Beijing’s top ten must-try food: hutong fireworks, tongue on the flavor of the millennium ancient capital

Beijing’s culinary world, hidden in the Forbidden City by the red walls of the old restaurants, hidden in the depths of the hutongs of the small hall, more into the old Beijingers daily that “eat you na” in the greetings. From the delicacies of the court in the past to the delicious snacks in the streets, these ten classic dishes carry history in every bite, and every flavor is a manifestation of the delicacy. Today, we will take you through the streets and alleys of Beijing to taste the most authentic Beijing cuisine!

01 Peking Duck: “The world’s best flavor” roasted over charcoal fire
“The skin of the duck is as crispy as paper, the duck meat is tender and oily, and the duck rack is freshly boiled in soup!”
Peking Duck is known as the “First Chinese Cuisine”. Choose to fill the duck, with fruit wood charcoal fire carefully roasted, duck skin as crispy as gold foil, duck meat is tender and juicy. The duck slicer is so skillful that he can slice 108 slices in 5 minutes, each with skin and no bones.

The slices of roast duck are rolled in a pancake, sandwiched with shredded green onion, cucumber strips, and smeared with sweet noodle sauce. When you take a bite, the greasy aroma of the duck skin, the salty-sweet flavor of the noodle sauce, and the refreshing sense of vegetables intertwine in your mouth! The color of Quanjude’s roast duck is reddish and translucent, while Cheap Square’s roast duck has an inner flavor of fat. Don’t forget to let the chef boil the duck into soup and sprinkle a handful of cilantro after eating the roast duck, the delicious flavor that people can’t help but stomp their feet and praise!

02 Fried Sauce Noodle: Old Beijinger’s “life-sustaining magic weapon”
“Seven plates and eight bowls on the table, the noodles a mix of the gods!”
Noodles with fried sauce are the “soul staple” of Beijingers. The noodles are hand-pulled and chewy, and the sauce is made from fat and thin diced pork and Lubijiu yellow sauce, which is slowly simmered to create a salty aroma with a hint of sweetness. The side dishes are “seven plates and eight bowls”: shredded cucumber, radish, bean sprouts, green beans, chopped celery, shredded cabbage, chopped parsnip, and a colorful array of dishes.

Pick up the noodles with chopsticks, cover them with the oily sauce, and eat them with a clove of garlic! Old Beijingers like to eat cold noodles in the three days of ambush, and in winter, they prefer hot noodles in soup, even Liang Shiqiu praised: “Fried noodles are the best noodles in the world!”

03 BaoDu: Crispy, tender, fresh and fragrant “viscera feast”
“Belly kernels are crispy and tender, the hundred leaves are fresh and fragrant, and the sesame sauce and chili sauce are super flavorful!”
Bao Dou is a classic Beijing snack. It is made of beef leaves, sheep belly and other parts, quickly shabu-shabu in boiling water for 8 seconds, and then dipped in a sauce made of sesame sauce, fermented bean curd, chili oil, and minced garlic.

The tripe is so tender that you can pinch out the water, and the leaves are so crispy that they “click”, and each bite is filled with the sweetness of the offal and the mellowness of the sesame sauce. Door frame Hutong’s tripe Feng, Houhai’s tripe Zhang, three o’clock in the morning, there are people lined up, in order to taste this mouthful of crunchy fresh flavor!

4 Fried liver: heavy fans of the “unique flavor”
“intestines fat liver tender, garlic aroma, the old Beijing’s ‘unique flavor’!”
Fried liver is the “hardcore breakfast” of Beijingers. The liver and large intestine are boiled in an old soup, thickened with minced garlic, soy sauce and cornstarch, and the soup is thick like sauce, with a strong garlic flavor.

Eat fried liver without chopsticks, directly pick up the bowl and drink in a circle, intestines fat but not greasy, liver tender but not fishy. Tianxingju’s fried liver with buns is the standard for old Beijingers. Outsiders may frown at the smell, but the locals drink it with gusto: “This is the authentic taste of old Beijing!”

05 Lo-boiled hot barbecue: “hardcore food” in the city’s smoke and fire
“Intestines and lungs rotten, burned to taste, a bowl of super-satisfied belly!”
Lo-boiled hot barbecue is the “late-night cafeteria” for Beijingers. Pork intestines, lungs, fried tofu, and roasted pork are stewed in an old brine with a reddish, aromatic broth. The intestines should be fat but not greasy, the lungs should be rotten but not scattered, and the roasted pork should be soaked up the broth and be tender in the mouth.

Small intestine Chen’s marinade with garlic, chili oil, spicy people sweating, on the Arctic Ocean soda, that’s an addiction! This dish originated in the late Qing Dynasty, is a poor man with the edges of the simmering of the delicious, but now has become a famous food in the capital.

06 Door nail meat pie: the palace legacy of the “meat temptation”
“thin skin stuffing, soup overflowing, bite a mouth full of fragrance!”
Door nail meat cake is named because it resembles the Forbidden City door nails. The beef filling is made with pepper water, yellow sauce, and scallions, wrapped into a cylinder 5 centimeters in diameter, and fried to a golden brown in a pan.

The outer skin is crispy and crumbly, and the inner filling is tender and juicy. Take a bite, and the fresh flavor of the beef, the sweetness and spiciness of the green onion, and the mellowness of the soup explode in your mouth. The door nail meat cake of Bai Kui Lao is the most authentic, made on the spot and served with a bowl of millet porridge, which is so fragrant that it makes people confused!

07 Shabu Shabu: A Winter Feast in a Copper Pot over Charcoal
“Shabu Shabu is a winter ritual in Beijing, served in a broth with only sliced ginger, scallions and Chinese wolfberries.”
Shabu shabu is Beijing’s “winter ritual”, a copper pot with a roaring fire, a broth with only ginger, scallions, and wolfberries, and hand-cut fresh mutton in the pot, which is then fished out and dipped in sesame sauce, leeks, and fermented bean curd.

Lamb on the brain fat and thin, cucumber strips tender and toothsome, sugar and garlic to relieve greasiness, sesame fire roast crispy. Dong Lai Shun’s copper pot, Jubao Yuan’s mutton, winter solstice day can line up for two hours, just for the mouth tender!

08 Bean juice: the old Beijinger’s “soul poison”
“Sour and smelly, the more you drink, the more fragrant, foreigners drink a mouthful of life unforgettable!”
Bean juice is the “ultimate test” for Beijingers. The gray-green juice of fermented green beans is acidic and stinky, and the stink is fragrant. Old Beijingers on the charcoal ring, pickled vegetables, “ZiYi” a mouthful of belly, summer and appetizing.

When outsiders taste it, they will frown or vomit, but Mr. Lao She said, “Bean juice is the lifeblood of Beiping!” Jinxin Bean Juice Shop’s bean juice is the most authentic, early morning queue of old Beijingers can go around the hutong three times.

09 Goat Scorpion: The “nourishing delicacy” in the bones
“The meat is rotten off the bone, the bone marrow is fragrant, and the fingers are shivering after gnawing on the bones!”
Sheep scorpion is Beijing’s “hardcore hot pot”, sheep spine with peppercorns, dashi, cinnamon and other 30 kinds of spices stew, meat rotten off the bone, bone marrow flavor.

In winter, you can sit in front of the copper pot, nibble on the scorpion, inhale the bone marrow, and then enjoy some cabbage and vermicelli to warm up your stomach and nourish your body. Scorpion King House of the most famous scorpion, eat also let the waiter bones processed into salt and pepper mutton chops, fragrant people lick their fingers!

10 mustard pier: hot and sour “palace pearl”
“cabbage crisp, mustard nose, a mouthful of tears!”
Mustard pier is Beijing people’s “putty magic weapon”, cabbage cut section blanching, dripping mustard, sugar, white vinegar, sealed fermentation.

The cabbage is crisp and tender, and the mustard is so spicy that it makes people sneeze, sweet in the sourness, and spicy in the sweetness. Tianfu’s mustard duns are the most authentic, and a plate of them on the New Year’s Eve dinner table is both appetizing and appetizing, which is what old Beijingers like to enjoy!
Beijing’s cuisine is all about history and culture. From the delicacy of roast duck to the wildness of bean juice, from the delicacy of shabu-shabu to the boldness of lo-boil, each dish hides the philosophy of life of the old Beijingers. Which dish is your favorite?