Chapter 28 Talking about box dishes in Beijing from Liang Shou

On January 13, 1981 (the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month of the Gengshen Year), Mr. Liang Shiqiu celebrated his octogenarian celebration. Professor Zhang Qijun specially visited his mansion in the early morning of Laba, inviting friends to have a sip of Buddhist porridge together, and invited the author to participate. celebrate.It just so happened that the author was preparing to travel to Southeast Asia, and I was so busy getting passports, visas, and vaccinations all day long, so such a unique Yaji was not able to enjoy its prosperity, and I felt both regret and regret.Afterwards, I heard that a total of eight gods arrived that day, including He Xiangu, who celebrated the birthday of the eight immortals. It was really a grand gathering of all the gods.

While sipping porridge, brother Chen Jiying talked about the unique delicacy "box dishes" in Beijing.In those days, those who sold pork in Beiping were called pork sticks, and those who sold mutton were called mutton beds. Why were they divided into bars?Now no one can tell the whole story.In addition to selling raw meat and offal, some pork bars also sell cooked food with sauce, smoked, braised, and roasted meat, and some also sell whole roast duck, roast pig, smoked prawns, and smoked chicken, also known as sauce elbow shop.In Sanjitiao Hutong, a densely populated area in Beiping, there must be a mutton bed, and there must be a pork bar not far away; there must also be a Caikui takeaway oil and salt shop.If an uninvited guest comes to the house, and you are caught off guard for preparing wine and meals, you can only order a box dish and invite the guests to eat pancakes.The dishes in the box are the most complete and the goods are the most delicate. Qingyunzhai is the most recommended restaurant on Yandai Xiejie Street in Beicheng. It is said that it is a business surnamed Yu from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.The officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs often take care of him, not only the taste is mellow, but also the knife workmanship is exquisite, and the color and fragrance are elegant and refreshing when the lid is lifted.

At that time, Yin Huanran, the police chief of the Second Inner District of Beiping, was a native of Beiping and a famous snack.According to him: "My family used to open a soy sauce elbow shop, and box dishes only started in the central plains of Dingding in the Qing Dynasty. Manchurians in the Northeast from the end of autumn to the beginning of winter, they all like to go hunting and exercise their muscles. For the convenience of hunting, most of them are baked. A few cake rolls with some smoked and marinated cooked food, carrying them into the deep mountains to dig ginseng and hunt. Since the Qing soldiers entered the pass to build the capital of Beijing, they still retain some old habits in terms of food, and after several evolutions, they have become the current box dishes. gone."

When it comes to box dishes, apart from Qingyunzhai in Beicheng, Baohuazhai in Dongcheng is the most famous. Even Europeans and Americans who have lived in Beijing for a long time will come to Baohuazhai to order box dishes. the best.Everyone in old Beijing knows that Tianfu sauce elbow is particularly rotten and delicious. In addition to roast duck, the Bianyifang in Nancheng is also good, because his house has an elegant seat for entertaining guests. I don't want to entertain guests in the hotel, so Bianyifang has become a wonderful place for drinks.Another restaurant specializing in box dishes is not far from Qingyunzhai, called Jinbaozhai.

Old friends Mo Jingyi and Shi Zhesheng, besides liking ticket operas, the two brothers find small restaurants to drink and chat to relieve boredom.It is said that this is the oldest sauce knuckle shop in Beijing. The box dishes of his house are larger and taller than ordinary boxes. , riding a horse and trying arrows, it is completely different from the dragon patterns and charms and blessings, longevity and auspiciousness on ordinary boxes.Mr. Mo said: "I have verified that this soy sauce elbow shop was opened during the Zhizheng period of the Yuan Dynasty." According to the antique paint and color paintings on the lacquer box, it may be true.

Jinbaozhai is close to Cunyuan on Yandai Xiejie. Cunyuan is Zhang Xiangtao’s villa. Before the Anti-Japanese War, Houwan and Hougui lived in Cunyuan. Every year in the first lunar month, his family has a cultural and wine party. If there is not enough food in the end , always ask Jinbaozhai to send a box of vegetables to eat spring pancakes.The owner of Jinbaozhai is called Ikelenke, and of course he is a Mongolian.Mr. Hou Wan said: "In the beginning, the ingredients in his box dishes were all beef and mutton. It was the only beef and mutton box dish in Beijing. Later, people followed the customs, and gradually changed to the same color as ordinary box dishes. Yes. But the nominative in the middle looks like a tiger skin pigeon egg, and it looks like fried mini shrimp balls. It’s actually crispy fried beef testicles. , which means never forgetting the origin.”

Smoked wild goose wings (that is, smoked large ribs) were originally the best at Xidan Tianfu Sauce Knuckle Shop, but Jinbaozhai’s smoked wild goose wings are unique.His family sells smoked goose wings that are broken down. I don’t know which rule was left by the predecessors. Smoked goose wings cannot be served in boxes. It's his family's dish.Once the smoked goose wings are on the table, everyone always eats half and keeps the other half. They take it to the kitchen and fry it with bean bean sauce. It is called a must in porridge. When Qi Rulao was in Beijing, there was a period when he was not only listening to small science classes, but eating in small restaurants. He and a friend from Hubei, Xu Hansheng, tasted all the box dishes in Liujiucheng.Brother Chen Jiying said: "Ru Lao knows the most about box dishes." That's true. According to Ru Lao's evaluation, the little toad in sauce (tenderloin with nuclear sauce, inserted a chicken leg bone) is the first dish recommended by Tianfu. Zhilanzhai's sauce tastes mellow and tastes mellow, which is unmatched by other restaurants. Opened by people from Nanjing, there are Nanjing small belly, pipa duck, and the number of dishes in the box has increased to 17. There are faces and candied fish, shrimp and fish, and both wine and rice. It is a combination of North and South dishes.These are the words of the old man who knows the taste after tasting.

One day we were listening to Fu Liancheng's night play in Huayuan, and happened to be sitting with Qi Rulao and Xu Hansheng, who had just arrived from Liufangzhai.Xu Hansheng thinks that his home's box dishes are fat and delicious, and they are all wonderful delicacies.I asked Mr. Han if he had eaten Jinbaozhai's boxed dishes?Qi and Xu, who are far away in the box shop in the small alley of Shichahai, naturally won't patronize it.As soon as I said it, the two of them actually went out to eat once.Mr. Qi Ru made an eight-character comment on Jinbaozhai: "It's mellow and prosperous, but it's hard to pass on the teeth." After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, a friend in the south heard that there were deep-fried noon testicles in the box dish, and planned to try it. This old horse who knows the way naturally guides the host, but he walked up and down Yandai Xiejie, but he couldn't find Jinbaozhai.Finally, I inquired with a nearby cigarette shop, Jinbaozhai had already closed down, and even the bottom of the shop was sold to others to open a hardware store.

Last year, an American Mr. Junyi Zhu went to the mainland to visit relatives, wandered around the mainland for more than a month, and returned to the United States to write an article "From the Mainland".There is a passage in which he said: "The way of eating like Liang Shiqiu and Tang Lusun wrote, even in dreams, you can't find it!" Although it is a short sentence in Mandarin, if you go back to Beijing in the future, box dishes may become real. Become a noun in history.