Goubuli Steamed Buns is the first among the "Three Wonders of Tianjin" and one of the time-honored brands in China. It is a snack made of flour, pork and other materials. It was founded in 1858 AD (the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty). It has a history of more than 100 years and has carefully selected ingredients and strict production techniques for Goubuli steamed buns. The appearance is beautiful, especially the pleats of the buns are well-proportioned, and each bun has no less than 15 pleats.

In 1831 (the eleventh year of Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty), Gao Guiyou, the founder of "Goubuli Steamed Buns", was born in Xiazhuzhuang, Wuqing County, Zhili Province (now Wuqing District, Tianjin City). Because his father had a son when he was forty years old, he named him "Gouzi" in order to keep him safe, hoping that he would be as easy to raise as a puppy.

Old plaque of Goubuli Steamed Bun Shop

When Gao Guiyou was 14 years old, he went to work as a waiter at Liu’s Steamed Food Shop on the edge of Tianjin South Canal. Due to his ingenuity, diligence and inquiring skills, as well as the guidance of his masters, Gao Guiyou's skill in making steamed buns has continued to improve and he has become a master at it. Three years after completing his studies, Gao Guiyou opened a snack shop specializing in steamed buns - "De Juhao". Because Gao Guiyou is good at craftsmanship and is very conscientious in his work and never adulterates, the buns he makes are soft in texture, fresh and not greasy, resemble chrysanthemums, and have unique color, flavor, and shape, and his business is very prosperous. More and more people came to eat his steamed buns, and Gao Guiyou was too busy to talk to the customers. As a result, the steamed bun eaters jokingly called him "a dog who sells steamed buns and ignores people." Over time, people took it easy and called him "Goubuli", and the steamed buns he sold were called "Goubuli steamed buns". However, the original store name was gradually forgotten by people. ?

When Gao Guiyou founded the "Deju Hao" snack shop, he used fresh pork and added an appropriate amount of water, served with spareribs soup or tripe soup, plus ground sesame oil, special soy sauce, minced ginger, minced green onion, Seasonings, etc., mixed into steamed bun fillings. The bun skin is made of semi-risen dough. After rolling and adding ingredients, roll it into a round skin with a diameter of about 8.5 cm and a uniform thickness. Wrap in the fillings, fold them carefully with your fingers, and twist the pleats with force at the same time. The pleats are uniformly dense and dense, like a white chrysanthemum shape. Finally, they are steamed in the oven with hard air.