Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Muslim History: Old Halal Notes from the Southern City is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Chongwen:. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Muslim History, Southern Beijing, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source. This final block is 1 of 2.

Block 1 of 2

Mentioning pickled cabbage reminds me of winters in the old capital, when every family used small coal-ball stoves. Impatient people couldn't wait for the fire to catch properly, so they would bring the stove inside while it was still emitting blue flames. The coal gas could suffocate a person. Every winter, quite a few people actually died from this. The special remedy for 'coal gas poisoning' didn't require going to a pharmacy or calling a doctor. You just had to go to a lamb stall, buy a large portion of pickled cabbage, ask for extra broth, and pour the ice-cold, teeth-chattering cabbage soup into the victim's mouth. For mild cases, a few sips of the sour, cool liquid would make them feel better in no time.

Beiping Customs: Lamb Stalls. Chen Hongnian

4. Shopkeeper Hua, who sells beef head meat from a wheelbarrow.

Back then, the street cry went like this: 'Beef liver!' Beef head meat! Beef liver for sale, hey, hey! Beef head meat for sale! The wheelbarrow creaked as it rolled over the fallen leaves of late autumn, sometimes accompanied by a few drifting snowflakes. With the weather turning hot and cold, it is the perfect time for nourishing food. Most families can afford a few ounces of beef head meat, which is reasonably priced and tastes pretty good. My grandmother never bought from strangers; she only trusted the halal shop run by Manager Hua.

Manager Hua told me his ancestors had been doing this for generations. They never opened a storefront, but followed the tradition of walking through the streets and alleys to sell their goods. Manager Hua’s beef head meat was so popular that even if he went as far as Qianmen, he would always sell out completely. Whether they wore long gowns or mandarin jackets, everyone loved this treat. If he ran into military officers or police, he had to bow and scrape, and even offer a little bribe.

Halal means being particular. The slaughter is handled by an imam, who performs the proper rites before the blade draws blood, showing respect for a life. When you think about it, a cow works hard its whole life, only occasionally rolling its eyes or acting stubborn, but it never misses a day of work. Even when it can no longer walk, it gives its life for humans, making it a creature worthy of respect. Halal means being clean. There is not a single flaw, as they always strive for perfection. For so many years, as long as a shop has a halal sign, I trust it. I can eat the meat with peace of mind. Halal means being honest. They do not cheat people, shortchange them, or take advantage of the small, perhaps because these rules have been passed down for so many years. Halal means being loyal. As long as you visit his business often and become a regular customer, he will never overcharge you. Instead, he will always give you a little extra on the house.

Shopkeeper Hua lived in the crowded courtyard behind my grandmother's house, where a dozen families all ran small businesses to make a living. When the northwest wind blew, the smell of meat would drift right into our noses, and we knew for sure Shopkeeper Hua was processing beef head (niutourou)! To be honest, beef head is the only real meat, while everything else is just beef offal (niuzasui). Besides beef liver, he had beef tendon, beef lung, and beef tripe. After Shopkeeper Hua added spices to remove the gamey smell, clear away the bad taste, and bring out the aroma, it smelled so good you wanted to grab a few bites right away to satisfy your cravings. Shopkeeper Hua's beef offal had a unique, fragrant taste, and chatty neighbors often asked him for his secret. It is not any different from what everyone else makes, is it? Shopkeeper Hua just smiled honestly, saying nothing at all. Yellow rice wine, star anise, green onion, ginger, garlic, cardamom, bay leaves, Sichuan peppercorns, and salt—these are all common kitchen spices, but the taste of Shopkeeper Hua's food was different from the usual street stalls. People said he used a few traditional Chinese medicinal herbs that were the secret of the Hua family, passed down through generations and never revealed to outsiders. Shopkeeper Hua's honest smile was just his way of being polite to people. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Muslim History: Old Halal Notes from the Southern City is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Chongwen:. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Muslim History, Southern Beijing, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source. This final block is 2 of 2.

Block 2 of 2

In the old days, Beijing did not seem to have slaughterhouses, because sheep were slaughtered right at the door of the mutton stall. At a large mutton stall, early every morning, five or six large sheep would be tied up with a wooden blood basin placed nearby, waiting for the head imam (ahong) to come and recite prayers.

The Muslim imam, wearing a grey cotton robe and a black mandarin jacket (magua), would arrive by rickshaw—since he had to visit many mutton stalls each morning, he traveled by rickshaw to make his rounds—carrying a cloth bag containing the knives for slaughtering the sheep. When he reached the counter, he would take out his knife, mutter a prayer, and with one swift stroke across the sheep's neck held down by two young men, the blood would pour out; the sheep would stretch its legs, twitch a few times, and then go still.

Afterward, they would peel off the skin, cut off the head, chop off the hooves, remove the offal, wash everything clean with water, and hang the meat on a pole using copper meat hooks. Look at how fatty it is!

When it comes to northern sheep, few can compare to them, except for those from the Northwest. In the summer, they graze on green grass, becoming round and plump with thick wool, and their large tails drag behind them like a big pot lid.

If you go to a large mutton stall in the winter to buy meat for hot pot (shuan guozi), they will always take good care of you. There are cuts of meat like the neck (shangnao'er), the leg muscle (huangguatiao), the flank (yaowo), and the brisket (sancha'er); they cut exactly what you point to, and they have everything you could want. Once you leave Beijing, you can find mutton hot pot everywhere, but it is just mutton!

I remember before the war, in the old capital, one silver dollar could buy four jin of good mutton delivered to your door. Add some cabbage and glass noodles (fentiao), and one dollar's worth of meat was enough to feed three or four people. It was warm and satisfying; it was wonderful.

In the summer, every mutton stall sells fried mutton (shao yangrou). The meat, just out of the fryer, is placed on a large copper tray, and the aroma is so strong you can smell it from a mile away.

For an afternoon snack, if you have a few coins, you can buy a pair of sheep hooves or a piece of shank (jianzi), and eat it with two sesame flatbreads (shaobing); it is incredibly delicious. If you bring home a large sheep head, your family can make some pancakes, boil a pot of rice porridge (shui fan), and on a hot day, it is neither greasy nor too heavy, and it really satisfies your cravings. The sheep neck has a bit more meat and is even better to eat than the head.

If your family is small, dinner is easy to put together. Just take a pot to the mutton stall, buy seven or eight mao worth of fried mutton, and tell the shopkeeper, 'Boss, add some extra broth!' Once you get home, bring the pot of meat and broth to a boil, add a few coins' worth of noodles, and you have fried mutton noodles. Forget about leaving Beiping.

Most lamb stalls (yangrou chuangzi) have a separate area to sell lamb buns (yangrou baozi) to go. They squeeze the dough into shape with their hands. In winter, they are filled with lamb and cabbage, and in summer, lamb and chives. Every time a steamer is ready, the apprentice shouts: 'Lamb buns are here!' Fresh from the steamer, get them while they're hot!

Some lamb stalls also sell medicine. They hang a sign nearby that says 'Lamb Liver Eye-Brightening Pills' (yanggan mingmu wan), and they are all tested and approved with a license from the health bureau. Some also sell sesame paste flatbread (zhima jiang shaobing) and brown sugar cakes (tang huoshao), which are made with flour and brown sugar. They are yellowish and stamped with a red mark on top. They also carry honey-glazed fried dough twists (mi mahua), which are extremely sweet. That is the full range of side businesses found at a lamb stall.

Some lamb stalls also sell pickled cabbage (suancai). Whatever amount you buy, they tie it up with a piece of iris grass (malian cao) and hand it to you. If you buy some lamb to go with it, you can make a pot of hot lamb and pickled cabbage noodle soup. It is warm, refreshing, and delicious! view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Muslim History: Old Halal Notes from the Southern City is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Chongwen:. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Muslim History, Southern Beijing, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source. This final block is 3 of 3.

Block 3 of 3

Back then, they did not use plastic bags. Everything was wrapped by hand in paper. The clerk would wrap it however the customer wanted, like buying four liang and splitting it into two two-liang packages. If you bought one jin, they would make two half-jin packages. Of course, some people just bought one package. The clerk's wrapping technique was amazing. They folded the paper into a perfect square that looked very solid. Then they stacked the two packages together, tied them with a paper string in a cross pattern, and made a handle on top so the customer could just hook a finger through and carry it away. That tea package was quite stylish at the time. During holidays when visiting relatives and friends, you would place the tea package on the table, and it looked both grand and traditional.

Memories of Niujie by Chen Chunxi

14. Scalded dough fried cake (tangmian zhagao) at the Hui Muslim breakfast shop a short distance left from the east entrance of Xiangluying Sitiao Hutong outside Xuanwumen

When I think of the hot-water dough fried cake (tangmian zhagao), I don't know why this simple old Beijing snack has disappeared from the streets and restaurants. Actually, in the 1950s and 60s, almost every snack shop run by Hui Muslims sold them. they were an essential snack at temple fairs in the capital back then. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Muslim History: Old Halal Notes from the Southern City is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Chongwen:. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Muslim History, Southern Beijing, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source. This final block is 2 of 3.

Block 2 of 3

At the west entrance of Menkuang Hutong, there was a lamb head meat stall in front of the Yuxing Restaurant that was considered a famous local snack of the area. The vendor arrived every day near dusk. He brought his own light bulb and wire, which he connected to the restaurant's power to light up his stall. He used a special knife, one foot long and five inches wide, to slice the cheek, tongue (xinzi), and eyes for customers to enjoy with their drinks. When he sliced the cheek, he made it so thin it was almost transparent. He laid it on white paper, sprinkled salt and pepper from a long-necked glass bottle, mixed it by hand, and then wrapped it up. It tasted delicious. Customers loved the taste of the meat and admired the vendor's skill. Every night when the lights came on, a crowd would gather at the intersection of Langfang Second Alley and Menkuang Hutong to watch him slice the meat. People traveled from far away to Menkuang Hutong just to eat this lamb head meat. I once asked about that Hui Muslim vendor. I only knew his surname was Ma and he lived on Niujie. He likely passed away after the Cultural Revolution, and I do not know what happened to him.

Ye Zufu Talks About Beijing by Ye Zufu

3. Yitiaolong Mutton Restaurant outside Qianmen

Yitiao Long Lamb Restaurant processes its meat carefully and slices it very thin. After slaughtering and skinning the lamb, they select only the hind legs. They place the meat on a clean surface with natural water, cover it with a reed mat, place an oilcloth over the mat, and put a block of ice on top. This is called pressed meat (yarou). The meat is pressed for a full day and night to draw out the blood and impurities, which makes the meat firm and easy to slice. This pressed meat (ya rou) is better than frozen meat because frozen meat, like frozen cabbage, breaks down the lamb's texture and makes it lose its tender, savory flavor, which makes it taste bad. Yilong is just like Zhengyanglou; they slice the meat thinly and serve it on plates according to the cut. The seasonings are complete.

When eating hot pot lamb (shuan yangrou), people usually eat sesame flatbread (shaobing) as their staple food. The sesame flatbread (shaobing) at Nanhengshun (Wang Dongsi: Yilong's original name is Nanhengshun) is also different from other places; for every basin of dough, they use ten jin of flour, with nine jin of plain flour and one jin of leavened dough. Ten jin of flour requires one jin and two liang of sesame paste. The sesame flatbread (shaobing) is first seared on a griddle, then baked in an oven, searing the bottom first and then the sesame-topped side (just for a quick touch). This kind of sesame flatbread (shaobing) has plenty of sauce, is cooked through, and is perfectly flaky and crisp.

When customers are almost full, they order a bowl of Nanhengshun's homemade, thin and uniform mung bean mixed noodles (lvdou zamian) served dry. Mung bean mixed noodles (lvdou zamian) are great for cutting through the greasiness of meat; a bowl of these noodles absorbs the floating oil from the hot pot and cleanses the palate, making these thin and uniform noodles another specialty of Nanhengshun.

Miscellaneous Talks on Old Beijing by Wang Yongbin.

4. Ai's steamed rice cake (aiwowowo) stall on Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen

It is currently the first lunar month, the time when ai'ou wowos are on the market. Beijing's ai'ou wowos are similar to Fengtian's cool rice cakes (lianggao) and are both sold during the first lunar month, but ai'ou wowos are soft and delicious, and cannot be compared to cool rice cakes (lianggao). Cool rice cakes (lianggao) are made by steaming glutinous rice flour, using it as a wrapper, filling it with sesame and white sugar, and sprinkling it with rice flour. On the surface, they look like ai'ou wowos, but they are essentially just a variation of sticky rice cakes (niangao); after a while, when the wind blows on them, they still get hard. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Muslim History: Old Halal Notes from the Southern City is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Chongwen:. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Muslim History, Southern Beijing, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source. This retry section is 2 of 2.

Section 2 of 2

The place that stays in my memory the most is Jinfang Snack Shop. When I first returned to Beijing, it was winter, and it was still pitch black when I got up early for work. I didn't have time to eat breakfast at home, so I pushed my bike through the underpass and across the railway; down the slope was Baiqiao Street, and further west was Huashi Street. There were few people in the morning, the streetlights were dim, and it was very quiet; the northwest wind blowing head-on was so strong it made it hard to open my mouth. Luckily, after riding a short distance, I could see the bright lights of Jinfang Snack Shop on the north side of the road ahead. I locked my bike and lifted the cotton door curtain to go inside; the heat rushed into my face, and more than half of the chill on my body disappeared at once. My favorite thing to eat in this shop is the millet flour porridge (miancha); it is thick, fragrant, and hot enough to burn your mouth. You cannot rush drinking millet flour porridge; there is a trick to it: regular customers never use chopsticks or spoons, they rotate the bowl and drink from the edge, finishing it until the bottom is clean. With these two crispy fried dough rings (jiaoquan) and a bowl of millet flour porridge in my stomach, my whole body felt warm, and the next 40 minutes of the journey wouldn't leave me frozen with a twisted face and numb hands and feet.

Reading Beijing Figures: Impressions of Huashi (Postscript). Written by Chen Guangzhong.

Xuanwu.

1. Xianbing Porridge Shop at Meishi Bridge outside Qianmen

There are two meat pie and porridge shops at Meishi Bridge, and they are halal restaurants. These two shops have the same owner; one is on the east side of the road and the other is on the west, which is called one owner running two shops. They are open 24 hours a day without interruption; when the east shop puts up its door panels to close, the west shop takes its panels down to open, so customers can always get meat pies and porridge. Since it is a meat pie and porridge shop, the meat pies are naturally their specialty. The meat pies are filled with beef, also known as meat cakes (roubing); they are large, full of filling, and oily, which really satisfies a craving. If a guest asks for a full-sized meat pie (roubing), it is much larger than the standard version, measuring about 1.2 feet in diameter. Even someone with a big appetite cannot finish half of one.

Cuisine of East Beijing by Wu Zhengge

2. Yangtou Ma (Sheep Head Ma) at Langfang Ertiao outside Qianmen

Beijing lamb head is a local specialty. It is sliced as thin as paper and sprinkled with salt and pepper powder. Lamb head meat includes the cheek (lianzi), the tongue and root (xinzi), the roof of the mouth (tianhuaban), the tongue tip (tongtianti), the eyes, the hooves, and the tendons. Aside from the tendons, the cheek meat has the deepest flavor. The sellers of lamb head meat are all Hui Muslims. There was only one halal stall, located at the back door of the Yuxing Restaurant on Langfang Second Alley. The owner was a man named Ma who sold his own goods. Unlike other workshops that sold wholesale without cleaning, his meat was clean. He added five-spice powder to his salt and pepper, making it extra fragrant and clean. He also sold boiled beef tripe (niudu) at a very low price.

The Life of Old Beijingers by Jin Shushen

At the west entrance of Menkuang Hutong, there was a lamb head meat stall in front of the Yuxing Restaurant that was considered a famous local snack of the area. The vendor arrived every day near dusk. He brought his own light bulb and wire, which he connected to the restaurant's power to light up his stall. He used a special knife, one foot long and five inches wide, to slice the cheek, tongue (xinzi), and eyes for customers to enjoy with their drinks. When he sliced the cheek, he made it so thin it was almost transparent. He laid it on white paper, sprinkled salt and pepper from a long-necked glass bottle, mixed it by hand, and then wrapped it up. It tasted delicious. Customers loved the taste of the meat and admired the vendor's skill. Every night when the lights came on, a crowd would gather at the intersection of Langfang Second Alley and Menkuang Hutong to watch him slice the meat. People traveled from far away to Menkuang Hutong just to eat this lamb head meat. I once asked about that Hui Muslim vendor. I only knew his surname was Ma and he lived on Niujie. He likely passed away after the Cultural Revolution, and I do not know what happened to him.

Ye Zufu Talks About Beijing by Ye Zufu

3. Yitiaolong Mutton Restaurant outside Qianmen

Yitiao Long Lamb Restaurant processes its meat carefully and slices it very thin. After slaughtering and skinning the lamb, they select only the hind legs. They place the meat on a clean surface with natural water, cover it with a reed mat, place an oilcloth over the mat, and put a block of ice on top. This is called pressed meat (yarou). The meat is pressed for a full day and night to draw out the blood and impurities, which makes the meat firm and easy to slice. This pressed meat (ya rou) is better than frozen meat because frozen meat, like frozen cabbage, breaks down the lamb's texture and makes it lose its tender, savory flavor, which makes it taste bad. Yilong is just like Zhengyanglou; they slice the meat thinly and serve it on plates according to the cut. The seasonings are complete.

When eating hot pot lamb (shuan yangrou), people usually eat sesame flatbread (shaobing) as their staple food. The sesame flatbread (shaobing) at Nanhengshun (Wang Dongsi: Yilong's original name is Nanhengshun) is also different from other places; for every basin of dough, they use ten jin of flour, with nine jin of plain flour and one jin of leavened dough. Ten jin of flour requires one jin and two liang of sesame paste. The sesame flatbread (shaobing) is first seared on a griddle, then baked in an oven, searing the bottom first and then the sesame-topped side (just for a quick touch). This kind of sesame flatbread (shaobing) has plenty of sauce, is cooked through, and is perfectly flaky and crisp.

When customers are almost full, they order a bowl of Nanhengshun's homemade, thin and uniform mung bean mixed noodles (lvdou zamian) served dry. Mung bean mixed noodles (lvdou zamian) are great for cutting through the greasiness of meat; a bowl of these noodles absorbs the floating oil from the hot pot and cleanses the palate, making these thin and uniform noodles another specialty of Nanhengshun.

Miscellaneous Talks on Old Beijing by Wang Yongbin.

4. Ai's steamed rice cake (aiwowowo) stall on Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen

It is currently the first lunar month, the time when ai'ou wowos are on the market. Beijing's ai'ou wowos are similar to Fengtian's cool rice cakes (lianggao) and are both sold during the first lunar month, but ai'ou wowos are soft and delicious, and cannot be compared to cool rice cakes (lianggao). Cool rice cakes (lianggao) are made by steaming glutinous rice flour, using it as a wrapper, filling it with sesame and white sugar, and sprinkling it with rice flour. On the surface, they look like ai'ou wowos, but they are essentially just a variation of sticky rice cakes (niangao); after a while, when the wind blows on them, they still get hard.

Ai'ou wowos are made by boiling whole glutinous rice grains until cooked, waiting for all the steam to evaporate, and then putting them in a basin to form a soft, fluffy texture. Using this rice-grain texture, they wrap in various sweet fillings, sprinkle with glutinous rice flour, and add red dots to distinguish the types of fillings. This item is called an ai'ou wowo, which is also a type of cold snack. Isn't the Changdian temple fair happening right now? Ai'ou wowos are a seasonal treat, but for the best-looking and best-tasting ones, go to the entrance of Tongle Teahouse on Menkuang Hutong. There is a small cart there that is kept very clean. A Hui Muslim man sells ai'ou wowos there throughout the year. He uses real glutinous rice and good fillings. Eating a couple of his is a unique experience that you must try.

Beijing Dream Splendor Record by Mu Ruga.

5. Fushunzhai Beef Shop on Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen.

We must start with the famous Fushunzhai beef shop at the south entrance of the hutong. Its spiced beef (jiang niurou) is tender and delicious, easily matching the spiced lamb (jiang yangrou) from Yueshengzhai. They also use a pot of original beef broth to cook meat for sale every day, with a set amount sold at specific times, and it sells out very quickly. The shopkeeper is a Hui Muslim named Liu. Later, this spiced beef shop moved to Qianmen Street and merged with Yueshengzhai.

Ye Zufu Talks About Beijing by Ye Zufu

6. Baodu Feng in Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Muslim History: Old Halal Notes from the Southern City is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Chongwen:. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Muslim History, Southern Beijing, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source. This retry section is 2 of 2.

Section 2 of 2

In my childhood memories, the snacks sold at Haji Sesame Flatbread Shop, located at the northeast corner of the east entrance of West Liulichang, were the most authentic.

This was a halal sesame flatbread shop opened by five brothers with the surname Ha. Compared to other nearby shops, it had a small storefront but the busiest business. Besides selling soy milk, sesame flatbreads (shaobing), and fried dough cakes (youbing), they also had snacks like top-grade sesame flatbreads (yipin shaobing), thick buns (dun bobo), and fried egg pockets (zha hebao). At that time, my favorite things to eat were thick buns and fried egg pockets.

Thick buns are small and made from leavened dough. They are mixed with lye, white sugar, and sweet osmanthus, then pinched into small pieces, pressed into thick, flat circles, and cooked over low heat on a griddle. After both sides turn yellow, they are baked in an oven until hard, without any burnt bits. After baking, a square or round red dot is stamped on them. The yellow and white colors with the red look beautiful, and they taste sweet, soft, and springy, with a bit of toughness that makes them great to chew. After chewing repeatedly, you can taste the faint wheat aroma from the leavened dough of the thick bun itself. The flavor is unique and makes my mouth water.

When mentioning fried egg pockets, some people might think it is just fried eggs, but that is not the case. Haji's fried egg pockets have a special flavor. They use dough for fried dough cakes, roll out two pieces of similar size, put them together, and pinch three sides shut to form a pocket, or what you could call a pouch shape. They crack an egg, pour it into the pocket, sprinkle a little salt, and then pinch the opening tight. They put it into a pan of oil and control the heat carefully. The fried pockets come out crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, suitable for both the old and the young.

"Our Old Beijing" by Li Weiji

Haji Kite Shop, Haji Restaurant

The location of "Haji Kite Shop" was at the north side of the east entrance of West Liulichang in the southern part of Beijing, which is the northwest corner of the intersection, today on the east side of Hongbaotang. It started as two sheds, then changed into two small storefront rooms. At that time, my grandfather and his fifth brother were local volunteer firefighters. If a fire broke out nearby, someone from the family had to go help put it out. In return, the fire brigade gave the two brothers two small rooms to stay in, and that is where they lived.

Although it was called the Haji Kite Shop, they did not sell kites all the time. Kite flying in Beijing was very seasonal, so they only sold kites from the Spring Festival until the third lunar month. During the other three seasons, they ran a Hui Muslim snack shop called the Haji Eatery. Later, they added a shed outside the rooms to block the wind and rain. It was bigger than the two rooms and served as a place for neighbors near Liulichang and passersby to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This was their main business.

The Haji Eatery sold sesame flatbread (shaobing) and fried dough twists (mahua) in the morning, and beef noodles and other meals at noon and night to support a family of several dozen people. Many neighbors nearby would buy on credit and settle their bills once a month. During the Spring Festival and the months of early spring, the eatery switched to selling kites to support the family.

Haji Kites by Ha Yiqi (Note by Wang Dongsi: The author is the fourth-generation successor of the Haji Kite tradition).

12. Nanlaishun snack shop at Caishikou outside Xuanwumen

Nanlaishun Snack Shop was a spacious hall. Aside from the door, there were snacks all around the perimeter, with rows of dining tables in the middle and square stools for customers to sit on. Let's start from the east door: to the left, from south to north, were all desserts. They mainly sold layered sticky rice cake (qiegao) here. I have loved eating this since I was a child. These cakes were placed on a large wooden board, about 60 centimeters wide, 80 centimeters long, and 10 centimeters thick, with four or five layers of bean paste and glutinous rice. The top of the layered sticky rice cake was decorated with large red dates, which looked very beautiful. Buying two liang (100 grams) of cake cost 8 cents per liang, so 16 cents total, plus two liang of food ration coupons. Even though it was only two liang, the master cutting the cake would use a long knife to slice it in one go, weigh it on a scale, and put it on a plate. The layers were clearly visible, and with white sugar sprinkled on top, it was incredibly tempting. One bite was full of fragrance and sweetness; it was delicious. Besides layered sticky rice cake, they sold various old Beijing sweet snacks, including steamed rice cakes (aiwowo), rolled glutinous rice rolls (lvdagun), honey fried dough twists (mi mahua, also called tang'erduo), sugar-filled baked cakes (tanghuoshao), steamed buns (dun'er bobo), and pea flour cakes (wandouhuang). If you love sweets, you will be satisfied here!

Let's talk about the long counter from east to west. They sold savory snacks here, such as tofu pudding (doufunao), soy milk, fried dough cakes (youbing), fried dough sticks (youtiao), ring-shaped fried dough (jiequan), crispy crackers (baocui), sesame flatbread (shaobing), baked cakes (huoshao), and twisted rolls (luosizhuan). The tofu pudding was authentic; the gravy was a masterpiece, made with minced meat, daylily buds, wood ear mushrooms, and eggs, with a layer of Sichuan peppercorn oil floating on top. It cost one liang of food ration coupons and 8 cents a bowl. When the server scooped up the tender white tofu and poured the gravy over it, then sprinkled a pinch of cilantro on top, a tempting bowl of tofu pudding was handed to you. If you like it spicy, there were chili oil, minced garlic, and vinegar on the table for you to add yourself. If you bought two freshly baked sesame flatbreads and a fried dough cake, hey, you had a complete, delicious breakfast.

After finishing the east-to-west section, let's turn to the counter from north to south. They mainly sold meat pies here, with beef and green onion filling (I don't remember if they had meat-filled pancakes). The meat pies here were another specialty. You could smell the aroma from far away. As you got closer, you could not only smell them but also hear the tempting sizzling sound as they were being pan-fried. You could not only hear it but see it too. The master chef worked right behind the counter, so every customer could watch the whole process of making the meat pie (roubing). When you saw those golden-brown meat pies sizzling with oil and smelling so good, how could you not want to try one?

They also sold red bean porridge (xiaodouzhou) and sticky rice porridge (jiangmizhou). If you came for lunch, you could order two meat pies and a bowl of red bean porridge. With sliced salted vegetables on the table, tell me, doesn't that sound wonderful?

Memories of Niujie by Chen Chunxi

13. Zhengxingde tea house at Caishikou outside Xuanwumen

In the 1950s and 60s, my mother always walked from Niujie to Caishikou to buy tea at the old shop Zhengxingde. It was a halal tea shop, and most Niujie residents went there. She usually bought the tea that cost 40 cents per liang, which smelled quite fragrant when brewed. I often went with my mother to buy tea. As soon as we stepped into the shop, we smelled the jasmine tea. That scent has stayed in my memory ever since.

Back then, they did not use plastic bags. Everything was wrapped by hand in paper. The clerk would wrap it however the customer wanted, like buying four liang and splitting it into two two-liang packages. If you bought one jin, they would make two half-jin packages. Of course, some people just bought one package. The clerk's wrapping technique was amazing. They folded the paper into a perfect square that looked very solid. Then they stacked the two packages together, tied them with a paper string in a cross pattern, and made a handle on top so the customer could just hook a finger through and carry it away. That tea package was quite stylish at the time. During holidays when visiting relatives and friends, you would place the tea package on the table, and it looked both grand and traditional.

Memories of Niujie by Chen Chunxi

14. Scalded dough fried cake (tangmian zhagao) at the Hui Muslim breakfast shop a short distance left from the east entrance of Xiangluying Sitiao Hutong outside Xuanwumen

When I think of the hot-water dough fried cake (tangmian zhagao), I don't know why this simple old Beijing snack has disappeared from the streets and restaurants. Actually, in the 1950s and 60s, almost every snack shop run by Hui Muslims sold them. they were an essential snack at temple fairs in the capital back then. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Muslim History: Old Halal Notes from the Southern City is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Chongwen:. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Muslim History, Southern Beijing, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source. This retry section is 1 of 2.

Section 1 of 2

The front carrying pole holds a large square wooden basin, and a copper plaque reading 'Western Regions Hui Muslim' (Xiyu Huihui) is displayed on the tray. In the center of the tray sits a copper pot filled with a savory sauce made from beef or lamb and button mushrooms (koumo). A long-handled flat copper spoon is used to serve the sauce, and spare bowls, small enamel spoons, and seasonings are placed on the edge of the tray. The rear carrying pole holds a deep, straight-sided pot filled with soft tofu custard (doufunao). The pot is wrapped in a cotton cover to keep it warm, as this tofu custard is much softer than standard firm tofu (laodoufu); eating a bowl of tofu custard topped with savory sauce, with garlic juice or chili oil added to taste, and served with sesame flatbread (shaobing) or baked wheat cake (huoshao), makes for an affordable and delicious meal. The tofu custard vendor does not travel through the alleys but stays parked at the street corner.

The vendor selling starch jelly sheets (fenpi) with sauce arrives, carrying a pot of beef or lamb and button mushroom sauce along with stacks of prepared starch jelly sheets, though some vendors make the sheets fresh on the spot; this is another unique food made by Hui Muslims. Every day after noon, the starch jelly sheet vendor goes out to walk the streets and alleys; some residents in the alleys bring their own bowls to take the food home, while passersby eat right at the stall using the bowls and chopsticks provided by the vendor. On a hot summer day, buying a bowl of sliced starch jelly sheets topped with a handful of shredded cucumber, even with the savory sauce, feels refreshing and light rather than greasy.

'Beef liver, beef!' 'Beef head!' The vendor pushes a single-wheeled cart with a cutting board and round bamboo steamers containing soy-braised beef, soy-braised beef tripe, beef tripe, beef offal, and beef head meat. to selling while walking the streets during the day, they also do business at night. The cart also hangs a 'Western Regions Hui Muslim' (Xiyu Huihui) copper plaque, so at a glance, you know it is a business run by Hui Muslims.

Customs and Anecdotes: Walking the streets and alleys to sell snacks. Liu Jiuru

2. A halal rice cake (niangao) stall at the temple fair.

The halal rice cake (nian gao) stalls at temple fairs change with the seasons and have everything you could want. In summer, they sell iced rice cakes and sticky rice dumplings (zongzi). In spring and autumn, they offer fried cakes (zha gao), cold rice cakes, lotus root with sticky rice (nuomi ou), steamed rice flour cakes (aiwowo), and rolled soybean flour cakes (ludagun). Only the "vegetarian dish" (su cai) is sold for three seasons.

The "vegetarian dish" is a type of honey-preserved tea snack. It is mainly made of fried sweet potato chips, mixed with honey dates, dried apricots, fried lotus root pieces, hawthorn cake, and green plums. It is then tossed in honey syrup and sold by weight. Fried sweet potato chips make up eighty percent of this dish, and they are the tastiest and most popular part. They are crispy, sweet, and crunchy, and the honey is not sticky, so you do not get tired of eating them even if you have a lot. The other ingredients have their own candied flavors and cost more than the sweet potato chips. As a tea snack, it is a top-tier treat. As for why it is called a "vegetarian dish," the reason is not clear.

Fried cakes (zha gao) are also a halal food, made by wrapping red bean paste in yellow millet flour and deep-frying it. They are also sweet, sticky, and crispy, but unlike the "vegetarian dish," they are not only found at temple fair stalls. Fried cakes can be seen everywhere. Products from halal stalls share one common advantage: they are clean and hygienic, which gives people peace of mind.

Memories of Snacks: Jin Yunzhen

3. Mutton stall (yangrou chuangzi).

Look at how clean the larger mutton stalls (yangrou chuangzi) are. The table for the mutton and the poles for hanging the meat are scrubbed until they are spotless. The edges of the table are lined with copper nails that are always polished until they shine.

The scale on the counter has a white copper pan, white copper chains, and a white copper weight. The Hui Muslim shopkeeper always handles it with a loud clatter, banging and crashing it down. He picks it up and drops it several times; I guess that is just the custom at the mutton stall (yangrou chuangzi).

In the old days, Beijing did not seem to have slaughterhouses, because sheep were slaughtered right at the door of the mutton stall. At a large mutton stall, early every morning, five or six large sheep would be tied up with a wooden blood basin placed nearby, waiting for the head imam (ahong) to come and recite prayers.

The Muslim imam, wearing a grey cotton robe and a black mandarin jacket (magua), would arrive by rickshaw—since he had to visit many mutton stalls each morning, he traveled by rickshaw to make his rounds—carrying a cloth bag containing the knives for slaughtering the sheep. When he reached the counter, he would take out his knife, mutter a prayer, and with one swift stroke across the sheep's neck held down by two young men, the blood would pour out; the sheep would stretch its legs, twitch a few times, and then go still.

Afterward, they would peel off the skin, cut off the head, chop off the hooves, remove the offal, wash everything clean with water, and hang the meat on a pole using copper meat hooks. Look at how fatty it is!

When it comes to northern sheep, few can compare to them, except for those from the Northwest. In the summer, they graze on green grass, becoming round and plump with thick wool, and their large tails drag behind them like a big pot lid.

If you go to a large mutton stall in the winter to buy meat for hot pot (shuan guozi), they will always take good care of you. There are cuts of meat like the neck (shangnao'er), the leg muscle (huangguatiao), the flank (yaowo), and the brisket (sancha'er); they cut exactly what you point to, and they have everything you could want. Once you leave Beijing, you can find mutton hot pot everywhere, but it is just mutton!

I remember before the war, in the old capital, one silver dollar could buy four jin of good mutton delivered to your door. Add some cabbage and glass noodles (fentiao), and one dollar's worth of meat was enough to feed three or four people. It was warm and satisfying; it was wonderful.

In the summer, every mutton stall sells fried mutton (shao yangrou). The meat, just out of the fryer, is placed on a large copper tray, and the aroma is so strong you can smell it from a mile away.

For an afternoon snack, if you have a few coins, you can buy a pair of sheep hooves or a piece of shank (jianzi), and eat it with two sesame flatbreads (shaobing); it is incredibly delicious. If you bring home a large sheep head, your family can make some pancakes, boil a pot of rice porridge (shui fan), and on a hot day, it is neither greasy nor too heavy, and it really satisfies your cravings. The sheep neck has a bit more meat and is even better to eat than the head.

If your family is small, dinner is easy to put together. Just take a pot to the mutton stall, buy seven or eight mao worth of fried mutton, and tell the shopkeeper, 'Boss, add some extra broth!' Once you get home, bring the pot of meat and broth to a boil, add a few coins' worth of noodles, and you have fried mutton noodles. Forget about leaving Beiping.

Most lamb stalls (yangrou chuangzi) have a separate area to sell lamb buns (yangrou baozi) to go. They squeeze the dough into shape with their hands. In winter, they are filled with lamb and cabbage, and in summer, lamb and chives. Every time a steamer is ready, the apprentice shouts: 'Lamb buns are here!' Fresh from the steamer, get them while they're hot!

Some lamb stalls also sell medicine. They hang a sign nearby that says 'Lamb Liver Eye-Brightening Pills' (yanggan mingmu wan), and they are all tested and approved with a license from the health bureau. Some also sell sesame paste flatbread (zhima jiang shaobing) and brown sugar cakes (tang huoshao), which are made with flour and brown sugar. They are yellowish and stamped with a red mark on top. They also carry honey-glazed fried dough twists (mi mahua), which are extremely sweet. That is the full range of side businesses found at a lamb stall.

Some lamb stalls also sell pickled cabbage (suancai). Whatever amount you buy, they tie it up with a piece of iris grass (malian cao) and hand it to you. If you buy some lamb to go with it, you can make a pot of hot lamb and pickled cabbage noodle soup. It is warm, refreshing, and delicious! view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Muslim History: Old Halal Notes from the Southern City is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Chongwen:. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Muslim History, Southern Beijing, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source. This retry section is 2 of 2.

Section 2 of 2

Mentioning pickled cabbage reminds me of winters in the old capital, when every family used small coal-ball stoves. Impatient people couldn't wait for the fire to catch properly, so they would bring the stove inside while it was still emitting blue flames. The coal gas could suffocate a person. Every winter, quite a few people actually died from this. The special remedy for 'coal gas poisoning' didn't require going to a pharmacy or calling a doctor. You just had to go to a lamb stall, buy a large portion of pickled cabbage, ask for extra broth, and pour the ice-cold, teeth-chattering cabbage soup into the victim's mouth. For mild cases, a few sips of the sour, cool liquid would make them feel better in no time.

Beiping Customs: Lamb Stalls. Chen Hongnian

4. Shopkeeper Hua, who sells beef head meat from a wheelbarrow.

Back then, the street cry went like this: 'Beef liver!' Beef head meat! Beef liver for sale, hey, hey! Beef head meat for sale! The wheelbarrow creaked as it rolled over the fallen leaves of late autumn, sometimes accompanied by a few drifting snowflakes. With the weather turning hot and cold, it is the perfect time for nourishing food. Most families can afford a few ounces of beef head meat, which is reasonably priced and tastes pretty good. My grandmother never bought from strangers; she only trusted the halal shop run by Manager Hua.

Manager Hua told me his ancestors had been doing this for generations. They never opened a storefront, but followed the tradition of walking through the streets and alleys to sell their goods. Manager Hua’s beef head meat was so popular that even if he went as far as Qianmen, he would always sell out completely. Whether they wore long gowns or mandarin jackets, everyone loved this treat. If he ran into military officers or police, he had to bow and scrape, and even offer a little bribe.

Halal means being particular. The slaughter is handled by an imam, who performs the proper rites before the blade draws blood, showing respect for a life. When you think about it, a cow works hard its whole life, only occasionally rolling its eyes or acting stubborn, but it never misses a day of work. Even when it can no longer walk, it gives its life for humans, making it a creature worthy of respect. Halal means being clean. There is not a single flaw, as they always strive for perfection. For so many years, as long as a shop has a halal sign, I trust it. I can eat the meat with peace of mind. Halal means being honest. They do not cheat people, shortchange them, or take advantage of the small, perhaps because these rules have been passed down for so many years. Halal means being loyal. As long as you visit his business often and become a regular customer, he will never overcharge you. Instead, he will always give you a little extra on the house.

Shopkeeper Hua lived in the crowded courtyard behind my grandmother's house, where a dozen families all ran small businesses to make a living. When the northwest wind blew, the smell of meat would drift right into our noses, and we knew for sure Shopkeeper Hua was processing beef head (niutourou)! To be honest, beef head is the only real meat, while everything else is just beef offal (niuzasui). Besides beef liver, he had beef tendon, beef lung, and beef tripe. After Shopkeeper Hua added spices to remove the gamey smell, clear away the bad taste, and bring out the aroma, it smelled so good you wanted to grab a few bites right away to satisfy your cravings. Shopkeeper Hua's beef offal had a unique, fragrant taste, and chatty neighbors often asked him for his secret. It is not any different from what everyone else makes, is it? Shopkeeper Hua just smiled honestly, saying nothing at all. Yellow rice wine, star anise, green onion, ginger, garlic, cardamom, bay leaves, Sichuan peppercorns, and salt—these are all common kitchen spices, but the taste of Shopkeeper Hua's food was different from the usual street stalls. People said he used a few traditional Chinese medicinal herbs that were the secret of the Hua family, passed down through generations and never revealed to outsiders. Shopkeeper Hua's honest smile was just his way of being polite to people.

Shopkeeper Hua's wheelbarrow was very distinctive. It had a wooden wheel with a copper axle, and the wheel was inlaid with shiny copper nails inside and out. The top of the cart was covered in galvanized sheet metal, polished until it shone. The cooked beef head and various types of beef offal were kept in separate round wicker baskets. A long, sharp knife was fixed in one spot to keep it from shaking. A white cloth covered all the cooked food tightly.

When Auntie Zhang saw the cart hadn't moved from the doorway, she quickly greeted him, 'Give me half a jin of beef head, with Sichuan peppercorn salt!' Shopkeeper Hua lifted the cloth, picked up a small piece, and asked, 'How about this piece?' Seeing Auntie Zhang nod, he put it on the scale. It is a generous portion, don't you see? As he spoke, he used a long knife to slice the meat so thin that if you held a piece of paper with writing on it behind the slice, you could still read the words!

Shopkeeper, please put together a pound of mixed offal (zasui), add plenty of tendon (tijin), serve it cold, and put in lots of chili oil! Whenever guests come to Uncle Li's house, they all love this dish with their drinks. While Shopkeeper Hua finished slicing and mixing, Uncle Li quickly popped a piece into his mouth while waiting for his change. To use one word: impatient. His mouth was even more eager than his hands. Just like that, before the wheelbarrow even left the alley, several pounds were already gone.

You might ask, do Shopkeeper Hua's descendants still do this business? To tell you the truth, his sons are all highly educated, and his grandchildren are either studying abroad or working as white-collar professionals in the capital. Selling beef head meat and using a wheelbarrow? That seems to have nothing to do with their life paths. Whenever someone mentions how good the beef tasted when Shopkeeper Hua was alive, no one in the Hua family picks up the conversation. Well! The ancestral flavor of the Hua family just ended right there! People say one white-collar grandson had the intention to change careers, but who could he ask for the secret recipe? What happened then? There was no follow-up. Even if there were a resolution, no one knows. Think about it, the urban jungle is a maze; even in the same building, who really knows anyone else?

Old Beijing Stories 3 by Liu Hui

5. Bai Family Sesame Flatbread Shop (shaobing pu).

Since I dare to say that sesame flatbread (shaobing) shops aren't as good as they used to be, I can give you a hundred reasons why. When I lived in the alleyway (hutong), there was a sesame flatbread (shaobing) shop right next door. The owner was named Bai, a Hui Muslim who always wore a white cap, a white shirt, and a white apron without a single speck of dirt on them. He was about sixty, so I had to call him Grandpa. He never made a big deal about selling authentic Beijing-style sesame flatbread (shaobing), but I heard all the old folks say they grew up eating the Bai family's bread. Thinking about it, I was the same; if the alleyway hadn't been torn down, I would still be eating the bread made by the younger generation of the Bai family.

The Bai Family Sesame Flatbread Shop had a simple sign with white characters on a blue background. The sign marked as halal lets you rest easy knowing that this shop is clean. The Bai family mainly sold pepper-salt baked flatbread (jiaoyan huoshao), spiral-shaped rolls (luosizhuan), brown sugar baked flatbread (hongtang huoshao), and leavened baked flatbread (famian huoshao). The most popular item was the sesame flatbread (shaobing), which had three things in abundance: lots of sesame seeds, lots of sesame paste, and lots of layers. It had two types of crispness: a crispy crust and crispy sesame seeds. It had five types of fragrance: the fragrance of the crust, the sesame seeds, the sesame paste, the inside, and the lingering taste in your mouth. Through all the years, winter or summer, it always tasted the same. One time, my grandmother was waiting in line and casually asked about the secret to his baking, and he replied, "The ingredients must never change; you have to keep a clear conscience." Old Man Bai answered while spreading sesame paste onto the dough. It seemed like he didn't give away the real secret, but when you think about it, it was actually quite clear and he wasn't hiding anything. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Muslim History: Old Halal Notes from the Southern City is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Chongwen:. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Muslim History, Southern Beijing, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source. This final block is 2 of 3.

Block 2 of 3

At the west entrance of Menkuang Hutong, there was a lamb head meat stall in front of the Yuxing Restaurant that was considered a famous local snack of the area. The vendor arrived every day near dusk. He brought his own light bulb and wire, which he connected to the restaurant's power to light up his stall. He used a special knife, one foot long and five inches wide, to slice the cheek, tongue (xinzi), and eyes for customers to enjoy with their drinks. When he sliced the cheek, he made it so thin it was almost transparent. He laid it on white paper, sprinkled salt and pepper from a long-necked glass bottle, mixed it by hand, and then wrapped it up. It tasted delicious. Customers loved the taste of the meat and admired the vendor's skill. Every night when the lights came on, a crowd would gather at the intersection of Langfang Second Alley and Menkuang Hutong to watch him slice the meat. People traveled from far away to Menkuang Hutong just to eat this lamb head meat. I once asked about that Hui Muslim vendor. I only knew his surname was Ma and he lived on Niujie. He likely passed away after the Cultural Revolution, and I do not know what happened to him.

Ye Zufu Talks About Beijing by Ye Zufu

3. Yitiaolong Mutton Restaurant outside Qianmen

Yitiao Long Lamb Restaurant processes its meat carefully and slices it very thin. After slaughtering and skinning the lamb, they select only the hind legs. They place the meat on a clean surface with natural water, cover it with a reed mat, place an oilcloth over the mat, and put a block of ice on top. This is called pressed meat (yarou). The meat is pressed for a full day and night to draw out the blood and impurities, which makes the meat firm and easy to slice. This pressed meat (ya rou) is better than frozen meat because frozen meat, like frozen cabbage, breaks down the lamb's texture and makes it lose its tender, savory flavor, which makes it taste bad. Yilong is just like Zhengyanglou; they slice the meat thinly and serve it on plates according to the cut. The seasonings are complete.

When eating hot pot lamb (shuan yangrou), people usually eat sesame flatbread (shaobing) as their staple food. The sesame flatbread (shaobing) at Nanhengshun (Wang Dongsi: Yilong's original name is Nanhengshun) is also different from other places; for every basin of dough, they use ten jin of flour, with nine jin of plain flour and one jin of leavened dough. Ten jin of flour requires one jin and two liang of sesame paste. The sesame flatbread (shaobing) is first seared on a griddle, then baked in an oven, searing the bottom first and then the sesame-topped side (just for a quick touch). This kind of sesame flatbread (shaobing) has plenty of sauce, is cooked through, and is perfectly flaky and crisp.

When customers are almost full, they order a bowl of Nanhengshun's homemade, thin and uniform mung bean mixed noodles (lvdou zamian) served dry. Mung bean mixed noodles (lvdou zamian) are great for cutting through the greasiness of meat; a bowl of these noodles absorbs the floating oil from the hot pot and cleanses the palate, making these thin and uniform noodles another specialty of Nanhengshun.

Miscellaneous Talks on Old Beijing by Wang Yongbin.

4. Ai's steamed rice cake (aiwowowo) stall on Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen

It is currently the first lunar month, the time when ai'ou wowos are on the market. Beijing's ai'ou wowos are similar to Fengtian's cool rice cakes (lianggao) and are both sold during the first lunar month, but ai'ou wowos are soft and delicious, and cannot be compared to cool rice cakes (lianggao). Cool rice cakes (lianggao) are made by steaming glutinous rice flour, using it as a wrapper, filling it with sesame and white sugar, and sprinkling it with rice flour. On the surface, they look like ai'ou wowos, but they are essentially just a variation of sticky rice cakes (niangao); after a while, when the wind blows on them, they still get hard. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Muslim History: Old Halal Notes from the Southern City is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Chongwen:. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Muslim History, Southern Beijing, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source. This final block is 3 of 3.

Block 3 of 3

Back then, they did not use plastic bags. Everything was wrapped by hand in paper. The clerk would wrap it however the customer wanted, like buying four liang and splitting it into two two-liang packages. If you bought one jin, they would make two half-jin packages. Of course, some people just bought one package. The clerk's wrapping technique was amazing. They folded the paper into a perfect square that looked very solid. Then they stacked the two packages together, tied them with a paper string in a cross pattern, and made a handle on top so the customer could just hook a finger through and carry it away. That tea package was quite stylish at the time. During holidays when visiting relatives and friends, you would place the tea package on the table, and it looked both grand and traditional.

Memories of Niujie by Chen Chunxi

14. Scalded dough fried cake (tangmian zhagao) at the Hui Muslim breakfast shop a short distance left from the east entrance of Xiangluying Sitiao Hutong outside Xuanwumen

When I think of the hot-water dough fried cake (tangmian zhagao), I don't know why this simple old Beijing snack has disappeared from the streets and restaurants. Actually, in the 1950s and 60s, almost every snack shop run by Hui Muslims sold them. they were an essential snack at temple fairs in the capital back then. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Muslim History: Old Halal Notes from the Southern City is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Chongwen:. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Muslim History, Southern Beijing, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source. This final block is 2 of 2.

Block 2 of 2

In the old days, Beijing did not seem to have slaughterhouses, because sheep were slaughtered right at the door of the mutton stall. At a large mutton stall, early every morning, five or six large sheep would be tied up with a wooden blood basin placed nearby, waiting for the head imam (ahong) to come and recite prayers.

The Muslim imam, wearing a grey cotton robe and a black mandarin jacket (magua), would arrive by rickshaw—since he had to visit many mutton stalls each morning, he traveled by rickshaw to make his rounds—carrying a cloth bag containing the knives for slaughtering the sheep. When he reached the counter, he would take out his knife, mutter a prayer, and with one swift stroke across the sheep's neck held down by two young men, the blood would pour out; the sheep would stretch its legs, twitch a few times, and then go still.

Afterward, they would peel off the skin, cut off the head, chop off the hooves, remove the offal, wash everything clean with water, and hang the meat on a pole using copper meat hooks. Look at how fatty it is!

When it comes to northern sheep, few can compare to them, except for those from the Northwest. In the summer, they graze on green grass, becoming round and plump with thick wool, and their large tails drag behind them like a big pot lid.

If you go to a large mutton stall in the winter to buy meat for hot pot (shuan guozi), they will always take good care of you. There are cuts of meat like the neck (shangnao'er), the leg muscle (huangguatiao), the flank (yaowo), and the brisket (sancha'er); they cut exactly what you point to, and they have everything you could want. Once you leave Beijing, you can find mutton hot pot everywhere, but it is just mutton!

I remember before the war, in the old capital, one silver dollar could buy four jin of good mutton delivered to your door. Add some cabbage and glass noodles (fentiao), and one dollar's worth of meat was enough to feed three or four people. It was warm and satisfying; it was wonderful.

In the summer, every mutton stall sells fried mutton (shao yangrou). The meat, just out of the fryer, is placed on a large copper tray, and the aroma is so strong you can smell it from a mile away.

For an afternoon snack, if you have a few coins, you can buy a pair of sheep hooves or a piece of shank (jianzi), and eat it with two sesame flatbreads (shaobing); it is incredibly delicious. If you bring home a large sheep head, your family can make some pancakes, boil a pot of rice porridge (shui fan), and on a hot day, it is neither greasy nor too heavy, and it really satisfies your cravings. The sheep neck has a bit more meat and is even better to eat than the head.

If your family is small, dinner is easy to put together. Just take a pot to the mutton stall, buy seven or eight mao worth of fried mutton, and tell the shopkeeper, 'Boss, add some extra broth!' Once you get home, bring the pot of meat and broth to a boil, add a few coins' worth of noodles, and you have fried mutton noodles. Forget about leaving Beiping.

Most lamb stalls (yangrou chuangzi) have a separate area to sell lamb buns (yangrou baozi) to go. They squeeze the dough into shape with their hands. In winter, they are filled with lamb and cabbage, and in summer, lamb and chives. Every time a steamer is ready, the apprentice shouts: 'Lamb buns are here!' Fresh from the steamer, get them while they're hot!

Some lamb stalls also sell medicine. They hang a sign nearby that says 'Lamb Liver Eye-Brightening Pills' (yanggan mingmu wan), and they are all tested and approved with a license from the health bureau. Some also sell sesame paste flatbread (zhima jiang shaobing) and brown sugar cakes (tang huoshao), which are made with flour and brown sugar. They are yellowish and stamped with a red mark on top. They also carry honey-glazed fried dough twists (mi mahua), which are extremely sweet. That is the full range of side businesses found at a lamb stall.

Some lamb stalls also sell pickled cabbage (suancai). Whatever amount you buy, they tie it up with a piece of iris grass (malian cao) and hand it to you. If you buy some lamb to go with it, you can make a pot of hot lamb and pickled cabbage noodle soup. It is warm, refreshing, and delicious! view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Muslim History: Old Halal Notes from the Southern City is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Chongwen:. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Muslim History, Southern Beijing, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source. This final block is 1 of 2.

Block 1 of 2

Mentioning pickled cabbage reminds me of winters in the old capital, when every family used small coal-ball stoves. Impatient people couldn't wait for the fire to catch properly, so they would bring the stove inside while it was still emitting blue flames. The coal gas could suffocate a person. Every winter, quite a few people actually died from this. The special remedy for 'coal gas poisoning' didn't require going to a pharmacy or calling a doctor. You just had to go to a lamb stall, buy a large portion of pickled cabbage, ask for extra broth, and pour the ice-cold, teeth-chattering cabbage soup into the victim's mouth. For mild cases, a few sips of the sour, cool liquid would make them feel better in no time.

Beiping Customs: Lamb Stalls. Chen Hongnian

4. Shopkeeper Hua, who sells beef head meat from a wheelbarrow.

Back then, the street cry went like this: 'Beef liver!' Beef head meat! Beef liver for sale, hey, hey! Beef head meat for sale! The wheelbarrow creaked as it rolled over the fallen leaves of late autumn, sometimes accompanied by a few drifting snowflakes. With the weather turning hot and cold, it is the perfect time for nourishing food. Most families can afford a few ounces of beef head meat, which is reasonably priced and tastes pretty good. My grandmother never bought from strangers; she only trusted the halal shop run by Manager Hua.

Manager Hua told me his ancestors had been doing this for generations. They never opened a storefront, but followed the tradition of walking through the streets and alleys to sell their goods. Manager Hua’s beef head meat was so popular that even if he went as far as Qianmen, he would always sell out completely. Whether they wore long gowns or mandarin jackets, everyone loved this treat. If he ran into military officers or police, he had to bow and scrape, and even offer a little bribe.

Halal means being particular. The slaughter is handled by an imam, who performs the proper rites before the blade draws blood, showing respect for a life. When you think about it, a cow works hard its whole life, only occasionally rolling its eyes or acting stubborn, but it never misses a day of work. Even when it can no longer walk, it gives its life for humans, making it a creature worthy of respect. Halal means being clean. There is not a single flaw, as they always strive for perfection. For so many years, as long as a shop has a halal sign, I trust it. I can eat the meat with peace of mind. Halal means being honest. They do not cheat people, shortchange them, or take advantage of the small, perhaps because these rules have been passed down for so many years. Halal means being loyal. As long as you visit his business often and become a regular customer, he will never overcharge you. Instead, he will always give you a little extra on the house.

Shopkeeper Hua lived in the crowded courtyard behind my grandmother's house, where a dozen families all ran small businesses to make a living. When the northwest wind blew, the smell of meat would drift right into our noses, and we knew for sure Shopkeeper Hua was processing beef head (niutourou)! To be honest, beef head is the only real meat, while everything else is just beef offal (niuzasui). Besides beef liver, he had beef tendon, beef lung, and beef tripe. After Shopkeeper Hua added spices to remove the gamey smell, clear away the bad taste, and bring out the aroma, it smelled so good you wanted to grab a few bites right away to satisfy your cravings. Shopkeeper Hua's beef offal had a unique, fragrant taste, and chatty neighbors often asked him for his secret. It is not any different from what everyone else makes, is it? Shopkeeper Hua just smiled honestly, saying nothing at all. Yellow rice wine, star anise, green onion, ginger, garlic, cardamom, bay leaves, Sichuan peppercorns, and salt—these are all common kitchen spices, but the taste of Shopkeeper Hua's food was different from the usual street stalls. People said he used a few traditional Chinese medicinal herbs that were the secret of the Hua family, passed down through generations and never revealed to outsiders. Shopkeeper Hua's honest smile was just his way of being polite to people. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Muslim History: Old Halal Notes from the Southern City is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Chongwen:. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Muslim History, Southern Beijing, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source. This is part 4 of 5.

Part 4 of 5

The front carrying pole holds a large square wooden basin, and a copper plaque reading 'Western Regions Hui Muslim' (Xiyu Huihui) is displayed on the tray. In the center of the tray sits a copper pot filled with a savory sauce made from beef or lamb and button mushrooms (koumo). A long-handled flat copper spoon is used to serve the sauce, and spare bowls, small enamel spoons, and seasonings are placed on the edge of the tray. The rear carrying pole holds a deep, straight-sided pot filled with soft tofu custard (doufunao). The pot is wrapped in a cotton cover to keep it warm, as this tofu custard is much softer than standard firm tofu (laodoufu); eating a bowl of tofu custard topped with savory sauce, with garlic juice or chili oil added to taste, and served with sesame flatbread (shaobing) or baked wheat cake (huoshao), makes for an affordable and delicious meal. The tofu custard vendor does not travel through the alleys but stays parked at the street corner.

The vendor selling starch jelly sheets (fenpi) with sauce arrives, carrying a pot of beef or lamb and button mushroom sauce along with stacks of prepared starch jelly sheets, though some vendors make the sheets fresh on the spot; this is another unique food made by Hui Muslims. Every day after noon, the starch jelly sheet vendor goes out to walk the streets and alleys; some residents in the alleys bring their own bowls to take the food home, while passersby eat right at the stall using the bowls and chopsticks provided by the vendor. On a hot summer day, buying a bowl of sliced starch jelly sheets topped with a handful of shredded cucumber, even with the savory sauce, feels refreshing and light rather than greasy.

'Beef liver, beef!' 'Beef head!' The vendor pushes a single-wheeled cart with a cutting board and round bamboo steamers containing soy-braised beef, soy-braised beef tripe, beef tripe, beef offal, and beef head meat. to selling while walking the streets during the day, they also do business at night. The cart also hangs a 'Western Regions Hui Muslim' (Xiyu Huihui) copper plaque, so at a glance, you know it is a business run by Hui Muslims.

Customs and Anecdotes: Walking the streets and alleys to sell snacks. Liu Jiuru

2. A halal rice cake (niangao) stall at the temple fair.

The halal rice cake (nian gao) stalls at temple fairs change with the seasons and have everything you could want. In summer, they sell iced rice cakes and sticky rice dumplings (zongzi). In spring and autumn, they offer fried cakes (zha gao), cold rice cakes, lotus root with sticky rice (nuomi ou), steamed rice flour cakes (aiwowo), and rolled soybean flour cakes (ludagun). Only the "vegetarian dish" (su cai) is sold for three seasons.

The "vegetarian dish" is a type of honey-preserved tea snack. It is mainly made of fried sweet potato chips, mixed with honey dates, dried apricots, fried lotus root pieces, hawthorn cake, and green plums. It is then tossed in honey syrup and sold by weight. Fried sweet potato chips make up eighty percent of this dish, and they are the tastiest and most popular part. They are crispy, sweet, and crunchy, and the honey is not sticky, so you do not get tired of eating them even if you have a lot. The other ingredients have their own candied flavors and cost more than the sweet potato chips. As a tea snack, it is a top-tier treat. As for why it is called a "vegetarian dish," the reason is not clear.

Fried cakes (zha gao) are also a halal food, made by wrapping red bean paste in yellow millet flour and deep-frying it. They are also sweet, sticky, and crispy, but unlike the "vegetarian dish," they are not only found at temple fair stalls. Fried cakes can be seen everywhere. Products from halal stalls share one common advantage: they are clean and hygienic, which gives people peace of mind.

Memories of Snacks: Jin Yunzhen

3. Mutton stall (yangrou chuangzi).

Look at how clean the larger mutton stalls (yangrou chuangzi) are. The table for the mutton and the poles for hanging the meat are scrubbed until they are spotless. The edges of the table are lined with copper nails that are always polished until they shine.

The scale on the counter has a white copper pan, white copper chains, and a white copper weight. The Hui Muslim shopkeeper always handles it with a loud clatter, banging and crashing it down. He picks it up and drops it several times; I guess that is just the custom at the mutton stall (yangrou chuangzi).

In the old days, Beijing did not seem to have slaughterhouses, because sheep were slaughtered right at the door of the mutton stall. At a large mutton stall, early every morning, five or six large sheep would be tied up with a wooden blood basin placed nearby, waiting for the head imam (ahong) to come and recite prayers.

The Muslim imam, wearing a grey cotton robe and a black mandarin jacket (magua), would arrive by rickshaw—since he had to visit many mutton stalls each morning, he traveled by rickshaw to make his rounds—carrying a cloth bag containing the knives for slaughtering the sheep. When he reached the counter, he would take out his knife, mutter a prayer, and with one swift stroke across the sheep's neck held down by two young men, the blood would pour out; the sheep would stretch its legs, twitch a few times, and then go still.

Afterward, they would peel off the skin, cut off the head, chop off the hooves, remove the offal, wash everything clean with water, and hang the meat on a pole using copper meat hooks. Look at how fatty it is!

When it comes to northern sheep, few can compare to them, except for those from the Northwest. In the summer, they graze on green grass, becoming round and plump with thick wool, and their large tails drag behind them like a big pot lid.

If you go to a large mutton stall in the winter to buy meat for hot pot (shuan guozi), they will always take good care of you. There are cuts of meat like the neck (shangnao'er), the leg muscle (huangguatiao), the flank (yaowo), and the brisket (sancha'er); they cut exactly what you point to, and they have everything you could want. Once you leave Beijing, you can find mutton hot pot everywhere, but it is just mutton!

I remember before the war, in the old capital, one silver dollar could buy four jin of good mutton delivered to your door. Add some cabbage and glass noodles (fentiao), and one dollar's worth of meat was enough to feed three or four people. It was warm and satisfying; it was wonderful.

In the summer, every mutton stall sells fried mutton (shao yangrou). The meat, just out of the fryer, is placed on a large copper tray, and the aroma is so strong you can smell it from a mile away.

For an afternoon snack, if you have a few coins, you can buy a pair of sheep hooves or a piece of shank (jianzi), and eat it with two sesame flatbreads (shaobing); it is incredibly delicious. If you bring home a large sheep head, your family can make some pancakes, boil a pot of rice porridge (shui fan), and on a hot day, it is neither greasy nor too heavy, and it really satisfies your cravings. The sheep neck has a bit more meat and is even better to eat than the head.

If your family is small, dinner is easy to put together. Just take a pot to the mutton stall, buy seven or eight mao worth of fried mutton, and tell the shopkeeper, 'Boss, add some extra broth!' Once you get home, bring the pot of meat and broth to a boil, add a few coins' worth of noodles, and you have fried mutton noodles. Forget about leaving Beiping.

Most lamb stalls (yangrou chuangzi) have a separate area to sell lamb buns (yangrou baozi) to go. They squeeze the dough into shape with their hands. In winter, they are filled with lamb and cabbage, and in summer, lamb and chives. Every time a steamer is ready, the apprentice shouts: 'Lamb buns are here!' Fresh from the steamer, get them while they're hot!

Some lamb stalls also sell medicine. They hang a sign nearby that says 'Lamb Liver Eye-Brightening Pills' (yanggan mingmu wan), and they are all tested and approved with a license from the health bureau. Some also sell sesame paste flatbread (zhima jiang shaobing) and brown sugar cakes (tang huoshao), which are made with flour and brown sugar. They are yellowish and stamped with a red mark on top. They also carry honey-glazed fried dough twists (mi mahua), which are extremely sweet. That is the full range of side businesses found at a lamb stall.

Some lamb stalls also sell pickled cabbage (suancai). Whatever amount you buy, they tie it up with a piece of iris grass (malian cao) and hand it to you. If you buy some lamb to go with it, you can make a pot of hot lamb and pickled cabbage noodle soup. It is warm, refreshing, and delicious!

Mentioning pickled cabbage reminds me of winters in the old capital, when every family used small coal-ball stoves. Impatient people couldn't wait for the fire to catch properly, so they would bring the stove inside while it was still emitting blue flames. The coal gas could suffocate a person. Every winter, quite a few people actually died from this. The special remedy for 'coal gas poisoning' didn't require going to a pharmacy or calling a doctor. You just had to go to a lamb stall, buy a large portion of pickled cabbage, ask for extra broth, and pour the ice-cold, teeth-chattering cabbage soup into the victim's mouth. For mild cases, a few sips of the sour, cool liquid would make them feel better in no time.

Beiping Customs: Lamb Stalls. Chen Hongnian

4. Shopkeeper Hua, who sells beef head meat from a wheelbarrow.

Back then, the street cry went like this: 'Beef liver!' Beef head meat! Beef liver for sale, hey, hey! Beef head meat for sale! The wheelbarrow creaked as it rolled over the fallen leaves of late autumn, sometimes accompanied by a few drifting snowflakes. With the weather turning hot and cold, it is the perfect time for nourishing food. Most families can afford a few ounces of beef head meat, which is reasonably priced and tastes pretty good. My grandmother never bought from strangers; she only trusted the halal shop run by Manager Hua.

Manager Hua told me his ancestors had been doing this for generations. They never opened a storefront, but followed the tradition of walking through the streets and alleys to sell their goods. Manager Hua’s beef head meat was so popular that even if he went as far as Qianmen, he would always sell out completely. Whether they wore long gowns or mandarin jackets, everyone loved this treat. If he ran into military officers or police, he had to bow and scrape, and even offer a little bribe.

Halal means being particular. The slaughter is handled by an imam, who performs the proper rites before the blade draws blood, showing respect for a life. When you think about it, a cow works hard its whole life, only occasionally rolling its eyes or acting stubborn, but it never misses a day of work. Even when it can no longer walk, it gives its life for humans, making it a creature worthy of respect. Halal means being clean. There is not a single flaw, as they always strive for perfection. For so many years, as long as a shop has a halal sign, I trust it. I can eat the meat with peace of mind. Halal means being honest. They do not cheat people, shortchange them, or take advantage of the small, perhaps because these rules have been passed down for so many years. Halal means being loyal. As long as you visit his business often and become a regular customer, he will never overcharge you. Instead, he will always give you a little extra on the house.

Shopkeeper Hua lived in the crowded courtyard behind my grandmother's house, where a dozen families all ran small businesses to make a living. When the northwest wind blew, the smell of meat would drift right into our noses, and we knew for sure Shopkeeper Hua was processing beef head (niutourou)! To be honest, beef head is the only real meat, while everything else is just beef offal (niuzasui). Besides beef liver, he had beef tendon, beef lung, and beef tripe. After Shopkeeper Hua added spices to remove the gamey smell, clear away the bad taste, and bring out the aroma, it smelled so good you wanted to grab a few bites right away to satisfy your cravings. Shopkeeper Hua's beef offal had a unique, fragrant taste, and chatty neighbors often asked him for his secret. It is not any different from what everyone else makes, is it? Shopkeeper Hua just smiled honestly, saying nothing at all. Yellow rice wine, star anise, green onion, ginger, garlic, cardamom, bay leaves, Sichuan peppercorns, and salt—these are all common kitchen spices, but the taste of Shopkeeper Hua's food was different from the usual street stalls. People said he used a few traditional Chinese medicinal herbs that were the secret of the Hua family, passed down through generations and never revealed to outsiders. Shopkeeper Hua's honest smile was just his way of being polite to people.

Shopkeeper Hua's wheelbarrow was very distinctive. It had a wooden wheel with a copper axle, and the wheel was inlaid with shiny copper nails inside and out. The top of the cart was covered in galvanized sheet metal, polished until it shone. The cooked beef head and various types of beef offal were kept in separate round wicker baskets. A long, sharp knife was fixed in one spot to keep it from shaking. A white cloth covered all the cooked food tightly.

When Auntie Zhang saw the cart hadn't moved from the doorway, she quickly greeted him, 'Give me half a jin of beef head, with Sichuan peppercorn salt!' Shopkeeper Hua lifted the cloth, picked up a small piece, and asked, 'How about this piece?' Seeing Auntie Zhang nod, he put it on the scale. It is a generous portion, don't you see? As he spoke, he used a long knife to slice the meat so thin that if you held a piece of paper with writing on it behind the slice, you could still read the words!

Shopkeeper, please put together a pound of mixed offal (zasui), add plenty of tendon (tijin), serve it cold, and put in lots of chili oil! Whenever guests come to Uncle Li's house, they all love this dish with their drinks. While Shopkeeper Hua finished slicing and mixing, Uncle Li quickly popped a piece into his mouth while waiting for his change. To use one word: impatient. His mouth was even more eager than his hands. Just like that, before the wheelbarrow even left the alley, several pounds were already gone.

You might ask, do Shopkeeper Hua's descendants still do this business? To tell you the truth, his sons are all highly educated, and his grandchildren are either studying abroad or working as white-collar professionals in the capital. Selling beef head meat and using a wheelbarrow? That seems to have nothing to do with their life paths. Whenever someone mentions how good the beef tasted when Shopkeeper Hua was alive, no one in the Hua family picks up the conversation. Well! The ancestral flavor of the Hua family just ended right there! People say one white-collar grandson had the intention to change careers, but who could he ask for the secret recipe? What happened then? There was no follow-up. Even if there were a resolution, no one knows. Think about it, the urban jungle is a maze; even in the same building, who really knows anyone else?

Old Beijing Stories 3 by Liu Hui

5. Bai Family Sesame Flatbread Shop (shaobing pu).

Since I dare to say that sesame flatbread (shaobing) shops aren't as good as they used to be, I can give you a hundred reasons why. When I lived in the alleyway (hutong), there was a sesame flatbread (shaobing) shop right next door. The owner was named Bai, a Hui Muslim who always wore a white cap, a white shirt, and a white apron without a single speck of dirt on them. He was about sixty, so I had to call him Grandpa. He never made a big deal about selling authentic Beijing-style sesame flatbread (shaobing), but I heard all the old folks say they grew up eating the Bai family's bread. Thinking about it, I was the same; if the alleyway hadn't been torn down, I would still be eating the bread made by the younger generation of the Bai family.

The Bai Family Sesame Flatbread Shop had a simple sign with white characters on a blue background. The sign marked as halal lets you rest easy knowing that this shop is clean. The Bai family mainly sold pepper-salt baked flatbread (jiaoyan huoshao), spiral-shaped rolls (luosizhuan), brown sugar baked flatbread (hongtang huoshao), and leavened baked flatbread (famian huoshao). The most popular item was the sesame flatbread (shaobing), which had three things in abundance: lots of sesame seeds, lots of sesame paste, and lots of layers. It had two types of crispness: a crispy crust and crispy sesame seeds. It had five types of fragrance: the fragrance of the crust, the sesame seeds, the sesame paste, the inside, and the lingering taste in your mouth. Through all the years, winter or summer, it always tasted the same. One time, my grandmother was waiting in line and casually asked about the secret to his baking, and he replied, "The ingredients must never change; you have to keep a clear conscience." Old Man Bai answered while spreading sesame paste onto the dough. It seemed like he didn't give away the real secret, but when you think about it, it was actually quite clear and he wasn't hiding anything. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Muslim History: Old Halal Notes from the Southern City is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Chongwen:. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Muslim History, Southern Beijing, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source. This is part 2 of 5.

Part 2 of 5

Menkuang Hutong is full of individual stalls run by Hui Muslims. They pay attention to the hygiene of their utensils, and their food focuses on color, aroma, and taste, which attracts many customers and has earned them quite a reputation. Take Baodu Feng, which sells quick-boiled tripe (baodu). The lamb tripe and tripe kernels (duren) are cooked to the perfect texture—neither too tough nor too soft. The sauces, including fermented bean curd (jiang furu), chive flower paste (jiucaihua), and sesame paste (zhima jiang), are fresh and tasty, so the stall is full of customers every day who come for their fame.

Ye Zufu Talks About Beijing by Ye Zufu

7. Bai's Tofu Pudding (doufunao) in Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen.

Bai's Tofu Pudding is run by an elderly man named Bai. The tofu pudding is incredibly white and tender. The mushroom and lamb gravy (koumo zha yangrou lu) smells so good that it makes your mouth water from far away. When you eat it, you add chili oil or garlic sauce, which is truly wonderful. It is no wonder that many financial professionals in suits squeeze into the market, hunching over on small, narrow stools to enjoy this unique tofu pudding.

Bai's Tofu Pudding has a branch stall at the entrance of Guanghe Tower in the meat market, specifically for theatergoers watching Peking opera. Baodu Feng and Bai's Tofu Pudding also sell freshly baked sesame flatbreads (shaobing). Some individual vendors even bring small baskets of these flatbreads here to sell to customers.

Ye Zufu Talks About Beijing by Ye Zufu

8. Niangao Wang (Rice Cake King) on Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen

Nian Gao Wang sells traditional northern-style rice cakes (niangao). They are made from glutinous rice or glutinous rice flour, with layers of red bean paste in the middle and topped with shredded green or red silk. Sometimes they also sell pea flour cakes (wandouhuang). In the summer, these rice cakes are kept on large blocks of natural ice to keep them cool and refreshing. In the winter, they are steamed in small bamboo steamers (longti) to keep them soft and hot. When selling them in winter, the vendor takes a plate of steaming rice cakes from the steamer and adds a spoonful of white sugar, making them taste even better.

Ye Zufu Talks About Beijing by Ye Zufu

9. Mujiazhai at Zangjia Bridge outside Qianmen

My grandmother's family ran a restaurant outside Qianmen at Zangjiaqiao called Mujiazhai, also known as Guangfuguan. If you ask the elders in the southern part of the city, they usually know it. The stir-fried dough bits (chaogeda) at Guangfuguan were made by my grandmother's family. My great-grandmother was a widow. To make a living, she set up a noodle stall selling rice porridge and flour-based foods to passing porters and laborers. My grandmother was also a widow. She managed my great-grandmother's business and worked incredibly hard to build this small restaurant. Two generations of widows ran the place. The name Guangfu uses homophones for the words meaning 'widow's shop.' People say the Little Prince Gong gave it this name to mark it as a widow's restaurant, and that is how it came to be. They specialized in stir-fried dough bits, and this dish became famous.

I heard from my grandmother that the Little Prince Gong loved listening to the operas of Shang Xiaoyun, so he was very close to him. When Shang Xiaoyun first met my grandmother, he thought she looked just like his own mother, from her height to her facial features. He said, 'Old lady, let me adopt you as my godmother!' After saying that, he knelt down and kowtowed, and from then on, she was his godmother. Shang Xiaoyun loved eating stir-fried dough bits, which influenced the Little Prince Gong. He often told the Prince, 'The stir-fried dough bits at my godmother's place are excellent.' The Prince was convinced, so he sent people to carry their own pots, pans, bowls, and stoves to eat there. He held a banquet at Guangfuguan in the private room on the second floor.

My mother invited Madame Mei Lanfang to dinner. Because my mother inherited my grandmother's skills, her stir-fried dough bits tasted different from everyone else's—they really had my grandmother's flavor. She invited Madame Mei, along with Mr. Shang Xiaoyun and his wife, to eat. Shang Xiaoyun was my grandmother's godson, so he just kept eating and eating. Madame Mei said, 'That is enough, brother, stop eating, you are going to burst.'

Born in the South of the City: Decades of Joy and Sorrow on the Stage—Oral history by the three Ma brothers. Ding Yizhuang

(Note by Wang Dongsi: The speaker is Ma Chongnian, nephew of Peking Opera master Ma Lianliang)

Stir-fried dough bits at Mujiazhai

Mujiazhai was a small shop, but it was crowded every day with customers waiting to eat the dough bits stir-fried by Sister-in-law Mu herself.

To make stir-fried dough bits, you knead the dough, cut it into dice-sized cubes, and then use your thumb to roll them into small shapes, which we Shanxi people call cat ears (maoerduo). First, you boil them, then stir-fry them with mung bean sprouts, shredded meat, and chives. The juices from the meat and vegetables soak into the dough bits, making them taste the best.

People say Sister-in-law Mu, like the Mapo of Chengdu's Mapo Tofu, first served her neighbors for free before her reputation spread and she became a professional.

In winter at Mujiazhai, you could still eat fresh spring and summer vegetables, such as Chinese toon (xiangchun) mixed with tofu, smashed cucumber, sugar and vinegar pickled dandelion greens (qumacaiya), and small radishes with sesame paste. People say the Mu family restaurant even had a special heated cellar (nuandongzi) to grow these fresh vegetables.

Food of the Hometown: Eating in Beiping. Liu Zhenwei

(Note by Wang Dongsi: The author was born in 1934.)

10. Xiangjugong halal pastry shop on Qianmen Street

Wang Dianwen personally oversaw the quality of the pastries (bobo). First, he hired experienced and skilled head pastry chefs (zhang'anren) with high salaries. Second, he insisted on buying high-quality raw materials for making the pastries. Back then, the white flour from Renhe Mill was fine, and the small-mill sesame oil from Xihongmen had a pure flavor; even though they were expensive, Xiangjugong still ordered from them. Sugar and other fruit ingredients were all top-tier products. For example, they paid high prices for the best red and white sugar, bought large thin-skinned walnuts from the Western Hills, sourced locust flower honey, and selected Miyun small dates, Western Hills roses, Shandong pears, Shenzhou honey peaches, and hawthorn jelly (jingao) from Jingao Zhang. Even for eggs, Xiangjugong had specific suppliers. Third, they strictly followed production procedures, from mixing the dough and fruit ingredients to the final baking, being very careful with every step. In the pastry industry, there is a saying: 'Thirty percent making, seventy percent baking.' This means that no matter how carefully or well you do the first few steps, if you do not control the oven fire at the end, the heat might be too high and burn them; or the heat might be too low, and they will not be cooked through. Therefore, in a pastry workshop, besides the head chef, the oven worker is the most important. The head chefs and oven workers hired by Xiangjugong were all highly skilled at the time.

Pastry products are seasonal; in the past, Beijingers ate specific pastries at specific times. For example, people ate sweet rice balls (yuanxiao) on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, sun cakes (taiyanggao) on the second day of the second month for the 'Dragon Raises Its Head' festival, wisteria cakes (tengluobing) when wisteria bloomed in the third month, sticky rice dumplings (zongzi) and five-poison cakes (wudubing) during the Dragon Boat Festival in the fifth month, mung bean cakes (lvdougao) to beat the heat in the sixth and seventh months, red and white mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival in the eighth month, flower cakes (huagao) for the 'climbing high' custom in the ninth month, and in the cold winter months, wealthy families ate hibiscus cakes (furonggao), while ordinary families ate oven-fired cakes (ganglu)—which were pastries made while testing the oven temperature that had rough, broken edges but were still high quality. Xiangjugong produced and supplied all these pastries on time. for holidays, the fasting month of Ramadan, the Eid al-Fitr celebration, and visiting relatives and friends, it was customary to use large and small gift sets (bajian) as presents. The small and large eight-piece pastries (ba jian) made by Xiangjugong are very famous in the southern part of Beijing.

Miscellaneous Talks on Old Beijing by Wang Yongbin.

11. Ha's sesame flatbread (shaobing) shop at Liulichang outside Hepingmen

Haji Sesame Flatbread Shop (Haji Shaobing Pu)

In my childhood memories, the snacks sold at Haji Sesame Flatbread Shop, located at the northeast corner of the east entrance of West Liulichang, were the most authentic.

This was a halal sesame flatbread shop opened by five brothers with the surname Ha. Compared to other nearby shops, it had a small storefront but the busiest business. Besides selling soy milk, sesame flatbreads (shaobing), and fried dough cakes (youbing), they also had snacks like top-grade sesame flatbreads (yipin shaobing), thick buns (dun bobo), and fried egg pockets (zha hebao). At that time, my favorite things to eat were thick buns and fried egg pockets.

Thick buns are small and made from leavened dough. They are mixed with lye, white sugar, and sweet osmanthus, then pinched into small pieces, pressed into thick, flat circles, and cooked over low heat on a griddle. After both sides turn yellow, they are baked in an oven until hard, without any burnt bits. After baking, a square or round red dot is stamped on them. The yellow and white colors with the red look beautiful, and they taste sweet, soft, and springy, with a bit of toughness that makes them great to chew. After chewing repeatedly, you can taste the faint wheat aroma from the leavened dough of the thick bun itself. The flavor is unique and makes my mouth water.

When mentioning fried egg pockets, some people might think it is just fried eggs, but that is not the case. Haji's fried egg pockets have a special flavor. They use dough for fried dough cakes, roll out two pieces of similar size, put them together, and pinch three sides shut to form a pocket, or what you could call a pouch shape. They crack an egg, pour it into the pocket, sprinkle a little salt, and then pinch the opening tight. They put it into a pan of oil and control the heat carefully. The fried pockets come out crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, suitable for both the old and the young.

"Our Old Beijing" by Li Weiji

Haji Kite Shop, Haji Restaurant

The location of "Haji Kite Shop" was at the north side of the east entrance of West Liulichang in the southern part of Beijing, which is the northwest corner of the intersection, today on the east side of Hongbaotang. It started as two sheds, then changed into two small storefront rooms. At that time, my grandfather and his fifth brother were local volunteer firefighters. If a fire broke out nearby, someone from the family had to go help put it out. In return, the fire brigade gave the two brothers two small rooms to stay in, and that is where they lived.

Although it was called the Haji Kite Shop, they did not sell kites all the time. Kite flying in Beijing was very seasonal, so they only sold kites from the Spring Festival until the third lunar month. During the other three seasons, they ran a Hui Muslim snack shop called the Haji Eatery. Later, they added a shed outside the rooms to block the wind and rain. It was bigger than the two rooms and served as a place for neighbors near Liulichang and passersby to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This was their main business.

The Haji Eatery sold sesame flatbread (shaobing) and fried dough twists (mahua) in the morning, and beef noodles and other meals at noon and night to support a family of several dozen people. Many neighbors nearby would buy on credit and settle their bills once a month. During the Spring Festival and the months of early spring, the eatery switched to selling kites to support the family.

Haji Kites by Ha Yiqi (Note by Wang Dongsi: The author is the fourth-generation successor of the Haji Kite tradition).

12. Nanlaishun snack shop at Caishikou outside Xuanwumen

Nanlaishun Snack Shop was a spacious hall. Aside from the door, there were snacks all around the perimeter, with rows of dining tables in the middle and square stools for customers to sit on. Let's start from the east door: to the left, from south to north, were all desserts. They mainly sold layered sticky rice cake (qiegao) here. I have loved eating this since I was a child. These cakes were placed on a large wooden board, about 60 centimeters wide, 80 centimeters long, and 10 centimeters thick, with four or five layers of bean paste and glutinous rice. The top of the layered sticky rice cake was decorated with large red dates, which looked very beautiful. Buying two liang (100 grams) of cake cost 8 cents per liang, so 16 cents total, plus two liang of food ration coupons. Even though it was only two liang, the master cutting the cake would use a long knife to slice it in one go, weigh it on a scale, and put it on a plate. The layers were clearly visible, and with white sugar sprinkled on top, it was incredibly tempting. One bite was full of fragrance and sweetness; it was delicious. Besides layered sticky rice cake, they sold various old Beijing sweet snacks, including steamed rice cakes (aiwowo), rolled glutinous rice rolls (lvdagun), honey fried dough twists (mi mahua, also called tang'erduo), sugar-filled baked cakes (tanghuoshao), steamed buns (dun'er bobo), and pea flour cakes (wandouhuang). If you love sweets, you will be satisfied here!

Let's talk about the long counter from east to west. They sold savory snacks here, such as tofu pudding (doufunao), soy milk, fried dough cakes (youbing), fried dough sticks (youtiao), ring-shaped fried dough (jiequan), crispy crackers (baocui), sesame flatbread (shaobing), baked cakes (huoshao), and twisted rolls (luosizhuan). The tofu pudding was authentic; the gravy was a masterpiece, made with minced meat, daylily buds, wood ear mushrooms, and eggs, with a layer of Sichuan peppercorn oil floating on top. It cost one liang of food ration coupons and 8 cents a bowl. When the server scooped up the tender white tofu and poured the gravy over it, then sprinkled a pinch of cilantro on top, a tempting bowl of tofu pudding was handed to you. If you like it spicy, there were chili oil, minced garlic, and vinegar on the table for you to add yourself. If you bought two freshly baked sesame flatbreads and a fried dough cake, hey, you had a complete, delicious breakfast.

After finishing the east-to-west section, let's turn to the counter from north to south. They mainly sold meat pies here, with beef and green onion filling (I don't remember if they had meat-filled pancakes). The meat pies here were another specialty. You could smell the aroma from far away. As you got closer, you could not only smell them but also hear the tempting sizzling sound as they were being pan-fried. You could not only hear it but see it too. The master chef worked right behind the counter, so every customer could watch the whole process of making the meat pie (roubing). When you saw those golden-brown meat pies sizzling with oil and smelling so good, how could you not want to try one?

They also sold red bean porridge (xiaodouzhou) and sticky rice porridge (jiangmizhou). If you came for lunch, you could order two meat pies and a bowl of red bean porridge. With sliced salted vegetables on the table, tell me, doesn't that sound wonderful?

Memories of Niujie by Chen Chunxi

13. Zhengxingde tea house at Caishikou outside Xuanwumen

In the 1950s and 60s, my mother always walked from Niujie to Caishikou to buy tea at the old shop Zhengxingde. It was a halal tea shop, and most Niujie residents went there. She usually bought the tea that cost 40 cents per liang, which smelled quite fragrant when brewed. I often went with my mother to buy tea. As soon as we stepped into the shop, we smelled the jasmine tea. That scent has stayed in my memory ever since.

Back then, they did not use plastic bags. Everything was wrapped by hand in paper. The clerk would wrap it however the customer wanted, like buying four liang and splitting it into two two-liang packages. If you bought one jin, they would make two half-jin packages. Of course, some people just bought one package. The clerk's wrapping technique was amazing. They folded the paper into a perfect square that looked very solid. Then they stacked the two packages together, tied them with a paper string in a cross pattern, and made a handle on top so the customer could just hook a finger through and carry it away. That tea package was quite stylish at the time. During holidays when visiting relatives and friends, you would place the tea package on the table, and it looked both grand and traditional.

Memories of Niujie by Chen Chunxi

14. Scalded dough fried cake (tangmian zhagao) at the Hui Muslim breakfast shop a short distance left from the east entrance of Xiangluying Sitiao Hutong outside Xuanwumen

When I think of the hot-water dough fried cake (tangmian zhagao), I don't know why this simple old Beijing snack has disappeared from the streets and restaurants. Actually, in the 1950s and 60s, almost every snack shop run by Hui Muslims sold them. they were an essential snack at temple fairs in the capital back then. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Muslim History: Old Halal Notes from the Southern City is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Chongwen:. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Muslim History, Southern Beijing, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source. This is part 1 of 5.

Part 1 of 5

Table of Contents

Chongwen:

1. Douzhi Ding (Jinxin Douzhi Shop) at Huashi outside Chongwenmen

2. Rongxiangcheng Hui Muslim snack shop (Jinfang Snack Shop) outside Chongwenmen

Xuanwu:

1. Xianbing Porridge Shop at Meishi Bridge outside Qianmen

2. Yangtou Ma (Sheep Head Ma) at Langfang Ertiao outside Qianmen

3. Yitiaolong Mutton Restaurant outside Qianmen

4. Ai's steamed rice cake (aiwowowo) stall on Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen

5. Fushunzhai spiced beef shop at the south entrance of Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen

6. Bai's tofu pudding (doufunao) on Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen

7. Baodu Feng (quick-boiled tripe) on Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen

8. Niangao Wang (Rice Cake King) on Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen

9. Mujiazhai at Zangjia Bridge outside Qianmen

10. Xiangjugong halal pastry shop on Qianmen Street

11. Ha's sesame flatbread (shaobing) shop at Liulichang outside Hepingmen

12. Nanlaishun snack shop at Caishikou outside Xuanwumen

13. Zhengxingde tea house at Caishikou outside Xuanwumen

14. Scalded dough fried cake (tangmian zhagao) at the Hui Muslim breakfast shop a short distance left from the east entrance of Xiangluying Sitiao Hutong outside Xuanwumen

15. Jubaoyuan on Niujie

16. The large halal canteen at the north entrance of Niujie Street.

17. A child selling malt sugar sticks (maiyatang) on Niujie Street.

18. A vendor selling sticky rice cake (qiegao) on Niujie Street.

19. Steamed corn buns (wotou) from the old neighbors of Niujie Street.

20. Soybean paste noodles (zhajiangmian) from the old neighbors of Niujie Street.

21. The Barbecue King (Kaorou Wang) at Tianqiao.

Others:

1. Hui Muslim businesses roaming the streets and alleys.

2. A halal rice cake (niangao) stall at the temple fair.

3. Mutton stall (yangrou chuangzi).

4. Shopkeeper Hua, who sells beef head meat from a wheelbarrow.

5. Bai Family Sesame Flatbread Shop (shaobing pu).

6. A roasted mutton stall in the hutong.



Chongwen.

1. Douzhi Ding (Jinxin Douzhi Shop) at Huashi outside Chongwenmen

Douzhi Ding's stall is in front of the Fire God Temple (Huoshen Miao) on the north side of the road, in the middle-west section of Xihuashi.

The owner of Douzhi Ding's stall is naturally surnamed Ding; he is a Hui Muslim named Ding Derui. His stall is unique. It features a large table over three meters long and one meter wide, with long benches lined up in front. On the table are two glass covers; one protects various pickled vegetables and spicy shredded salted vegetables, while the other holds sesame flatbreads (shaobing), crispy fried dough rings (jiaoquan), and other staples. There are also two wooden signs on the table, carved with eight large characters: 'Hui Muslims from the Western Regions, Douzhi Ding's Shop'. Ding Derui follows old traditions to boil the mung bean milk (douzhi). He uses a large clay pot and a betel nut ladle (binglang shao), simmering it over a low fire while adding raw mung bean milk to the pot as it cooks. He makes his mung bean milk (douzhir) with the perfect thickness, so it does not settle or become watery. It tastes sour, fragrant, and sweet, making it very delicious and addictive.

Outside Hademen by Zhang Fan

The stall is located to the left of the Fire God Temple gate in West Huashi. It has tables facing west and opens every day at noon. The table is over 10 feet long with benches in front. Two large glass covers sit on top, protecting large fruit plates filled with pickled cabbage, pickled cucumbers, small pickled radishes, and pickled asparagus. Spicy mustard greens are served with the mung bean milk. In spring, they serve quick-pickled kohlrabi, and in winter, they serve spicy dried radish cubes. Customers who buy fine pickles get chili oil. The food includes sesame flatbread (shaobing) and fried dough rings (jiaoquan).

The owner, surnamed Ding, is a Hui Muslim. He keeps two wooden signs on his table with eight green-painted characters: Western Region Hui, Ding's Mung Bean Milk. Most customers are regulars who visit every day at the same time. On market days, the benches are full, and business is booming. In January 1958, food stalls were merged into cooperatives. Ding's Mung Bean Milk moved to Suanshikou and is now the Jinxin Mung Bean Milk Shop, which still follows the traditions of Ding's Mung Bean Milk.

Reminiscing about Hademen by Niu Qingshan

Ding's Mung Bean Milk started as a shoulder-pole business. He was the first to sell it, and he was already famous in Beijing during the Qing Dynasty. People called this Hui Muslim man and his carrying pole Ding's Mung Bean Milk. It was not until 1910 that the third generation of Ding's Mung Bean Milk set up a stall in front of the Fire God Temple in the middle of Huashi Street. They finally had a long table and a permanent large pot. For a mung bean milk business, this was considered very successful. That was a famous open-air snack street in Beijing, second only to Menkuang Hutong. At that time, various stalls lined up in front of the Fire God Temple, stretching east all the way to Yangshikou.

Blues in the South of the City by Xiao Fuxing

2. Rongxiangcheng Hui Muslim snack shop (Jinfang Snack Shop) outside Chongwenmen

Rongxiangcheng Snack Shop, located at 17 Hademen Outer Street, is a well-known eatery in the Chongwenmen area.

The shop opened in the early Republic of China period. The owner was Man Leting, known as Man Liu, a Hui Muslim from Shandong. The manager was Ai Lianying. The shop's sign, Rongxiangcheng, was inscribed by the famous scholar Jiang Chaozong.

Inside the shop, there is another plaque, Cangzhen, inscribed by the Zhili clique warlord Wu Peifu. The shop started by selling beef and mutton. By the 1940s, business improved significantly, and it expanded from two storefronts to four. As the business grew, they changed their strategy to combine the mutton trade with the snack trade (qin hang).

In the past, Beijing mutton shops were called mutton trades (yang hang), and their business was very seasonal. Since spring and summer are the growing seasons for sheep, they could not be slaughtered until after autumn. Because of this, people in the trade said, 'The mutton business is idle for half the year.' Old Beijingers also said, 'When visiting graves at Qingming, the mutton sellers close their doors.' To change this idle period, the shop adapted to market needs by buying Japanese refrigeration equipment. During spring and summer, they sold homemade popsicles, soda, and other frozen foods (leng shi). In autumn and winter, they focused on mutton again. This change kept them busy all year and made the shop's name increasingly famous.

In Beijing, this combined business model was common, with different terms: two shops under one manager was called 'four edges' (si ba bian), and renting out a portion to others was called 'carrying a robe' (tiao pao). Rongxiangcheng was the former, and their snack section focused on frozen foods, which was quite new at the time.

Just before the liberation, war blocked mutton shipments from Inner Mongolia to Beijing. The mutton trade plummeted, and Rongxiangcheng was no exception. At this time, Man Kaiqi, a fellow townsman of Man Leting, came to the shop. He came from a background in a traditional pastry shop (bobo pu). In the old snack trade, a pastry shop was considered lower in status than a bakery but higher than a restaurant. Rongxiangcheng simply stopped selling mutton and switched to snacks and frozen foods. Man Kaiqi's skills were put to good use. Under his management, they offered up to 20 varieties of snacks: sticky rice cake (qiegao), fried cake (zhagao), sesame ball (matuan), fried dough twist (mahua), sweet rice ball (yuanxiao), sugar ear (tangerduo), steamed rice cake (aiwowo), soybean flour cake (lvdagun), apricot tea (xingcha), millet porridge (miancha), tofu pudding (doufunao), sesame flatbread (shaobing), fried dough cake (youbing), and bean paste bun (doubao). This made Rongxiangcheng a famous Hui Muslim snack shop in the Chongwai area.

After the Cultural Revolution, Rongxiangcheng was renamed Jinfang Snack Shop. In the mid-1990s, due to the expansion of Chongwai Street, the shop moved to the Tianqiao intersection for a time. Its current location is on the east side of the south entrance of Chongwai Street. This time-honored shop in the South City has started its glorious journey once again.

Reminiscing about Hademen by Niu Qingshan

The place that stays in my memory the most is Jinfang Snack Shop. When I first returned to Beijing, it was winter, and it was still pitch black when I got up early for work. I didn't have time to eat breakfast at home, so I pushed my bike through the underpass and across the railway; down the slope was Baiqiao Street, and further west was Huashi Street. There were few people in the morning, the streetlights were dim, and it was very quiet; the northwest wind blowing head-on was so strong it made it hard to open my mouth. Luckily, after riding a short distance, I could see the bright lights of Jinfang Snack Shop on the north side of the road ahead. I locked my bike and lifted the cotton door curtain to go inside; the heat rushed into my face, and more than half of the chill on my body disappeared at once. My favorite thing to eat in this shop is the millet flour porridge (miancha); it is thick, fragrant, and hot enough to burn your mouth. You cannot rush drinking millet flour porridge; there is a trick to it: regular customers never use chopsticks or spoons, they rotate the bowl and drink from the edge, finishing it until the bottom is clean. With these two crispy fried dough rings (jiaoquan) and a bowl of millet flour porridge in my stomach, my whole body felt warm, and the next 40 minutes of the journey wouldn't leave me frozen with a twisted face and numb hands and feet.

Reading Beijing Figures: Impressions of Huashi (Postscript). Written by Chen Guangzhong.

Xuanwu.

1. Xianbing Porridge Shop at Meishi Bridge outside Qianmen

There are two meat pie and porridge shops at Meishi Bridge, and they are halal restaurants. These two shops have the same owner; one is on the east side of the road and the other is on the west, which is called one owner running two shops. They are open 24 hours a day without interruption; when the east shop puts up its door panels to close, the west shop takes its panels down to open, so customers can always get meat pies and porridge. Since it is a meat pie and porridge shop, the meat pies are naturally their specialty. The meat pies are filled with beef, also known as meat cakes (roubing); they are large, full of filling, and oily, which really satisfies a craving. If a guest asks for a full-sized meat pie (roubing), it is much larger than the standard version, measuring about 1.2 feet in diameter. Even someone with a big appetite cannot finish half of one.

Cuisine of East Beijing by Wu Zhengge

2. Yangtou Ma (Sheep Head Ma) at Langfang Ertiao outside Qianmen

Beijing lamb head is a local specialty. It is sliced as thin as paper and sprinkled with salt and pepper powder. Lamb head meat includes the cheek (lianzi), the tongue and root (xinzi), the roof of the mouth (tianhuaban), the tongue tip (tongtianti), the eyes, the hooves, and the tendons. Aside from the tendons, the cheek meat has the deepest flavor. The sellers of lamb head meat are all Hui Muslims. There was only one halal stall, located at the back door of the Yuxing Restaurant on Langfang Second Alley. The owner was a man named Ma who sold his own goods. Unlike other workshops that sold wholesale without cleaning, his meat was clean. He added five-spice powder to his salt and pepper, making it extra fragrant and clean. He also sold boiled beef tripe (niudu) at a very low price.

The Life of Old Beijingers by Jin Shushen

At the west entrance of Menkuang Hutong, there was a lamb head meat stall in front of the Yuxing Restaurant that was considered a famous local snack of the area. The vendor arrived every day near dusk. He brought his own light bulb and wire, which he connected to the restaurant's power to light up his stall. He used a special knife, one foot long and five inches wide, to slice the cheek, tongue (xinzi), and eyes for customers to enjoy with their drinks. When he sliced the cheek, he made it so thin it was almost transparent. He laid it on white paper, sprinkled salt and pepper from a long-necked glass bottle, mixed it by hand, and then wrapped it up. It tasted delicious. Customers loved the taste of the meat and admired the vendor's skill. Every night when the lights came on, a crowd would gather at the intersection of Langfang Second Alley and Menkuang Hutong to watch him slice the meat. People traveled from far away to Menkuang Hutong just to eat this lamb head meat. I once asked about that Hui Muslim vendor. I only knew his surname was Ma and he lived on Niujie. He likely passed away after the Cultural Revolution, and I do not know what happened to him.

Ye Zufu Talks About Beijing by Ye Zufu

3. Yitiaolong Mutton Restaurant outside Qianmen

Yitiao Long Lamb Restaurant processes its meat carefully and slices it very thin. After slaughtering and skinning the lamb, they select only the hind legs. They place the meat on a clean surface with natural water, cover it with a reed mat, place an oilcloth over the mat, and put a block of ice on top. This is called pressed meat (yarou). The meat is pressed for a full day and night to draw out the blood and impurities, which makes the meat firm and easy to slice. This pressed meat (ya rou) is better than frozen meat because frozen meat, like frozen cabbage, breaks down the lamb's texture and makes it lose its tender, savory flavor, which makes it taste bad. Yilong is just like Zhengyanglou; they slice the meat thinly and serve it on plates according to the cut. The seasonings are complete.

When eating hot pot lamb (shuan yangrou), people usually eat sesame flatbread (shaobing) as their staple food. The sesame flatbread (shaobing) at Nanhengshun (Wang Dongsi: Yilong's original name is Nanhengshun) is also different from other places; for every basin of dough, they use ten jin of flour, with nine jin of plain flour and one jin of leavened dough. Ten jin of flour requires one jin and two liang of sesame paste. The sesame flatbread (shaobing) is first seared on a griddle, then baked in an oven, searing the bottom first and then the sesame-topped side (just for a quick touch). This kind of sesame flatbread (shaobing) has plenty of sauce, is cooked through, and is perfectly flaky and crisp.

When customers are almost full, they order a bowl of Nanhengshun's homemade, thin and uniform mung bean mixed noodles (lvdou zamian) served dry. Mung bean mixed noodles (lvdou zamian) are great for cutting through the greasiness of meat; a bowl of these noodles absorbs the floating oil from the hot pot and cleanses the palate, making these thin and uniform noodles another specialty of Nanhengshun.

Miscellaneous Talks on Old Beijing by Wang Yongbin.

4. Ai's steamed rice cake (aiwowowo) stall on Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen

It is currently the first lunar month, the time when ai'ou wowos are on the market. Beijing's ai'ou wowos are similar to Fengtian's cool rice cakes (lianggao) and are both sold during the first lunar month, but ai'ou wowos are soft and delicious, and cannot be compared to cool rice cakes (lianggao). Cool rice cakes (lianggao) are made by steaming glutinous rice flour, using it as a wrapper, filling it with sesame and white sugar, and sprinkling it with rice flour. On the surface, they look like ai'ou wowos, but they are essentially just a variation of sticky rice cakes (niangao); after a while, when the wind blows on them, they still get hard.

Ai'ou wowos are made by boiling whole glutinous rice grains until cooked, waiting for all the steam to evaporate, and then putting them in a basin to form a soft, fluffy texture. Using this rice-grain texture, they wrap in various sweet fillings, sprinkle with glutinous rice flour, and add red dots to distinguish the types of fillings. This item is called an ai'ou wowo, which is also a type of cold snack. Isn't the Changdian temple fair happening right now? Ai'ou wowos are a seasonal treat, but for the best-looking and best-tasting ones, go to the entrance of Tongle Teahouse on Menkuang Hutong. There is a small cart there that is kept very clean. A Hui Muslim man sells ai'ou wowos there throughout the year. He uses real glutinous rice and good fillings. Eating a couple of his is a unique experience that you must try.

Beijing Dream Splendor Record by Mu Ruga.

5. Fushunzhai Beef Shop on Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen.

We must start with the famous Fushunzhai beef shop at the south entrance of the hutong. Its spiced beef (jiang niurou) is tender and delicious, easily matching the spiced lamb (jiang yangrou) from Yueshengzhai. They also use a pot of original beef broth to cook meat for sale every day, with a set amount sold at specific times, and it sells out very quickly. The shopkeeper is a Hui Muslim named Liu. Later, this spiced beef shop moved to Qianmen Street and merged with Yueshengzhai.

Ye Zufu Talks About Beijing by Ye Zufu

6. Baodu Feng in Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Muslim History: Old Halal Notes from the Southern City is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Chongwen:. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Muslim History, Southern Beijing, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source. This public article combines adjacent translated blocks from the same source section.

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Mentioning pickled cabbage reminds me of winters in the old capital, when every family used small coal-ball stoves. Impatient people couldn't wait for the fire to catch properly, so they would bring the stove inside while it was still emitting blue flames. The coal gas could suffocate a person. Every winter, quite a few people actually died from this. The special remedy for 'coal gas poisoning' didn't require going to a pharmacy or calling a doctor. You just had to go to a lamb stall, buy a large portion of pickled cabbage, ask for extra broth, and pour the ice-cold, teeth-chattering cabbage soup into the victim's mouth. For mild cases, a few sips of the sour, cool liquid would make them feel better in no time.

Beiping Customs: Lamb Stalls. Chen Hongnian

4. Shopkeeper Hua, who sells beef head meat from a wheelbarrow.

Back then, the street cry went like this: 'Beef liver!' Beef head meat! Beef liver for sale, hey, hey! Beef head meat for sale! The wheelbarrow creaked as it rolled over the fallen leaves of late autumn, sometimes accompanied by a few drifting snowflakes. With the weather turning hot and cold, it is the perfect time for nourishing food. Most families can afford a few ounces of beef head meat, which is reasonably priced and tastes pretty good. My grandmother never bought from strangers; she only trusted the halal shop run by Manager Hua.

Manager Hua told me his ancestors had been doing this for generations. They never opened a storefront, but followed the tradition of walking through the streets and alleys to sell their goods. Manager Hua’s beef head meat was so popular that even if he went as far as Qianmen, he would always sell out completely. Whether they wore long gowns or mandarin jackets, everyone loved this treat. If he ran into military officers or police, he had to bow and scrape, and even offer a little bribe.

Halal means being particular. The slaughter is handled by an imam, who performs the proper rites before the blade draws blood, showing respect for a life. When you think about it, a cow works hard its whole life, only occasionally rolling its eyes or acting stubborn, but it never misses a day of work. Even when it can no longer walk, it gives its life for humans, making it a creature worthy of respect. Halal means being clean. There is not a single flaw, as they always strive for perfection. For so many years, as long as a shop has a halal sign, I trust it. I can eat the meat with peace of mind. Halal means being honest. They do not cheat people, shortchange them, or take advantage of the small, perhaps because these rules have been passed down for so many years. Halal means being loyal. As long as you visit his business often and become a regular customer, he will never overcharge you. Instead, he will always give you a little extra on the house.

Shopkeeper Hua lived in the crowded courtyard behind my grandmother's house, where a dozen families all ran small businesses to make a living. When the northwest wind blew, the smell of meat would drift right into our noses, and we knew for sure Shopkeeper Hua was processing beef head (niutourou)! To be honest, beef head is the only real meat, while everything else is just beef offal (niuzasui). Besides beef liver, he had beef tendon, beef lung, and beef tripe. After Shopkeeper Hua added spices to remove the gamey smell, clear away the bad taste, and bring out the aroma, it smelled so good you wanted to grab a few bites right away to satisfy your cravings. Shopkeeper Hua's beef offal had a unique, fragrant taste, and chatty neighbors often asked him for his secret. It is not any different from what everyone else makes, is it? Shopkeeper Hua just smiled honestly, saying nothing at all. Yellow rice wine, star anise, green onion, ginger, garlic, cardamom, bay leaves, Sichuan peppercorns, and salt—these are all common kitchen spices, but the taste of Shopkeeper Hua's food was different from the usual street stalls. People said he used a few traditional Chinese medicinal herbs that were the secret of the Hua family, passed down through generations and never revealed to outsiders. Shopkeeper Hua's honest smile was just his way of being polite to people.

Shopkeeper Hua's wheelbarrow was very distinctive. It had a wooden wheel with a copper axle, and the wheel was inlaid with shiny copper nails inside and out. The top of the cart was covered in galvanized sheet metal, polished until it shone. The cooked beef head and various types of beef offal were kept in separate round wicker baskets. A long, sharp knife was fixed in one spot to keep it from shaking. A white cloth covered all the cooked food tightly.

When Auntie Zhang saw the cart hadn't moved from the doorway, she quickly greeted him, 'Give me half a jin of beef head, with Sichuan peppercorn salt!' Shopkeeper Hua lifted the cloth, picked up a small piece, and asked, 'How about this piece?' Seeing Auntie Zhang nod, he put it on the scale. It is a generous portion, don't you see? As he spoke, he used a long knife to slice the meat so thin that if you held a piece of paper with writing on it behind the slice, you could still read the words!

Shopkeeper, please put together a pound of mixed offal (zasui), add plenty of tendon (tijin), serve it cold, and put in lots of chili oil! Whenever guests come to Uncle Li's house, they all love this dish with their drinks. While Shopkeeper Hua finished slicing and mixing, Uncle Li quickly popped a piece into his mouth while waiting for his change. To use one word: impatient. His mouth was even more eager than his hands. Just like that, before the wheelbarrow even left the alley, several pounds were already gone.

You might ask, do Shopkeeper Hua's descendants still do this business? To tell you the truth, his sons are all highly educated, and his grandchildren are either studying abroad or working as white-collar professionals in the capital. Selling beef head meat and using a wheelbarrow? That seems to have nothing to do with their life paths. Whenever someone mentions how good the beef tasted when Shopkeeper Hua was alive, no one in the Hua family picks up the conversation. Well! The ancestral flavor of the Hua family just ended right there! People say one white-collar grandson had the intention to change careers, but who could he ask for the secret recipe? What happened then? There was no follow-up. Even if there were a resolution, no one knows. Think about it, the urban jungle is a maze; even in the same building, who really knows anyone else?

Old Beijing Stories 3 by Liu Hui

5. Bai Family Sesame Flatbread Shop (shaobing pu).

Since I dare to say that sesame flatbread (shaobing) shops aren't as good as they used to be, I can give you a hundred reasons why. When I lived in the alleyway (hutong), there was a sesame flatbread (shaobing) shop right next door. The owner was named Bai, a Hui Muslim who always wore a white cap, a white shirt, and a white apron without a single speck of dirt on them. He was about sixty, so I had to call him Grandpa. He never made a big deal about selling authentic Beijing-style sesame flatbread (shaobing), but I heard all the old folks say they grew up eating the Bai family's bread. Thinking about it, I was the same; if the alleyway hadn't been torn down, I would still be eating the bread made by the younger generation of the Bai family.

The Bai Family Sesame Flatbread Shop had a simple sign with white characters on a blue background. The sign marked as halal lets you rest easy knowing that this shop is clean. The Bai family mainly sold pepper-salt baked flatbread (jiaoyan huoshao), spiral-shaped rolls (luosizhuan), brown sugar baked flatbread (hongtang huoshao), and leavened baked flatbread (famian huoshao). The most popular item was the sesame flatbread (shaobing), which had three things in abundance: lots of sesame seeds, lots of sesame paste, and lots of layers. It had two types of crispness: a crispy crust and crispy sesame seeds. It had five types of fragrance: the fragrance of the crust, the sesame seeds, the sesame paste, the inside, and the lingering taste in your mouth. Through all the years, winter or summer, it always tasted the same. One time, my grandmother was waiting in line and casually asked about the secret to his baking, and he replied, "The ingredients must never change; you have to keep a clear conscience." Old Man Bai answered while spreading sesame paste onto the dough. It seemed like he didn't give away the real secret, but when you think about it, it was actually quite clear and he wasn't hiding anything. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Muslim History: Old Halal Notes from the Southern City is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Chongwen:. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Muslim History, Southern Beijing, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source. This public article combines adjacent translated blocks from the same source section.

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The front carrying pole holds a large square wooden basin, and a copper plaque reading 'Western Regions Hui Muslim' (Xiyu Huihui) is displayed on the tray. In the center of the tray sits a copper pot filled with a savory sauce made from beef or lamb and button mushrooms (koumo). A long-handled flat copper spoon is used to serve the sauce, and spare bowls, small enamel spoons, and seasonings are placed on the edge of the tray. The rear carrying pole holds a deep, straight-sided pot filled with soft tofu custard (doufunao). The pot is wrapped in a cotton cover to keep it warm, as this tofu custard is much softer than standard firm tofu (laodoufu); eating a bowl of tofu custard topped with savory sauce, with garlic juice or chili oil added to taste, and served with sesame flatbread (shaobing) or baked wheat cake (huoshao), makes for an affordable and delicious meal. The tofu custard vendor does not travel through the alleys but stays parked at the street corner.

The vendor selling starch jelly sheets (fenpi) with sauce arrives, carrying a pot of beef or lamb and button mushroom sauce along with stacks of prepared starch jelly sheets, though some vendors make the sheets fresh on the spot; this is another unique food made by Hui Muslims. Every day after noon, the starch jelly sheet vendor goes out to walk the streets and alleys; some residents in the alleys bring their own bowls to take the food home, while passersby eat right at the stall using the bowls and chopsticks provided by the vendor. On a hot summer day, buying a bowl of sliced starch jelly sheets topped with a handful of shredded cucumber, even with the savory sauce, feels refreshing and light rather than greasy.

'Beef liver, beef!' 'Beef head!' The vendor pushes a single-wheeled cart with a cutting board and round bamboo steamers containing soy-braised beef, soy-braised beef tripe, beef tripe, beef offal, and beef head meat. to selling while walking the streets during the day, they also do business at night. The cart also hangs a 'Western Regions Hui Muslim' (Xiyu Huihui) copper plaque, so at a glance, you know it is a business run by Hui Muslims.

Customs and Anecdotes: Walking the streets and alleys to sell snacks. Liu Jiuru

2. A halal rice cake (niangao) stall at the temple fair.

The halal rice cake (nian gao) stalls at temple fairs change with the seasons and have everything you could want. In summer, they sell iced rice cakes and sticky rice dumplings (zongzi). In spring and autumn, they offer fried cakes (zha gao), cold rice cakes, lotus root with sticky rice (nuomi ou), steamed rice flour cakes (aiwowo), and rolled soybean flour cakes (ludagun). Only the "vegetarian dish" (su cai) is sold for three seasons.

The "vegetarian dish" is a type of honey-preserved tea snack. It is mainly made of fried sweet potato chips, mixed with honey dates, dried apricots, fried lotus root pieces, hawthorn cake, and green plums. It is then tossed in honey syrup and sold by weight. Fried sweet potato chips make up eighty percent of this dish, and they are the tastiest and most popular part. They are crispy, sweet, and crunchy, and the honey is not sticky, so you do not get tired of eating them even if you have a lot. The other ingredients have their own candied flavors and cost more than the sweet potato chips. As a tea snack, it is a top-tier treat. As for why it is called a "vegetarian dish," the reason is not clear.

Fried cakes (zha gao) are also a halal food, made by wrapping red bean paste in yellow millet flour and deep-frying it. They are also sweet, sticky, and crispy, but unlike the "vegetarian dish," they are not only found at temple fair stalls. Fried cakes can be seen everywhere. Products from halal stalls share one common advantage: they are clean and hygienic, which gives people peace of mind.

Memories of Snacks: Jin Yunzhen

3. Mutton stall (yangrou chuangzi).

Look at how clean the larger mutton stalls (yangrou chuangzi) are. The table for the mutton and the poles for hanging the meat are scrubbed until they are spotless. The edges of the table are lined with copper nails that are always polished until they shine.

The scale on the counter has a white copper pan, white copper chains, and a white copper weight. The Hui Muslim shopkeeper always handles it with a loud clatter, banging and crashing it down. He picks it up and drops it several times; I guess that is just the custom at the mutton stall (yangrou chuangzi).

In the old days, Beijing did not seem to have slaughterhouses, because sheep were slaughtered right at the door of the mutton stall. At a large mutton stall, early every morning, five or six large sheep would be tied up with a wooden blood basin placed nearby, waiting for the head imam (ahong) to come and recite prayers.

The Muslim imam, wearing a grey cotton robe and a black mandarin jacket (magua), would arrive by rickshaw—since he had to visit many mutton stalls each morning, he traveled by rickshaw to make his rounds—carrying a cloth bag containing the knives for slaughtering the sheep. When he reached the counter, he would take out his knife, mutter a prayer, and with one swift stroke across the sheep's neck held down by two young men, the blood would pour out; the sheep would stretch its legs, twitch a few times, and then go still.

Afterward, they would peel off the skin, cut off the head, chop off the hooves, remove the offal, wash everything clean with water, and hang the meat on a pole using copper meat hooks. Look at how fatty it is!

When it comes to northern sheep, few can compare to them, except for those from the Northwest. In the summer, they graze on green grass, becoming round and plump with thick wool, and their large tails drag behind them like a big pot lid.

If you go to a large mutton stall in the winter to buy meat for hot pot (shuan guozi), they will always take good care of you. There are cuts of meat like the neck (shangnao'er), the leg muscle (huangguatiao), the flank (yaowo), and the brisket (sancha'er); they cut exactly what you point to, and they have everything you could want. Once you leave Beijing, you can find mutton hot pot everywhere, but it is just mutton!

I remember before the war, in the old capital, one silver dollar could buy four jin of good mutton delivered to your door. Add some cabbage and glass noodles (fentiao), and one dollar's worth of meat was enough to feed three or four people. It was warm and satisfying; it was wonderful.

In the summer, every mutton stall sells fried mutton (shao yangrou). The meat, just out of the fryer, is placed on a large copper tray, and the aroma is so strong you can smell it from a mile away.

For an afternoon snack, if you have a few coins, you can buy a pair of sheep hooves or a piece of shank (jianzi), and eat it with two sesame flatbreads (shaobing); it is incredibly delicious. If you bring home a large sheep head, your family can make some pancakes, boil a pot of rice porridge (shui fan), and on a hot day, it is neither greasy nor too heavy, and it really satisfies your cravings. The sheep neck has a bit more meat and is even better to eat than the head.

If your family is small, dinner is easy to put together. Just take a pot to the mutton stall, buy seven or eight mao worth of fried mutton, and tell the shopkeeper, 'Boss, add some extra broth!' Once you get home, bring the pot of meat and broth to a boil, add a few coins' worth of noodles, and you have fried mutton noodles. Forget about leaving Beiping.

Most lamb stalls (yangrou chuangzi) have a separate area to sell lamb buns (yangrou baozi) to go. They squeeze the dough into shape with their hands. In winter, they are filled with lamb and cabbage, and in summer, lamb and chives. Every time a steamer is ready, the apprentice shouts: 'Lamb buns are here!' Fresh from the steamer, get them while they're hot!

Some lamb stalls also sell medicine. They hang a sign nearby that says 'Lamb Liver Eye-Brightening Pills' (yanggan mingmu wan), and they are all tested and approved with a license from the health bureau. Some also sell sesame paste flatbread (zhima jiang shaobing) and brown sugar cakes (tang huoshao), which are made with flour and brown sugar. They are yellowish and stamped with a red mark on top. They also carry honey-glazed fried dough twists (mi mahua), which are extremely sweet. That is the full range of side businesses found at a lamb stall.

Some lamb stalls also sell pickled cabbage (suancai). Whatever amount you buy, they tie it up with a piece of iris grass (malian cao) and hand it to you. If you buy some lamb to go with it, you can make a pot of hot lamb and pickled cabbage noodle soup. It is warm, refreshing, and delicious! view all

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Summary: Beijing Muslim History: Old Halal Notes from the Southern City is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Chongwen:. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Muslim History, Southern Beijing, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source. This public article combines adjacent translated blocks from the same source section.

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Nanlaishun Snack Shop was a spacious hall. Aside from the door, there were snacks all around the perimeter, with rows of dining tables in the middle and square stools for customers to sit on. Let's start from the east door: to the left, from south to north, were all desserts. They mainly sold layered sticky rice cake (qiegao) here. I have loved eating this since I was a child. These cakes were placed on a large wooden board, about 60 centimeters wide, 80 centimeters long, and 10 centimeters thick, with four or five layers of bean paste and glutinous rice. The top of the layered sticky rice cake was decorated with large red dates, which looked very beautiful. Buying two liang (100 grams) of cake cost 8 cents per liang, so 16 cents total, plus two liang of food ration coupons. Even though it was only two liang, the master cutting the cake would use a long knife to slice it in one go, weigh it on a scale, and put it on a plate. The layers were clearly visible, and with white sugar sprinkled on top, it was incredibly tempting. One bite was full of fragrance and sweetness; it was delicious. Besides layered sticky rice cake, they sold various old Beijing sweet snacks, including steamed rice cakes (aiwowo), rolled glutinous rice rolls (lvdagun), honey fried dough twists (mi mahua, also called tang'erduo), sugar-filled baked cakes (tanghuoshao), steamed buns (dun'er bobo), and pea flour cakes (wandouhuang). If you love sweets, you will be satisfied here!

Let's talk about the long counter from east to west. They sold savory snacks here, such as tofu pudding (doufunao), soy milk, fried dough cakes (youbing), fried dough sticks (youtiao), ring-shaped fried dough (jiequan), crispy crackers (baocui), sesame flatbread (shaobing), baked cakes (huoshao), and twisted rolls (luosizhuan). The tofu pudding was authentic; the gravy was a masterpiece, made with minced meat, daylily buds, wood ear mushrooms, and eggs, with a layer of Sichuan peppercorn oil floating on top. It cost one liang of food ration coupons and 8 cents a bowl. When the server scooped up the tender white tofu and poured the gravy over it, then sprinkled a pinch of cilantro on top, a tempting bowl of tofu pudding was handed to you. If you like it spicy, there were chili oil, minced garlic, and vinegar on the table for you to add yourself. If you bought two freshly baked sesame flatbreads and a fried dough cake, hey, you had a complete, delicious breakfast.

After finishing the east-to-west section, let's turn to the counter from north to south. They mainly sold meat pies here, with beef and green onion filling (I don't remember if they had meat-filled pancakes). The meat pies here were another specialty. You could smell the aroma from far away. As you got closer, you could not only smell them but also hear the tempting sizzling sound as they were being pan-fried. You could not only hear it but see it too. The master chef worked right behind the counter, so every customer could watch the whole process of making the meat pie (roubing). When you saw those golden-brown meat pies sizzling with oil and smelling so good, how could you not want to try one?

They also sold red bean porridge (xiaodouzhou) and sticky rice porridge (jiangmizhou). If you came for lunch, you could order two meat pies and a bowl of red bean porridge. With sliced salted vegetables on the table, tell me, doesn't that sound wonderful?

Memories of Niujie by Chen Chunxi

13. Zhengxingde tea house at Caishikou outside Xuanwumen

In the 1950s and 60s, my mother always walked from Niujie to Caishikou to buy tea at the old shop Zhengxingde. It was a halal tea shop, and most Niujie residents went there. She usually bought the tea that cost 40 cents per liang, which smelled quite fragrant when brewed. I often went with my mother to buy tea. As soon as we stepped into the shop, we smelled the jasmine tea. That scent has stayed in my memory ever since.

Back then, they did not use plastic bags. Everything was wrapped by hand in paper. The clerk would wrap it however the customer wanted, like buying four liang and splitting it into two two-liang packages. If you bought one jin, they would make two half-jin packages. Of course, some people just bought one package. The clerk's wrapping technique was amazing. They folded the paper into a perfect square that looked very solid. Then they stacked the two packages together, tied them with a paper string in a cross pattern, and made a handle on top so the customer could just hook a finger through and carry it away. That tea package was quite stylish at the time. During holidays when visiting relatives and friends, you would place the tea package on the table, and it looked both grand and traditional.

Memories of Niujie by Chen Chunxi

14. Scalded dough fried cake (tangmian zhagao) at the Hui Muslim breakfast shop a short distance left from the east entrance of Xiangluying Sitiao Hutong outside Xuanwumen

When I think of the hot-water dough fried cake (tangmian zhagao), I don't know why this simple old Beijing snack has disappeared from the streets and restaurants. Actually, in the 1950s and 60s, almost every snack shop run by Hui Muslims sold them. they were an essential snack at temple fairs in the capital back then. view all

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Summary: Beijing Muslim History: Old Halal Notes from the Southern City is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Chongwen:. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Muslim History, Southern Beijing, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source. This final block is 1 of 3.

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In my childhood memories, the snacks sold at Haji Sesame Flatbread Shop, located at the northeast corner of the east entrance of West Liulichang, were the most authentic.

This was a halal sesame flatbread shop opened by five brothers with the surname Ha. Compared to other nearby shops, it had a small storefront but the busiest business. Besides selling soy milk, sesame flatbreads (shaobing), and fried dough cakes (youbing), they also had snacks like top-grade sesame flatbreads (yipin shaobing), thick buns (dun bobo), and fried egg pockets (zha hebao). At that time, my favorite things to eat were thick buns and fried egg pockets.

Thick buns are small and made from leavened dough. They are mixed with lye, white sugar, and sweet osmanthus, then pinched into small pieces, pressed into thick, flat circles, and cooked over low heat on a griddle. After both sides turn yellow, they are baked in an oven until hard, without any burnt bits. After baking, a square or round red dot is stamped on them. The yellow and white colors with the red look beautiful, and they taste sweet, soft, and springy, with a bit of toughness that makes them great to chew. After chewing repeatedly, you can taste the faint wheat aroma from the leavened dough of the thick bun itself. The flavor is unique and makes my mouth water.

When mentioning fried egg pockets, some people might think it is just fried eggs, but that is not the case. Haji's fried egg pockets have a special flavor. They use dough for fried dough cakes, roll out two pieces of similar size, put them together, and pinch three sides shut to form a pocket, or what you could call a pouch shape. They crack an egg, pour it into the pocket, sprinkle a little salt, and then pinch the opening tight. They put it into a pan of oil and control the heat carefully. The fried pockets come out crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, suitable for both the old and the young.

"Our Old Beijing" by Li Weiji

Haji Kite Shop, Haji Restaurant

The location of "Haji Kite Shop" was at the north side of the east entrance of West Liulichang in the southern part of Beijing, which is the northwest corner of the intersection, today on the east side of Hongbaotang. It started as two sheds, then changed into two small storefront rooms. At that time, my grandfather and his fifth brother were local volunteer firefighters. If a fire broke out nearby, someone from the family had to go help put it out. In return, the fire brigade gave the two brothers two small rooms to stay in, and that is where they lived.

Although it was called the Haji Kite Shop, they did not sell kites all the time. Kite flying in Beijing was very seasonal, so they only sold kites from the Spring Festival until the third lunar month. During the other three seasons, they ran a Hui Muslim snack shop called the Haji Eatery. Later, they added a shed outside the rooms to block the wind and rain. It was bigger than the two rooms and served as a place for neighbors near Liulichang and passersby to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This was their main business.

The Haji Eatery sold sesame flatbread (shaobing) and fried dough twists (mahua) in the morning, and beef noodles and other meals at noon and night to support a family of several dozen people. Many neighbors nearby would buy on credit and settle their bills once a month. During the Spring Festival and the months of early spring, the eatery switched to selling kites to support the family.

Haji Kites by Ha Yiqi (Note by Wang Dongsi: The author is the fourth-generation successor of the Haji Kite tradition).

12. Nanlaishun snack shop at Caishikou outside Xuanwumen view all

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Summary: Beijing Muslim History: Old Halal Notes from the Southern City is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Chongwen:. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Muslim History, Southern Beijing, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source. This final block is 3 of 3.

Block 3 of 3

Ai'ou wowos are made by boiling whole glutinous rice grains until cooked, waiting for all the steam to evaporate, and then putting them in a basin to form a soft, fluffy texture. Using this rice-grain texture, they wrap in various sweet fillings, sprinkle with glutinous rice flour, and add red dots to distinguish the types of fillings. This item is called an ai'ou wowo, which is also a type of cold snack. Isn't the Changdian temple fair happening right now? Ai'ou wowos are a seasonal treat, but for the best-looking and best-tasting ones, go to the entrance of Tongle Teahouse on Menkuang Hutong. There is a small cart there that is kept very clean. A Hui Muslim man sells ai'ou wowos there throughout the year. He uses real glutinous rice and good fillings. Eating a couple of his is a unique experience that you must try.

Beijing Dream Splendor Record by Mu Ruga.

5. Fushunzhai Beef Shop on Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen.

We must start with the famous Fushunzhai beef shop at the south entrance of the hutong. Its spiced beef (jiang niurou) is tender and delicious, easily matching the spiced lamb (jiang yangrou) from Yueshengzhai. They also use a pot of original beef broth to cook meat for sale every day, with a set amount sold at specific times, and it sells out very quickly. The shopkeeper is a Hui Muslim named Liu. Later, this spiced beef shop moved to Qianmen Street and merged with Yueshengzhai.

Ye Zufu Talks About Beijing by Ye Zufu

6. Baodu Feng in Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Muslim History: Old Halal Notes from the Southern City is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Chongwen:. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Muslim History, Southern Beijing, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source. This public article combines adjacent translated blocks from the same source section.

Block 1 of 3

The place that stays in my memory the most is Jinfang Snack Shop. When I first returned to Beijing, it was winter, and it was still pitch black when I got up early for work. I didn't have time to eat breakfast at home, so I pushed my bike through the underpass and across the railway; down the slope was Baiqiao Street, and further west was Huashi Street. There were few people in the morning, the streetlights were dim, and it was very quiet; the northwest wind blowing head-on was so strong it made it hard to open my mouth. Luckily, after riding a short distance, I could see the bright lights of Jinfang Snack Shop on the north side of the road ahead. I locked my bike and lifted the cotton door curtain to go inside; the heat rushed into my face, and more than half of the chill on my body disappeared at once. My favorite thing to eat in this shop is the millet flour porridge (miancha); it is thick, fragrant, and hot enough to burn your mouth. You cannot rush drinking millet flour porridge; there is a trick to it: regular customers never use chopsticks or spoons, they rotate the bowl and drink from the edge, finishing it until the bottom is clean. With these two crispy fried dough rings (jiaoquan) and a bowl of millet flour porridge in my stomach, my whole body felt warm, and the next 40 minutes of the journey wouldn't leave me frozen with a twisted face and numb hands and feet.

Reading Beijing Figures: Impressions of Huashi (Postscript). Written by Chen Guangzhong.

Xuanwu.

1. Xianbing Porridge Shop at Meishi Bridge outside Qianmen

There are two meat pie and porridge shops at Meishi Bridge, and they are halal restaurants. These two shops have the same owner; one is on the east side of the road and the other is on the west, which is called one owner running two shops. They are open 24 hours a day without interruption; when the east shop puts up its door panels to close, the west shop takes its panels down to open, so customers can always get meat pies and porridge. Since it is a meat pie and porridge shop, the meat pies are naturally their specialty. The meat pies are filled with beef, also known as meat cakes (roubing); they are large, full of filling, and oily, which really satisfies a craving. If a guest asks for a full-sized meat pie (roubing), it is much larger than the standard version, measuring about 1.2 feet in diameter. Even someone with a big appetite cannot finish half of one.

Cuisine of East Beijing by Wu Zhengge

2. Yangtou Ma (Sheep Head Ma) at Langfang Ertiao outside Qianmen

Beijing lamb head is a local specialty. It is sliced as thin as paper and sprinkled with salt and pepper powder. Lamb head meat includes the cheek (lianzi), the tongue and root (xinzi), the roof of the mouth (tianhuaban), the tongue tip (tongtianti), the eyes, the hooves, and the tendons. Aside from the tendons, the cheek meat has the deepest flavor. The sellers of lamb head meat are all Hui Muslims. There was only one halal stall, located at the back door of the Yuxing Restaurant on Langfang Second Alley. The owner was a man named Ma who sold his own goods. Unlike other workshops that sold wholesale without cleaning, his meat was clean. He added five-spice powder to his salt and pepper, making it extra fragrant and clean. He also sold boiled beef tripe (niudu) at a very low price.

The Life of Old Beijingers by Jin Shushen

At the west entrance of Menkuang Hutong, there was a lamb head meat stall in front of the Yuxing Restaurant that was considered a famous local snack of the area. The vendor arrived every day near dusk. He brought his own light bulb and wire, which he connected to the restaurant's power to light up his stall. He used a special knife, one foot long and five inches wide, to slice the cheek, tongue (xinzi), and eyes for customers to enjoy with their drinks. When he sliced the cheek, he made it so thin it was almost transparent. He laid it on white paper, sprinkled salt and pepper from a long-necked glass bottle, mixed it by hand, and then wrapped it up. It tasted delicious. Customers loved the taste of the meat and admired the vendor's skill. Every night when the lights came on, a crowd would gather at the intersection of Langfang Second Alley and Menkuang Hutong to watch him slice the meat. People traveled from far away to Menkuang Hutong just to eat this lamb head meat. I once asked about that Hui Muslim vendor. I only knew his surname was Ma and he lived on Niujie. He likely passed away after the Cultural Revolution, and I do not know what happened to him.

Ye Zufu Talks About Beijing by Ye Zufu

3. Yitiaolong Mutton Restaurant outside Qianmen

Yitiao Long Lamb Restaurant processes its meat carefully and slices it very thin. After slaughtering and skinning the lamb, they select only the hind legs. They place the meat on a clean surface with natural water, cover it with a reed mat, place an oilcloth over the mat, and put a block of ice on top. This is called pressed meat (yarou). The meat is pressed for a full day and night to draw out the blood and impurities, which makes the meat firm and easy to slice. This pressed meat (ya rou) is better than frozen meat because frozen meat, like frozen cabbage, breaks down the lamb's texture and makes it lose its tender, savory flavor, which makes it taste bad. Yilong is just like Zhengyanglou; they slice the meat thinly and serve it on plates according to the cut. The seasonings are complete.

When eating hot pot lamb (shuan yangrou), people usually eat sesame flatbread (shaobing) as their staple food. The sesame flatbread (shaobing) at Nanhengshun (Wang Dongsi: Yilong's original name is Nanhengshun) is also different from other places; for every basin of dough, they use ten jin of flour, with nine jin of plain flour and one jin of leavened dough. Ten jin of flour requires one jin and two liang of sesame paste. The sesame flatbread (shaobing) is first seared on a griddle, then baked in an oven, searing the bottom first and then the sesame-topped side (just for a quick touch). This kind of sesame flatbread (shaobing) has plenty of sauce, is cooked through, and is perfectly flaky and crisp.

When customers are almost full, they order a bowl of Nanhengshun's homemade, thin and uniform mung bean mixed noodles (lvdou zamian) served dry. Mung bean mixed noodles (lvdou zamian) are great for cutting through the greasiness of meat; a bowl of these noodles absorbs the floating oil from the hot pot and cleanses the palate, making these thin and uniform noodles another specialty of Nanhengshun.

Miscellaneous Talks on Old Beijing by Wang Yongbin.

4. Ai's steamed rice cake (aiwowowo) stall on Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen

It is currently the first lunar month, the time when ai'ou wowos are on the market. Beijing's ai'ou wowos are similar to Fengtian's cool rice cakes (lianggao) and are both sold during the first lunar month, but ai'ou wowos are soft and delicious, and cannot be compared to cool rice cakes (lianggao). Cool rice cakes (lianggao) are made by steaming glutinous rice flour, using it as a wrapper, filling it with sesame and white sugar, and sprinkling it with rice flour. On the surface, they look like ai'ou wowos, but they are essentially just a variation of sticky rice cakes (niangao); after a while, when the wind blows on them, they still get hard. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Muslim History: Old Halal Notes from the Southern City is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Chongwen:. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Muslim History, Southern Beijing, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source. This retry section is 1 of 2.

Section 1 of 2

Menkuang Hutong is full of individual stalls run by Hui Muslims. They pay attention to the hygiene of their utensils, and their food focuses on color, aroma, and taste, which attracts many customers and has earned them quite a reputation. Take Baodu Feng, which sells quick-boiled tripe (baodu). The lamb tripe and tripe kernels (duren) are cooked to the perfect texture—neither too tough nor too soft. The sauces, including fermented bean curd (jiang furu), chive flower paste (jiucaihua), and sesame paste (zhima jiang), are fresh and tasty, so the stall is full of customers every day who come for their fame.

Ye Zufu Talks About Beijing by Ye Zufu

7. Bai's Tofu Pudding (doufunao) in Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen.

Bai's Tofu Pudding is run by an elderly man named Bai. The tofu pudding is incredibly white and tender. The mushroom and lamb gravy (koumo zha yangrou lu) smells so good that it makes your mouth water from far away. When you eat it, you add chili oil or garlic sauce, which is truly wonderful. It is no wonder that many financial professionals in suits squeeze into the market, hunching over on small, narrow stools to enjoy this unique tofu pudding.

Bai's Tofu Pudding has a branch stall at the entrance of Guanghe Tower in the meat market, specifically for theatergoers watching Peking opera. Baodu Feng and Bai's Tofu Pudding also sell freshly baked sesame flatbreads (shaobing). Some individual vendors even bring small baskets of these flatbreads here to sell to customers.

Ye Zufu Talks About Beijing by Ye Zufu

8. Niangao Wang (Rice Cake King) on Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen

Nian Gao Wang sells traditional northern-style rice cakes (niangao). They are made from glutinous rice or glutinous rice flour, with layers of red bean paste in the middle and topped with shredded green or red silk. Sometimes they also sell pea flour cakes (wandouhuang). In the summer, these rice cakes are kept on large blocks of natural ice to keep them cool and refreshing. In the winter, they are steamed in small bamboo steamers (longti) to keep them soft and hot. When selling them in winter, the vendor takes a plate of steaming rice cakes from the steamer and adds a spoonful of white sugar, making them taste even better.

Ye Zufu Talks About Beijing by Ye Zufu

9. Mujiazhai at Zangjia Bridge outside Qianmen

My grandmother's family ran a restaurant outside Qianmen at Zangjiaqiao called Mujiazhai, also known as Guangfuguan. If you ask the elders in the southern part of the city, they usually know it. The stir-fried dough bits (chaogeda) at Guangfuguan were made by my grandmother's family. My great-grandmother was a widow. To make a living, she set up a noodle stall selling rice porridge and flour-based foods to passing porters and laborers. My grandmother was also a widow. She managed my great-grandmother's business and worked incredibly hard to build this small restaurant. Two generations of widows ran the place. The name Guangfu uses homophones for the words meaning 'widow's shop.' People say the Little Prince Gong gave it this name to mark it as a widow's restaurant, and that is how it came to be. They specialized in stir-fried dough bits, and this dish became famous.

I heard from my grandmother that the Little Prince Gong loved listening to the operas of Shang Xiaoyun, so he was very close to him. When Shang Xiaoyun first met my grandmother, he thought she looked just like his own mother, from her height to her facial features. He said, 'Old lady, let me adopt you as my godmother!' After saying that, he knelt down and kowtowed, and from then on, she was his godmother. Shang Xiaoyun loved eating stir-fried dough bits, which influenced the Little Prince Gong. He often told the Prince, 'The stir-fried dough bits at my godmother's place are excellent.' The Prince was convinced, so he sent people to carry their own pots, pans, bowls, and stoves to eat there. He held a banquet at Guangfuguan in the private room on the second floor.

My mother invited Madame Mei Lanfang to dinner. Because my mother inherited my grandmother's skills, her stir-fried dough bits tasted different from everyone else's—they really had my grandmother's flavor. She invited Madame Mei, along with Mr. Shang Xiaoyun and his wife, to eat. Shang Xiaoyun was my grandmother's godson, so he just kept eating and eating. Madame Mei said, 'That is enough, brother, stop eating, you are going to burst.'

Born in the South of the City: Decades of Joy and Sorrow on the Stage—Oral history by the three Ma brothers. Ding Yizhuang

(Note by Wang Dongsi: The speaker is Ma Chongnian, nephew of Peking Opera master Ma Lianliang)

Stir-fried dough bits at Mujiazhai

Mujiazhai was a small shop, but it was crowded every day with customers waiting to eat the dough bits stir-fried by Sister-in-law Mu herself.

To make stir-fried dough bits, you knead the dough, cut it into dice-sized cubes, and then use your thumb to roll them into small shapes, which we Shanxi people call cat ears (maoerduo). First, you boil them, then stir-fry them with mung bean sprouts, shredded meat, and chives. The juices from the meat and vegetables soak into the dough bits, making them taste the best.

People say Sister-in-law Mu, like the Mapo of Chengdu's Mapo Tofu, first served her neighbors for free before her reputation spread and she became a professional.

In winter at Mujiazhai, you could still eat fresh spring and summer vegetables, such as Chinese toon (xiangchun) mixed with tofu, smashed cucumber, sugar and vinegar pickled dandelion greens (qumacaiya), and small radishes with sesame paste. People say the Mu family restaurant even had a special heated cellar (nuandongzi) to grow these fresh vegetables.

Food of the Hometown: Eating in Beiping. Liu Zhenwei

(Note by Wang Dongsi: The author was born in 1934.)

10. Xiangjugong halal pastry shop on Qianmen Street

Wang Dianwen personally oversaw the quality of the pastries (bobo). First, he hired experienced and skilled head pastry chefs (zhang'anren) with high salaries. Second, he insisted on buying high-quality raw materials for making the pastries. Back then, the white flour from Renhe Mill was fine, and the small-mill sesame oil from Xihongmen had a pure flavor; even though they were expensive, Xiangjugong still ordered from them. Sugar and other fruit ingredients were all top-tier products. For example, they paid high prices for the best red and white sugar, bought large thin-skinned walnuts from the Western Hills, sourced locust flower honey, and selected Miyun small dates, Western Hills roses, Shandong pears, Shenzhou honey peaches, and hawthorn jelly (jingao) from Jingao Zhang. Even for eggs, Xiangjugong had specific suppliers. Third, they strictly followed production procedures, from mixing the dough and fruit ingredients to the final baking, being very careful with every step. In the pastry industry, there is a saying: 'Thirty percent making, seventy percent baking.' This means that no matter how carefully or well you do the first few steps, if you do not control the oven fire at the end, the heat might be too high and burn them; or the heat might be too low, and they will not be cooked through. Therefore, in a pastry workshop, besides the head chef, the oven worker is the most important. The head chefs and oven workers hired by Xiangjugong were all highly skilled at the time.

Pastry products are seasonal; in the past, Beijingers ate specific pastries at specific times. For example, people ate sweet rice balls (yuanxiao) on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, sun cakes (taiyanggao) on the second day of the second month for the 'Dragon Raises Its Head' festival, wisteria cakes (tengluobing) when wisteria bloomed in the third month, sticky rice dumplings (zongzi) and five-poison cakes (wudubing) during the Dragon Boat Festival in the fifth month, mung bean cakes (lvdougao) to beat the heat in the sixth and seventh months, red and white mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival in the eighth month, flower cakes (huagao) for the 'climbing high' custom in the ninth month, and in the cold winter months, wealthy families ate hibiscus cakes (furonggao), while ordinary families ate oven-fired cakes (ganglu)—which were pastries made while testing the oven temperature that had rough, broken edges but were still high quality. Xiangjugong produced and supplied all these pastries on time. for holidays, the fasting month of Ramadan, the Eid al-Fitr celebration, and visiting relatives and friends, it was customary to use large and small gift sets (bajian) as presents. The small and large eight-piece pastries (ba jian) made by Xiangjugong are very famous in the southern part of Beijing.

Miscellaneous Talks on Old Beijing by Wang Yongbin.

11. Ha's sesame flatbread (shaobing) shop at Liulichang outside Hepingmen

Haji Sesame Flatbread Shop (Haji Shaobing Pu) view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Muslim History: Old Halal Notes from the Southern City is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Chongwen:. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Muslim History, Southern Beijing, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source. This retry section is 1 of 2.

Section 1 of 2

Table of Contents

Chongwen:

1. Douzhi Ding (Jinxin Douzhi Shop) at Huashi outside Chongwenmen

2. Rongxiangcheng Hui Muslim snack shop (Jinfang Snack Shop) outside Chongwenmen

Xuanwu:

1. Xianbing Porridge Shop at Meishi Bridge outside Qianmen

2. Yangtou Ma (Sheep Head Ma) at Langfang Ertiao outside Qianmen

3. Yitiaolong Mutton Restaurant outside Qianmen

4. Ai's steamed rice cake (aiwowowo) stall on Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen

5. Fushunzhai spiced beef shop at the south entrance of Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen

6. Bai's tofu pudding (doufunao) on Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen

7. Baodu Feng (quick-boiled tripe) on Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen

8. Niangao Wang (Rice Cake King) on Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen

9. Mujiazhai at Zangjia Bridge outside Qianmen

10. Xiangjugong halal pastry shop on Qianmen Street

11. Ha's sesame flatbread (shaobing) shop at Liulichang outside Hepingmen

12. Nanlaishun snack shop at Caishikou outside Xuanwumen

13. Zhengxingde tea house at Caishikou outside Xuanwumen

14. Scalded dough fried cake (tangmian zhagao) at the Hui Muslim breakfast shop a short distance left from the east entrance of Xiangluying Sitiao Hutong outside Xuanwumen

15. Jubaoyuan on Niujie

16. The large halal canteen at the north entrance of Niujie Street.

17. A child selling malt sugar sticks (maiyatang) on Niujie Street.

18. A vendor selling sticky rice cake (qiegao) on Niujie Street.

19. Steamed corn buns (wotou) from the old neighbors of Niujie Street.

20. Soybean paste noodles (zhajiangmian) from the old neighbors of Niujie Street.

21. The Barbecue King (Kaorou Wang) at Tianqiao.

Others:

1. Hui Muslim businesses roaming the streets and alleys.

2. A halal rice cake (niangao) stall at the temple fair.

3. Mutton stall (yangrou chuangzi).

4. Shopkeeper Hua, who sells beef head meat from a wheelbarrow.

5. Bai Family Sesame Flatbread Shop (shaobing pu).

6. A roasted mutton stall in the hutong.



Chongwen.

1. Douzhi Ding (Jinxin Douzhi Shop) at Huashi outside Chongwenmen

Douzhi Ding's stall is in front of the Fire God Temple (Huoshen Miao) on the north side of the road, in the middle-west section of Xihuashi.

The owner of Douzhi Ding's stall is naturally surnamed Ding; he is a Hui Muslim named Ding Derui. His stall is unique. It features a large table over three meters long and one meter wide, with long benches lined up in front. On the table are two glass covers; one protects various pickled vegetables and spicy shredded salted vegetables, while the other holds sesame flatbreads (shaobing), crispy fried dough rings (jiaoquan), and other staples. There are also two wooden signs on the table, carved with eight large characters: 'Hui Muslims from the Western Regions, Douzhi Ding's Shop'. Ding Derui follows old traditions to boil the mung bean milk (douzhi). He uses a large clay pot and a betel nut ladle (binglang shao), simmering it over a low fire while adding raw mung bean milk to the pot as it cooks. He makes his mung bean milk (douzhir) with the perfect thickness, so it does not settle or become watery. It tastes sour, fragrant, and sweet, making it very delicious and addictive.

Outside Hademen by Zhang Fan

The stall is located to the left of the Fire God Temple gate in West Huashi. It has tables facing west and opens every day at noon. The table is over 10 feet long with benches in front. Two large glass covers sit on top, protecting large fruit plates filled with pickled cabbage, pickled cucumbers, small pickled radishes, and pickled asparagus. Spicy mustard greens are served with the mung bean milk. In spring, they serve quick-pickled kohlrabi, and in winter, they serve spicy dried radish cubes. Customers who buy fine pickles get chili oil. The food includes sesame flatbread (shaobing) and fried dough rings (jiaoquan).

The owner, surnamed Ding, is a Hui Muslim. He keeps two wooden signs on his table with eight green-painted characters: Western Region Hui, Ding's Mung Bean Milk. Most customers are regulars who visit every day at the same time. On market days, the benches are full, and business is booming. In January 1958, food stalls were merged into cooperatives. Ding's Mung Bean Milk moved to Suanshikou and is now the Jinxin Mung Bean Milk Shop, which still follows the traditions of Ding's Mung Bean Milk.

Reminiscing about Hademen by Niu Qingshan

Ding's Mung Bean Milk started as a shoulder-pole business. He was the first to sell it, and he was already famous in Beijing during the Qing Dynasty. People called this Hui Muslim man and his carrying pole Ding's Mung Bean Milk. It was not until 1910 that the third generation of Ding's Mung Bean Milk set up a stall in front of the Fire God Temple in the middle of Huashi Street. They finally had a long table and a permanent large pot. For a mung bean milk business, this was considered very successful. That was a famous open-air snack street in Beijing, second only to Menkuang Hutong. At that time, various stalls lined up in front of the Fire God Temple, stretching east all the way to Yangshikou.

Blues in the South of the City by Xiao Fuxing

2. Rongxiangcheng Hui Muslim snack shop (Jinfang Snack Shop) outside Chongwenmen

Rongxiangcheng Snack Shop, located at 17 Hademen Outer Street, is a well-known eatery in the Chongwenmen area.

The shop opened in the early Republic of China period. The owner was Man Leting, known as Man Liu, a Hui Muslim from Shandong. The manager was Ai Lianying. The shop's sign, Rongxiangcheng, was inscribed by the famous scholar Jiang Chaozong.

Inside the shop, there is another plaque, Cangzhen, inscribed by the Zhili clique warlord Wu Peifu. The shop started by selling beef and mutton. By the 1940s, business improved significantly, and it expanded from two storefronts to four. As the business grew, they changed their strategy to combine the mutton trade with the snack trade (qin hang).

In the past, Beijing mutton shops were called mutton trades (yang hang), and their business was very seasonal. Since spring and summer are the growing seasons for sheep, they could not be slaughtered until after autumn. Because of this, people in the trade said, 'The mutton business is idle for half the year.' Old Beijingers also said, 'When visiting graves at Qingming, the mutton sellers close their doors.' To change this idle period, the shop adapted to market needs by buying Japanese refrigeration equipment. During spring and summer, they sold homemade popsicles, soda, and other frozen foods (leng shi). In autumn and winter, they focused on mutton again. This change kept them busy all year and made the shop's name increasingly famous.

In Beijing, this combined business model was common, with different terms: two shops under one manager was called 'four edges' (si ba bian), and renting out a portion to others was called 'carrying a robe' (tiao pao). Rongxiangcheng was the former, and their snack section focused on frozen foods, which was quite new at the time.

Just before the liberation, war blocked mutton shipments from Inner Mongolia to Beijing. The mutton trade plummeted, and Rongxiangcheng was no exception. At this time, Man Kaiqi, a fellow townsman of Man Leting, came to the shop. He came from a background in a traditional pastry shop (bobo pu). In the old snack trade, a pastry shop was considered lower in status than a bakery but higher than a restaurant. Rongxiangcheng simply stopped selling mutton and switched to snacks and frozen foods. Man Kaiqi's skills were put to good use. Under his management, they offered up to 20 varieties of snacks: sticky rice cake (qiegao), fried cake (zhagao), sesame ball (matuan), fried dough twist (mahua), sweet rice ball (yuanxiao), sugar ear (tangerduo), steamed rice cake (aiwowo), soybean flour cake (lvdagun), apricot tea (xingcha), millet porridge (miancha), tofu pudding (doufunao), sesame flatbread (shaobing), fried dough cake (youbing), and bean paste bun (doubao). This made Rongxiangcheng a famous Hui Muslim snack shop in the Chongwai area.

After the Cultural Revolution, Rongxiangcheng was renamed Jinfang Snack Shop. In the mid-1990s, due to the expansion of Chongwai Street, the shop moved to the Tianqiao intersection for a time. Its current location is on the east side of the south entrance of Chongwai Street. This time-honored shop in the South City has started its glorious journey once again.

Reminiscing about Hademen by Niu Qingshan view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Muslim History: Old Halal Notes from the Southern City is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Chongwen:. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Muslim History, Southern Beijing, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source. This is part 5 of 5.

Part 5 of 5

Shopkeeper Bai didn't mind people watching him bake; I was right there many times, and besides, can you really learn a great craft just by watching? I remember the general order: use half-leavened dough and mix in the edible alkali evenly. Once the dough has rested, it shouldn't be too hard. Roll out the dough, then add sesame paste (zhimajiang) that has been thinned with oil. Use your hands to pull, stretch, and spread the paste evenly, then sprinkle on some salt. Roll it up into a log and seal the edges. Set it aside to wait for the rest of the sesame flatbread (shaobing) dough portions. Seal the edges of the dough portions, flatten them slightly with a rolling pin, and brush the half-finished pieces with soy sauce. Take the soy-brushed dough pieces, dip them into cleaned sesame seeds, and line them up in the large flatbread griddle (bingdang). I watched the process, and there is really no mystery to it. Using real, honest ingredients is what truly matters. The young assistant dips the dough in sesame seeds, making sure the whole surface is covered; he does not just lightly touch it.

I have thought about why it is hard to find the original taste of these flatbreads, and the key is one word: baking. At Old Bai's shop, the delicious smell comes from the coal-fired oven. The oven is over three feet tall, with a layer of white clay on the outside, reinforced with large wire hoops on the inside to hold enough heat with its fireproof materials. The most important thing is the temperature inside the oven: if it is too high, the outside burns while the inside stays raw. If it is too low, baking for too long ruins the crispness. This is the real skill, and you have to admire it. The fire glows red, but you cannot see any flames. Exactly how hot is it? You can only understand it by feeling, not by words. In fact, it is just a matter of practice making perfect. Take some things for example: you might understand them clearly when watching, but if you try to do it yourself, it immediately goes wrong.

Let's talk about Old Bai's sesame flatbread (shaobing). When the dough in the large pan is browned on both sides and can stand up, Old Bai lifts the pan to feel the heat, then lines the flatbread dough around the edge of the stove. People waiting are often impatient and like to rush him. Old Bai stays calm and unhurried, turning back to continue his routine with the flatbread dough. After a short while, the toasted aroma pushes right into your nose, and Old Bai picks up long iron tongs to flip them over. A little later, they come out of the oven one by one. Each one is round and puffy, golden brown, and perfectly shaped. A little too long and they taste burnt, a little too short and the aroma doesn't come out; this is what you call just right.

You want me to describe how it feels to chew that flatbread? It is crispy and golden, with the flavors of flour, oil, sesame, savory sauce, and even a hint of salt all blended together; the temptation is impossible to resist. There are at least twenty layers, and the steam rising from them is both piping hot and fragrant! Put it this way, Hui Muslims hold them with both hands, afraid of dropping a single sesame seed or even a tiny crumb of dough!

The sesame flatbreads at the Bai family shop are available all year round, but they are constantly in high demand by all the neighbors. Sorry about that! You will have to wait a bit longer, which is a common occurrence. Actually, their other types of flatbreads (huoshao) sell just as well, and before the moon is even bright in the sky, they are all gone! It is not that there are leftovers; people want to buy them, but there is nothing left to buy. I have eaten the spiral-shaped flatbread (luosizhuan), and it really does not break; if you really played with it, you could stretch it out three to five feet. The puffy two-layered flatbread (huoshao) is great stuffed with spiced beef shank or sheep head meat, and you would drool just thinking about the taste.

I remember very clearly, it was three days after the Mid-Autumn Festival that year. For my grandfather's 80th birthday, my second uncle took me to see Manager Bai to ask if he could bake some longevity peach buns (shoutao). Grandpa Bai asked for my grandfather's Chinese zodiac sign and birth date, then agreed to the request right away.

Early that morning, the shop assistant delivered eighty longevity peach buns. The tips of the longevity peach buns were bright red. A pale yellow color you won't see anywhere else. The smell of beans, flour, and that special roasted aroma hit us, drawing in a bunch of us little foodies. The worker asked my uncle what ingredients were in the gloves. Sift the red bean paste through a fine sieve and carefully prepare the sweet osmanthus flowers. Mix steamed flour with white sugar, then bake and crush the black sesame seeds. Add green and red shredded candied fruit, mixed nuts, and crushed walnut and almond bits. Finely grind small dates from north of Beijing, and add lotus root starch and jasmine flowers. I was stunned listening to this, and even my well-traveled uncle could only nod in agreement. Is Manager Bai not here? My uncle asked the waiter in passing.

I am here! Turn slowly, sorry to trouble you, watch your step! Following the voice, Master Bai walked into the main hall carrying a large wicker tray (poluo). Huh, what is that? The whole room was filled with puzzled looks. Master Bai kept them guessing, Let everyone take a guess, is it another longevity peach (shoutao)? Or is it sesame flatbread (shaobing)? You are both wrong, take a good look!

Old Bai gently lifted the clean white cloth cover, and a baked tiger appeared, looking so lifelike! It was about two feet long, standing firmly, with eyes that seemed full of spirit, and yellow and white colors that looked just like tiger fur. This is filled with rose-flavored red bean paste, a gift from me to show my respect to you. I hope your family flourishes, stays full of energy, and thrives like a dragon and a tiger! The shopkeeper lost all his usual reserve and quietness, talking non-stop, which made Grandpa so happy that his beard was shaking. Grandpa wondered to himself, how did the shopkeeper find out that I was born in the Year of the Tiger?

Will there be any more animal-shaped roasted foods in the future? I have seen roasted rabbit gods (tu'erye), roasted swallows (shayan), roasted little monkeys, and roasted little ducks, but I have never seen a roasted big tiger. Perhaps the craft was lost with Old Bai's generation. Perhaps Old Bai passed away before he could even think about passing it on. Because Old Bai left too early and did not live to see the happy times.

Old Beijing Stories 2 by Liu Hui

6. A roasted mutton stall in the hutong.

In the past, there were far more than thirty or fifty shops selling roasted lamb (shaoyangrou) in Beijing, with one located every short distance. As soon as you enter the alley, you can smell the aroma of braised lamb (luzhu yangrou). It is just like being at Qianmen, where you can smell the spiced lamb (jiang yangrou) from Yueshengzhai long before you actually reach the shop. Not far into the alley, you see a polished brass tray about two or three feet wide sitting under a fabric canopy. It is shiny and clean, piled with cooked lamb neck, lamb liver (shagan), and lamb offal (yangzasui) in various cuts of fat and lean meat. The meat is drizzled with a layer of oil, making it look incredibly fresh and tender, which immediately makes your mouth water. A sign hanging next to the door frame reads "Newly Added Five-Spice Roasted Lamb" (xintian wuxiang shaoyangrou), and it is very easy to spot. Brass hooks hang above the counter, holding three or four cooked lamb heads with vegetable leaves in their mouths to attract customers. A wooden water basin sits in front of the door with a crossbar above it, from which a string of lamb suet (yangshuang'er) hangs. He also gives away the original broth from his roasted lamb. If you bring your own container when you buy two taels of roasted lamb, you can fill the container with the broth.

Lingering Fragrance: Memories of the Capital by Zhou Shaoliang. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Muslim History: Old Halal Notes from the Southern City is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Chongwen:. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Muslim History, Southern Beijing, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source. This is part 3 of 5.

Part 3 of 5

When I was a child in the early 1950s, a breakfast shop run by Hui Muslims just a short walk from the east end of our alley sold these fried cakes. These fried cakes were flat and round, and they turned brown or dark red after being deep-fried. I remember some shops sold hot-water dough fried cakes (tangmian zhagao) that seemed to have a red stamp-like mark on one side. I do not know what the character was, but it looked very unique.

The preparation method is said to be simple: pour near-boiling water into a measured amount of flour, then stir and knead it until smooth. Then, mix brown sugar or white sugar with a little dry flour to make the filling. After wrapping the filling inside, pat it into a flat round shape by hand, drop it into a pot of oil to fry, and once both sides turn brownish-red (or dark red), use a strainer to scoop it out for sale.

The hot-water dough fried cake fresh out of the pot tastes a bit crispy, a bit sweet, and seems to have a bit of chewiness. The filling inside is like an open honey pot, thick, fragrant, and sweet, with a unique flavor. People say every shop or individual selling hot-water dough fried cakes has their own special tricks, but these mostly come down to heat control, the filling, and kneading techniques. I thought the hot-water dough fried cake was delicious when I ate it at a snack shop, and I heard that the owner added a little osmanthus to the filling.

Casual Talk on Beijing Past: Beijing Snacks Fried Cakes and Hot-Water Dough Fried Cakes. Ma Tianji

15. Jubaoyuan on Niujie

Jubaoyuan is located in the middle section of Niujie Street, at the corner of Shouliu Hutong on the east side of the road. It has two storefronts, and above the door hangs a black plaque with gold characters written in vigorous regular script: Jubaoyuan Beef and Mutton Shop. Inside the door is a large wooden counter, and on the counter are two large white square enamel trays containing ground beef and mutton. Above the counter is an iron pipe with many iron hooks, from which trimmed beef and mutton hang for customers to choose from. Meat was very cheap back then; mutton was 71 cents a jin, and beef was 70 cents a jin. My mother often sent me to buy meat. She would give me 14 cents and say, 'Go to Jubaoyuan and buy two liang of mutton. Get the fatty kind; we are having soybean paste noodles (zhajiangmian) today.' Because I went there so often, I got to know the salesperson. In my memory, the meat seller was a young man named Ma. He was fair-skinned, had a long face, and was very friendly to people. Everyone called him Little Ma. As soon as I arrived, he would say to me, 'Xiao Si, you are here. How much are you buying?' 'Do you want beef or mutton?' Are you having soybean paste noodles (zhajiangmian) again? I said, "Give me two liang of lamb, and make it fatty." "Alright!" Little Ma quickly cut the meat for me, weighed it, and handed it over, saying, "Here you go!" At this point, you might ask: why buy fatty meat? To be honest, I am talking about the 1950s and 60s. Life was hard back then. You needed a ration book or coupons to buy anything. Each person only got half a jin of cooking oil a month, which was never enough. That is why we bought fatty meat; it made the fried sauce smell so good!

Memories of Niujie by Chen Chunxi

16. The large halal canteen at the north entrance of Niujie Street.

This canteen had no formal name, but in my memory, it was just called the "Niujie Halal Canteen," and it was state-run. It was not until the late 1970s that it was renamed "Liangyixuan." The sign was written by Yang Jingren.

This big canteen was very popular with the locals, and it was always crowded for all three meals. For breakfast, they served sesame flatbread (shaobing), spiral rolls (luosizhuan), steamed buns (dun'er bobo), soy milk, and tofu pudding (doufunao). These were all snacks Beijingers loved, and they tasted great. The beef and green onion steamed buns (baozi) were especially good. They cost ten cents each and were delicious. One bite and the oil would ooze out, revealing a solid meatball inside. If you had a bowl of red bean porridge and two liang of buns, you had a complete breakfast.

At noon, they served main meals, mostly rice and stir-fried dishes. They had other things too, like stir-fried flatbread (chaobing). They made two kinds: vegetarian and meat, served in half-jin portions. The vegetarian one cost 25 cents and half a jin of grain coupons, while the meat one cost 30 cents and half a jin of grain coupons. The flatbread was stir-fried perfectly, with great color, smell, and taste. It was truly delicious. The stir-fried dishes were also very authentic. They were mostly home-style dishes, both vegetarian and meat. The cheapest vegetarian dish, braised fried tofu puffs (shaodou Pao), was only 25 cents, and meat dishes were only 30 or 40 cents. The braised eggplant (shao qiezi) there tastes amazing. The vegetarian version is 28 cents, and the meat version is 36 cents. It is a truly authentic Beijing flavor. Also, their pan-seared lamb (guota yangrou), stir-fried egg with vinegar (culiu muxu), and stir-fried lamb with scallions (congbao yangrou) have a unique taste and capture the special style of old Beijing cuisine.

When the weather gets cold, they also serve hot pot (shuanguozi), with lamb slices (shuan yangrou) and beef tripe (shuan baiye), which are all very good. I watched the chef slice the lamb myself. On a large cutting board, he had a fresh piece of lamb leg. He held the meat down with his left hand, using a white cloth on top of the meat—perhaps to keep it from slipping—and held a knife in his right hand. The knife was over a foot long and two inches wide with a square tip, and it looked very sharp. I saw the chef rub, pull, and swipe the knife across the meat, and a paper-thin slice of lamb fell away. His movements were very fast, and he filled a large plate in no time. Just go ahead and eat; it is guaranteed to be fresh and tender.

Memories of Niujie by Chen Chunxi

17. A child selling malt sugar sticks (maiyatang) on Niujie Street.

In Niujie, when children are just five or six years old, their parents give them a cardboard cigarette box. The four corners of the box are tied with thin strings, and it is filled with malt sugar sticks (maiyatang gun). The children walk through the alleys calling out, 'One bets for two!' This is a type of gambling business. If you do not gamble, one copper coin buys one malt sugar stick. If you want to gamble, both the buyer and seller take a stick and place them on a step. They use one hand to tap the sticks, and whoever taps theirs further wins. If the buyer wins, they get to eat two sticks, which is why it is called 'one bets for two'.

As the children grow a bit older, they learn to do business by carrying baskets to sell boiled peanuts, and in the summer, they sell things like salted long beans, cooked peas, and ice-covered hawthorn berries (binghe). Although they do not make much profit, they learn the skills of running a small business from a young age. When they get even older, they can change what they sell based on the season, a practice known as 'zazhua'.

Beijing Niujie by Liu Dongsheng and Liu Shenglin.

18. A vendor selling sticky rice cake (qiegao) on Niujie Street.

Hui Muslims in Niujie sell many types of sticky rice cake (qiegao), all made from sticky flour using ingredients like glutinous rice (jiangmi) or broomcorn millet (huangmi). Sticky rice cakes evolved into many varieties like aiwowo, yellow bean flour cakes (huangmian doumiangao), rolling donkey cakes (ludagun), and the New Year rice cake mounds (niangao tuor) eaten around the Spring Festival. There is also a porridge-like dish made from yellow rice called mogao. These are all sticky rice products, but they are not considered qiegao.

The qiegao people usually talk about includes these types: cakes made from yellow flour with kidney beans or peas, steamed basin cakes (pengao) made with dates in a perforated basin, sticky rice flour cakes with red bean paste and dates, fermented bean cakes (douchigao) made by mixing sticky rice flour with crushed cooked kidney beans, and rolled cakes (juangao) filled with pea paste and red bean paste (these taste better when heated in a small steamer during winter). There are also New Year rice cakes (niangao) made from steamed sticky rice. Qiegao ingredients vary in quality, and the processing ranges from fine to coarse. Some are mixed with rice flour, commonly called benmian. This lower-quality version is cheaper, but many people still enjoy eating it. Qiegao vendors push a single-wheeled handcart with a long wooden cutting board on top. Near the handles, they stand a bamboo tube to hold money.

There are quite a few famous figures among qiegao vendors. In Niujie, there is a vendor known as Qiegao Zhang, whom everyone, young and old, calls Zhang Liuba. He is famous for his fermented bean cakes and rolled cakes, making him a standout among qiegao sellers. The sticky rice flour, pea paste, and red bean paste he uses for his qiegao are all passed through a fine sieve. His cart is also the most elaborate. The edges of the wooden board and the area around the bamboo tube are inlaid with white and red copper decorations, featuring the hollowed-out words 'Halal Hui Muslim' (Qingzhen Huihui). On the board sits a glass display case with three sides, and it is kept spotless along with his water kettle (tangping) sign. The wooden board is scrubbed so clean that the wood grain is clearly visible. Qiegao Zhang himself looks sharp, wearing a blue cloth jacket, white sleeves rolled up high, a white apron, and a white namaz cap. His cart shines brightly, and he looks full of energy. The qiegao he sells has layers of cake and red bean paste, topped with colorful candied fruit strips (qinghongsi), melon seeds, raisins, and other dried fruits. He also keeps a large bowl of fine white sugar and adds a spoonful for customers upon request. The cart carries a basin of water so he can wash the porcelain plates and bamboo chopsticks as he sells. In winter, when Qiegao Zhang sells his fermented bean cakes, he brings a small stove and a set of small steamers so the cakes are served hot. While other qiegao vendors may not be as meticulous as him, they still keep their carts very clean. Just looking at them makes people hungry.

A qiegao vendor might look like he is just one person pushing a cart down the street, but he is like an actor on stage, while his entire family, young and old, works behind the scenes. This involves grinding sticky rice into flour, boiling small beans into bean paste, and selecting and cooking small dates. After the cake is steamed, it is patted into sheets with a damp cloth, then filled with bean paste and dates. This is usually a full day's work for several people and requires skilled technique. Even so, their profits are not high, as they depend on sales and the weather. During holidays, besides selling from carts, they also make extra cake mounds (gaotuo) to sell, which brings in better income. Some cut-cake sellers gradually became wealthy through good business management. For example, Ma Baogui, known as 'Cut-Cake Ma,' later invested with his brother to open the Jubao Yuan beef and mutton shop on Niujie Street. From the 1940s until the public-private partnership era, it remained a leader among the beef and mutton shops on Niujie Street. As for other cut-cake sellers, most lived in precarious conditions with very unstable lives.

Beijing Niujie by Liu Dongsheng and Liu Shenglin.

19. Steamed corn buns (wotou) from the old neighbors of Niujie Street.

My mother not only steamed cornmeal buns (wotou) well, but she could also make cornmeal into many varieties, such as 'gold-wrapped-silver' flower rolls (jinguoyin huajuan) (a lovely name for flower rolls made with a small amount of white flour wrapped around cornmeal). Actually, these are just flower rolls made with a little white flour wrapped around cornmeal. She also made shaken dumplings (yaogogo) (cornmeal mixed with a little white flour, shaped into one-centimeter cubes, tossed in a basin with dry flour, and shaken like sweet rice balls (yuanxiao) until they form small spheres, then boiled and topped with fried sauce or gravy) and large-filling dumplings (datuanzi) (the 'large filling' was just cabbage or radish).

But let's not get sidetracked; let's talk about cornmeal buns (wotou) again. My mother's cornmeal buns (wotou) had some variety. Besides regular ones, she sometimes steamed salty ones. She would add salt, chopped green onions, and floating oil cracklings (fuyou zha) to the cornmeal. We Hui Muslims make these by chopping mutton and rendering the fat in a pot; the leftovers are the cracklings. Salty cornmeal buns taste so good! Sweet cornmeal buns (wotou) have a unique flavor. After fermenting the cornmeal, she added brown sugar and sometimes a few large red dates. Those buns were incredibly sweet and delicious, but they were a luxury we rarely ate throughout the year.

Memories of Niujie by Chen Chunxi

20. Soybean paste noodles (zhajiangmian) from the old neighbors of Niujie Street.

I remember when I was a child, my mother would often give me 14 cents and say, 'Go to Jubao Yuan and buy two taels of mutton, the fatty kind.' Today we are having noodles with fried sauce (zhajiangmian). After I bought the meat, my mother started frying the sauce (the sauce was also bought from Wanji Small Shop for 10 cents). She first chopped the mutton into small pieces, then prepared chopped green onions, sliced garlic, and minced ginger. She heated oil in a wok. Once hot, she stir-fried the meat. When the meat changed color, she added the onions, ginger, and garlic to bring out the aroma. Then she added the sauce, salt, and a little water, stirring constantly with a spatula. The sauce bubbled in the pot. She didn't rush; she fried it for a while until the fragrance came out, then took it off the heat. She poured the fried sauce into a bowl. Because the meat was fatty, a layer of oil floated on top, which looked delicious. The vegetable toppings were simple back then. You just shredded half a cabbage, blanched it in boiling water, and put it on a plate. In winter, you could also shred a 'heart-is-beautiful' radish (xinlimei) as a topping. You could also cut it into chunks to eat with noodles; it was crunchy and had a unique flavor. In summer, you would just scoop up a big bowl of noodles rinsed in cold water (guoshuimian), pour on some fried soybean paste (zhajiang), grab a whole cucumber, and sit on a small stool in the courtyard. Eating a mouthful of noodles with a bite of cucumber was wonderful. It was even better with two stalks of green garlic. Add a little vinegar to your fried soybean paste noodles for a better taste, don't forget!

Memories of Niujie by Chen Chunxi

21. The Barbecue King (Kaorou Wang) at Tianqiao.

The 'Barbecue King' (Kaorou Wang) is a Hui Muslim who has run a barbecue stall on the open ground west of the Tianqiao market for decades. Now there is a building next to his stall called the Fuyuanhao Restaurant, and the Barbecue King sets up his stall right outside it. In summer, he sells various braised noodles and quick-boiled tripe (baodu). Every year at the start of autumn (Liqiu), he adds grilled and shabu-shabu beef and lamb, as well as crabs from Shengfang Town. Many people in Beijing sell barbecue, but the one in Tianqiao is unique, and the iron grill grate he uses is truly different from the rest. Every autumn, people flock there to eat. Regardless of whether the weather is hot or cold, he always starts selling the new items on the day of the start of autumn. I passed by there last night and saw many people gathered around the fire eating, all of them sweating profusely. They say the Barbecue King got his name because his business is honest and he never mixes other meats with his beef and lamb, though his prices are a bit higher than elsewhere. I heard his prices this year are 40 copper coins per plate of meat, plus a 10-coin pot fee per person.

A Glimpse of Tianqiao, Chen Bao, August 13, 1927, by Mingong.

Others

1. Hui Muslim businesses roaming the streets and alleys.

'Miancha, get your millet flour porridge (miancha)!' The stalls selling millet flour porridge are often set up on the side of the road in busy areas. The front of the carrying pole holds a stove with a clay pot on top, simmering millet flour tea (miancha). A large square wooden tray sits on the edge of the pot, with a small deep copper basin resting on the side, filled with sesame paste, a small tube for sprinkling salt and pepper, and small enamel spoons in a blue-rimmed porcelain bowl. In the middle of the square tray sits a copper plaque inscribed with Arabic script or the Chinese characters for 'Halal Hui Muslim' (Qingzhen Huihui), and some even say 'Western Regions Hui Muslim' (Xiyu Huihui). Red cloth strips hang below the plaque, signaling that this is a traditional food business run by Hui Muslims. When serving, the vendor uses a betel nut-shaped spoon to scoop the millet flour tea into a bowl, then uses a pair of chopsticks to flick sesame paste from the small copper basin onto the tea quickly and evenly, before sprinkling salt and pepper over the top. When drinking the millet flour tea, you should sip it while rotating the bowl, or use the small enamel spoon to slide it along the edge; you must not mix the tea and sesame paste together, or it will thin out and lose its good flavor. view all

Reposted from the web

Summary: Beijing Muslim History: Old Halal Notes from the Southern City is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: Chongwen:. The account keeps its focus on Beijing Muslim History, Southern Beijing, Hui Muslims while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.

Table of Contents

Chongwen:

1. Douzhi Ding (Jinxin Douzhi Shop) at Huashi outside Chongwenmen

2. Rongxiangcheng Hui Muslim snack shop (Jinfang Snack Shop) outside Chongwenmen

Xuanwu:

1. Xianbing Porridge Shop at Meishi Bridge outside Qianmen

2. Yangtou Ma (Sheep Head Ma) at Langfang Ertiao outside Qianmen

3. Yitiaolong Mutton Restaurant outside Qianmen

4. Ai's steamed rice cake (aiwowowo) stall on Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen

5. Fushunzhai spiced beef shop at the south entrance of Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen

6. Bai's tofu pudding (doufunao) on Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen

7. Baodu Feng (quick-boiled tripe) on Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen

8. Niangao Wang (Rice Cake King) on Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen

9. Mujiazhai at Zangjia Bridge outside Qianmen

10. Xiangjugong halal pastry shop on Qianmen Street

11. Ha's sesame flatbread (shaobing) shop at Liulichang outside Hepingmen

12. Nanlaishun snack shop at Caishikou outside Xuanwumen

13. Zhengxingde tea house at Caishikou outside Xuanwumen

14. Scalded dough fried cake (tangmian zhagao) at the Hui Muslim breakfast shop a short distance left from the east entrance of Xiangluying Sitiao Hutong outside Xuanwumen

15. Jubaoyuan on Niujie

16. The large halal canteen at the north entrance of Niujie Street.

17. A child selling malt sugar sticks (maiyatang) on Niujie Street.

18. A vendor selling sticky rice cake (qiegao) on Niujie Street.

19. Steamed corn buns (wotou) from the old neighbors of Niujie Street.

20. Soybean paste noodles (zhajiangmian) from the old neighbors of Niujie Street.

21. The Barbecue King (Kaorou Wang) at Tianqiao.

Others:

1. Hui Muslim businesses roaming the streets and alleys.

2. A halal rice cake (niangao) stall at the temple fair.

3. Mutton stall (yangrou chuangzi).

4. Shopkeeper Hua, who sells beef head meat from a wheelbarrow.

5. Bai Family Sesame Flatbread Shop (shaobing pu).

6. A roasted mutton stall in the hutong.



Chongwen.

1. Douzhi Ding (Jinxin Douzhi Shop) at Huashi outside Chongwenmen

Douzhi Ding's stall is in front of the Fire God Temple (Huoshen Miao) on the north side of the road, in the middle-west section of Xihuashi.

The owner of Douzhi Ding's stall is naturally surnamed Ding; he is a Hui Muslim named Ding Derui. His stall is unique. It features a large table over three meters long and one meter wide, with long benches lined up in front. On the table are two glass covers; one protects various pickled vegetables and spicy shredded salted vegetables, while the other holds sesame flatbreads (shaobing), crispy fried dough rings (jiaoquan), and other staples. There are also two wooden signs on the table, carved with eight large characters: 'Hui Muslims from the Western Regions, Douzhi Ding's Shop'. Ding Derui follows old traditions to boil the mung bean milk (douzhi). He uses a large clay pot and a betel nut ladle (binglang shao), simmering it over a low fire while adding raw mung bean milk to the pot as it cooks. He makes his mung bean milk (douzhir) with the perfect thickness, so it does not settle or become watery. It tastes sour, fragrant, and sweet, making it very delicious and addictive.

Outside Hademen by Zhang Fan

The stall is located to the left of the Fire God Temple gate in West Huashi. It has tables facing west and opens every day at noon. The table is over 10 feet long with benches in front. Two large glass covers sit on top, protecting large fruit plates filled with pickled cabbage, pickled cucumbers, small pickled radishes, and pickled asparagus. Spicy mustard greens are served with the mung bean milk. In spring, they serve quick-pickled kohlrabi, and in winter, they serve spicy dried radish cubes. Customers who buy fine pickles get chili oil. The food includes sesame flatbread (shaobing) and fried dough rings (jiaoquan).

The owner, surnamed Ding, is a Hui Muslim. He keeps two wooden signs on his table with eight green-painted characters: Western Region Hui, Ding's Mung Bean Milk. Most customers are regulars who visit every day at the same time. On market days, the benches are full, and business is booming. In January 1958, food stalls were merged into cooperatives. Ding's Mung Bean Milk moved to Suanshikou and is now the Jinxin Mung Bean Milk Shop, which still follows the traditions of Ding's Mung Bean Milk.

Reminiscing about Hademen by Niu Qingshan

Ding's Mung Bean Milk started as a shoulder-pole business. He was the first to sell it, and he was already famous in Beijing during the Qing Dynasty. People called this Hui Muslim man and his carrying pole Ding's Mung Bean Milk. It was not until 1910 that the third generation of Ding's Mung Bean Milk set up a stall in front of the Fire God Temple in the middle of Huashi Street. They finally had a long table and a permanent large pot. For a mung bean milk business, this was considered very successful. That was a famous open-air snack street in Beijing, second only to Menkuang Hutong. At that time, various stalls lined up in front of the Fire God Temple, stretching east all the way to Yangshikou.

Blues in the South of the City by Xiao Fuxing

2. Rongxiangcheng Hui Muslim snack shop (Jinfang Snack Shop) outside Chongwenmen

Rongxiangcheng Snack Shop, located at 17 Hademen Outer Street, is a well-known eatery in the Chongwenmen area.

The shop opened in the early Republic of China period. The owner was Man Leting, known as Man Liu, a Hui Muslim from Shandong. The manager was Ai Lianying. The shop's sign, Rongxiangcheng, was inscribed by the famous scholar Jiang Chaozong.

Inside the shop, there is another plaque, Cangzhen, inscribed by the Zhili clique warlord Wu Peifu. The shop started by selling beef and mutton. By the 1940s, business improved significantly, and it expanded from two storefronts to four. As the business grew, they changed their strategy to combine the mutton trade with the snack trade (qin hang).

In the past, Beijing mutton shops were called mutton trades (yang hang), and their business was very seasonal. Since spring and summer are the growing seasons for sheep, they could not be slaughtered until after autumn. Because of this, people in the trade said, 'The mutton business is idle for half the year.' Old Beijingers also said, 'When visiting graves at Qingming, the mutton sellers close their doors.' To change this idle period, the shop adapted to market needs by buying Japanese refrigeration equipment. During spring and summer, they sold homemade popsicles, soda, and other frozen foods (leng shi). In autumn and winter, they focused on mutton again. This change kept them busy all year and made the shop's name increasingly famous.

In Beijing, this combined business model was common, with different terms: two shops under one manager was called 'four edges' (si ba bian), and renting out a portion to others was called 'carrying a robe' (tiao pao). Rongxiangcheng was the former, and their snack section focused on frozen foods, which was quite new at the time.

Just before the liberation, war blocked mutton shipments from Inner Mongolia to Beijing. The mutton trade plummeted, and Rongxiangcheng was no exception. At this time, Man Kaiqi, a fellow townsman of Man Leting, came to the shop. He came from a background in a traditional pastry shop (bobo pu). In the old snack trade, a pastry shop was considered lower in status than a bakery but higher than a restaurant. Rongxiangcheng simply stopped selling mutton and switched to snacks and frozen foods. Man Kaiqi's skills were put to good use. Under his management, they offered up to 20 varieties of snacks: sticky rice cake (qiegao), fried cake (zhagao), sesame ball (matuan), fried dough twist (mahua), sweet rice ball (yuanxiao), sugar ear (tangerduo), steamed rice cake (aiwowo), soybean flour cake (lvdagun), apricot tea (xingcha), millet porridge (miancha), tofu pudding (doufunao), sesame flatbread (shaobing), fried dough cake (youbing), and bean paste bun (doubao). This made Rongxiangcheng a famous Hui Muslim snack shop in the Chongwai area.

After the Cultural Revolution, Rongxiangcheng was renamed Jinfang Snack Shop. In the mid-1990s, due to the expansion of Chongwai Street, the shop moved to the Tianqiao intersection for a time. Its current location is on the east side of the south entrance of Chongwai Street. This time-honored shop in the South City has started its glorious journey once again.

Reminiscing about Hademen by Niu Qingshan

The place that stays in my memory the most is Jinfang Snack Shop. When I first returned to Beijing, it was winter, and it was still pitch black when I got up early for work. I didn't have time to eat breakfast at home, so I pushed my bike through the underpass and across the railway; down the slope was Baiqiao Street, and further west was Huashi Street. There were few people in the morning, the streetlights were dim, and it was very quiet; the northwest wind blowing head-on was so strong it made it hard to open my mouth. Luckily, after riding a short distance, I could see the bright lights of Jinfang Snack Shop on the north side of the road ahead. I locked my bike and lifted the cotton door curtain to go inside; the heat rushed into my face, and more than half of the chill on my body disappeared at once. My favorite thing to eat in this shop is the millet flour porridge (miancha); it is thick, fragrant, and hot enough to burn your mouth. You cannot rush drinking millet flour porridge; there is a trick to it: regular customers never use chopsticks or spoons, they rotate the bowl and drink from the edge, finishing it until the bottom is clean. With these two crispy fried dough rings (jiaoquan) and a bowl of millet flour porridge in my stomach, my whole body felt warm, and the next 40 minutes of the journey wouldn't leave me frozen with a twisted face and numb hands and feet.

Reading Beijing Figures: Impressions of Huashi (Postscript). Written by Chen Guangzhong.

Xuanwu.

1. Xianbing Porridge Shop at Meishi Bridge outside Qianmen

There are two meat pie and porridge shops at Meishi Bridge, and they are halal restaurants. These two shops have the same owner; one is on the east side of the road and the other is on the west, which is called one owner running two shops. They are open 24 hours a day without interruption; when the east shop puts up its door panels to close, the west shop takes its panels down to open, so customers can always get meat pies and porridge. Since it is a meat pie and porridge shop, the meat pies are naturally their specialty. The meat pies are filled with beef, also known as meat cakes (roubing); they are large, full of filling, and oily, which really satisfies a craving. If a guest asks for a full-sized meat pie (roubing), it is much larger than the standard version, measuring about 1.2 feet in diameter. Even someone with a big appetite cannot finish half of one.

Cuisine of East Beijing by Wu Zhengge

2. Yangtou Ma (Sheep Head Ma) at Langfang Ertiao outside Qianmen

Beijing lamb head is a local specialty. It is sliced as thin as paper and sprinkled with salt and pepper powder. Lamb head meat includes the cheek (lianzi), the tongue and root (xinzi), the roof of the mouth (tianhuaban), the tongue tip (tongtianti), the eyes, the hooves, and the tendons. Aside from the tendons, the cheek meat has the deepest flavor. The sellers of lamb head meat are all Hui Muslims. There was only one halal stall, located at the back door of the Yuxing Restaurant on Langfang Second Alley. The owner was a man named Ma who sold his own goods. Unlike other workshops that sold wholesale without cleaning, his meat was clean. He added five-spice powder to his salt and pepper, making it extra fragrant and clean. He also sold boiled beef tripe (niudu) at a very low price.

The Life of Old Beijingers by Jin Shushen

At the west entrance of Menkuang Hutong, there was a lamb head meat stall in front of the Yuxing Restaurant that was considered a famous local snack of the area. The vendor arrived every day near dusk. He brought his own light bulb and wire, which he connected to the restaurant's power to light up his stall. He used a special knife, one foot long and five inches wide, to slice the cheek, tongue (xinzi), and eyes for customers to enjoy with their drinks. When he sliced the cheek, he made it so thin it was almost transparent. He laid it on white paper, sprinkled salt and pepper from a long-necked glass bottle, mixed it by hand, and then wrapped it up. It tasted delicious. Customers loved the taste of the meat and admired the vendor's skill. Every night when the lights came on, a crowd would gather at the intersection of Langfang Second Alley and Menkuang Hutong to watch him slice the meat. People traveled from far away to Menkuang Hutong just to eat this lamb head meat. I once asked about that Hui Muslim vendor. I only knew his surname was Ma and he lived on Niujie. He likely passed away after the Cultural Revolution, and I do not know what happened to him.

Ye Zufu Talks About Beijing by Ye Zufu

3. Yitiaolong Mutton Restaurant outside Qianmen

Yitiao Long Lamb Restaurant processes its meat carefully and slices it very thin. After slaughtering and skinning the lamb, they select only the hind legs. They place the meat on a clean surface with natural water, cover it with a reed mat, place an oilcloth over the mat, and put a block of ice on top. This is called pressed meat (yarou). The meat is pressed for a full day and night to draw out the blood and impurities, which makes the meat firm and easy to slice. This pressed meat (ya rou) is better than frozen meat because frozen meat, like frozen cabbage, breaks down the lamb's texture and makes it lose its tender, savory flavor, which makes it taste bad. Yilong is just like Zhengyanglou; they slice the meat thinly and serve it on plates according to the cut. The seasonings are complete.

When eating hot pot lamb (shuan yangrou), people usually eat sesame flatbread (shaobing) as their staple food. The sesame flatbread (shaobing) at Nanhengshun (Wang Dongsi: Yilong's original name is Nanhengshun) is also different from other places; for every basin of dough, they use ten jin of flour, with nine jin of plain flour and one jin of leavened dough. Ten jin of flour requires one jin and two liang of sesame paste. The sesame flatbread (shaobing) is first seared on a griddle, then baked in an oven, searing the bottom first and then the sesame-topped side (just for a quick touch). This kind of sesame flatbread (shaobing) has plenty of sauce, is cooked through, and is perfectly flaky and crisp.

When customers are almost full, they order a bowl of Nanhengshun's homemade, thin and uniform mung bean mixed noodles (lvdou zamian) served dry. Mung bean mixed noodles (lvdou zamian) are great for cutting through the greasiness of meat; a bowl of these noodles absorbs the floating oil from the hot pot and cleanses the palate, making these thin and uniform noodles another specialty of Nanhengshun.

Miscellaneous Talks on Old Beijing by Wang Yongbin.

4. Ai's steamed rice cake (aiwowowo) stall on Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen

It is currently the first lunar month, the time when ai'ou wowos are on the market. Beijing's ai'ou wowos are similar to Fengtian's cool rice cakes (lianggao) and are both sold during the first lunar month, but ai'ou wowos are soft and delicious, and cannot be compared to cool rice cakes (lianggao). Cool rice cakes (lianggao) are made by steaming glutinous rice flour, using it as a wrapper, filling it with sesame and white sugar, and sprinkling it with rice flour. On the surface, they look like ai'ou wowos, but they are essentially just a variation of sticky rice cakes (niangao); after a while, when the wind blows on them, they still get hard.

Ai'ou wowos are made by boiling whole glutinous rice grains until cooked, waiting for all the steam to evaporate, and then putting them in a basin to form a soft, fluffy texture. Using this rice-grain texture, they wrap in various sweet fillings, sprinkle with glutinous rice flour, and add red dots to distinguish the types of fillings. This item is called an ai'ou wowo, which is also a type of cold snack. Isn't the Changdian temple fair happening right now? Ai'ou wowos are a seasonal treat, but for the best-looking and best-tasting ones, go to the entrance of Tongle Teahouse on Menkuang Hutong. There is a small cart there that is kept very clean. A Hui Muslim man sells ai'ou wowos there throughout the year. He uses real glutinous rice and good fillings. Eating a couple of his is a unique experience that you must try.

Beijing Dream Splendor Record by Mu Ruga.

5. Fushunzhai Beef Shop on Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen.

We must start with the famous Fushunzhai beef shop at the south entrance of the hutong. Its spiced beef (jiang niurou) is tender and delicious, easily matching the spiced lamb (jiang yangrou) from Yueshengzhai. They also use a pot of original beef broth to cook meat for sale every day, with a set amount sold at specific times, and it sells out very quickly. The shopkeeper is a Hui Muslim named Liu. Later, this spiced beef shop moved to Qianmen Street and merged with Yueshengzhai.

Ye Zufu Talks About Beijing by Ye Zufu

6. Baodu Feng in Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen.

Menkuang Hutong is full of individual stalls run by Hui Muslims. They pay attention to the hygiene of their utensils, and their food focuses on color, aroma, and taste, which attracts many customers and has earned them quite a reputation. Take Baodu Feng, which sells quick-boiled tripe (baodu). The lamb tripe and tripe kernels (duren) are cooked to the perfect texture—neither too tough nor too soft. The sauces, including fermented bean curd (jiang furu), chive flower paste (jiucaihua), and sesame paste (zhima jiang), are fresh and tasty, so the stall is full of customers every day who come for their fame.

Ye Zufu Talks About Beijing by Ye Zufu

7. Bai's Tofu Pudding (doufunao) in Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen.

Bai's Tofu Pudding is run by an elderly man named Bai. The tofu pudding is incredibly white and tender. The mushroom and lamb gravy (koumo zha yangrou lu) smells so good that it makes your mouth water from far away. When you eat it, you add chili oil or garlic sauce, which is truly wonderful. It is no wonder that many financial professionals in suits squeeze into the market, hunching over on small, narrow stools to enjoy this unique tofu pudding.

Bai's Tofu Pudding has a branch stall at the entrance of Guanghe Tower in the meat market, specifically for theatergoers watching Peking opera. Baodu Feng and Bai's Tofu Pudding also sell freshly baked sesame flatbreads (shaobing). Some individual vendors even bring small baskets of these flatbreads here to sell to customers.

Ye Zufu Talks About Beijing by Ye Zufu

8. Niangao Wang (Rice Cake King) on Menkuang Hutong outside Qianmen

Nian Gao Wang sells traditional northern-style rice cakes (niangao). They are made from glutinous rice or glutinous rice flour, with layers of red bean paste in the middle and topped with shredded green or red silk. Sometimes they also sell pea flour cakes (wandouhuang). In the summer, these rice cakes are kept on large blocks of natural ice to keep them cool and refreshing. In the winter, they are steamed in small bamboo steamers (longti) to keep them soft and hot. When selling them in winter, the vendor takes a plate of steaming rice cakes from the steamer and adds a spoonful of white sugar, making them taste even better.

Ye Zufu Talks About Beijing by Ye Zufu

9. Mujiazhai at Zangjia Bridge outside Qianmen

My grandmother's family ran a restaurant outside Qianmen at Zangjiaqiao called Mujiazhai, also known as Guangfuguan. If you ask the elders in the southern part of the city, they usually know it. The stir-fried dough bits (chaogeda) at Guangfuguan were made by my grandmother's family. My great-grandmother was a widow. To make a living, she set up a noodle stall selling rice porridge and flour-based foods to passing porters and laborers. My grandmother was also a widow. She managed my great-grandmother's business and worked incredibly hard to build this small restaurant. Two generations of widows ran the place. The name Guangfu uses homophones for the words meaning 'widow's shop.' People say the Little Prince Gong gave it this name to mark it as a widow's restaurant, and that is how it came to be. They specialized in stir-fried dough bits, and this dish became famous.

I heard from my grandmother that the Little Prince Gong loved listening to the operas of Shang Xiaoyun, so he was very close to him. When Shang Xiaoyun first met my grandmother, he thought she looked just like his own mother, from her height to her facial features. He said, 'Old lady, let me adopt you as my godmother!' After saying that, he knelt down and kowtowed, and from then on, she was his godmother. Shang Xiaoyun loved eating stir-fried dough bits, which influenced the Little Prince Gong. He often told the Prince, 'The stir-fried dough bits at my godmother's place are excellent.' The Prince was convinced, so he sent people to carry their own pots, pans, bowls, and stoves to eat there. He held a banquet at Guangfuguan in the private room on the second floor.

My mother invited Madame Mei Lanfang to dinner. Because my mother inherited my grandmother's skills, her stir-fried dough bits tasted different from everyone else's—they really had my grandmother's flavor. She invited Madame Mei, along with Mr. Shang Xiaoyun and his wife, to eat. Shang Xiaoyun was my grandmother's godson, so he just kept eating and eating. Madame Mei said, 'That is enough, brother, stop eating, you are going to burst.'

Born in the South of the City: Decades of Joy and Sorrow on the Stage—Oral history by the three Ma brothers. Ding Yizhuang

(Note by Wang Dongsi: The speaker is Ma Chongnian, nephew of Peking Opera master Ma Lianliang)

Stir-fried dough bits at Mujiazhai

Mujiazhai was a small shop, but it was crowded every day with customers waiting to eat the dough bits stir-fried by Sister-in-law Mu herself.

To make stir-fried dough bits, you knead the dough, cut it into dice-sized cubes, and then use your thumb to roll them into small shapes, which we Shanxi people call cat ears (maoerduo). First, you boil them, then stir-fry them with mung bean sprouts, shredded meat, and chives. The juices from the meat and vegetables soak into the dough bits, making them taste the best.

People say Sister-in-law Mu, like the Mapo of Chengdu's Mapo Tofu, first served her neighbors for free before her reputation spread and she became a professional.

In winter at Mujiazhai, you could still eat fresh spring and summer vegetables, such as Chinese toon (xiangchun) mixed with tofu, smashed cucumber, sugar and vinegar pickled dandelion greens (qumacaiya), and small radishes with sesame paste. People say the Mu family restaurant even had a special heated cellar (nuandongzi) to grow these fresh vegetables.

Food of the Hometown: Eating in Beiping. Liu Zhenwei

(Note by Wang Dongsi: The author was born in 1934.)

10. Xiangjugong halal pastry shop on Qianmen Street

Wang Dianwen personally oversaw the quality of the pastries (bobo). First, he hired experienced and skilled head pastry chefs (zhang'anren) with high salaries. Second, he insisted on buying high-quality raw materials for making the pastries. Back then, the white flour from Renhe Mill was fine, and the small-mill sesame oil from Xihongmen had a pure flavor; even though they were expensive, Xiangjugong still ordered from them. Sugar and other fruit ingredients were all top-tier products. For example, they paid high prices for the best red and white sugar, bought large thin-skinned walnuts from the Western Hills, sourced locust flower honey, and selected Miyun small dates, Western Hills roses, Shandong pears, Shenzhou honey peaches, and hawthorn jelly (jingao) from Jingao Zhang. Even for eggs, Xiangjugong had specific suppliers. Third, they strictly followed production procedures, from mixing the dough and fruit ingredients to the final baking, being very careful with every step. In the pastry industry, there is a saying: 'Thirty percent making, seventy percent baking.' This means that no matter how carefully or well you do the first few steps, if you do not control the oven fire at the end, the heat might be too high and burn them; or the heat might be too low, and they will not be cooked through. Therefore, in a pastry workshop, besides the head chef, the oven worker is the most important. The head chefs and oven workers hired by Xiangjugong were all highly skilled at the time.

Pastry products are seasonal; in the past, Beijingers ate specific pastries at specific times. For example, people ate sweet rice balls (yuanxiao) on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, sun cakes (taiyanggao) on the second day of the second month for the 'Dragon Raises Its Head' festival, wisteria cakes (tengluobing) when wisteria bloomed in the third month, sticky rice dumplings (zongzi) and five-poison cakes (wudubing) during the Dragon Boat Festival in the fifth month, mung bean cakes (lvdougao) to beat the heat in the sixth and seventh months, red and white mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival in the eighth month, flower cakes (huagao) for the 'climbing high' custom in the ninth month, and in the cold winter months, wealthy families ate hibiscus cakes (furonggao), while ordinary families ate oven-fired cakes (ganglu)—which were pastries made while testing the oven temperature that had rough, broken edges but were still high quality. Xiangjugong produced and supplied all these pastries on time. for holidays, the fasting month of Ramadan, the Eid al-Fitr celebration, and visiting relatives and friends, it was customary to use large and small gift sets (bajian) as presents. The small and large eight-piece pastries (ba jian) made by Xiangjugong are very famous in the southern part of Beijing.

Miscellaneous Talks on Old Beijing by Wang Yongbin.

11. Ha's sesame flatbread (shaobing) shop at Liulichang outside Hepingmen

Haji Sesame Flatbread Shop (Haji Shaobing Pu)

In my childhood memories, the snacks sold at Haji Sesame Flatbread Shop, located at the northeast corner of the east entrance of West Liulichang, were the most authentic.

This was a halal sesame flatbread shop opened by five brothers with the surname Ha. Compared to other nearby shops, it had a small storefront but the busiest business. Besides selling soy milk, sesame flatbreads (shaobing), and fried dough cakes (youbing), they also had snacks like top-grade sesame flatbreads (yipin shaobing), thick buns (dun bobo), and fried egg pockets (zha hebao). At that time, my favorite things to eat were thick buns and fried egg pockets.

Thick buns are small and made from leavened dough. They are mixed with lye, white sugar, and sweet osmanthus, then pinched into small pieces, pressed into thick, flat circles, and cooked over low heat on a griddle. After both sides turn yellow, they are baked in an oven until hard, without any burnt bits. After baking, a square or round red dot is stamped on them. The yellow and white colors with the red look beautiful, and they taste sweet, soft, and springy, with a bit of toughness that makes them great to chew. After chewing repeatedly, you can taste the faint wheat aroma from the leavened dough of the thick bun itself. The flavor is unique and makes my mouth water.

When mentioning fried egg pockets, some people might think it is just fried eggs, but that is not the case. Haji's fried egg pockets have a special flavor. They use dough for fried dough cakes, roll out two pieces of similar size, put them together, and pinch three sides shut to form a pocket, or what you could call a pouch shape. They crack an egg, pour it into the pocket, sprinkle a little salt, and then pinch the opening tight. They put it into a pan of oil and control the heat carefully. The fried pockets come out crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, suitable for both the old and the young.

"Our Old Beijing" by Li Weiji

Haji Kite Shop, Haji Restaurant

The location of "Haji Kite Shop" was at the north side of the east entrance of West Liulichang in the southern part of Beijing, which is the northwest corner of the intersection, today on the east side of Hongbaotang. It started as two sheds, then changed into two small storefront rooms. At that time, my grandfather and his fifth brother were local volunteer firefighters. If a fire broke out nearby, someone from the family had to go help put it out. In return, the fire brigade gave the two brothers two small rooms to stay in, and that is where they lived.

Although it was called the Haji Kite Shop, they did not sell kites all the time. Kite flying in Beijing was very seasonal, so they only sold kites from the Spring Festival until the third lunar month. During the other three seasons, they ran a Hui Muslim snack shop called the Haji Eatery. Later, they added a shed outside the rooms to block the wind and rain. It was bigger than the two rooms and served as a place for neighbors near Liulichang and passersby to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This was their main business.

The Haji Eatery sold sesame flatbread (shaobing) and fried dough twists (mahua) in the morning, and beef noodles and other meals at noon and night to support a family of several dozen people. Many neighbors nearby would buy on credit and settle their bills once a month. During the Spring Festival and the months of early spring, the eatery switched to selling kites to support the family.

Haji Kites by Ha Yiqi (Note by Wang Dongsi: The author is the fourth-generation successor of the Haji Kite tradition).

12. Nanlaishun snack shop at Caishikou outside Xuanwumen

Nanlaishun Snack Shop was a spacious hall. Aside from the door, there were snacks all around the perimeter, with rows of dining tables in the middle and square stools for customers to sit on. Let's start from the east door: to the left, from south to north, were all desserts. They mainly sold layered sticky rice cake (qiegao) here. I have loved eating this since I was a child. These cakes were placed on a large wooden board, about 60 centimeters wide, 80 centimeters long, and 10 centimeters thick, with four or five layers of bean paste and glutinous rice. The top of the layered sticky rice cake was decorated with large red dates, which looked very beautiful. Buying two liang (100 grams) of cake cost 8 cents per liang, so 16 cents total, plus two liang of food ration coupons. Even though it was only two liang, the master cutting the cake would use a long knife to slice it in one go, weigh it on a scale, and put it on a plate. The layers were clearly visible, and with white sugar sprinkled on top, it was incredibly tempting. One bite was full of fragrance and sweetness; it was delicious. Besides layered sticky rice cake, they sold various old Beijing sweet snacks, including steamed rice cakes (aiwowo), rolled glutinous rice rolls (lvdagun), honey fried dough twists (mi mahua, also called tang'erduo), sugar-filled baked cakes (tanghuoshao), steamed buns (dun'er bobo), and pea flour cakes (wandouhuang). If you love sweets, you will be satisfied here!

Let's talk about the long counter from east to west. They sold savory snacks here, such as tofu pudding (doufunao), soy milk, fried dough cakes (youbing), fried dough sticks (youtiao), ring-shaped fried dough (jiequan), crispy crackers (baocui), sesame flatbread (shaobing), baked cakes (huoshao), and twisted rolls (luosizhuan). The tofu pudding was authentic; the gravy was a masterpiece, made with minced meat, daylily buds, wood ear mushrooms, and eggs, with a layer of Sichuan peppercorn oil floating on top. It cost one liang of food ration coupons and 8 cents a bowl. When the server scooped up the tender white tofu and poured the gravy over it, then sprinkled a pinch of cilantro on top, a tempting bowl of tofu pudding was handed to you. If you like it spicy, there were chili oil, minced garlic, and vinegar on the table for you to add yourself. If you bought two freshly baked sesame flatbreads and a fried dough cake, hey, you had a complete, delicious breakfast.

After finishing the east-to-west section, let's turn to the counter from north to south. They mainly sold meat pies here, with beef and green onion filling (I don't remember if they had meat-filled pancakes). The meat pies here were another specialty. You could smell the aroma from far away. As you got closer, you could not only smell them but also hear the tempting sizzling sound as they were being pan-fried. You could not only hear it but see it too. The master chef worked right behind the counter, so every customer could watch the whole process of making the meat pie (roubing). When you saw those golden-brown meat pies sizzling with oil and smelling so good, how could you not want to try one?

They also sold red bean porridge (xiaodouzhou) and sticky rice porridge (jiangmizhou). If you came for lunch, you could order two meat pies and a bowl of red bean porridge. With sliced salted vegetables on the table, tell me, doesn't that sound wonderful?

Memories of Niujie by Chen Chunxi

13. Zhengxingde tea house at Caishikou outside Xuanwumen

In the 1950s and 60s, my mother always walked from Niujie to Caishikou to buy tea at the old shop Zhengxingde. It was a halal tea shop, and most Niujie residents went there. She usually bought the tea that cost 40 cents per liang, which smelled quite fragrant when brewed. I often went with my mother to buy tea. As soon as we stepped into the shop, we smelled the jasmine tea. That scent has stayed in my memory ever since.

Back then, they did not use plastic bags. Everything was wrapped by hand in paper. The clerk would wrap it however the customer wanted, like buying four liang and splitting it into two two-liang packages. If you bought one jin, they would make two half-jin packages. Of course, some people just bought one package. The clerk's wrapping technique was amazing. They folded the paper into a perfect square that looked very solid. Then they stacked the two packages together, tied them with a paper string in a cross pattern, and made a handle on top so the customer could just hook a finger through and carry it away. That tea package was quite stylish at the time. During holidays when visiting relatives and friends, you would place the tea package on the table, and it looked both grand and traditional.

Memories of Niujie by Chen Chunxi

14. Scalded dough fried cake (tangmian zhagao) at the Hui Muslim breakfast shop a short distance left from the east entrance of Xiangluying Sitiao Hutong outside Xuanwumen

When I think of the hot-water dough fried cake (tangmian zhagao), I don't know why this simple old Beijing snack has disappeared from the streets and restaurants. Actually, in the 1950s and 60s, almost every snack shop run by Hui Muslims sold them. they were an essential snack at temple fairs in the capital back then.

When I was a child in the early 1950s, a breakfast shop run by Hui Muslims just a short walk from the east end of our alley sold these fried cakes. These fried cakes were flat and round, and they turned brown or dark red after being deep-fried. I remember some shops sold hot-water dough fried cakes (tangmian zhagao) that seemed to have a red stamp-like mark on one side. I do not know what the character was, but it looked very unique.

The preparation method is said to be simple: pour near-boiling water into a measured amount of flour, then stir and knead it until smooth. Then, mix brown sugar or white sugar with a little dry flour to make the filling. After wrapping the filling inside, pat it into a flat round shape by hand, drop it into a pot of oil to fry, and once both sides turn brownish-red (or dark red), use a strainer to scoop it out for sale.

The hot-water dough fried cake fresh out of the pot tastes a bit crispy, a bit sweet, and seems to have a bit of chewiness. The filling inside is like an open honey pot, thick, fragrant, and sweet, with a unique flavor. People say every shop or individual selling hot-water dough fried cakes has their own special tricks, but these mostly come down to heat control, the filling, and kneading techniques. I thought the hot-water dough fried cake was delicious when I ate it at a snack shop, and I heard that the owner added a little osmanthus to the filling.

Casual Talk on Beijing Past: Beijing Snacks Fried Cakes and Hot-Water Dough Fried Cakes. Ma Tianji

15. Jubaoyuan on Niujie

Jubaoyuan is located in the middle section of Niujie Street, at the corner of Shouliu Hutong on the east side of the road. It has two storefronts, and above the door hangs a black plaque with gold characters written in vigorous regular script: Jubaoyuan Beef and Mutton Shop. Inside the door is a large wooden counter, and on the counter are two large white square enamel trays containing ground beef and mutton. Above the counter is an iron pipe with many iron hooks, from which trimmed beef and mutton hang for customers to choose from. Meat was very cheap back then; mutton was 71 cents a jin, and beef was 70 cents a jin. My mother often sent me to buy meat. She would give me 14 cents and say, 'Go to Jubaoyuan and buy two liang of mutton. Get the fatty kind; we are having soybean paste noodles (zhajiangmian) today.' Because I went there so often, I got to know the salesperson. In my memory, the meat seller was a young man named Ma. He was fair-skinned, had a long face, and was very friendly to people. Everyone called him Little Ma. As soon as I arrived, he would say to me, 'Xiao Si, you are here. How much are you buying?' 'Do you want beef or mutton?' Are you having soybean paste noodles (zhajiangmian) again? I said, "Give me two liang of lamb, and make it fatty." "Alright!" Little Ma quickly cut the meat for me, weighed it, and handed it over, saying, "Here you go!" At this point, you might ask: why buy fatty meat? To be honest, I am talking about the 1950s and 60s. Life was hard back then. You needed a ration book or coupons to buy anything. Each person only got half a jin of cooking oil a month, which was never enough. That is why we bought fatty meat; it made the fried sauce smell so good!

Memories of Niujie by Chen Chunxi

16. The large halal canteen at the north entrance of Niujie Street.

This canteen had no formal name, but in my memory, it was just called the "Niujie Halal Canteen," and it was state-run. It was not until the late 1970s that it was renamed "Liangyixuan." The sign was written by Yang Jingren.

This big canteen was very popular with the locals, and it was always crowded for all three meals. For breakfast, they served sesame flatbread (shaobing), spiral rolls (luosizhuan), steamed buns (dun'er bobo), soy milk, and tofu pudding (doufunao). These were all snacks Beijingers loved, and they tasted great. The beef and green onion steamed buns (baozi) were especially good. They cost ten cents each and were delicious. One bite and the oil would ooze out, revealing a solid meatball inside. If you had a bowl of red bean porridge and two liang of buns, you had a complete breakfast.

At noon, they served main meals, mostly rice and stir-fried dishes. They had other things too, like stir-fried flatbread (chaobing). They made two kinds: vegetarian and meat, served in half-jin portions. The vegetarian one cost 25 cents and half a jin of grain coupons, while the meat one cost 30 cents and half a jin of grain coupons. The flatbread was stir-fried perfectly, with great color, smell, and taste. It was truly delicious. The stir-fried dishes were also very authentic. They were mostly home-style dishes, both vegetarian and meat. The cheapest vegetarian dish, braised fried tofu puffs (shaodou Pao), was only 25 cents, and meat dishes were only 30 or 40 cents. The braised eggplant (shao qiezi) there tastes amazing. The vegetarian version is 28 cents, and the meat version is 36 cents. It is a truly authentic Beijing flavor. Also, their pan-seared lamb (guota yangrou), stir-fried egg with vinegar (culiu muxu), and stir-fried lamb with scallions (congbao yangrou) have a unique taste and capture the special style of old Beijing cuisine.

When the weather gets cold, they also serve hot pot (shuanguozi), with lamb slices (shuan yangrou) and beef tripe (shuan baiye), which are all very good. I watched the chef slice the lamb myself. On a large cutting board, he had a fresh piece of lamb leg. He held the meat down with his left hand, using a white cloth on top of the meat—perhaps to keep it from slipping—and held a knife in his right hand. The knife was over a foot long and two inches wide with a square tip, and it looked very sharp. I saw the chef rub, pull, and swipe the knife across the meat, and a paper-thin slice of lamb fell away. His movements were very fast, and he filled a large plate in no time. Just go ahead and eat; it is guaranteed to be fresh and tender.

Memories of Niujie by Chen Chunxi

17. A child selling malt sugar sticks (maiyatang) on Niujie Street.

In Niujie, when children are just five or six years old, their parents give them a cardboard cigarette box. The four corners of the box are tied with thin strings, and it is filled with malt sugar sticks (maiyatang gun). The children walk through the alleys calling out, 'One bets for two!' This is a type of gambling business. If you do not gamble, one copper coin buys one malt sugar stick. If you want to gamble, both the buyer and seller take a stick and place them on a step. They use one hand to tap the sticks, and whoever taps theirs further wins. If the buyer wins, they get to eat two sticks, which is why it is called 'one bets for two'.

As the children grow a bit older, they learn to do business by carrying baskets to sell boiled peanuts, and in the summer, they sell things like salted long beans, cooked peas, and ice-covered hawthorn berries (binghe). Although they do not make much profit, they learn the skills of running a small business from a young age. When they get even older, they can change what they sell based on the season, a practice known as 'zazhua'.

Beijing Niujie by Liu Dongsheng and Liu Shenglin.

18. A vendor selling sticky rice cake (qiegao) on Niujie Street.

Hui Muslims in Niujie sell many types of sticky rice cake (qiegao), all made from sticky flour using ingredients like glutinous rice (jiangmi) or broomcorn millet (huangmi). Sticky rice cakes evolved into many varieties like aiwowo, yellow bean flour cakes (huangmian doumiangao), rolling donkey cakes (ludagun), and the New Year rice cake mounds (niangao tuor) eaten around the Spring Festival. There is also a porridge-like dish made from yellow rice called mogao. These are all sticky rice products, but they are not considered qiegao.

The qiegao people usually talk about includes these types: cakes made from yellow flour with kidney beans or peas, steamed basin cakes (pengao) made with dates in a perforated basin, sticky rice flour cakes with red bean paste and dates, fermented bean cakes (douchigao) made by mixing sticky rice flour with crushed cooked kidney beans, and rolled cakes (juangao) filled with pea paste and red bean paste (these taste better when heated in a small steamer during winter). There are also New Year rice cakes (niangao) made from steamed sticky rice. Qiegao ingredients vary in quality, and the processing ranges from fine to coarse. Some are mixed with rice flour, commonly called benmian. This lower-quality version is cheaper, but many people still enjoy eating it. Qiegao vendors push a single-wheeled handcart with a long wooden cutting board on top. Near the handles, they stand a bamboo tube to hold money.

There are quite a few famous figures among qiegao vendors. In Niujie, there is a vendor known as Qiegao Zhang, whom everyone, young and old, calls Zhang Liuba. He is famous for his fermented bean cakes and rolled cakes, making him a standout among qiegao sellers. The sticky rice flour, pea paste, and red bean paste he uses for his qiegao are all passed through a fine sieve. His cart is also the most elaborate. The edges of the wooden board and the area around the bamboo tube are inlaid with white and red copper decorations, featuring the hollowed-out words 'Halal Hui Muslim' (Qingzhen Huihui). On the board sits a glass display case with three sides, and it is kept spotless along with his water kettle (tangping) sign. The wooden board is scrubbed so clean that the wood grain is clearly visible. Qiegao Zhang himself looks sharp, wearing a blue cloth jacket, white sleeves rolled up high, a white apron, and a white namaz cap. His cart shines brightly, and he looks full of energy. The qiegao he sells has layers of cake and red bean paste, topped with colorful candied fruit strips (qinghongsi), melon seeds, raisins, and other dried fruits. He also keeps a large bowl of fine white sugar and adds a spoonful for customers upon request. The cart carries a basin of water so he can wash the porcelain plates and bamboo chopsticks as he sells. In winter, when Qiegao Zhang sells his fermented bean cakes, he brings a small stove and a set of small steamers so the cakes are served hot. While other qiegao vendors may not be as meticulous as him, they still keep their carts very clean. Just looking at them makes people hungry.

A qiegao vendor might look like he is just one person pushing a cart down the street, but he is like an actor on stage, while his entire family, young and old, works behind the scenes. This involves grinding sticky rice into flour, boiling small beans into bean paste, and selecting and cooking small dates. After the cake is steamed, it is patted into sheets with a damp cloth, then filled with bean paste and dates. This is usually a full day's work for several people and requires skilled technique. Even so, their profits are not high, as they depend on sales and the weather. During holidays, besides selling from carts, they also make extra cake mounds (gaotuo) to sell, which brings in better income. Some cut-cake sellers gradually became wealthy through good business management. For example, Ma Baogui, known as 'Cut-Cake Ma,' later invested with his brother to open the Jubao Yuan beef and mutton shop on Niujie Street. From the 1940s until the public-private partnership era, it remained a leader among the beef and mutton shops on Niujie Street. As for other cut-cake sellers, most lived in precarious conditions with very unstable lives.

Beijing Niujie by Liu Dongsheng and Liu Shenglin.

19. Steamed corn buns (wotou) from the old neighbors of Niujie Street.

My mother not only steamed cornmeal buns (wotou) well, but she could also make cornmeal into many varieties, such as 'gold-wrapped-silver' flower rolls (jinguoyin huajuan) (a lovely name for flower rolls made with a small amount of white flour wrapped around cornmeal). Actually, these are just flower rolls made with a little white flour wrapped around cornmeal. She also made shaken dumplings (yaogogo) (cornmeal mixed with a little white flour, shaped into one-centimeter cubes, tossed in a basin with dry flour, and shaken like sweet rice balls (yuanxiao) until they form small spheres, then boiled and topped with fried sauce or gravy) and large-filling dumplings (datuanzi) (the 'large filling' was just cabbage or radish).

But let's not get sidetracked; let's talk about cornmeal buns (wotou) again. My mother's cornmeal buns (wotou) had some variety. Besides regular ones, she sometimes steamed salty ones. She would add salt, chopped green onions, and floating oil cracklings (fuyou zha) to the cornmeal. We Hui Muslims make these by chopping mutton and rendering the fat in a pot; the leftovers are the cracklings. Salty cornmeal buns taste so good! Sweet cornmeal buns (wotou) have a unique flavor. After fermenting the cornmeal, she added brown sugar and sometimes a few large red dates. Those buns were incredibly sweet and delicious, but they were a luxury we rarely ate throughout the year.

Memories of Niujie by Chen Chunxi

20. Soybean paste noodles (zhajiangmian) from the old neighbors of Niujie Street.

I remember when I was a child, my mother would often give me 14 cents and say, 'Go to Jubao Yuan and buy two taels of mutton, the fatty kind.' Today we are having noodles with fried sauce (zhajiangmian). After I bought the meat, my mother started frying the sauce (the sauce was also bought from Wanji Small Shop for 10 cents). She first chopped the mutton into small pieces, then prepared chopped green onions, sliced garlic, and minced ginger. She heated oil in a wok. Once hot, she stir-fried the meat. When the meat changed color, she added the onions, ginger, and garlic to bring out the aroma. Then she added the sauce, salt, and a little water, stirring constantly with a spatula. The sauce bubbled in the pot. She didn't rush; she fried it for a while until the fragrance came out, then took it off the heat. She poured the fried sauce into a bowl. Because the meat was fatty, a layer of oil floated on top, which looked delicious. The vegetable toppings were simple back then. You just shredded half a cabbage, blanched it in boiling water, and put it on a plate. In winter, you could also shred a 'heart-is-beautiful' radish (xinlimei) as a topping. You could also cut it into chunks to eat with noodles; it was crunchy and had a unique flavor. In summer, you would just scoop up a big bowl of noodles rinsed in cold water (guoshuimian), pour on some fried soybean paste (zhajiang), grab a whole cucumber, and sit on a small stool in the courtyard. Eating a mouthful of noodles with a bite of cucumber was wonderful. It was even better with two stalks of green garlic. Add a little vinegar to your fried soybean paste noodles for a better taste, don't forget!

Memories of Niujie by Chen Chunxi

21. The Barbecue King (Kaorou Wang) at Tianqiao.

The 'Barbecue King' (Kaorou Wang) is a Hui Muslim who has run a barbecue stall on the open ground west of the Tianqiao market for decades. Now there is a building next to his stall called the Fuyuanhao Restaurant, and the Barbecue King sets up his stall right outside it. In summer, he sells various braised noodles and quick-boiled tripe (baodu). Every year at the start of autumn (Liqiu), he adds grilled and shabu-shabu beef and lamb, as well as crabs from Shengfang Town. Many people in Beijing sell barbecue, but the one in Tianqiao is unique, and the iron grill grate he uses is truly different from the rest. Every autumn, people flock there to eat. Regardless of whether the weather is hot or cold, he always starts selling the new items on the day of the start of autumn. I passed by there last night and saw many people gathered around the fire eating, all of them sweating profusely. They say the Barbecue King got his name because his business is honest and he never mixes other meats with his beef and lamb, though his prices are a bit higher than elsewhere. I heard his prices this year are 40 copper coins per plate of meat, plus a 10-coin pot fee per person.

A Glimpse of Tianqiao, Chen Bao, August 13, 1927, by Mingong.

Others

1. Hui Muslim businesses roaming the streets and alleys.

'Miancha, get your millet flour porridge (miancha)!' The stalls selling millet flour porridge are often set up on the side of the road in busy areas. The front of the carrying pole holds a stove with a clay pot on top, simmering millet flour tea (miancha). A large square wooden tray sits on the edge of the pot, with a small deep copper basin resting on the side, filled with sesame paste, a small tube for sprinkling salt and pepper, and small enamel spoons in a blue-rimmed porcelain bowl. In the middle of the square tray sits a copper plaque inscribed with Arabic script or the Chinese characters for 'Halal Hui Muslim' (Qingzhen Huihui), and some even say 'Western Regions Hui Muslim' (Xiyu Huihui). Red cloth strips hang below the plaque, signaling that this is a traditional food business run by Hui Muslims. When serving, the vendor uses a betel nut-shaped spoon to scoop the millet flour tea into a bowl, then uses a pair of chopsticks to flick sesame paste from the small copper basin onto the tea quickly and evenly, before sprinkling salt and pepper over the top. When drinking the millet flour tea, you should sip it while rotating the bowl, or use the small enamel spoon to slide it along the edge; you must not mix the tea and sesame paste together, or it will thin out and lose its good flavor.

The front carrying pole holds a large square wooden basin, and a copper plaque reading 'Western Regions Hui Muslim' (Xiyu Huihui) is displayed on the tray. In the center of the tray sits a copper pot filled with a savory sauce made from beef or lamb and button mushrooms (koumo). A long-handled flat copper spoon is used to serve the sauce, and spare bowls, small enamel spoons, and seasonings are placed on the edge of the tray. The rear carrying pole holds a deep, straight-sided pot filled with soft tofu custard (doufunao). The pot is wrapped in a cotton cover to keep it warm, as this tofu custard is much softer than standard firm tofu (laodoufu); eating a bowl of tofu custard topped with savory sauce, with garlic juice or chili oil added to taste, and served with sesame flatbread (shaobing) or baked wheat cake (huoshao), makes for an affordable and delicious meal. The tofu custard vendor does not travel through the alleys but stays parked at the street corner.

The vendor selling starch jelly sheets (fenpi) with sauce arrives, carrying a pot of beef or lamb and button mushroom sauce along with stacks of prepared starch jelly sheets, though some vendors make the sheets fresh on the spot; this is another unique food made by Hui Muslims. Every day after noon, the starch jelly sheet vendor goes out to walk the streets and alleys; some residents in the alleys bring their own bowls to take the food home, while passersby eat right at the stall using the bowls and chopsticks provided by the vendor. On a hot summer day, buying a bowl of sliced starch jelly sheets topped with a handful of shredded cucumber, even with the savory sauce, feels refreshing and light rather than greasy.

'Beef liver, beef!' 'Beef head!' The vendor pushes a single-wheeled cart with a cutting board and round bamboo steamers containing soy-braised beef, soy-braised beef tripe, beef tripe, beef offal, and beef head meat. to selling while walking the streets during the day, they also do business at night. The cart also hangs a 'Western Regions Hui Muslim' (Xiyu Huihui) copper plaque, so at a glance, you know it is a business run by Hui Muslims.

Customs and Anecdotes: Walking the streets and alleys to sell snacks. Liu Jiuru

2. A halal rice cake (niangao) stall at the temple fair.

The halal rice cake (nian gao) stalls at temple fairs change with the seasons and have everything you could want. In summer, they sell iced rice cakes and sticky rice dumplings (zongzi). In spring and autumn, they offer fried cakes (zha gao), cold rice cakes, lotus root with sticky rice (nuomi ou), steamed rice flour cakes (aiwowo), and rolled soybean flour cakes (ludagun). Only the "vegetarian dish" (su cai) is sold for three seasons.

The "vegetarian dish" is a type of honey-preserved tea snack. It is mainly made of fried sweet potato chips, mixed with honey dates, dried apricots, fried lotus root pieces, hawthorn cake, and green plums. It is then tossed in honey syrup and sold by weight. Fried sweet potato chips make up eighty percent of this dish, and they are the tastiest and most popular part. They are crispy, sweet, and crunchy, and the honey is not sticky, so you do not get tired of eating them even if you have a lot. The other ingredients have their own candied flavors and cost more than the sweet potato chips. As a tea snack, it is a top-tier treat. As for why it is called a "vegetarian dish," the reason is not clear.

Fried cakes (zha gao) are also a halal food, made by wrapping red bean paste in yellow millet flour and deep-frying it. They are also sweet, sticky, and crispy, but unlike the "vegetarian dish," they are not only found at temple fair stalls. Fried cakes can be seen everywhere. Products from halal stalls share one common advantage: they are clean and hygienic, which gives people peace of mind.

Memories of Snacks: Jin Yunzhen

3. Mutton stall (yangrou chuangzi).

Look at how clean the larger mutton stalls (yangrou chuangzi) are. The table for the mutton and the poles for hanging the meat are scrubbed until they are spotless. The edges of the table are lined with copper nails that are always polished until they shine.

The scale on the counter has a white copper pan, white copper chains, and a white copper weight. The Hui Muslim shopkeeper always handles it with a loud clatter, banging and crashing it down. He picks it up and drops it several times; I guess that is just the custom at the mutton stall (yangrou chuangzi).

In the old days, Beijing did not seem to have slaughterhouses, because sheep were slaughtered right at the door of the mutton stall. At a large mutton stall, early every morning, five or six large sheep would be tied up with a wooden blood basin placed nearby, waiting for the head imam (ahong) to come and recite prayers.

The Muslim imam, wearing a grey cotton robe and a black mandarin jacket (magua), would arrive by rickshaw—since he had to visit many mutton stalls each morning, he traveled by rickshaw to make his rounds—carrying a cloth bag containing the knives for slaughtering the sheep. When he reached the counter, he would take out his knife, mutter a prayer, and with one swift stroke across the sheep's neck held down by two young men, the blood would pour out; the sheep would stretch its legs, twitch a few times, and then go still.

Afterward, they would peel off the skin, cut off the head, chop off the hooves, remove the offal, wash everything clean with water, and hang the meat on a pole using copper meat hooks. Look at how fatty it is!

When it comes to northern sheep, few can compare to them, except for those from the Northwest. In the summer, they graze on green grass, becoming round and plump with thick wool, and their large tails drag behind them like a big pot lid.

If you go to a large mutton stall in the winter to buy meat for hot pot (shuan guozi), they will always take good care of you. There are cuts of meat like the neck (shangnao'er), the leg muscle (huangguatiao), the flank (yaowo), and the brisket (sancha'er); they cut exactly what you point to, and they have everything you could want. Once you leave Beijing, you can find mutton hot pot everywhere, but it is just mutton!

I remember before the war, in the old capital, one silver dollar could buy four jin of good mutton delivered to your door. Add some cabbage and glass noodles (fentiao), and one dollar's worth of meat was enough to feed three or four people. It was warm and satisfying; it was wonderful.

In the summer, every mutton stall sells fried mutton (shao yangrou). The meat, just out of the fryer, is placed on a large copper tray, and the aroma is so strong you can smell it from a mile away.

For an afternoon snack, if you have a few coins, you can buy a pair of sheep hooves or a piece of shank (jianzi), and eat it with two sesame flatbreads (shaobing); it is incredibly delicious. If you bring home a large sheep head, your family can make some pancakes, boil a pot of rice porridge (shui fan), and on a hot day, it is neither greasy nor too heavy, and it really satisfies your cravings. The sheep neck has a bit more meat and is even better to eat than the head.

If your family is small, dinner is easy to put together. Just take a pot to the mutton stall, buy seven or eight mao worth of fried mutton, and tell the shopkeeper, 'Boss, add some extra broth!' Once you get home, bring the pot of meat and broth to a boil, add a few coins' worth of noodles, and you have fried mutton noodles. Forget about leaving Beiping.

Most lamb stalls (yangrou chuangzi) have a separate area to sell lamb buns (yangrou baozi) to go. They squeeze the dough into shape with their hands. In winter, they are filled with lamb and cabbage, and in summer, lamb and chives. Every time a steamer is ready, the apprentice shouts: 'Lamb buns are here!' Fresh from the steamer, get them while they're hot!

Some lamb stalls also sell medicine. They hang a sign nearby that says 'Lamb Liver Eye-Brightening Pills' (yanggan mingmu wan), and they are all tested and approved with a license from the health bureau. Some also sell sesame paste flatbread (zhima jiang shaobing) and brown sugar cakes (tang huoshao), which are made with flour and brown sugar. They are yellowish and stamped with a red mark on top. They also carry honey-glazed fried dough twists (mi mahua), which are extremely sweet. That is the full range of side businesses found at a lamb stall.

Some lamb stalls also sell pickled cabbage (suancai). Whatever amount you buy, they tie it up with a piece of iris grass (malian cao) and hand it to you. If you buy some lamb to go with it, you can make a pot of hot lamb and pickled cabbage noodle soup. It is warm, refreshing, and delicious!

Mentioning pickled cabbage reminds me of winters in the old capital, when every family used small coal-ball stoves. Impatient people couldn't wait for the fire to catch properly, so they would bring the stove inside while it was still emitting blue flames. The coal gas could suffocate a person. Every winter, quite a few people actually died from this. The special remedy for 'coal gas poisoning' didn't require going to a pharmacy or calling a doctor. You just had to go to a lamb stall, buy a large portion of pickled cabbage, ask for extra broth, and pour the ice-cold, teeth-chattering cabbage soup into the victim's mouth. For mild cases, a few sips of the sour, cool liquid would make them feel better in no time.

Beiping Customs: Lamb Stalls. Chen Hongnian

4. Shopkeeper Hua, who sells beef head meat from a wheelbarrow.

Back then, the street cry went like this: 'Beef liver!' Beef head meat! Beef liver for sale, hey, hey! Beef head meat for sale! The wheelbarrow creaked as it rolled over the fallen leaves of late autumn, sometimes accompanied by a few drifting snowflakes. With the weather turning hot and cold, it is the perfect time for nourishing food. Most families can afford a few ounces of beef head meat, which is reasonably priced and tastes pretty good. My grandmother never bought from strangers; she only trusted the halal shop run by Manager Hua.

Manager Hua told me his ancestors had been doing this for generations. They never opened a storefront, but followed the tradition of walking through the streets and alleys to sell their goods. Manager Hua’s beef head meat was so popular that even if he went as far as Qianmen, he would always sell out completely. Whether they wore long gowns or mandarin jackets, everyone loved this treat. If he ran into military officers or police, he had to bow and scrape, and even offer a little bribe.

Halal means being particular. The slaughter is handled by an imam, who performs the proper rites before the blade draws blood, showing respect for a life. When you think about it, a cow works hard its whole life, only occasionally rolling its eyes or acting stubborn, but it never misses a day of work. Even when it can no longer walk, it gives its life for humans, making it a creature worthy of respect. Halal means being clean. There is not a single flaw, as they always strive for perfection. For so many years, as long as a shop has a halal sign, I trust it. I can eat the meat with peace of mind. Halal means being honest. They do not cheat people, shortchange them, or take advantage of the small, perhaps because these rules have been passed down for so many years. Halal means being loyal. As long as you visit his business often and become a regular customer, he will never overcharge you. Instead, he will always give you a little extra on the house.

Shopkeeper Hua lived in the crowded courtyard behind my grandmother's house, where a dozen families all ran small businesses to make a livi view all