It is said that peas are yellow. One day Cixi was sitting in Beihai Jingxinzhai to cool off. Suddenly she heard the sound of gongs and shouts coming from the street. She was puzzled and asked what she was doing. The eunuch on duty replied that she was selling Pea yellow and kidney bean rolls. Cixi was happy for a moment and sent an order to call this man into the garden. When the visitor saw Lafayette, he hurriedly knelt down and held kidney bean rolls and yellow peas in his hands, asking Lafayette to appreciate them. After Cixi tasted it, she was full of praise and kept this person in the palace to make pea yellow and kidney bean rolls for her.

The folk brown pea yellow is a typical spring food, often seen at spring temple fairs. For example, in the Peach Palace on March 3rd, "Zaozao, rough pea yellow," is a seasonal delicacy. The vendors shouted "Hey, these little dates, pea yellow, come in big pieces!" as if to announce the coming of spring to people. The news brought warmth.

"Brown Pea Huang'er" is made by peeling white peas, simmering the beans with twice the water of the peas, then adding sugar and frying, then adding gypsum water and cooked dates, stir evenly, and add In a large casserole, wait for it to cool down into lumps, take it out, cut it into diamond-shaped pieces like cutting cakes, put small pieces of gold cake on it for decoration, and usually put them on a wheelbarrow covered with wet blue cloth for sale. Most of them are fellow villagers from Pinggu, Xianghe, Jingdong, Caiyu, Jingnan and other places.

The "fine pea huang'er" was developed by the imperial kitchen of the Qing Dynasty based on the folk jujube and coarse pea huang'er. The preparation method is more precise, which is to boil the peas and sift them into a paste, add sugar and osmanthus, and cut them into two-inch square and less than half-inch thick cubes after solidification. Put a few slices of honey cake on top. It has a good color and taste. The texture is fine and pure, melts in your mouth, and is of the highest quality. After the Republic of China, Beihai Park Yilantang Restaurant and Fangshan Tea House sold fine pea yellow in paper boxes for ten yuan per box. It is called palace snacks like cloud bean cake and steamed buns.

There is a poem in "Hundred Songs of Food in the Old Capital" that says: "The food has always belonged to Yanjing, and pea yellow has long been famous. The red dates are embedded in gold shavings, and yellow peas can be bought for ten cents." Pea yellow It is a traditional snack in Beijing. According to Beijing custom, pea yellow is eaten on the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar. Therefore, pea yellow is on the market every spring and is available until the end of spring.

There are two kinds of pea yellows in Beijing. One is the so-called palace snack made by Beihai Park imitation meal. The other is the crudely made pea yellow sold by vendors in the streets. These two snacks are both called pea yellow, but the materials, craftsmanship, and prices are very different.