On the northern and southern edges of Houhai in Beijing are the two largest palaces of the Qing Dynasty, namely Prince Chun's Palace and Prince Gong's Palace. There is a sheep house on the east side of Prince Gong's Mansion

Lijia Cuisine

Although the hutong is not a big place, there is a restaurant inside it that is famous at home and abroad - Lijia Cuisine Restaurant. The owner of the restaurant is Mr. Li Shanlin, and the shopkeeper is Ms. Wang Xiaozhou. Lijia cuisine is a royal cuisine, and its recipes and production techniques are passed down from ancestors. Li Shanlin's grandfather, Li Zijia, served as the governor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs during the Tongzhi and Guangxu years of the Qing Dynasty and was deeply trusted by Cixi. Specially in charge of meals in the palace. Cixi listened to politics behind the curtain and had to eat with the emperor. There were about a hundred kinds of dishes at each meal. At that time, as long as the order "pass the meal" is given, a mighty team of eunuchs will immediately carry the dining table and food boxes and file in. Li Zijia's task is to uniformly manage these meals in the palace, make meal orders every day, and go to the dining room to check the cooking quality. Every dish eaten by Cixi and the emperor had to be tasted by him, so over time, he became a gourmet expert and cooking master.

Later, Li Zijia taught many recipes and methods of palace dishes to his son Li Junfeng, and then passed them on to his grandson Li Shanlin. Li Shanlin is extremely talented in cooking. On the basis of inheriting ancestral skills, he also combines modern nutrition and his own experience to continuously innovate. For example, the "swallow-wing mat" that he imitated Cixi's daily meal is even more unique: the first course is a side dish, including stir-fried salted vegetables, pickled cucumbers, shrimp celery heart, mustard greens, Beijing bacon, dried chicken with phoenix, and amber Peach kernels, sweet-scented osmanthus and candied lotus root, rose dates, fried red fruits, etc.; the second course is cooked dishes, including braised shark's fin, white grilled abalone, soft-fried fresh scallops, live fish in sauce, roast duck and agar-agar in clear soup; the third course is The main dish is soup and sweets, including bird, fish, egg and chicken soup, scrambled egg custard, walnut sweet cheese, etc.

As soon as Lijia cuisine came out, it quickly caused a sensation. When he participated in a banquet competition, he shocked the audience and won first place in the competition. The British ambassador said while eating in his restaurant: "That's great. You don't need to advertise. I just need to say it in the embassy area and the place won't be able to open the door." Sure enough, within a few days, ambassadors from various countries to China and multinational companies The bosses are flocking here, and if you don’t book half a month in advance, you will definitely not be able to eat.