Pea Yellow Knows How Much
Old Beijingers, regardless of whether they have power or not, whether they have fame and fortune, are happy to enjoy life, which is reflected in the fact that they are particularly particular about eating. Because in Beijing, there are many special snacks that bring people not only the beauty of the tip of the tongue, but also a kind of satisfaction and comfort in people's hearts for life. Pea yellow is a typical representative of this type of special snack.
"Pea yellow, large grin!..." Every spring on the third day of March, the streets of Beijing are filled with this kind of eating and drinking. I saw these pea sellers greeting the buyer while skillfully lifting the wet white cloth covering the large casserole in the wheelbarrow, cutting out a large yellow, fragrant, and inlaid with red dates and handing it to the buyer. From this day until the day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, the hutongs of Beijing City can see them pushing wheelbarrows and hear their beautiful shouts.
Pea Huang'er is a traditional Beijing snack, which was first introduced to the court from the folk, and after refining and improving, it returned to the folk. Therefore, the pea yellows of old Beijing are divided into two types. One is the so-called court snacks made by Beihai Park, and the other is the roughly made pea yellows sold by street vendors, both of which are called pea yellows, the color and taste are very good, but the materials, craftsmanship and price are very different.
Folk pea yellow is mostly rough pea yellow, peel the ordinary white peas, stew the beans, put sugar and fry, then add gypsum water and cooked dates, stir well into a large casserole, wait for it to solidify and cool into a lump, buckle out, cut into diamond-shaped pieces like a cake, and placed on a wheelbarrow covered with a wet blue cloth. At the temple fair in spring, "small jujube rough pea yellow" is a particularly attractive seasonal fresh product, and when people hear the shouting of selling pea yellow, it is like hearing spring walking slowly.
The pea yellow of the palace comes from the Qing Palace Imperial Dining Room, which is improved by the chef of the Qing Palace Imperial Dining Room according to the folk "small jujube rough pea Yellow Er", and the material is very harsh. Peas must be superior, sophisticated white peas, washed and stewed, too fine, precipitated plus white sugar osmanthus flowers, to be solidified and cooled after cutting into pieces, into exquisite gift boxes, each piece of pea yellow corner is also attached to a few pieces of gold cake, red and yellow contrast, whether it is color or taste is excellent. Legend has it that Empress Dowager Cixi loved to eat pea yellow, and became famous.
According to legend, one day Empress Dowager Cixi was playing in the Meditation Hall in Beihai, when she suddenly heard someone shouting loudly outside the high wall, so she asked the eunuch next to her what was going on. The eunuch ordered someone to check it out, and replied that it was a pea seller who was there. Empress Dowager Cixi felt fresh when she heard this, so she ordered someone to call this merchant into the meditation fast. When the merchant saw Empress Dowager Cixi, he quickly knelt down and offered pea yellow. Cixi looked at the yellow and splendid thing Shi Bei Ti liked much, tasted it and felt that the taste was very good, praised it, and ordered someone to bring the merchants into the palace, specifically to make pea yellow for themselves.
Since then, Pea Huang'er has become famous and gradually developed into a famous snack in Beijing.