Beijing has been the capital of China for centuries, so its food has absorbed all kinds of cooking traditions from across the country. Based on China’s northern cuisine, Beijing cuisine consists of local dishes, halal dishes dominated by beef and lamb, as well as the Chinese imperial cuisines originating from the “Emperor’s Kitchen”, which were cooked only for the royal family inside the Forbidden City in ancient time.
Peking Duck is a world-renowned Beijing food that originated over 1500 years ago. It is high-quality duck meat with crisp skin roasted using fruit tree coal in a closed or open oven. It looks reddish and is usually served with pancakes.
Beijingers eat Peking Duck in three ways:
Dumplings are a must-eat Chinese New Year food for Beijing people.
Dumplings (jiaozi 饺子 in Chinese) are a popular and essential food in Northern China. There are all kinds of fillings but the top three for Beijingers are chive egg dumplings, anise pork dumplings, and celery pork dumplings.
Dumplings are often dipped in a small bowl with a mixture of vinegar and soy sauce, several drops of chili oil are sometimes added, before being eaten. They can be found anywhere in Beijing.
Moo Shu Pork
Moo Shu Pork (木须肉) is a dish consisting of sliced pork, cucumber, scrambled eggs, and black fungus. The scrambled eggs are yellow and crumbling and look like Osmanthus, while Osmanthus sounds like “moo shu” in Beijing dialect, thus the name “Moo Shu Pork”. It originated in Shandong and earned a reputation in Beijing.
Moo Shu Pork appears on almost every menu at Chinese restaurants in the US and has been one of the most famous dishes of American Chinese Cuisine. You might have eaten Moo Shu Pork in your country before, but you’ve got to try the original Beijing-style one.
Beijing-style mutton hotpot
Mongolian Hotpot (涮羊肉) is a traditional Beijing-style hotpot dating back to the 13th century. The fresh lamb is instant-boiled in a bronze pot with burning charcoal underneath heats the water up. The base is clear soup and thanks to the side sesame-based dipping sauce, the lamb maintains its original flavor and tastes awesome as well.
Legend has it that during an army expedition, the chef came up with a quick way to prepare food for Kublai Khan and the army. He killed a lamb and cut it into thin slices. He boiled the mutton in clear soup and served it with sesame sauce as a dip. This simple but tasty dish nourished the troops and boosted their morale. Kublai Khan was pleased and gave the new dish the name “Instant-Boiled Mutton”.
Zha Jiang Mian (Soybean Paste Noodles)
Zha Jiang Mian (炸酱面) is a traditional staple in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei province. It consists of noodles topped with fried sauce and strips of veggies like cucumber, carrot, and sprouted beans. Mian means “noodles” in Chinese, and Zha Jiang is the fried sauce, which is made by simmering stir-friend minced pork with salty and thick fermented soybean paste, thus the name “Zha Jiang Mian”.
Donkey Burger
Donkey Burger, Lürou Huoshao 驴肉火烧 in Chinese, is a local snack in North China. Lürou is donkey meat. Huoshao is a kind of baked pasta made of unleavened flour. It is cut down the middle and stuffed with juicy braised donkey meat, hence, the Donkey Burger. It is eaten like a sandwich, with a crisp outside and tenders inside.
Douzhi
Love or hate it. Douzhi (豆汁) is local people’s favorite drink for breakfast, so it can be found at many food stalls in the morning in Beijing. It is a fermented juice made from ground mung beans, usually eaten with fried and crisp doughnuts, jiaoquaner (焦圈儿).
As a visitor, however, you might not get any pleasure from Douzhi because it is notorious for being sour and stinky!
Jing Jiang Rou Si
Jing Jiang Rou Si (京酱肉丝), literally sautéed shredded pork in sweet bean sauce is one of the popular Beijing cuisines. It is said that in the 1930s, an old man lived with his grandson and made a living making and selling tofu. The Spring Festival was coming but they were too poor to afford a Peking Duck.
The grandpa sliced the lean pork and sautéed it with soybean paste. He didn’t have pancakes so he used tofu skin to roll up the meat and scallions- which was eaten just the same way as Peking Duck. His grandson loved this “Peking Duck” very much.
When the grandson grew up and became a chef at Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant, he could eat the real Peking Duck at any time but he couldn’t help missing the grandpa-style “Peking Duck”. So, he learned from his grandpa and turned this unique dish into today’s Jing Jiang Rou Si.
Source: chinatravel.com
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