Sugar burns
Old Beijingers all know that "the sugar fire of Da Shun Zhai, the roasted catfish of Xiao Lou, and the sauce tofu of Wantong" are the "three treasures of Tongzhou" and are well-known in China. However, the vicissitudes of the world, now this "Tongzhou Three Treasures" only sugar fire and roast catfish have been preserved. Located in the store department of the Dashunzhai Pastry Factory in Chengguan, Tongxian County, there is an endless stream of customers who come to buy sugar every day.
The sugar fire of Da Shun Zhai is not the kind of fire that can be bought casually in the rice shops in the streets and alleys, but a kind of pastry, flat round, dark brown, the size of an egg. It has rich aromas of sesame paste, brown sugar and osmanthus flowers. It is crisp and fluffy in the mouth, sweet and delicious, non-sticky and non-greasy.
Sugar fire is especially suitable for the elderly to eat, get up in the morning, before going to bed, or between meals, take fragrant tea, eat a few pieces, chew slowly. The more you eat, the more delicious it becomes.
The sugar fire of Da Shun Zhai is not only a delicious food, but also has a medicinal effect. The people of Tongxian have believed that sugar fire has the effect of anti-diarrhea for generations. If you eat slightly hot, the effect is better. Sugar fire can also nourish the body and nourish the blood.
Speaking of dashun zhai sugar fire, it has a history of more than three hundred years. During the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty (around 1640), a Muslim named Liu Dashun traveled north from Nanjing with a grain ship to the ancient town of Tongzhou to make a living. Tongzhou is forty miles away from the capital, and after the Sui Emperor excavated the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, it became increasingly prosperous.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, both regarded this place as the throat of Qifu, the key meeting of water and land, and the imperial grain collected by the imperial court from the south, as well as civilian and military supplies, were all transported to the north through the Grand Canal. Tongzhou is the end of land and water, so there are endless boats and boats, merchants and merchants gather, and the market is prosperous.
The old Tongzhou Canal
When Liu Dashun saw this scene, he decided to open a small shop in the courtyard of The Inner South Street, named "Da Shun Zhai", specializing in oil cakes, twist flowers, sugar fire, salty fire and other Muslim snacks.
Started to rely only on its own small business. Some of the products are sold by themselves, and most of them are wholesale to hawkers. The owner is well run and the products are finely made. And heavy credibility, morality. Credit was also imposed on the poor peddlers who had no money, so that the products of Da Shun Zhai stood firm.
During the Qianlong period, Da Shun Zhai's business was booming and capital increased, so it moved to the west entrance of Huimin Hutong, expanded the factory building, and opened two stores. A few more dim sum were added and became a pastry shop in the factory before and after the shop.
At that time, Da Shun Zhai could sell 100 yuan a day and had a strong competitive ability in the same industry. The plaque of "Dashun Zhai Nanguo Shop" hanging on the Dashun Zhai Gate Market is inscribed by Wu Chunhong, a Beijing calligrapher at that time.
Old Beijing pastry shop door face
In the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu, the Eight-Nation Alliance burned and plundered Tongzhou, affecting Da shunzhai and the business was depressed, and it began to improve after two or three years. In the first year of the Republic of China, the Jiang Gui department of the Yi army stationed in Tongzhou mutinied, and Da ShunZhai was looted by soldiers and burned down. It was rebuilt in the same year, but it was seriously injured, and it was nine years before the business became increasingly prosperous. Twelve years after the Republic of China, due to the invasion of soldiers and bandits and the Japanese army, the business was declining day by day, and by the eve of liberation, Da Shun Zhai was already dying.
In 1955, Da Shun Zhai implemented a public-private partnership. During the ten years of civil unrest, it was incorporated into the Tongxian Food Factory, and the name of Dashun zhai was revoked. After the Third Plenum. Da Shun Zhai reverted to its old brand and built a new store department in the county seat of Tong County. A new factory building of more than 2,800 square meters was built on the side of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal not far from the store, with a daily output of more than 800 catties of sugar, which was three times that of before liberation, in addition to producing more than 60 kinds of Chinese and Western pastries.
In addition to the store department, special counters have been set up in Xidan's Gongyi No., Department Store, Niujie Frangipani Restaurant, Chongwenmen Vegetable Market, Chaoyangmen Nei Vegetable Market, and Tianqiao Qiushi Food Store.
Xidan Righteous Number
Maintaining credibility and maintaining traditional flavor characteristics are the business know-how of Da Shun Zhai. Da Shun Zhai makes sugar fire and selects materials with exquisite attention. The noodles should be pure standard powder, the oil should be Tongzhou's small ground sesame oil, and the osmanthus flowers should be sweet osmanthus produced by Tianjin Fuchangxiang. Brown sugar should be made from Lou Chi, Wuzhou, Guangxi or green sugar from Taiwan. The tahini is made of fine white sesame seeds. In order to maintain the flavor characteristics, the Da Shun Zhai Pastry Factory still uses the manual operation process in the early days of the establishment of the store to make sugar fire.
As a halal food store, Da Shun Zhai pays special attention to taking care of the consumer psychology and customs of the Muslims. The plaque of "Da Shun Zhai Nan Guo Shop" uses peacock blue background, golden Yang characters, and the square box of packaging sugar fire is rose purple bottom and gold characters, which are said to be the favorite colors of the Muslims.
A quarter of the more than a hundred employees of the "Da Shun Zhai" pastry factory are Muslims, most of whom hold leadership positions, and under their strict management, the production and sale of sugar fires strictly adhere to halal hygiene requirements. In order to facilitate the purchase of Muslims, Da Shun Zhai set up a sales point in Niu Street, a famous Muslim settlement in Beijing.
Old Beijing halal food guise
For more than 300 years, the sugar fire of Da Shun Zhai has won the praise of customers at home and abroad for its unique flavor. In the past, Muslim imams went on a "hajj" in Islamic holy places and often brought sugar to burn for consumption during the journey or as a gift to friends.
In the 1920s and 1930s, Zhang Qian, an imam in Beijing, went to Da Shun Zhai twice to buy a considerable amount of sugar and burn it, bringing it to the "Hajj". It was the height of summer, and the food brought by others was all spoiled and moldy, but the sugar fire brought by Zhang Qian was as colorful as ever. Therefore, the Great Shun Zhai sugar fire is famous in Islamic countries.
Today's Da Shun Zhai store
In 1960, Indian President Jawaharlal Nehru visited China and asked him to eat the sugar fire of Da Shun Zhai. A Hong Kong compatriot recently came to Tai Shun Zhai to buy sugar and burn it. Before boarding the plane, send a thank-you note. The letter said, "One of the great rewards of my trip was the purchase of this precious special food of sugar fire."
Over the years, the enthusiasm of old Beijingers for this sugar fire has increased unabated. So despite da shun zhai's efforts to produce, sugar burning is still in a state of short supply.
What are your memories of the sugar fire of Da Shun Zhai? Welcome to share in the message area~
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Acknowledgements and statements
The pictures in this article are partly from the Internet, and they are invaded and deleted.
This article is selected from yandu magazine, No. 3, 1985, originally titled "Da Shun Zhai and Sugar Fire", by Li Xiaozheng.
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