#寻味北京 #
Old Beijing is not only roast duck, but also very good at making chicken. I mean, there are a lot of chicken dishes with specialties.
01
Chickens are not the same chickens
/ Hairy Beijing Oil Chicken /
The white feathered chicken that we often eat today is a breed that has been bred in recent years, and it is not available in old age. In the past, chickens on the market were different. Among them, the unique breed in Beijing is the Beijing oil chicken, which is characterized by cresteds, hairy legs and bearded mouths, and the meat is fat and tender, which is the best of the original chicken breeds. Don't look at its growth period, but there is a feature that it eats less feed, and compared with traditional breeds such as yellow feather chicken, the feed conversion rate is high. The muscles are tighter than the current white feather chicken, the fat content is relatively high, the palatability is very good, it is very fat and tender, so it is suitable for stewing, or burning dishes, and the taste is soft after making it, but it is not rotten, and it is delicious.
Beijing oil chicken
02
Smoked chicken from Old Beijing
/ Eat and want to eat /
Old Beijing family eat chicken, mostly white boiled chicken or stewed chicken, box shop (shop selling cooked food) there is a kind of smoked chicken, in the past deeply loved by the flag people, now the market is selling grilled chicken sauce chicken roast chicken, most of them are dark brown-black, but the top smoked chicken of the year is golden yellow, and the grease is lustrous, looking like transparent. Although the smoked chicken is soft, it is not rotten, and it is chewy and laborious, which is the superb craftsmanship of the smoked chicken in the best box, which is regarded as a good product by the Flag family of that year. Smoked chicken uses a variety of spices when making, but the ingredients are just right, it is very fragrant to eat, and it will not rob the chicken aroma, and it is not tired of eating for a long time, and I want to eat it.
To make smoked chicken, it is generally used to use "bucket chicken". This "bucket chicken" is said to be actually a "boy chicken", because the previous cooks were almost uncultured, and they felt that it was troublesome to write, so the words were simplified as much as possible. Yan Chen's "Remembering Kyoto Words" has a poem "Remembering Kyoto, Bucket Chicken Out of Cheap" has a note: "Kyoto Cheap Bucket Chicken, white color and tender taste, chew it can be chewed without dregs."
Taiwan's bucket chicken
Smoked chicken also has a derivative dish: braised two shredded chicken. This dish evolved from the shredded braised chicken at Lu Restaurant, where the meat on the thighs of the smoked chicken was torn into strips and braised with raw shredded chicken. Mr. Liang Shiqiu once wrote in "Burst Double Crisp" that after returning from studying abroad, he deliberately went to Zhimeizhai to eat three popping belly, a clear oil cake and a bowl of braised two chicken shreds. Mr. Liang's own evaluation of this meal is: "The happy meal of life cannot be forgotten after more than fifty years." ”
Braised two chicken shreds and feel the visual sensation of the menu picture that overflows the screen
03
Buy chicken and still have to draw lots?
/ Give money and don't necessarily eat it /
In addition to smoked chicken, old Beijing also has a kind of "fat brine chicken". Usually in the afternoon, there are "round cages" (oval double-layered boxes) selling brine chickens walking the streets and alleys, shouting as they walk: "Fat brine chicken barks ~". The method of brine chicken is very simple, that is, boiled in white water with salt, without adding other condiments, to maintain the original color, which is nothing special, but the reason why brine chicken has always existed and has never faded is its way of selling: the brine chicken is sold with "lottery". Selling brine chicken with a bamboo tube, put a bamboo skewer in it, walk the streets and alleys, someone wants to buy will open the street door, call the sale of brine chicken into the inside, bargain in the door hole, how much to spend, how much to draw, draw the chicken will return to the buyer, draw the money in vain. This brings a bit of gambling nature, if you don't win, you are not willing, and then you have to spend money if you want to draw, and the next time you win the lottery, you still want to draw. The rules of the old Beijing flag family are generally not to buy brine chicken and avoid gambling.
In order to eat chicken, but also to calculate the probability, the old age is also quite good at playing
04
Other famous dishes related to chicken
/ What is Hibiscus? /
In the past, there was a dish called "pot roast chicken", and the pot roast chicken of ZhiMei Zhai was famous. The pot roast chicken is also made of "bucket chicken", the finished chicken, soaked in soy sauce, and then fried in the pan until the skin is crispy, golden brown, with chicken offal (chicken heart, chicken liver, chicken gizzard) to make a small bowl of brine, together with the chicken to serve. According to the rules, the pot roast chicken does not need to be cut with a knife, and it is torn out by the hands of the guys in the running hall and torn into strips. Generally, there is not much meat out of the bucket chicken, and the plate will be padded with cucumber shreds, brought to the table, and the brine is poured on the torn chicken and eaten together.
To the beauty of the building pot roast chicken
There is also a famous chicken dish "Hibiscus Chicken Slice". Hibiscus refers to egg whites, that is, egg whites, which may be related to the taboo word "egg" in the old Beijing native language. I remember my grandparents who always said "fried chicken with tomatoes" and never said eggs. This hibiscus chicken slice is the master dish of the old famous museum "Dongxing Lou", the main ingredient is chicken breast, finely cut into meat paste, and then put into the egg whites to beat together, stirred until the meat and egg whites are integrated, into the warm oil pot spread into a piece of shape, the slices should be large and thin, and can not be broken, cooked but not scorched. After cooking, decorate the tender bean sprouts and add a few drops of chicken fat to enhance the flavor. The exquisiteness of this dish is that the heat is just right, and the heat is proper to enter the tender, and only then can the chef's work be seen. DongxingLou's hibiscus chicken slices are made of small and medium-sized plates, only covered with plates, which is very delicate.
Hibiscus chicken slices
When it comes to hibiscus chicken slices, there is another dish that must be mentioned - "three non-sticks". Three non-sticks were originally called "soft yellow cabbage". It is named for its "no stain plate, no chopsticks, no stain teeth". Mainly stir-fried with egg yolk, starch, sugar and appropriate amount of water. The three non-sticks of Tongheju are the most famous in their old age. Some people will ask: What does these three non-sticks have to do with hibiscus chicken slices? In the old years, hibiscus chicken slices is a more fashionable dish, in addition to chicken slices, Hibiscus family also has "hibiscus shrimp", "hibiscus scallops", "hibiscus clams", etc., this one egg is an egg yolk and a beach of egg whites, egg whites are used to make hibiscus, egg yolk is left, so some restaurants will make this remaining egg yolk into three non-sticks, as a toast, that is, free to give to guests, which not only avoids wasting ingredients, but also makes customers more satisfied. Nowadays, it is difficult to see the figure of hibiscus chicken slices in Beijing restaurants, but the three non-sticks have increased, which makes people sigh that it is really thirty years of Hedong and thirty years of Hexi.
Compared to egg whites, the director still loves egg yolks a little more, especially the one that is not completely solidified
Nowadays, due to the changes of the times and the change of people's tastes, some dishes have been difficult to find, and now some Beijing restaurants on the market, such as Dongxing Lou, Tongheju can eat hibiscus chicken slices and three non-sticks, interested friends can go to try.
Resources:
[1] "Yashe Talks About Eating", Liang Shiqiu, Jiangsu People's Publishing House, June 2014
[2] "Luxiang Dialect and Vegetable Food", Li Chunfang and Fan Guozhong, Beijing Yanshan Publishing House, December 1997
[3] "Beijing's Commercial Streets and Time-honored Brands", Wang Yongbin, Beijing Yanshan Publishing House, February 1999
[4] "The Customs of Old Beijing", ChangrenChun, Beijing Yanshan Publishing House, June 1996
[5] "Chunming Recounting the Past", Hu Yuyuan, Beijing Yanshan Publishing House, October 1999