After the 1940s, people selling wonton stopped picking and set up stalls instead. This kind of wonton Nan Er T is a two-wheeled vehicle about 2 meters long. At one end, there is a stove and soup pot, and at the other end, there is a wooden board for stacking sundries, on which diners eat.
This burden and stall selling wonton has disappeared and disappeared. Wonton, an ancient traditional snack in China, has different names in history. Sichuan people call it "Dragon Wonton", Guangdong people call it "Wonton" and Beijing people call it "Wonton". As early as the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Qi Shu Yao Min called it Huntun and Ziyuan.
Wonton. So wonton is at least 1500 years old. Through the investigation of historical data, it is found that gourmets in various dynasties have many works about linking the winter solstice solar terms with wonton.
During the reign of Qianlong and Jiaqing in the early Qing Dynasty, Wu Yucheng recorded in "Drinking Essays": "There was an empty space at the front door of the capital, commonly known as' Ear Piercing'. Suddenly, a beautiful man in the Yongzheng period came, dressed in soap clothes. I don't know who it was. He built a building on the vacant land and made wonton in the city. It was delicious. Although the summer is hot, the night is unbeaten, and the eater wants it, and the money is not counted. " This story about Beijing Wonton Restaurant is fascinating, vivid and mysterious. Indeed, in old Beijing, there are many wonton pickpockets selling in the street. Generally, they peddle in the street every afternoon and set up stalls in fixed places at night and night. Their shouts of "Wonton Boiling ……" are familiar to old Beijingers, and they are profound and profound in the streets and lanes, and can be heard in several courtyards. The business of selling wonton in downtown area is also booming, and Beijingers especially like to eat wonton. In the past, there was a small briquette stove in front of the wonton shoulder pole in Beijing, with a drying plate on it, and bowls and soy sauce pots could be placed around the plate. A pot is placed in the central round hole, and a large plate of meat stuffing is placed on the upper layer of the high square cabinet at the back, so that wonton can be wrapped at any time; There are several small drawers in the middle, which contain wonton skin, soup spoon bowl, Beijing and winter vegetables, shrimp skin and so on. Be placed; Put a bucket on the lower floor, add soup at any time, package, cook and sell.
Yang Jingting, a figure of A Qing Dynasty, spoke highly of Shi Jing's wonton in his book Doumenlue, praising: "Wonton tastes delicious, and the stuffing is mixed with leeks in spring, and the taste is fragrant." Tang Qingrun's kiss won't be too light, and it tastes long after swallowing. "Describe the small wonton delicious. On the solstice of winter, the longest night of the year, hot and delicious wonton will become the protagonist on the table of ordinary people. Anyone named after a snack variety has a unique skill. "wonton Hou" was named Hou mingting Jie. I sold newspapers when I was a child, and worked as a railway patrolman to support my family for several years when I was young. Later, I stole the skills of making wonton and learned it from others. 1946 I set up a wonton stall with the money I usually saved, and finally moved to Dong 'anmen Street 16 to sell wonton. There is a curtain hanging on the back wall of the booth. The background color of the door curtain is purple, with the striking three characters "wonton Hou" written on it. The curtains are decorated with doves of peace. Because it was the period to resist US aggression and aid Korea, these pigeons symbolized peace and represented the desire of individual businessmen for peace and social stability.
The development of wonton Hou began with the "public-private partnership" of 1956. At that time, it was decided to merge seven wonton stalls in four hutongs: vegetable factory, ladder, big shamao and cypress. 1959 With the assistance of Dongcheng District Commercial Management Committee, seven stall owners chose the pavement house at Dong 'anmen Street 1 1, which was originally paved with Xiang Desheng baked wheat cakes. Hou Tingjie is the team leader. After discussing with other partners, he was named "Chaos Hou". It is said that at that time, I just found a brand and painted it with white paint, which said "Beijing-style wonton". Since then, the wonton stall has finally settled down, and with the birth of the first store "wonton Hou". At that time, Dong 'anmen and Wangfujing were the most prosperous business districts in Beijing, including People's Art Theatre, Dong 'an Market and Auspicious Theatre. If there is a play at night, the pedestrians in the street are bustling. In addition, after the performance, people are willing to eat supper. There are seven or eight stalls selling wonton here. Welcome guests from the north. Many customers are looking for stalls selling wonton. At that time, people had four comments on wonton: thin skin, fine stuffing, fresh soup and four-person relationship. Suppose he rolls wonton skin. This job is very hard, and it uses a special batch of rich and strong flour instead of standard flour. After kneading the dough, roll it into a paper-thin and translucent wonton skin with a rolling pin more than one meter long.
It is said that once Comrade Guo Moruo passed by the stall of wonton Hou, gave a thumbs-up after tasting wonton, and even praised it. Lao Guo couldn't help admiring Hou Tingjie's proficiency in wrapping wonton: "It's fast and beautiful. Can you tell me what this means? " Hou Tingjie replied humorously: "This can be called' diving'." Since then, many famous figures in the literary and art circles have often visited. The reputation of "wonton Hou" also spread like wildfire. Traveler magazine (April issue, 1957) subsequently published Mr. Jin Shoushen's article "A Night in Beijing" with Yu Xiansheng's sketches and illustrations. In the foreground of this painting, a row of people are sitting on wooden benches and eating wonton. In the background, there is a cloth tent with three big characters "wonton Hou" written on it.
By 1956, seven wonton stalls of Houjia, Liangjia,,, and two wonton stalls of Zhang's distributed at the entrance of Donghuamen and Dashamao Hutong formed a cooperative group. Everyone elected Hou Tingjie as the team leader. 1959, seven stall owners thought that setting up a stall outside was not a long-term solution, and decided to open a preface. With the help of the District Commercial Management Committee, they chose Xiang Desheng Sesame Shop (Wonton Old House) to sell wonton together. With the preface, you can afford the font size. When everyone comes together, Hou Tingjie is smart and the leader of the team. It's called "wonton Hou". So I applied for registration, found a brand, painted it with white paint, and wrote the Beijing flavor of "wonton Hou". From then on, the name "wonton Hou" was born. It turns out that street snacks enter the store and are very popular with Beijingers. Business is booming. "In those days, Premier Zhou hosted a banquet for foreign guests and invited Hou, the father of wonton, to be a guest several times. Chen Bao Zeng, the nephew of An, one of the seven founders of "Wonton Hou", once wrote a reminiscence article "I made wonton for the Prime Minister". 1960 At the beginning of the year, Premier Zhou Enlai visited India, and then Indian Prime Minister Nehru invited Premier Zhou to taste Indian wonton. When Nehru paid a return visit to China, Premier Zhou hosted a banquet in the Great Hall of the People and specially arranged a local snacks, namely "Hundun Hou" Beijing-style wonton. In the early 1960s, "Hundun Hou" was hit by the Cultural Revolution. Zhang Shilan, one of the founders, affectionately called Hou Tingjie "Hou Er" when recalling the past. It is said that Hou Er was criticized for the name "wonton Hou". The rebel side said that the name of the store was "sealed" and "wonton Hou" was changed to "Sixin" restaurant. Wonton is not the main business, but selling noodles, rice and wowotou. After customers enter the store, they have to wash the dishes themselves besides buying tickets and serving food. It was not until 1980 that this time-honored brand was restored.
There are 64 chain stores in Beijing, and there are hundreds of other stores. However, the wonton in dozens of direct stores and franchisees tastes the same.