Speaking of the history of Tianfu, there are several interesting anecdotes.

According to legend, in 1738, the third year of Qianlong’s reign, there was a drought in Shandong. Liu Fengxiang, a native of Ye County, came to Beijing to make a living with his craft of making sauced meat. He partnered with others to find a small shop in Xidan Archway and opened a restaurant. Because of the good craftsmanship, the business of the sauce butcher shop was okay, but after a long time, the shop did not have a name. It happened to be that one day Liu Fengxiang went out to buy goods, and unexpectedly saw an old piece at a secondhand stall. The plaque reads "Tianfu Hao" in beautiful style and calligraphy. When Liu Fengxiang saw it, he said, "Tianfu, Tianfu, isn't this a blessing from God!" Without saying a word, he bought it and hung it on the front of his house. The shop immediately became popular. From then on, "Tianfu Hao" became the name of the butcher shop.

Good things happen to the Liu family one after another. The origin of Tianfuhao’s specialty product, sauced pork ribs, is also an accident. In the past, cooked meat shops used to make meat at night and sell it during the day. One night, Liu Fengxiang asked his grandson to watch the pot and cook the elbows. Unexpectedly, the child fell asleep while watching. When he opened his eyes, the elbows were overcooked. The head was all collapsed in the pot. The grandfather and grandson repeatedly processed and sorted it until dawn. They reluctantly took the elbows out to cool down. A eunuch happened to pass by to buy meat, so the child sold some elbows to him. Unexpectedly, the eunuch praised the deliciousness after tasting it, saying that today's elbow was different from the past. It was crispy and tender, not greasy or stuffy, and tasted fragrant. Liu Fengxiang was overjoyed. From now on, the two men followed the recipe. After a period of exploration, the two men finally summed up a unique skill for making elbows.

It is said that Cixi loved to eat pork at that time. In order to please her, an official recommended Tianfuhao’s sauce pork elbow to her. After tasting it, Lafayette praised it so much that he asked Tianfuhao to deliver it to the palace every day. The elbows were specially issued with waist badges for entering the palace, that is, passes, so Tianfu Hao's sauced elbows became tributes. There are historical records that during Cixi's sixtieth birthday, all kinds of dishes were served at the banquet. However, because there was a shortage of Tianfuhao sauce elbows, the imperial kitchen sent someone to get it on horseback.

It is said that "Tianfuhao" sauce elbow was also loved by the concubines in the Qing palace. Emperor Guangxu's concubine Jin was a vegetarian, but she coveted the temptation of the "color, aroma and taste" of the soy pork elbow. She ordered the kitchen chef to prepare a plate of sauced pork knuckles for her at any time. No matter whether she wanted to eat it for breakfast or dinner, she would bring it to the table immediately. Concubine Jin ate the sauced pork knuckles almost once a day.

After the 1911 Revolution of 1911, the last emperor Puyi yearned for Western life, wore suits, ate foreign food, and disdained the traditional food of the Qing Dynasty, but the "Tianfu Hao" sauce elbow was an exception. Although Puyi You don’t have to eat the same Western food every day, Russian style, French style, Italian style... "Tianfu Hao" Sauce Pork Pork is a must-have dish on the Western table. In 1959, after the last emperor granted me amnesty, I rode my bicycle to Tianfuhao in Xidan to buy soy pork elbows the next day.

Not only the imperial palace, but also many dignitaries of the Qing Dynasty were regular patrons of the Tianfu House. Some of them even inscribed or wrote plaques for the Tianfu House. The famous ones among them must be those from the Qing Dynasty. Two well-known champions, one is Weng Tonghe and the other is Lu Runxiang. I heard from the old master that after liberation, the plaque of Lu Runxiang was still enshrined in the old store, but it disappeared after the Cultural Revolution.

There are countless celebrities who love to eat Tianfuhao’s braised pork ribs. In the past, there were many big names in the entertainment industry. Peking opera masters Mei Lanfang and Ye Shenglan both loved to eat Tianfuhao’s braised pork. Yuan Shihai also loved to eat Tianfuhao’s braised pork. Chicken, they are both artists and gourmets, and they all look for the meat products of Tianfuhao. The old chef said that he used to send sauced meat to Wang Guangmei's father, Mr. Wang Huaiqing, and the famous Xidan doctor Lu Jie.

With so many meat cooks in the capital, how come Tianfuhao is so famous? Of course, this is not just a historical question. Do you think the royal nobles can recognize Tianfuhao for a long time? Can it be ordinary sauced meat? The key is credibility, and Tianfuhao really does a great job in terms of credibility.

According to the recollections of the old chef, in the past, the old Tianfuhao store emphasized "integrity". For example, in the early years when Tianfuhao was making sauced elbows, when choosing raw materials, they only used black-haired pigs from eight counties in Jingdong. These pigs have a growth period of 9 to 12 months. They are naturally fed, have firm meat, thin skin and tender meat, and are well-proportioned. Due to the soil and water of the place where they grow, Well, it’s also very nutritious. The selection of auxiliary ingredients is also very meticulous. Sichuan peppercorns, aniseed, cinnamon, ginger, etc. must be fresh and neat, and have a fixed origin. Of course, the price of using such raw materials and auxiliary materials is more expensive than elsewhere, but Tianfuhao is never ambiguous. The same is true in the production process, and we will never cut corners. For example, the production process of Tianfuhao's leading product, sauced elbows, is very complicated. The purchased elbows have to go through several processes such as soaking, removing hair, deboning, basting, boiling, sauce making, removing from the pan, and dusting the juice. The process of making the sauce goes through three stages: boiling over high heat, stewing over low heat, and stewing over low heat, which lasts for more than 6 hours. In the past, if people wanted to eat Tianfuhao sauce elbows, they would queue up to buy it. If they arrived late, they would not be able to buy it. Even so, Tianfuhao would never shorten the production time by one minute for extra production.