Tianjin Food
Goubuli Stuffed-buns
When I first heard the name of Goubuli Stuffed-buns( Literally means dog ignores) during childhood, I wondered who made stuffed-buns(Baozi) Goubuli so insipid that even dogs ignore. I learned later that sutffed-buns is a kind of very delicious food that people will get desperate to eat it. But it's confusing why such high-end food has a low-profile name?
During the Qing Dynasty when Emperor Dao Guang was in reign, a couple living in Wuqing County in Tianjin city had their only son at the age of 40 in a peasant family. They named the boy Gouzi(Literally means puppy) in the hope of blessing their son a safe and sound life. At the age of 14,Gouzi started to learn skills. He helped out in a steamed buns store and soon gained some useful skills. Later on, he opened his own stuffed-buns (Baozi) store. Due to his cleverness and diligence, he invented watery fillings and half-leaven dough. The stuffed-buns(Baozi) he made tasted softer and tender,looking beautiful as White Chrysanthemums. People from miles away came to eat his stuffed-buns(Baozi). Since Gouzi was busy making business, he seldom had time to talk, therefore, some people said that Gouzi was too busy that he started to ignore people. As time went by, everyone started to call him Goubuli(Literally means dog ignores).
The persident of the Chinese Republic Yuan Shikai praised Goubuli Stuffed-buns Goubuli (Baozi) profoundly after he tasted them. He then immediatedly tributed stuffed-buns(Baozi) to the Dowager Empress Cixi, who was very pleased with the taste and commented, "The quadruped running around in mountains, the wild geese flying between clouds, the cattle and sheep walking on the ground and the rare seafood living in the deep ocean are not as appetizing as Goubuli Baozi, one can live a long life for eating Goubuli." Since then, Goubuli had gained a huge reputation.
As time went by, Goubuli stuffed-buns(Baozi) business thrived and more and more people liked Goubuli Baozi.
18th Street Fried Dough Twists
Guifaxiang 18th Street Fried Dough Twists rank the first of "Tianjin Three Best Snacks", they are famous both at home and abroad with great popularity."Guifaxiang" was first created in the 1920s, and up to date it has been over one hundred years old.
There was a story about the origin of the 18th Street Fried Dough Twists，which goes as follows: in the late Qing Dynasty, there was a street named"the 18th Street", which was located to the south of bustling Xiaobailou Building on the west side of the Haihe River. A person named Liu Ba opened a small shop named "Guifaxiang", selling fried dough twists. The fried dough twists made by Liu Ba smelt appetizing throughout the entire street. Consequently, the crowd patronizing into the shop was always large, in an endless stream.
Nonetheless, as the time went by, the patrons seemed already fed up with the fried dough twists. Later, the son of the shop owner came out for fun, and came back home tiredly and hungrily. However, except some dregs, the snack at home happened to be ate up. He came up with an idea that he instructed others to make the dim sum crumbs and dough into the dough twists and then had them fried in the pan. As a result, the fried dough twists turned out to be quite crispy and yummy.
After that, Liu Ba did a lot of research based on this recipe to create golden, sweet and persistently-crispy dough twists with assorted stuffing, an innovation that regenerated the shop lifted the business again.
As a matter of fact, the current "Guifaxiang" is not the same one started by Liu Ba, but begun by another person. It turned out that sa early as the year of 1920, the shop of fried dough twists at the Nanlou Building opened by Liu Ba went into bankruptcy, and later was taken over by the shop assistants Fan Guicai and Fan Guilin, who later continued the business separately by the name "Guifaxiang" and "Guifacheng". In the year of 1956, the two businesses merged to form the "Guifaxiang Fried Dough Twists Shop",which subsequently became the "18th Street Fried Dough Twists" brand store known far and wide.
Earhole Fried Cake
Earhole Fried Cake(Erduoyan fried rice cake, Erduoyan used below as abbreviation) is Tianjin's traditional snack with a history of more than one hundred years. Together with Goubuli Baozi and Guifaxiang Fried Dough Twists, the three snacks are called Tianjin Three Best Snacks. The origin of Erduoyan can be dated back to Qing Dynasty when Guangxu was in reign. At that time, there was an avenue in Tianjin connecting Beijing called Tongdejie Avenue. There were many vendors selling snacks on both sides of the street.
The founder of Erduoyan is Liu Wanchun,who was from Hui ethnic group. At first, he peddled along the Gulou street and Beidaguan street to sell the fried cakes he made himself. With a strong sense of observation and quick wit, he found that there more customers in Beimenwai street. So he set up a stall there selling freshly cooked fried cakes. The business went well. But Liu Wanchun thought that it was not a long plan for the future and wanted to expand business. He discussed with his nephew Zhang Kuiyuan about the plan. They jointly rented a store of eight feet large and named it "Liuji Fried Cake Store".
Liu Wanchun paid much attention to the choice of food formula and made devoted efforts to make the fried cakes.The food quality was high but the price was affordable, attracting many returned customers. People friendly called him "Fried Cake Liu". Some people may wonder, why the current fried cake is called "Earhole Fried Cake"? That's because the store was located in the hutong lane called"Earhole Lane". When people bought the nice snacks from the store and told others about the snack, they always said that there was a wonderful store selling fried cakes in Earhole. Gradually in this way, customers all knew"Earhole Fried Cake" more than "Liuji fried cakes". Therefore, Liu Wanchun changed the name of the shop into "Earhole Fried Cake",which was the origin for its development.
Pancake
Pancake is one of Tianjin's well-known snacks. People in Tianjin are used to eating pancakes for their breafast. Pancake is made of green bean flour, eggs, cracker or the crunchy "crisp fritter", with additional seasonings of fermented flour sauce, chopped green onion and hot pepper sauce.
Pancake has been found in Tianjin since more than one hundred years ago, the famous snack first developed by a Hui people surnamed Ma whose hometown was Shandong. At the beginning, the pancake was made only by rolling a Shandong big pancake with a cracker and a piece of green onion inside, it was the initial form of the Tianjin pancake we enjoy now. Nowadays even if the pancakes are famous across the nation and can be seen everywhere with many new innovative stuffing including ham, vegetables and thin sheet of bean curd, the classic taste remains splendid as it did when it first came into being.
It normally takes a few minutes to make a set of pancake. Easy to make, delicious and convenient, the pancakes are the favorite of civilian gourmands. First, make the green gram starchy as the main ingredient into the fine paste. Then, spread the fine paste into a round lotus-leaf-like shape, making it soft and thin as paper and tough and chewy, refreshing and slippery. After that, put inside the pancake with some crispy cracker or crunchy crisp fritter and apply it with fermented flour sauce, fermented bean curd and maybe some chopped green onions, sesame or cumin as to the preferences of the individual. In addition to those, somethimes an egg would add better tastes to the pancake. A set of pancake is therefore ready-just fold it in half and enjoy it.
The pancake shall retain its delicious taste so that it will attract more food-loving patrons, with focus on innovation during each section of the cooking process. Many businesses work at the green gram find paste-for instance, add black rice fine paste-and the introduction of new popular stuffing such as vegetables, mushrooms and edible tree fungi, all contributing to an even more tasty and exquisite pancake.
Officially fried squid
Officially fried squid(chanos),origianally known as a different name of "braised squid (chanos)", after added with "officially fried",boasts of much nobility and becomes a well-known delicious dish.
In prosperous Qing Dynasty when Qianlong Emperor was in reign,he went southward to the Yangtze River for six times, with each time staying in Tianjin for a few days. The local officials then arranged a big feast for reception in Wanshougong restaurant (north of Wei Cheng in Tianjin) to win favor. Not far from this restaurant there was another famous restaurant called Juqingcheng, specialized in providing royal feasts. Why was it so reputed? It's said that the Manchu Han Imperial Feast was held by the restaurant when Kangxi Emperor celebrated the enthronement.
One year, when Qianlong Emperor passed Tianjin again,officials provided the reception dinner for him in Juqingcheng. The restaurant accepted the glorious but challenging task and made devoted efforts for good preparation. They cooked a dish called "braised squid(chanos)". Surprisingly, it received high praise from the Emperor, who believed that the dish was much better in terms of apperance,shape,taste and fragrance than that made by royal chef. Therefore, the Emperor made an exception to grant a summon to see the chef and gave him a yellow jacket and some bonus, changing the name of the dish to "official fried squid(chanos)".
Hereafter, the name was so popular with common people and the dish naturally became one of the most cultural dishes representing Tianjin local style.
Crispy Rice Dish
Crispy rice dish is one of the most famous local snacks in Tianjin with a long history evolved from Shangdong pancakes. There are many legends about it. One legend goes like this: to survive in Tianjin, one person from Shangdong created new ways of making pancakes. He cut the round pancake into slices and added a kind of recipe sauce for selling, thus receiving high popularity.
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