Beijing’s snacks also draw on the essence of various places and form their own unique flavor. According to statistics, there were more than 200 kinds of snacks in Beijing in the old days, and they were cheap, so they were closest to ordinary people. Even the emperor and empress who lived deep in the palace enjoyed eating various snacks from time to time. The Qing Dynasty's "Dumen Bamboo Branch Ci" wrote: "Where will the opera go when the sun sets? The banquet house is the same as Liuhe house. Three big bucks are spent selling flowers, cutting cakes and ghost legs (i.e. fried dough sticks) making noise. In the morning, a bowl of sweet Porridge, tea soup and noodles, lots of fried fruit cakes, Ai Wo Wo, fork-fired pancakes, and a plate full of Shaomai (shaomai) wontons. Glutinous rice balls with glutinous rice flour, stir-fried liver sausage, and sweet-scented osmanthus and yellow flower slices soup.” It can be seen that snacks were quite abundant as far back as the Qing Dynasty.
Many of Beijing’s pasta snacks are made from miscellaneous grains, such as glutinous rice noodles, mung bean noodles, yellow rice noodles, corn noodles, millet noodles, buckwheat noodles, barley, red beans, etc. Those who sell snacks were mostly poor Han and Hui people in the past. They would carry carts on their shoulders to sell food along the street, or set up stalls in markets, temple fairs, and streets. They have a certain hawking sound, with a certain cadence, and the sound is heard; or they have a certain music rhythm by beating the sound, so that when people hear it, they can know what they are selling. Those people who go shopping for the temple fair come across all kinds of snacks. They take a look at them and buy some to try. They don’t spend much money. They just want something fresh and they don’t feel full.
In the past, most temple fairs in Beijing were actually markets, where all kinds of snacks were concentrated. Some are held regularly, and some are fixed on certain festivals. For example, the Longfu Temple Fair in Dongcheng is held on the ninth and tenth days of every month; the Tutu Temple Fair is held on the Wednesday; and the Baita Temple Fair is held on the fifth and sixth days of every month. There are also some that are held at a certain time every year, such as Changdian, Dazhong Temple, Yonghe Temple, Pantaogong Temple Fairs, etc.
Except for temple fairs, the most concentrated places for snacks on weekdays are Dong'an Market, Drum Tower, Overpass, and Menzhang Hutong outside Qianmen. Before liberation, the variety of Tianqiao snacks was the highest in Beijing. According to some rough statistics, there are more than 50 small restaurants alone and more than 150 food stalls of various kinds. Few of these food stalls also serve breakfast. Because ordinary workers and clerks can't even fill their bellies with corn noodle porridge, how can they have money to buy breakfast? The poor man who lives in the Jifei Shop wakes up early in the morning and goes to the "people's market" (the market where labor is sold) to find work. How can he think of having breakfast? After 10 o'clock in the morning, there were more and more tourists, and food stalls were set up one by one; a set of pots and pans, a chopping board, and a long bench were all needed. Food stalls are mostly based on family units: father-son stalls, husband-wife stalls, mother-son stalls, uncle-nephew stalls, etc. Often two stalls depend on each other, for example, the one selling bean juice is adjacent to the one selling sesame seed cakes, and the one selling spiced beef is next to the one selling wine. In order to grab business, stall owners try every means to innovate the varieties and attract customers. After a long period of operation, unique snacks have been formed in the Tianqiao area. Some well-run businesses are famous. Xiang Shirun sells Baodu, known as "Baodu Stone"; Shu Yongli sells bean juice, known as "Douzhi Shu"; Li Wanyuan sells Pen'er Gao, known as "Pen Gao Li", etc.
An important feature of snacks in old Beijing is that the varieties change with the seasons. On a given day, the first ones to come out in the early morning are those selling hard noodle pastries, followed by those selling sesame seed cakes, huoshao and marijuana flowers in small baskets. When the sun rises, stalls selling almond tea, tofu curd, noodle tea, and croquettes have been set up in the streets and alleys. Stalls selling fried cakes and fried dough sticks can also be seen everywhere. Those who are a little more particular will have to go to the breakfast shop: a bowl of soy milk and two sets of "shaobing cakes" will be enough. After the people who go to work in the early morning have left, the streets are dominated by the elderly and children. The hawkers walking around the streets, either pushing carts, carrying burdens or carrying baskets, start to do their business: selling spiced rotten broad beans, cloud bean cakes, Pea cakes etc. In the afternoon, they often sell glutinous rice and lotus root, cut cakes, grilled cakes, mung bean balls, old tofu, etc. Bean juice is available all day long, and raw bean juice is usually sold after sunset for housewives to purchase. After dinner, many sell cooked donkey meat, sheep head meat, and spiced beef tendon. Late at night in the middle of winter, sellers of beautiful radishes would light carbide lamps and shout along the street: "The radish is better than the pear!" On a midsummer day, before the sun sets, carts will appear selling ice cream, plum juice, dried fruits, Two copper cups stacked together in one hand made a tinkling sound. Throughout the year, the snacks sold are different depending on the season. In spring, they sell pea yellow, donkey rolling, aiwowo, fried triangles, fried heads, and dried fruits; in midsummer, they sell almond tofu, cheese, iced sour plum soup, fish, grilled cakes, cut cakes, etc.; when golden autumn comes, glutinous rice wine appears on the market , chestnut cake, eight-treasure lotus seed porridge, honey twists, etc.; in mid-winter, they sell more noodles and tea, hot pot cakes, white water sheep head with sesame cakes, fried enema, mutton mixed noodles, roasted sweet potatoes, etc. to ward off the cold. warm.
In the late 1950s, many snacks were almost on the verge of extinction. They were no longer sold on the street and their flavor was mostly lost. However, in recent years, many snack varieties have gradually recovered.
Special Snacks
Aiwowo is mostly sold by Hui people, and they shout "Aiwowo stuffed with rock sugar!" This product is made by kneading cooked river rice noodles and cooked river rice into a skin, and using Chengsha The filling is made of , golden cake strips, cooked sesame seeds, white sugar, etc. It looks like a small steamed bun and is sweet and delicious. There is a poem by Zhu Zhi that sings: "The white glutinous rice is steamed in a pot, and the noodles are mixed with assorted stuffings. It is like glutinous rice balls that do not need to be boiled. The halal name is Aiwowo." It can be seen that Aiwowo is a traditional snack of the Hui people in Beijing. Pea yellow: Boil the peas and peel them, add sugar and stir-fry them, put them into a mold and condense them into a dark yellow cake, and cut them into small pieces when eating.
This quality is delicate, soft and refreshing, with a strong pea aroma. Originally a folk snack, it was later introduced into the palace and became one of the famous palace snacks.
Small steamed buns are made from fine corn flour, soybean flour, white sugar, etc., and are shaped into jujube-sized steamed buns by hand. This product is pointed at the top and rounded at the bottom, with a small hole at the bottom. The inner and outer walls are smooth and moist, exquisite and unique. It is said that when Cixi was fleeing the invasion of China by the Eight-Power Allied Forces, she ate folk cornmeal steamed buns. After returning to the palace, she ordered the imperial dining room to imitate it. This snack was left in the Qing palace.
Bean flour cake is made of yellow rice flour (millet rice flour) and made into a dough. After steaming, it is placed on the fried fine soybean noodles and rolled into slices. It is rolled into bean paste filling, then cut into sections and sprinkled with Sesame and osmanthus sugar are edible. Because there is a thick layer of bean flour stuck to the outside of the roll, it looks like a donkey covered in loess, so most people call it "donkey rolling".
Griddle the dough with buckwheat flour, pat it into a round cake about 5 cm in diameter with your hands, steam it in a basket, take it out and soak it in cold water. Cut into small strips and dipped in sesame sauce, mashed garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, cucumber shreds, minced coriander, chili oil and other seasonings. It is a summer delicacy in Beijing.
The Zinger cake maker is equipped with a stove and a water pot. It is usually a small steamer made of copper. The steamer is attached to a wooden mold, which is shaped like a steamer (like a small flower pot) with a live bottom and a concave middle. When making, put a little rice flour in the concave bottom, add a little sugar, then fill the concave surface with rice noodles, sprinkle green and red silk, roses, melon seeds and other fruit ingredients on top, cover and steam until cooked. When cooked, put the wooden mold on a short stick and push it out. People in Beijing have a saying: "Zhen'er cakes are served in baskets - one drawer on top of the other". This cake is hexagonal when viewed from the top, but the bottom is round. It is very small and can be eaten in one bite. In the old days, they were mostly children's snacks, but they are rare in the past 20 or 30 years.
Chestnut cake is made by mashing cooked chestnuts, then kneading them into puree, and making a cake shape. Sand filling and gold cake slices are sandwiched in the middle, and covered with green plums, melon seeds, and gold cake. Striped pattern. When eating, cut into small cubes and pour sugar sauce over them. This cake is divided into five layers, with yellow chestnut puree on the top, middle and bottom, and two colors of red and brown in the middle (red gold cake and brown sand). The color is rich and gorgeous, and it is suitable for eating in autumn and winter.
Jiaohuan is said to be a fried food that came from the Qing palace. Also known as glutinous rice balls, twists, and fried ghosts (in the past, they were called differently in the east, west, south, and north cities of Beijing). They are the most delicious fresh out of the pan, fragrant and crispy. The raw materials are flour, salt, alkali, and alum. They are first made into dough and fried into bracelet-shaped brown circles one by one. This product is shelf-stable and can still maintain its brittleness after seven or eight days. In the past, Beijingers would eat jiao rings sandwiched between sesame seed cakes, collectively known as a "set".
When making fried triangles, first boil pork skin, diced meat, etc. into pork skin jelly, add green leek segments and mix into filling. Cut the round dough piece (about 16 cm in diameter) in half to form a semicircle. First, glue the two corners of the bottom edge together to form a cone shape. Add 25 grams of filling and seal the mouth to form a triangle. Deep fry and serve. The skin is crispy and the filling is mushy. When eating it hot, first pierce a few holes in the skin to release the hot air to avoid burning your mouth.
After frying, chop the beef into pieces, add yellow sauce, ginger juice, minced chives and apples, etc. to make a filling. Wrap it with white dough to make a dumpling shape. Then bend the two corners back to the middle and pinch them together. "Look back". Fry in oil until the skin turns golden brown. It is one of the traditional snacks in Beijing. The shape of the pancake is similar to the pancake, but it is much thinner than the pancake. It is like paper and larger than the pancake. The ingredients are the same as the dough used to make the coke ring. The finished product is brownish yellow, thin, crispy, crispy and fragrant.
Enema This snack existed in the Ming Dynasty. Originally, pig intestines were stuffed with starch, red yeast water and various spices. After cooking, they were sliced, fried in lard in an iron pan, and poured with salt water and garlic juice when eating. Later, starch was mixed with red yeast rice powder and water, steamed into a thin cylindrical shape, then sliced ??and fried in lard, which is still called "fried enema". In the past, tea soup was mostly sold in markets or temple fairs. The hawker held a shovel in his hand and shouted: "Jiao oh - enema!" The wooden box contains condiments; on the other end is a large, hot copper teapot, more than half a meter high. The pot is double-layered, with the outer layer filled with water and the inner layer burning charcoal. When eating, put the processed cooked millet noodles into a small bowl, add a little water and mix thoroughly, add sugar, and use a boiling pot of water to make a paste. This product is mostly sold in spring, autumn and early summer.
Douzhier is a unique food in Beijing. "Yandu Snacks Miscellany" records: "Douzhi is mung bean powder paste. Its color is gray-green and its taste is bitter and sour." It is made of mung bean paste. It is fermented and is a by-product of the noodle mill. It is boiled and cooked when eaten. Drinking bean juice should be paired with shredded spicy pickles, which are sour and spicy. When you drink it in your mouth, the aftertaste turns sweet. People who drink it for the first time are not used to it, but once they get used to it, they become addicted. Bean juice is rich in nutrients and can increase appetite, aid digestion, and soften blood vessels. Therefore, the old Beijinger who has been away from Beijing for many years still misses drinking bean juice.
Fried liver is actually braised fat intestines and does not need to be "fried". An ancient limerick said: "The fat intestines are boiled in thick sauce, and the transaction is fair and tasted. The proverb spreads that Zhu Bajie, the smell of fried liver passes through the market." The hawkers along the street shouted: "Fried liver, the fragrance is rotten!" The earliest Fried liver is cooked with pig heart, liver, lungs and intestines without thickening. At that time, there was a slang saying: "Stir-fried liver without thickening - boil the heart and boil the lungs." Now it has been changed to thickening, and the heart and lungs are omitted. For lungs, only use liver tips and fat intestines. The method is to pour the cooked and cut liver slices and pig intestines into a pot of boiling water, add soy sauce, minced garlic, stock, etc., thicken it and stew it. The juice is crystal clear and the taste is mellow. It is best eaten with sesame seed cakes and steamed buns.
Sheep head meat, also known as Baishui sheep head, was mostly sold by the Hui people in the old days.
The method is to boil the sheep head in white water, add pepper, aniseed and other condiments (without adding soy sauce and other colored condiments), take it out after cooking, remove the head meat, let it cool, cut into large thin slices, and sprinkle with five spices. Eat with fine salt, crispy and tender but not sour. In the old days, hawkers sold sheep head meat as well as cooked sheep eyes and hooves.
Sheep intestines are also called "frost intestines". The method is to pour sheep blood and brain into the washed sheep intestines, cook them in a pot, and then simmer them in brine. Cut into sections and add coriander and chili juice when eating. The hawker's cry is: "Lung lobe - sheep tripe!" Cheese is also called "daigo", "cheese", "goat cheese" and "cow cheese". It is a semi-solidified food made of fresh cow and goat milk and white sugar as the main ingredients. It is in the shape of jelly, milky white and smooth, and melts in the mouth. It is said that this food was introduced from the northern nomads and has been "settled" in Beijing for hundreds of years. At first it only appeared on the streets as a summer cold snack, but later it was sold all year round. "Du Men Ji Lue" wrote: "I went to the street to eat a cup of wine. I drank the wine to moisten my dry throat. I felt that my throat was as smooth as fat, and my heart and spleen were cold and refreshing like autumn." This product is praised for its sweetness, coolness and refreshment. There are many types of cheese. Adding hawthorn to the cheese is called hawthorn cheese, which is red; adding sweet almonds is called almond cheese, and the color is as white as snow; some also add various melon seeds and is called eight-treasure cheese. The cheese is served in a bowl, placed in a wooden barrel, and chilled with ice cubes. It is sweet, sour and cool. In the old days, cheese vendors also sold milk rolls and dried cheese. People who have eaten cheese for a long time say: "The hungry eat it sweetly, and the thirsty drink it sweetly. It nourishes life internally and nourishes the mind externally."
Sour plum soup is made with sour plums (black plums) or pitted green apricots cooked with sugar. , let it cool, filter out the dregs, add roses, osmanthus or sweet-scented osmanthus, and chill it. The color is light yellow (crystal honey color). In the old days, every year after the Beginning of Summer, a banner with the words "Ice Plum Soup" fluttered in the wind at the entrance of the dried and fresh fruit shop like a curtain in a restaurant. Those who sell sour plum soup often also sell dried fruits. Some vendors even sing: "It quenches thirst, brings coolness, adds roses and sugar. If you don't believe it, just get a bowl and try it. Su Zao Rou is a famous traditional snack in Beijing. Legend has it that it began Among the people in Suzhou, when Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty went to Jiangnan, he was brought back to Beijing and became a palace snack. As for how it spread to the people in Kyoto, there is a story that in the past, when the emperor went to court, all the officials would go to the palace at dawn. Feeling hungry, the eunuchs colluded with a few Su La (handsome men in the palace) to set up stalls selling breakfast outside Longzong Gate (some say they set up stalls outside Donghua Gate). In addition to selling snacks such as fried liver, almond tea, and Diaolu Shaobing, Su Zao Pork was sold to the stalls in Shichahai Lotus Market after Puyi left the palace. On. The preparation method is to cut the pork, liver, lungs, heart, intestines, tripe, fried tofu slices and roasted with seasonings into a bowl, use a slotted spoon to scoop it, and dip it into the Suzo soup (hot stewed soup). Blanch it several times, put it in a bowl, pour hot stewed soup over it, and eat it while it's hot.
Drinks
In the past, Beijing residents mainly drank tea (particularly scented tea) and were extremely poor. Or drink plain water. In the past, banner people (referring to people who originally belonged to the Eight Banners of Manchu and Han Dynasties) were most fond of drinking tea. When they had nothing to do, they would go to the teahouse to sit and drink tea, chat while drinking, and sing a few lines when they were happy. "Kyoto Bamboo Branch Poems" says: "Wearing new hats and long gowns, people are walking in the streets. When I was free, I came to Sanwu Teahouse to sit, and most of them were from Zeng Denshi edition. "Note: "After the flag officers in the inner city have finished their missions, they change into casual clothes, meet up with friends, and chat in teahouses. This has been a long-standing practice. "Han people rarely set foot in it, and most of them are people from the Eight Banners. Even though they are officials of the third or fourth rank, they still sit in the teahouse (teahouse), carry birdcages, and sit and chat." "Ordinary citizens also love drinking tea. Regardless of winter or summer, they must drink a few cups before breakfast. Old Beijingers believe that if you don't drink tea in the morning, you will not only have no energy for the day, but also can't even open your mouth. It is usually served with "水氽子" ” (a long iron tube with a handle about 10 cm in diameter) is inserted into the stove to boil water to make tea. You can also go to the teahouse to drink tea or bring your own tea leaves to the teahouse to buy boiling water to make tea.
With the With the development of the times and the widespread use of household appliances such as refrigerators, in recent years, citizens' beverages have also become more abundant. In addition to tea, coffee, beer, champagne, soda, cola, and various juices are available for guests. Drink of choice. Drinking tea or coffee is more comfortable in winter. In many people’s homes, coffee has replaced tea.