Chapter 21 The Knowledge of Eating Small Restaurants

Nowadays, there are many restaurants in Beijing, and I will appear on the stage after you sing, not to mention Sichuan, Shandong, Jiangsu, Guangdong, the north and the south, and the national characteristics. There are also all kinds of official dishes, private dishes, and Jianghu dishes that have been excavated or fabricated, which are delicacies from all over the world. It will also appear in front of your eyes, and there is a tendency to catch everything.Not to mention energy and financial resources, how much can "stomach power" hold?Therefore, discarding the dross and selecting the essential, discarding the false and keeping the true, delicately satisfying the limited appetite, will gradually become the most fashionable pursuit.

Most of the cultural people in Beijing in the first fifty years of the last century came from all over the world. Once they integrated into this ancient cultural city, they would be fascinated by it.There are three kinds of things that people find enjoyable: listening to Beijing opera, visiting book stalls, and eating in small restaurants. The word "Xiaoguaner" is not the capitalized pronunciation of Xiaodianer, but a specific coverage. The first good Tianqu, bustling endlessly.Whether it is the capital city or the old capital, Beijing has many big restaurants, tall buildings with weeping willows, and deep courtyards.There are also countless small restaurants in Beijing, where catty cakes are sliced ​​into noodles, and fatty and meaty meat, which can only satisfy the hunger.All these two categories are not included in the list of "small restaurants".

In fact, the meaning of a small restaurant is not in the size of the scale, but in its culinary characteristics or unique skills that are not comparable to other places to attract customers.Some large restaurants with a large scale are full of dignitaries and eunuchs all day long, and there is a lot of traffic, but they are not willing to neglect three or five drinks, and they have unique flavors, which should also fall into this category.At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Guanghe Residence in the northern half of the alley in Guang'anmen, Nancheng, although there were several courtyards, which could accommodate a larger table, but in the scattered seats in the front hall, you can also taste the same "Pan Yu", Famous dishes such as "jiangtofu" and "wu fish slices".Most of these dishes with surnames come from the private residences of the eunuchs. Guangheju collected widely and became their signature dishes.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, most of the restaurants in Beijing opened in Nancheng. They were concentrated in Xuannan at first, roughly in the area from Xuanwumen to Guang'anmen. Later, with the prosperity of the shops around Qianmen, they gradually expanded to Zhushikou and Dashilan. From Wangfujing, east and west sides of Chang'an Street to Xidan Archway, restaurants have prospered after the Republic of China. Most of the small restaurants have different cuisines and fresh noodles, which is refreshing. Compared with the old-fashioned chicken and duck mats, sea cucumber mats, and swallow-wing mats, it is fresh and affordable. Taste unique dishes.After the Republic of China to before the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, such small restaurants could be as small as a facade with three or five seats, such as the "Zaowen" in Longfu Temple and the "Barbecue Wan" in An'er Hutong; they can also be as large as the third floor and the third floor. , Scattered seats and private rooms are available, such as Dongxing Building in Donghuamen and Taifeng Building in Meishi Street, all of which can be called small restaurants.

Eating in a small restaurant also has a subtle taste. The cultural people in the old days were not proud of being ostentatious. They obviously went to the restaurant to eat very exquisitely. "Eat a small restaurant", which is both modest and tasteful, and contains more than just filling the stomach. Except for a few greedy people, two or three people usually go to small restaurants together, which can not only avoid the loneliness of drinking alone, but also order a few more dishes to adjust the taste, and chat while eating, which is very interesting.If the two or three friends are all taste-knowers, they will also compare each other at the dinner table, taste the ups and downs, and talk about Ziwu Maoyou, which is nothing more than the origin of drinking and cooking skills.It's not for social entertainment, nor for business reasons, or to discuss business. If you eat well, it will naturally lead to some anecdotes of Beijing and old stories in the literary world, what a joy.

As for the wine, it is probably necessary to drink some, but only a little drunk, there is no act of persuasion, and there is no state of drunkenness, enough is enough.One or two taels of white lotus flower, roasted mung beans, or half a catty tael of Shaoxing Huadiao, depending on the cuisine, every time you eat happily and chat happily, you can also get a lot of attention. The dishes in the small restaurants are not all well-made, but each restaurant has a few special dishes of its own, which are really good products, such as Dongxinglou's mullet eggs, braised duck strips, Taifeng Lou's pot-roasted chicken and fried eight pieces, Zhimeizhai's four-cooked fish, stewed two shredded chicken, and shredded radish pancakes, Enchengju's five-willow fish, minced chicken and corn, Houdefu's sweet and sour tiles, and iron pot eggs , Xiao Youtian's fried gizzard liver, Korean shrimp, Quyuan's Dong'an chicken, lychee squid, Tongheju's Jiuzhuan fatty sausage, Sai crab, Sanbushi, Cuihualou's fried double crispy, Furong chicken slices, Emei Restaurant Kung Pao Chicken, Shaozi Sea Cucumber, Minjiangchun’s Red Pork and Bianshiyan, Fengzeyuan’s Sauce, Scallion Roasted Sea Cucumber, Grilled Mantou, Chunhualou’s Fried Fish Fillet, Cooked Shrimp, Shaguoju's Guanting Spinal Cord, Burnt Fat Cover, and Fried Deer Tail, Tongchunyuan's fried spring rolls, and square preserved dates.Other specialties such as Yuhuatai’s soup dumplings, Zaowen’s nest of silk, Xinfenglou’s sliced ​​pastry, Zhenyuanguan’s roast mutton, Mujiazhai’s stir-fried lumps, Heyizhai’s fried sausage, etc. A fried triangle in one place.All these are nothing more than ordinary raw materials such as chicken, duck, fish, etc., and there is no such thing as swallow wing and abalone. It is really worth pondering to use ordinary things to carefully make housekeeping specialties, attract visitors from all over the world, and maintain a hundred-year livelihood. .Now we are talking more about innovation. If we can't even keep the tradition, how can there be innovation?

From the end of the 1940s to the beginning of the 1960s, there was a thriving Suhu restaurant on the east side of Dong’an Market in Beijing called Wufangzhai. Overwhelmed, the business is so good, it is not due to the glory of Dong'an Market, because several restaurants around, such as Qizhen Pavilion, are cold and cold all day long, forming a strong contrast with it.Wufangzhai can be regarded as an authentic small restaurant in terms of scale and style of dishes. Wufangzhai's best dishes include stir-fried shrimp, roasted horse'an bridge, shredded pork with winter bamboo shoots, fried kidney flower in southern China, fish head in casserole, lychee square meat, lion's head with crab powder, roasted Erdong, etc. Noodles, shredded pork noodles with pickled vegetables, jujube paste sponge cake, crab roe soup buns, Wuding buns, crystal layer cakes, etc., are all exquisitely crafted, which is far from being comparable to other places.

Wufangzhai's shop is very noisy, and the wooden floor is always rattling. Open the window, and you can have a close view of the East Goods Yard, Jixiang Theater, Donglaishun, and Fengsheng Gong;Thick tables and wooden stools are extremely simple.Most of the waiters there are also from the south, and they are quite good at watching people order dishes.What is mentioned here is to judge people's dishes, not to judge people by their clothes and hats, but to test the level of kung fu of diners.Needless to say, regular customers do not dare to neglect, they must greet them with smiles, and they are well aware of their tastes and hobbies.For unfamiliar or newcomers, the waiter will quietly listen to how you order, and will not make any recommendations to you.Two or three people have a drink, order three or four specialty dishes, and one or two special snacks are just right. If you pass the exam, the waiter will know that you are a connoisseur, so he will smile and treat you hospitable.Otherwise, even if the visitor is dressed in elegant clothes and orders all the expensive dishes on the menu, the waiter will look at you and think you are an "old man", and will always treat you lukewarm and maintain a casual attitude.

Eating small restaurants should not be ostentatious or ostentatious. One must know the exquisite products of each restaurant, and the second must be familiar with the waiters. Tou'er and Li Tou'er talked about their pros and cons, commented on their pros and cons, and convinced them sincerely.These are all impossible to do at a feast of entertainment. Without good diners, there will be no good cooks; without excellent food, there will be no good gourmets. The two complement each other and are indispensable.Our country is a big country of catering, and the food is proper.The evolution of diet is actually cultural inheritance, which depends not only on economic development, but also on cultural improvement.

Those who eat the wind are the wind of the world.