shop outside the front door to taste it. Kangxi walked into the mutton paomo shop, and the careful shopkeeper immediately sent two cups of tea with a small tray to greet the long live grandfather and said with a smile: "I am not afraid of being annoyed." I haven't tasted all the delicacies in the palace, and I condescend to try the sheep's eye steamed stuffed bun. I really dare not be filial. " Kangxi knew that his identity had been discovered, but he still wanted to eat steamed buns. The shopkeeper had no choice but to say, "I am so grateful. I must eat it." Please wait a moment. " In a short time, hot steamed buns arrived. Kangxi put one on the plate with chopsticks, and the aroma was fragrant. When he put it in his mouth, it tasted very delicious. But Kangxi looked left and right and didn't see the "sheep's eye", so he asked the shopkeeper, "Why can't you see the sheep's eye?" The shopkeeper quickly replied, "If you return to the Lord, you will feel guilty and dare not cheat: the stuffing is not sheep's eye, but it is made finer and the size of the bag is smaller, like sheep's eye, so it is named' sheep's eye steamed stuffed bun'." When Kangxi heard this, he sent a message: "I think Yang Yaner's steamed stuffed bun is very good. You can send it to the palace at any time and ask the internal affairs office to open a bank. "
From then on, Yang Yaner's steamed stuffed bun became famous in Beijing. As a result, Muslim restaurants all over the four cities made sheep's eye buns, which became a favorite food for Muslims.
It is said that snowballing with soft entrance and sweet bean paste is also one of the delicacies of the Qing palace. In old Beijing, he is a frequent visitor to temple fairs and fairs.
It is said that Cixi, who is tired of eating court food, wants to try something new one day, but this sudden idea can hardly crush the chef. After careful consideration, the chef decided to make a new pastry with Jiang rice flour wrapped in red bean paste. Unfortunately, when the cake was just finished, a eunuch named "Xiao Lv's son" accidentally bumped into a basin full of soybeans. This is anxious for the chef, and it's too late to redo it at this time. No way, the chef had to bite the bullet and present it to Cixi. Who would have thought that as soon as Cixi ate this new gadget, "Hmm!" It tasted good, so I asked the chef, "What's this called?" The cook thought it was all done by the eunuch named Xiao Lv, so he said to Cixi, "This is called snowballing."
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In the memory of old Beijingers, in the 1980s and 1990s, many families ate stinky tofu milk, a small piece of blue-gray, square and smelly. It tastes rich and pure, and can be put on steamed bread, noodles and pancakes, all of which are delicious.
The stinky tofu milk in Beijing, the most famous of which is from Wang Zhihe outside Qianmen, was invented by Wang Zhihe, an Anhui native, and has been circulating for more than 300 years. According to legend, he used to be a scholar. In the eighth year of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, he failed in the exam in Beijing, so he made tofu for a living and created stinky tofu milk. After many improvements, it tastes better and is more famous.
Later, the story was introduced into the palace, and a eunuch curiously bought some to taste. Sure enough, he immediately presented it to the emperor. As soon as the emperor tasted it, his appetite was greatly increased, and it was announced that "stinky tofu milk" was listed as one of the side dishes in the imperial dining hall and named "Fang Qing". Now, stinky tofu milk in Wang Zhihe is more famous and its business is more prosperous. In the seventeenth year of Kangxi (1678), Wang Zhihe decided to build a workshop in the west of yanshou temple Street and set up a signboard "Wang Zhihe South Sauce Garden". Since then, this business has developed from generation to generation. Later, it was said that Empress Dowager Cixi especially liked this bite. She eats a plate of stinky tofu with fried pepper oil every day. It must be the delicious stinky tofu bought from Nanjiangyuan, Wang Zhihe that day. On one occasion, the "Wang Zhihe South Sauce Garden" was closed for a few days, and the eunuch who served Cixi had to replace it with the remaining stinky tofu milk, but how could he hide it from Cixi? She became suspicious as soon as she tasted it, and secretly hid a handful of peppers in stinky tofu milk when she ate it. When she went to dinner the next day, Cixi was furious when she saw that the pepper she had put was still inside, and scolded the eunuch for giving her leftover stinky tofu milk. From then on, the eunuchs thought of the arrogance of "Galeries Lafayette" and never lied to her again, so they had to go to Wang Zhihe to buy fresh stinky tofu milk every day.
Today, Wang Zhihe stinky tofu milk is sold in all major supermarkets in Beijing. You can also go home and try the pepper oil stinky tofu milk of Empress Dowager Cixi. The method is simple and the taste is unique.
Pea yellow and kidney bean rolls are folk snacks, which became snacks in Qing Dynasty. There is also a short story: it is said that one day Cixi was sitting in the meditation room in Beihai when she suddenly heard the sound of gong knocking and shouting from the street. She wants to know what they are and what's the use of asking them. The eunuch on duty reported that they sold pea yellow and kidney rolls. Cixi was happy at the moment and sent a command to call this person into the park. As soon as the stall owner saw Lafayette, he quickly knelt down with kidney rolls and pea yellow in his hand. Please come to lafayette. Cixi tasted it and was full of praise, so she left this man in the palace to make pea yellow and kidney bean rolls for her.
In the past, people who operated "coarse pea yellow children" in Beijing were mostly from Pinggu and Xianghe, because these places were rich in peas. The production of coarse pea yellow is very simple. Generally, white peas are peeled, stewed with twice as much water as peas, fried with sugar, mixed with gypsum water and cooked dates, put into a large casserole, cooled into blocks, cut into diamond-shaped blocks like cakes, decorated with small gold cakes, covered with wet blue cloth and sold on trolleys. Kidney bean rolls are also a very common snack in Beijing. Soft and delicate, the filling is sweet and refreshing. Because Cixi was quite satisfied after tasting it, it became a royal snack in the Qing Dynasty. However, the waist roll and pea yellow of the Qing palace are still slightly different from those of the people. Generally speaking, the "fine pea yellow" in the palace is an improved royal kitchen based on the coarse pea yellow of the folk jujube. The method is exquisite, and the materials are excellent: firstly, the peas are cooked and screened into paste, then added with white sugar and osmanthus, solidified and cut into small squares which are two inches square and less than half an inch thick, and a few candied cakes are placed on them, which has the characteristics of delicate and pure texture, instant taste and good color and taste.
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Shaqima is my favorite. If I want to eat, I will go to Daoxiang Village in Beijing to buy a piece.
Saqima is one of the traditional cakes in old Beijing, and its name is also the abbreviation of Manchu. Mr. Qi Gong once said that there was a word "Saqima" in Wen Qing Jian compiled by Fu Huan and others during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, which was interpreted as "dog milk dipped in sugar". It's easy to understand that "dog milk" is a bit strange. In fact, dog milk is medlar, which is shaped like dog milk. Originally used as the fruit material of Shaqima, it was gradually replaced by raisins, hawthorn cakes and plums.
There is also a short story about its origin: in the Qing Dynasty, there was a general who worked in Guangzhou, surnamed Sa, who loved to ride horses and hunt. He would have a snack after every hunting, and he couldn't repeat it! On one occasion, General Sa wanted to go out hunting and specifically told the chef to "bring something new". If he can't satisfy him, he is ready to go home and "eat the cook". Hearing this, the chef in charge of dim sum was absent-minded and fried the dim sum stained with egg liquid. Just then, the general urged for snacks again, and the cook became angry and cursed: "Kill that rider!" " "Only in a hurry to set out snacks. But unexpectedly, General Sa was quite satisfied after eating it and asked what the name of this snack was. The cook immediately replied, "Kill the horse." As a result, General Sa heard "Sa riding a horse", hence the name. Later, Saqima became popular because of its delicious taste and low price. According to the investigation of 1927, there are many sachmas in the red stoves sold in big teahouses in old Beijing.
Today, Saqima's practice is divided into north and south, slightly different. The traditional Saqima in the north needs more cream; In the south, only egg white, leavening agent and sugar are used, which is called Shaqima. Shaqima can be seen in the market, but Shaqima is much less. More interestingly, in Hongkong, people used to call Shaqima "Ma Zi". Because horse racing gambling is commonly known as "betting on horses", some people in Hong Kong think that they can win horse racing gambling by eating Shaqima.
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Door nail patties, a kind of halal food in old Beijing, are somewhat similar to soup dumplings. The dough is brown, and the stuffing of beef and green onions is full of thick soup, which is really attractive. Especially when eating, it must be hot, so it tastes good. But you can't bite it down, otherwise it will not only burn your mouth, but also be greasy. If you want to take your time, you'd better pour some vinegar on it. Really delicious and boring! Eating doornail patties should be accompanied by a bowl of porridge, which can moisten the stomach, and a bite of meat and porridge is a kind of enjoyment.
Door nail patties are also related to Empress Dowager Cixi. It is said that the chef of the Imperial Chef made a stuffing snack for Cixi. Cixi liked it very much after tasting it and asked what it was. There was no name at that time, the queen mother asked, I can't say I don't know! Then, the chef had a brainwave, thought of the doornail on the city gate and said, "This is called doornail patties". Therefore, the meat pie shaped like a nail on the old city gate got its name.
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Minced meat sesame seed cake is not only a fine snack in Beijing, but also an imperial meal in the Qing palace. Sesame cakes pay attention to the even distribution of sesame seeds, showing "yellow on both sides and a circle of white", that is, the bottom is dark yellow, the front is medium yellow, and the surrounding white is slightly yellow. After cutting, the thickness of the "empty chamber", "upper chamber" and "lower chamber" of the sesame cake should be basically uniform, and the middle is slightly thinner. The minced meat is uniform in size, soft, oily and watery. The taste is tender, smooth and full, slightly chewy, not greasy or fragrant.
About its origin, it is said that one night, Cixi had a dream, and dream of eating visited a minced meat biscuit. At breakfast the next day, as expected, there were meat foam biscuits on the table. Cixi was very happy to see what she had eaten in her dream, and said that she had fulfilled her dream. Asked who made the sesame cake, the waiter said it was chef Zhao Yongshou. Cixi immediately gave Zhao Yongshou a tail feather and twenty taels of silver. Since then, roumo sesame seed cake has been handed down as a dream sesame seed cake.
There is also a saying that this way of eating was invented by Cixi. Xuan Tong Puyi's younger brother, Mr. Pu Jie's Japanese wife, Aisingiorro Howe, wrote a book "Diet in the Palace", which contains stir-fried dishes. She said in the book, "This dish was invented by the Western Empress Dowager", and its preparation method is "Pork is cut into powder, mung bean is washed and cut into powder, and onion and ginger are cut into powder respectively. Heat the oil in the pan, add the meat foam, stir-fry until the meat foam is dry, and then add the onion and Jiang Mo. After stir-frying, add mung bean powder, stir-fry a few times, pour in soy sauce, stir-fry until the juice is exhausted, and serve. " You can see that the meat foam sandwiched in the meat foam biscuit is fried in this way.
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Fried liver is a special snack in Beijing. The soup is bright red and the liver and intestines are fat. It's rich but not greasy. Moreover, Beijing also pays attention to eating, that is, eating directly from the bowl without chopsticks and spoons, and then serving steamed buns. This is a perfect match for good food.
This snack is also related to Cixi. According to legend, during the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, a Beijinger named Liu Yongkui rented a shop in Xianyukou and opened a couple's inn, named Huixianju, specializing in yellow wine, side dishes and white water chop suey. After arriving in Gengzi, this small shop was run by their descendants Liu and three brothers. It is said that when Cixi suddenly wanted to taste the white water chop suey, she came to this shop. After she tasted this dish, she won praise, but some people said that it might be better to remove the heart and lungs. Cixi's golden mouth and jade words, as the king's disobedience, removed the heart and lungs of the white water chop suey, only used pork intestines and pork liver, and seasoned and thickened with minced garlic, which became the fried liver now. Since then, old Beijingers have added another two-part allegorical saying-Beijing fried liver lacks heart and lungs.
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Enema is a traditional snack unique to old Beijing. It's called enema, but it's actually fried dough
Enemas became popular in the Ming Dynasty. At that time, there were two kinds of enema: one was a large enema, which was washed with pig fat intestines, made into paste with high-quality flour, red rice water, cloves, cardamom and other raw materials 10, poured into the intestines, cooked, cut into small pieces, fried in lard, and poured with salted garlic juice, which was crispy and salty. The other is called small enema, which is made of starch, red rice water and bean curd residue into a thick paste. After steaming, cut into small pieces, fry them in lard and dip them in salted garlic juice. Soft outside and rigid inside, quite distinctive. What you can eat in Beijing now is a small enema.
The most famous enema in Qing Dynasty was Fuxingju outside Qianmen. It is recorded that "the fat sausage filled with powder should be fried, and chopsticks and vegetables should be carried with a shovel." Children with special tastes should buy them and cross several alleys in Xie Yang Lane. " It can be seen that people at that time really loved fried enema. Later, Empress Dowager Cixi also praised the enema here as a tribute.
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