Chapter 20 Memories

In the old days, the busiest area of ​​Longfusi Street was the section from the Shanmen Gate of Longfu Temple to the east entrance of the street. There are four main types of shops in this section of the street: one is the book shop. In the late Qing Dynasty, there were Tonglitang, Tianhui Pavilion, Baoshutang, later there were Sanhuaitang, Juzhen Pavilion, etc., and the last one to close down was Xiulongtang, which lasted until the early 1960s. , sub, set of thread-bound books.The second is the photo studio. Photography technology was introduced in the late Qing Dynasty, and it was a new thing. When people went to temple fairs, they often took a photo in the photo studio.At that time, there were many props and scenery in the photo studio, which seems ridiculous now. The scenery is naturally pavilions, tables, chairs and furniture, and there are also costume photography.Taking a picture or dreaming of being a rich man, or reliving the addiction to the theater, satisfies the interests of ordinary citizens.Speaking of the photo studio of Longfu Temple, Chong Yi, a recent person, recorded in "Miscellaneous Records of the Government and the Field since Daoxian" that Yang Yuanshan and Hongji Photo Studio were the first to open a photo studio in the south of Miaoxi Road. It is true that the photo studios are all their disciples and grandchildren.With the reconstruction of Longfu Temple, these photo studios closed down one after another. Today, only the Beijing Photo Studio next to Changhong Cinema is left. It can be said that it is the only photo studio with the longest history in Longfu Temple.The third is the flower shop. The flower shop in Longfu Temple is not as good as the flower shop in Huguo Temple in Xicheng. However, the business is very prosperous around the Spring Festival. A flower essential to the atmosphere.These flower shops also sell flower pots, flower seeds and fertilizers. What impresses me the most is that every spring, every flower shop sells horseshoes and horseshoe water at the entrance, and there is always a stench of horseshoes as soon as you pass by the door. Son.

The fourth type of shop is considered a restaurant. The most famous restaurant in Longfu Temple is Fuquan Restaurant. Fuquan Restaurant is Shandong-style. It was opened in the Guangxu period and is located in the north of Dongkou Road, Longfu Temple Street.The hall is spacious and spacious, with a stage attached.In recent years, an anecdote that has been repeatedly speculated by people is that Mr. Zhang Boju performed Lost, Empty and Zhan here on his fourth birthday and ninth birthday. A leading actor in the world of actors plays Ma Su, Ma Dai, Wang Ping, and Zhao Yun. It is called "this song should only exist in the sky, but how many times you can hear it in the world".Some articles also say that it is in Fushoutang in Jinyu Hutong, which is completely wrong.The management method of Fuquan Restaurant is still in the style of a large restaurant in the late Qing Dynasty, and it was able to maintain it until the end of the 1930s and 1940s, which is entirely due to the geographical conditions.

The two most prosperous restaurants in Longfu Temple in the 1950s were Baikui and Zaowen.Baikui is a halal restaurant, which is really average among its kind, and it is also blessed by its geographical location.But its roasted mutton is really excellent. The best mutton is boiled first and then fried. It is fried in fragrant oil. It is plump but not firewood, fat but not greasy. It is crispy and delicious. Delicious, with fried roast lamb, unique.Baikui’s roasted mutton is delivered in the afternoon, and the buyer takes a box and a pot to go. The meat is in the box, and the soup is in the pot. If you buy roasted mutton, the soup is free.

Finally, let's talk about the stove temperature.Zaowen is a very humble small restaurant. It is said that it has been in business for more than 200 years. Its original name was Longshenghao. Because the business is booming, the stove is constantly burning, and it can supply customers' needs at any time, so it is called "Zaowen". The original name was unknown, but later it was simply renamed Zaowen, which became quite famous in the capital. Beijingers pronounce the character "Zao" in the flat tone (sound bad) instead of the flat tone.In the old days, there were two types of lowest-end restaurants in Beijing. One was the cut noodle shop, which specialized in semi-finished pasta and ready-made noodles, pancakes, fire-roasted noodles, and at most steamed buns and dumplings.The second is Er Huan shop. The so-called "Er Hun" refers to dishes made of pork and pig offal. The stove temperature is a small restaurant between the two.The Zaowen store is just opposite to today's Changhong Cinema, and to the west is the slightly larger Baikui.The shop is very small, it can only accommodate seven or eight rough wooden tables, without chairs, and there are long benches in front of the tables, which is very civilian.

The first time I met Zao Wen was because of Mr. Chen Mengjia, an elder whom I miss very much. Mr. Chen Mengjia is a famous archaeologist and paleographer in my country.He was also a poet in his early years. He was a teacher of Xu Zhimo, and he was an influential young poet in the late Crescent School. In 1955, my family moved to the vicinity of Dongsi, when Mr. Chen Mengjia lived in Dongsi Qianliang Hutong. From then until 1962, before my parents moved to the western suburbs, Mr. Chen Mengjia was a frequent visitor to my family.Even in those days after 1957 when he was in a bad mood, he often spent many happy nights in my study.He is knowledgeable, suave, and very witty, and he can tell me the knowledge of ancient philology very clearly.I remember that there was a power outage, which seemed to have stopped for a long time. One candle was lit, so I changed it and put it on the coffee table. I get this knowledge for the first time.At that time, he liked watching operas very much, and he was not against local operas.At that time, there was a small theater behind Longfu Temple called Dongsi Theater. A Henan opera troupe from a small city in Henan came to the theater. The leading actor seemed to be named Xiao Suqing. Performing traditional Henan Opera repertoires in rotation, it can be seen that she can play a lot.It's just that the theater can only hold 30% of the seats, which is really pitiful.Mr. Chen Mengjia admired Xiao Suqing very much, and he also took our whole family to watch her performance.That's when I started watching Yu opera.

Mr. Chen Mengjia is from Shangyu, Zhejiang. Not only does he have a wide range of hobbies, but he is also compatible with the north and the south in terms of taste. He often went to Zaowen to eat because of the short distance.From his house, walk through Jiaozi Hutong to Sunjiakeng, opposite to Zaowen, which is very convenient.Zaowen was the one who introduced me to my house. There are many kinds of noodles at Zaowen, and they are also very delicate.Although the shop is small, it is always full of seats.The small bowls of dry fried, home-cooked cakes and "a nest of silk" are the most outstanding.

The small bowl of dry fried noodles is actually fried noodles.Of course, the noodles are hand-cut and moderately soft or hard. You can also ask the kitchen to cook them softer or harder according to your personal taste.When the fried noodles are served, it is definitely not a big bowl of fried minced pork with yellow sauce, but a very delicate small bowl with oil on it.The meat is very small diced meat in proportion to fat and lean, which is cut out, not chopped.The sauce is mixed with half sweet noodle sauce and half yellow sauce, and has been repeatedly fried in oil to remove the smell of sauce.The amount of a small bowl of dry fried rice can be mixed with at most two bowls of noodles, which is a serving for one person. If it is eaten by two people, two small bowls of dry fried noodles are needed.A bowl of fried noodles with seasonal vegetables will be very satisfying.

Homemade cakes are the most common pasta, but they are completely different when made at the stove temperature.The size of the cake is by no means the same as the large cakes sold in today's grain stores. It is only about five inches in diameter, golden in color, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Zaowen's most famous noodle dish is a nest of noodles, which can also be called shortbread. It is shaped like a cake, only three or four inches in diameter, but much thicker than a homemade cake. Once picked, it immediately disperses into silk, like noodles and cakes.The kung fu of a nest of silk is all about kneading the noodles, kneading the noodles with oil, and then pulling them like noodles, which are very thin, plated into cakes, and baked in a pot.A nest of silk at the stove temperature is relatively greasy.Just eat one after you are half full, and if you have too much, it will be too much.

In recent years, Taiwanese capital has opened several half-acre garden Chinese-style fast food restaurants in Beijing. Among them is a "grab cake", which is priced at five yuan each, which is basically similar to a nest of oven-warmed shredded rice. The "grabbing cakes" are naturally worth different prices when they arrive in the half-acre garden. When they are served, they are placed in special small bamboo baskets, and white lace paper is placed underneath, which is very luxurious. At that time, the price of Zaowen noodles was only a little more expensive than that of ordinary cut noodle shops or Erhu shops.Therefore, people from all walks of life will patronize it, and it is natural to yell and shout in the store. Whether you are a celebrity or a laborer pushing a cart, you can still enjoy the same enjoyment sitting on a rough wooden bench.Mr. Chen Mengjia is a very chic scholar, he likes this environment and atmosphere.After his introduction, my family also often eat there.

Zaowen seems to have closed its business in the early 1960s, and later opened for a short period of time at the west entrance of Dongsishitiao, which is the location of Senlong Restaurant today.