Recently, the "Michelin Guide 2021 Beijing" was officially released, and the "imported" standard evaluation of Chinese cuisine has aroused heated discussion among netizens. In fact, when old Beijingers choose restaurants, they never recognize the "star", but recognize the "number" - every dish and delicacy of the long-established restaurant carries history and culture, and is also the most authoritative "folk catering list". Historically, Beijing's time-honored brands have had "eight halls", "eight residences", "eight buildings", "eight major squares", "eight springs" and other "lists", which can be described as famous for a while.
The eater who is enjoying the hot roast meat. Photo by Heda Morris
Photo by Alfonso von Mummer, a busy commercial street
The chef who is making roast duck. Photo by Heda Morris
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > there are countless restaurants in Beijing</h1>
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > mostly referred to as halls, residences, buildings, fangs, and springs</h1>
Tracing back to history, Beijing as the capital, the emperors and generals, high-ranking officials and nobles, huge merchants and rich people and literati and scholars, resulting in a wide range of social communication, etiquette, festivals and daily catering needs, the catering industry is very prosperous. In the Yuan and Ming dynasties, Beijing's restaurants and restaurants have gradually become popular, and the Qing Dynasty was very prosperous, especially after the middle of the Qing Dynasty, Beijing's restaurants were more developed, and the number of long-established restaurants reached hundreds. The "Cultural Relics of the Old Capital" published during the Republic of China period yun: "Beiping is the imperial capital, Yihua Suyue, a drink and a food are not exquisite." The city Jia Fengying, did not hesitate to do his best to study, so that the old Beijing diet became a scripture. Therefore, those who are skilled in cooking can also be armored everywhere. ”
The title of Beijing restaurant has conventional rules. The so-called "hall" is the largest, the so-called "hall" is not only able to hold banquets, but also can sing hall meetings, the restaurant not only has a table, chairs, but also a stage and an empty field, which is very grand. Those who are slightly smaller than "tang" are called "Zhuang", and those who are again called "Ju". The biggest difference between them and the "hall" is that there are scattered seats, should be zero, and hold banquets, but do not hold church meetings, commonly known as "hot Zhuangzi".
In the middle and late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, the folk had a "ranking" of the old restaurants in Beijing and were widely recognized. The "eight halls" are Huifeng Hall, Juxian Hall, Fushou Hall, Tianfu Hall, Huixian Hall, Fuqing Hall, Qinghe Hall, Tonghe Hall; the "Eight Great Residences" are Fuxing Residence, Wanxing Residence, Tongxing Residence, Dongxing Residence, Wanfu Residence, Guanghe Residence, Tonghe Residence, Casserole House (also said to be Heshun Residence, Tianxing Residence, Dinghe Residence, Guanghe Residence, Yisheng Residence, Tonghe Residence, Natural Residence, Huixian Residence); "Eight Buildings" are Dongxing Building, Taifeng Building, Zhimei Building, Hongxing Building, Zhengyang Building, Xinfeng Building, Anfu Building, Chunhua Building (also said to be Zhengyang Building, Taifeng Building, Xinfeng Building, Wande Lou, Yuebin Lou, Dongxing Lou, Qingyun Lou, Huiyuan Lou); "Eight Great Fangs" are Taihe Fang, Liuhe Fang, Junyi Fang, Ming Yi Fang, Cheap Fang - because there are four semicolons in Cheap Fang, each semicolon is classified into the "Eight Great Fangs"; "Eight Great Springs" are Fanghu Spring, East Asian Spring, Qinglin Spring, Huaiyang Spring, Xinlu Spring, Mainland Spring, Spring Garden, and Tongchun Garden. The time-honored halal brands are "Three Great Xuan", namely Liangyixuan, Tonghexuan, and Tongyixuan; the "Four Great Shuns" are Dong lai shun, nan lai shun, xi lai shun, and yi shun. In modern times, there are "eight major restaurants", namely Fengzeyuan Restaurant, Jinyang Restaurant, Zhengyang Lou, Gongdelin, Hongbin Lou, Meifu Family Banquet, Sichuan Hotel, and Fangshan Restaurant.
Most of the names used in the names of each long-established brand take the meaning of auspiciousness and prosperity. "Tongheju" is named after the meaning of "Tonghuai and Yue", which means that everyone gathers together to share the atmosphere of harmony. "Cheap Shop" implies the meaning of "convenient for the people, suitable for IKEA". "Tai Feng Lou" means that the dining place is accessible, comfortable, abundant and generous. "Fortress Garden" has the meaning of rich dishes and moist taste. The "Liuhe" of "Liuhefang" originally refers to the upper and lower and east-west, south-north and four directions, that is, the four sides of heaven and earth, which means the best place to eat. "Fushou Hall" takes the meaning of the "Five Blessings" of Fushou Shuangquan.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > "thrifty and honest" for the long-established business of catering</h1>
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > featuring signature dishes, low prices, and local flavors</h1>
According to historical records such as "Beijing Time-honored Brand" and "Xuannan Food Culture", the development of Beijing restaurants has a history of at least 400 years. There are LiuquanJu, which was built in the Longqing period of the Ming Dynasty, as well as Duyi, Casserole House, Barbecue Season, Quanjude, Zhengyang Lou, Donglaishun, and Cuihua Lou and Fengze garden that began in the Republic of China. Most of these long-established restaurants adhere to the "thrifty and honest" business way, and entrepreneurs all start from setting up small stalls and operate diligently to make a name for themselves in Beijing. Each of them has a "characteristic signboard", which is not only the foundation of long-term prosperity, but also a sharp tool to attract diners to take the initiative to enter the store.
Some attract diners with "signature dishes". Dongxinglou's sauce fried chicken cubes, the sauce is fragrant, sweet but not greasy, and the customers who have tasted it are full of praise. The hibiscus chicken slices of Cuihua Building are snow white and beautiful in appearance, fresh and tender, delicious and delicious. The sour and spicy belly tip of Quyuan Restaurant is a famous dish in the town, which is sour, spicy and spicy, and full of taste. The cooking eel in Tongchun Garden has long been word-of-mouth, and squirrel fish and ringing oil eel paste are also the dishes of the town store. Huifengtang is famous for its "bad" (marinating food with sake or lees), such as badly braised fish fillets, sloppy braised raw chicken shreds, and bad boiled three whites. Casserole houses make casserole dishes by cooking, burning and boiling, and have won the praise of "famous earthquake in Kyoto for three hundred years, flavor pressure on the white meat of North China". Tongheju's town shop name dish is "three non-stick", non-stick plate, non-stick spoon, non-stick teeth, the dish is golden yellow, soup-shaped, delicious and refreshing to eat, sweet and not greasy. The fried knots of "Enyuanju" are dark yellow in color, yellow and green in contrast, soft and flexible in food, mellow and delicious. Another smooth "it is like honey" also known as "honey sauce lamb", is a traditional halal dish, shaped like a new apricot, bright red juice, soft flesh, sweet as honey, slightly sour aftertaste. According to legend, "it is like honey" was first called "Tasmi", from the Western Regions, Qianlong years with the xiangfei into the palace, the Qianlong Emperor took advantage of the pleasure to eat "Tasmi", can not help but shoot the case to say good, and then gave the name "it is like honey".
Some attract diners with good quality and low prices. The delicious food of the feast is quite popular, with three cents a bowl of rice, a dime of minced meat tofu and a fifty cent of white chopped chicken, attracting many ordinary people to relieve their hunger here. Originated in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, it is famous for its unique taste of boiled small intestines, and is deeply loved by the people of Beijing because of its economic affordability. Tianxingju fried liver is known for its fine selection of ingredients, exquisite production, and low quality and low price, and the Qing Dynasty's "Yandu Small Food Miscellaneous Songs" praised: "Boil fat intestines in thick juice, and taste the fairness of trade." The proverb spread the eight precepts of the pig, and a roasted liver incense was made in the market. There is also a folk saying after the break, "the guise of casserole house - not waiting for noon", which shows that casserole dishes are favored.
Some attract diners with local flavors. Quyuan Restaurant was founded in 1890, specializing in Hunan cuisine, sour and spicy, fresh and fragrant, soft and tender, and won the reputation of "the first Hunan cuisine in Beijing". Jinyang Restaurant is the earliest in Beijing to deal in Shanxi-style dishes, its oily meat, crispy duck, meat warm powder skin, cat ears, unique flavor, so it has the reputation of "authentic Shanxi flavor, the first in Beijing". The old Xi'an Restaurant specializes in northwest-style beef and mutton steamed buns, and is known as "the first restaurant in Beijing".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > time-honored brands favored by cultural celebrities throughout the ages</h1>
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Zhang Zhidong Guangheju Dining Lu Xun Tongheju invited guests</h1>
The long-established restaurant in Beijing has always been favored by people because of its own flavor, especially by celebrity inkers.
Guangheju is located in the northern half of the Hutong outside Xuanwu Gate, where many cultural celebrities in modern history have left their footprints. Zhang Zhidong, a famous minister of the late Qing Dynasty and a representative figure of the Western affairs faction, has been here many times, and he likes the dishes here most like fried waist flowers, river tofu, and steamed fish. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the two generations of emperors and calligraphers Weng Tonggong visited the Liuli Factory every time, they had to eat in Guangheju. At the time of the "Penghu Reform Law", many famous people who changed the law, such as Yang Shenxiu, Tan Sitong, Liu Baozhen, etc., also often went to Guangheju to gather. Chen Baochen, a chancellor and scholar of the late Qing Dynasty, Xia Suntong, an editor of the Hanlin Academy, and He Shaoji, a famous calligrapher, were also regular guests of Guangheju.
Tongheju was originally located at the north entrance of Xisi South Avenue, famous for Lu cuisine, which has been sought after by celebrities and gourmets of past generations. When Lu Xun was in Beijing, he visited Tongheju many times and met with friends and colleagues here. On September 1, 1912, he and the famous scholars Xu Shousheng and Qian Daosun returned from Shichahai and passed by Tongheju and had lunch here. His diary cloud: "Lunch is in the West Fourth Arch Building, more than the mouth." In 1932, Lu Xun went to Beiping again, during which he met with old friends in Tongheju - the famous writer and literary critic Tai Jingnong and the famous translator Li Jiye. An important reason why Lu Xun often patronized Tongheju was the proximity, when he lived in the ShanhuiyiGuan (the predecessor of the Shaoxing Guild Hall), and the hutong where he was located was diagonally opposite the Guangheju Gate. If there are guests visiting, he will also directly let Guangheju deliver "takeaway" to his home.
The long-established brand in Beijing is said to be "Southern Wanbei Season". "Nanwan" is a roast meat wan, founded in the 25th year of the Qing Kangxi Dynasty (1686). Zhang Daqian, Qi Baishi, Guo Moruo, Mei Lanfang and other cultural celebrities have all sought out this and left a pen for their inscriptions. After the chinese painting master Qi Baishi went to the barbecue for the first time, he praised its unique flavor. In 1946, the 86-year-old Shiraishi old man was invited and gladly inscribed a plaque of "Halal Grilled Meat Wan", and at the same time painted "Plum Blossom Diagram" and inscribed a poem: "Buhan Pine Cypress is the same as jingjian, knowing that there is no life and blood.". On the day of his 88th birthday, he painted a peach to send roast meat, and the inscription in the painting reads: "Benevolent people live a long life"
Zhimei Building was opened in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, originally as Gusu Restaurant, and later changed to Shandong Cuisine. It is located in Qianmenwai Coal Market Street, and is famous in Beijing for "collecting the cuisine of the north and the south as a table and the essence of the imperial cuisine". Its dishes are more than 100 kinds, complete in color, aroma, taste and shape. In particular, the only one in Beijing, "one fish and four eats", set of four flavors of boiled, dry fried, braised, sweet and sour tasted at once, it is said that it was quite favored by Empress Dowager Cixi. Because she was tired of eating the imperial meals in the palace, she often asked Li Lianying to send people to ZhimeiLou to order some delicious meals, and "one fish and four eats" was the dish she ordered the most.
(Original title: History of Beijing.)
Old Beijing catering traces back to the inexhaustible old brand)
Source Beijing Evening News
Author Hu Liping
Process Editor Liu Weili