The Fangshan Restaurant in Beihai Park is a world-famous Beijing time-honored restaurant, which is characterized by imitating the imperial food of the Qing imperial palace. It has a history of 8 years.

Beijing was the capital of the Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. For hundreds of years, the imperial meals enjoyed by the emperors of each dynasty were kept secret, so it was difficult for the people to see them.

In the 13th year of the Republic of China (1924), after the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Puyi, was expelled from the Forbidden City, the imperial chef in the palace immediately left the palace and went to the folk to develop himself.

In the 14th year of the Republic of China (1925), Zhao Runzhai, who used to work as an officer in the food warehouse of the imperial kitchen, rented five bungalows and opened a tea house named "Imitation Meal" in the east of Wulong Pavilion on the north bank of Beihai Park with his son and five or six imperial chefs.

With their special status as imperial chefs in the Qing Dynasty, they specialize in making and selling all kinds of traditional cakes, snacks and flavor dishes in the Qing Dynasty, imitating the dishes in the imperial kitchens.

Although the scale of imitation food is not large, it is the first time to show the food with Qing court flavor outside the Forbidden City, which has aroused great interest from customers.

Beihai, as the forbidden land of the imperial palaces of Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, was not opened to the public for the first time as a park until 1 years after the abdication of the Qing Emperor, that is, in 1922. The opening of Fangshan Tea House provides people with good conditions to enjoy the royal gardens and taste the imperial delicacies. Therefore, as soon as the imitation meal was opened, customers were crowded and it was extremely hot.

The meals made by imitation meals, from the flavor snacks to the "Man-Han Banquet" introduced later, are all a unified combination of color, flavor and taste, all of which show the royal style of the past. For example, the classic traditional snacks, such as minced meat, sesame seed cake, small wowotou, pea yellow, kidney bean roll, etc., are all unique in terms of materials, workmanship and taste, and there is a legendary court story behind each dish.

Take Xiaowotou as an example. It is said that in the 26th year of Guangxu (19), when Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing, Empress Dowager Cixi fled west with Emperor Guangxu. When she was tired and hungry, a common people gave her a steamed bun, which was sweet and delicious and she had never eaten it before. After returning to Beijing, she ordered the imperial kitchen to make it for her.

The royal chef thought of Cixi's special status, so he ground the cornmeal to a very fine size. After cooking it, it was tasted and was welcomed by the Empress Dowager. Later, it became the top grade for the imperial court, and also became a dessert for "fasting".

in p>1956, at the national day reception held by the China government to celebrate the seventh anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, 4, steamed buns made by Fangshan restaurant were put on a state banquet, which was praised by Chinese and foreign guests.

The minced meat biscuits made by imitation food also have a legendary story related to Empress Dowager Cixi. It is said that the Empress Dowager Ci was a little hungry when she went to sleep one night. She dreamed of eating minced meat biscuits. Unexpectedly, there were tender and fragrant minced meat biscuits on the dining table the next day. Cixi was very happy and ordered to reward the person who made the cakes.

Snacks like pea yellow and kidney bean rolls "entering the palace" are also related to Empress Dowager Cixi. Legend has it that Empress Dowager Cixi likes to enjoy a cool rest in the Jingxinzhai on the north shore of Beihai, which is separated from the north wall of the imperial city by a wall, and outside the imperial city is the lively Shichahai Lotus Market in Beijing at that time.

One day, Empress Dowager Cixi heard the sound of gong beating outside the imperial city, which turned out to be the cry of selling pea yellow and kidney bean rolls. She had him called in, tasted his pea yellow and kidney bean rolls, and liked them very much, so she left him in the imperial kitchen of the palace.

besides refreshments and snacks, imitation food also deals with some traditional stir-fried dishes in the Qing palace. These dishes have their own characteristics and are delicious and refreshing.

For example, "chicken breast" is also the favorite dish of Empress Dowager Cixi in her later years. After this dish is made, the main ingredient chicken breast is white in color, decorated with a little green peas, fragrant and elegant, and soft but not greasy in taste.

"Wulong Tuzhu" is made of black sea cucumber in the shape of Youlong, and quail eggs are round as pearls, with vivid and colorful shapes.

Sea red shark's fin, roasted venison, pregnant mandarin fish, toad abalone, golden moon, goldfish duck's paw, fried fish fillets, pipa prawns, sea cucumber tendons and so on all have their own characteristics.

naming dishes as "dragons" and "phoenixes" is also a major feature of imperial court meals. Famous dishes, such as "Dragon and Phoenix are auspicious", "Dragon and Phoenix are enjoying the moon", "Wulong spits pearls", "Erlong plays pearls", "Grilled mushrooms with dragon whiskers", "Phoenix lies in the snow", "Phoenix paws", "Phoenix fish maw" and "Phoenix prawns", all reveal the exquisiteness, luxury and elegance of imperial food in the past.

In the imitation dishes, the names of dishes such as auspicious, wishful, blessed, lucky, longevity and happy are chosen, which also reflects the characteristics of the imperial palace cuisine, such as "Jiangshan Wandai", "Hongfu Wannian" and "Ruyi Winter Bamboo Shoots".

during the Republic of China, the "Manchu-Han banquet", which was very popular in society, was also a reserved dish for imitation meals.

there are 18 dishes in the Manchu-Han banquet, with "32 treasures" as raw materials, including "Eight Treasures of Mountain" (such as hump, bear's paw, Hericium erinaceus, scarlet lips, leopard fetus, rhinoceros tail, deer tendon, etc.) and "Eight Treasures of Sea" (such as bird's nest, shark's fin, big black ginseng, fish belly, fish bones, abalone, etc.

The cooking techniques combine the traditional barbecue of Manchu and the cooking techniques of stewing, stewing, frying, boiling and frying of Han nationality. The whole banquet includes hot dishes, cold meats, snacks and fruits, and can only be served in six meals in three days.

in the late Republic of China, some of the royal chefs left or died, and the court flavor gradually faded.

After liberation, the government attached great importance to the management and development of imitation food. In 1956, imitation food was changed from private to state-owned. In order to maintain and carry forward the traditional characteristics of court flavor, imitation food specially sought and invited back five masters who used to cook in the official dining room, and developed the court flavor dishes that had been interrupted for many years.

In p>1959, imitation food was moved from the north shore of Beihai to Yilantang ancient building complex in the middle of the north of Qionghua Island. Newly opened 11 large and small banquet halls with imitation Qing decoration, expanding the scale of the restaurant.

Today's imitation meal consists of three gardens, and there are 15 large and small restaurants for 5 people to eat at the same time. All the restaurants are decorated with dragon and phoenix auspicious patterns, large-scale painted palace lanterns and other court decorations, and the furnishings are simple, elegant and solemn, highlighting the court characteristics.