As we all know, we Beijingers cannot do without sesame sauce and yellow sauce in our daily life. Especially in summer, it is common to eat fried noodles and sesame sauce noodles for one meal after another. So, can you buy some delicious ones? The ingredients for the noodles are very important; Xiaobei tells you that there is a Zhaofu Street non-staple food restaurant here in Bell Tower, which must have all kinds of "sauce" you like!
Li Ruisheng, the manager of Zhaofu Street Food Store, prepares small bottles of sesame paste for customers
Zhaofu Street Food Store——
The long-established three treasures "one bucket and one jar"
Zhaofu Street is located on the north side of Drum Tower. It starts from Zhongsui Hutong in the north and ends at Doufuchi Hutong in the south. It is connected to Guosheng Hutong, Guoxiang Hutong and Guoxing Hutong, with a total length of 390 meters. The grocery store is located at No. 67 Zhaofu Street, at the northwest corner of the intersection in the middle of the street.
Since its opening in 1956, the Zhaofu Street Non-staple Food Store, which was still a cooperative at the time, has provided the most authentic and delicious yellow sauce and sesame sauce, as well as various non-staple foods to residents in the Bell and Drum Tower area.
Walking into this small shop of more than 60 square meters, there are several dishes on the glass counter containing pickled cucumbers, spicy shredded coriander, water dumplings, kohlrabi and other Beijing people's favorite pickles and pickles. pot.
Beside the pickle basin is an old-fashioned standard scale. Regular customers will feel more at ease when they see the scales and trays, which are rare items nowadays.
In the water tank behind the counter, there are sesame paste and yellow soybean paste, the “store’s magic tools”. The open one is sesame sauce, and the one covered with cloth is yellow sauce.
In the words of store manager Li Ruisheng: "Beijing brands have a strong reputation across the country. Beijingers pay attention to one taste from beginning to end when eating. For example, these pickles are basically Liubi." This sesame paste is something that we Beijingers have always loved, and it’s definitely the one that you can’t go wrong with.”
The sesame paste sold on Zhaofu Street is made with 20% sesame and 80% peanuts. The most recognized "Erba Sauce" by Beijingers is Li Ruisheng's strict control and careful selection from suppliers, which is most suitable for the taste of Beijingers.
Look at the yellow sauce again, scoop up a spoonful, and the aroma will go straight to your nose. Judging from its color and consistency, you can feel that it is of high quality and is a good product for making fried sauce.
"The yellow sauce I have here is guaranteed not to 'catch the pan' when fried. It must have a strong sauce aroma. Regardless of whether it is in bulk, as long as it is not as hot as the past few days, you can buy it home and store it in the refrigerator. The quality and freshness are maintained for weeks.”
Manager Li Ruisheng is very confident in his products. He also recommended a bottled sesame oil that is particularly popular in the store, and its manufacturer is closely related to the brand. Like the sesame paste mentioned above, it belongs to "Beijing Yanqiao Sesame Oil Factory".
"Everyone knows about Xiaomo sesame oil, but they may not know that there is another layer behind it, called the 'Xiaomo water extraction method'. This bottle of sesame oil is extracted using this method. It is sold all over the streets of Beijing. There are very few places where you can buy this sesame oil.”
This sesame oil extracted with small grinding water, together with yellow soybean paste and sesame paste, is known as Zhaofu Street by nearby neighbors. As for the three treasures of non-staple food, most of the customers who come into the store go to buy these three items, and then buy rice dumplings and kohlrabi.
Zhaofu Street Non-staple Food Store -
Changes and changes in the process of transformation
Different from the bagged sauces sold in supermarkets, Zhaofu Street Non-staple Food Store has always insisted on "One barrel and one jar", that is, bulk sesame sauce barrels and yellow sauce jars, insist on bringing the purest, authentic and fresh old taste to everyone.
In 1987, 28-year-old Li Ruisheng took over from his father and came to work at a non-staple food store on Zhaofu Street. The furnishings in the store at that time were almost the same as they are today.
According to the memories of the elderly in the surrounding alleys, the non-staple food store at that time had four storefronts, covering an area of ??about 130 square meters. It was divided into categories such as meat, vegetables, tobacco, alcohol and food, and it could be said to have a complete range of varieties.
In the 1990s, with the gradual demise of the ticket supply system, vegetable markets and comprehensive supermarkets opened one after another in Beijing, and the operations of old state-owned stores were greatly affected. Among them Including Zhaofu Street non-staple food stores.
Under fierce competition, the Zhaofu Street non-staple food store has successively eliminated the meat section, vegetable section, etc., and more and more employees have resigned. More than half of the original 130-square-meter storefront has been rented to Others are earning rent, but they still cannot stop the continued decline in performance.
Under the predicament, Li Ruisheng chose to persevere. In 2006, he signed a contract with a chain company, and he began to be responsible for the profits and losses of the Zhaofu Street non-staple food store, becoming the "fifth generation" of this store. Leader".
Although the business management has kept pace with the times and has undergone changes, in terms of business methods, Li Ruisheng has "stubbornly" chosen to remain unchanged.
“Thinking back to the days when supply was based on vouchers, rice, oil, meat, eggs, and vegetables were not something you could buy if you had money. You could buy as much as you wanted, no matter where you wanted to go. You can buy it anywhere. For example, the yellow sauce sold on Zhaofu Street is not far from your home in Di’anmen, right? Sorry, you can’t buy it here.”
“At that time. Yes, there are only a few choices for ordinary people, but the quality is excellent and the taste is right. So after the economic system reform and I took over, I insisted on selling what Beijing people like to eat, which is the old taste. Back then, I sold bulk sauce. , I have always sold it like this here, and you can’t be vague about the food you eat.”
Facts have proved that the business method that remains unchanged and adapts to changes is successful! The bulk sauces, pickles, hawthorn rolls, etc. in Zhaofu Street non-staple food stores have become foods that old Beijingers can’t get enough of.
Most of the people who come here are repeat customers. Some of them used to live nearby, but now they have moved to Tiantongyuan, Tongzhou, Daxing, and Shijingshan. They take the subway or take the bus, so they have to spend a lot of money to buy this thing here. The mouth-watering sesame sauce and yellow sauce.
There is even a young man from Tianjin who regularly drives across the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan Expressway to buy sauce here. Every time, yellow sauce, sesame sauce and other foods are piled up in the trunk of the car.
The large vats for holding sauce, the old-fashioned counters, abacus and scales, the rotating ceiling fans, and the gouache paintings on the walls depicting solid soy sauce, lotus root powder, Daqianmen cigarettes and other old objects make everyone happy. Every customer who enters the store has a sense of déjà vu as if they were watching a drama of the times.
It is said that Manager Li Ruisheng is retiring soon. Why don’t you come and visit such an authentic non-staple food store? The prices of sesame sauce, yellow sauce and sesame oil are as follows:
In addition, there is also a bottle of sesame paste that costs 20 yuan and can be purchased now and placed in the refrigerator. It can be stored for a year.
However, Xiaobei would like to remind you that Zhaofu Street and surrounding alleys are currently undergoing demolition work and road surface rectification. When you come, you must pay attention to the road conditions, pay attention to your steps, and do not bump into or fall. It is best Come during the day when the light is good; try not to drive, otherwise you will be in big trouble when you park and turn around.
Address: No. 67, North Zhaofu Street, Bell Tower
Transportation: Metro Line 2 or Line 8, Exit G of Gulou Street Station
Bell and Drum Tower— —
The first of the central axis and the best of Beijing flavor
When it comes to hutong rectification, Zhaofu Street non-staple food stores can survive the huge social changes, rapid economic transformation, and fierce market competition. "Survival" has something to do with being in the Bell and Drum Towers, a place with profound cultural heritage in old Beijing.
To put it bluntly, unlike other remaining hutong areas in Sijiu City, which are mostly rented by migrant workers, the hutong courtyards around the Bell and Drum Towers are home to a large proportion of old Beijingers, so the original The original Beijing flavor elements are fairly well preserved.
Like the sky and the earth, facing south, with nine meridians and nine latitudes, the ancestors on the left and the community on the right, facing the market, square and symmetrical, grand and rigorous... The above words are the Beijing that Mr. Liang Sicheng cherishes. The central axis is gorgeous and magnificent, and the starting point of its northern end is the Bell and Drum Tower.
Beijing Bell Tower
The Drum Tower is also known as the "Qiao Tower" and was named Qizheng Tower in the Yuan Dynasty. The Bell Tower was the central pavilion of Wanning Temple in the Yuan Dynasty until the Qing Dynasty. After reconstruction, it took on what it looks like today.
Beijing Drum Tower
There are four cleaver pots on the Drum Tower, namely: Tianchi, Pingshui, Wanfen and Shuishui.
In the early years, the bells and drums of the Bell and Drum Tower were an important part of the lives of the people in the capital. During the day, the Minute Tower is responsible for ringing the bell at noon; at night, the Drum Tower is responsible for beating the drum to tell the time. This is the so-called "morning bell and evening drum".
The existence of the Bell and Drum Tower has also given literary and artistic workers inspiration and source of creation. The famous novel by the writer Liu Xinwu is called "The Bell and Drum Tower";
"The Three Heroes of the Magic Rock" One of the Beijing-style rock classics sung by He Yong is also called "The Bell and Drum Towers" and was popular throughout the 1990s;
He Yong (left) and Dou Wei
In the recent "The Bell and Drum Towers" directed by Jiang Wen In "The Evil Cannot Suppress Right", Li Tianran, played by Peng Yuyan, lurked in the bell tower and became a bell ringer. He followed the command of "18 tight, 18 slow, 18 slow" while ringing the bell. Dating with the one he loves while waiting for the opportunity of revenge, pushing the film to the final climax.
Stills of "The Righteous One"
To the south of today's Drum Tower, it is adjacent to Shichahai and Nanluoguxiang, two famous cultural and tourist landmarks in Beijing, as well as Di'anmenwai Street and the Drum Tower. Along the East and West Streets, tourists come one after another, seeing Tian'er's hustle and bustle, crowded with people.
Behind the Bell Tower and the Bell Tower Bay area, there is a newly planned small square of the Bell and Drum Tower, where people can play shuttlecock, play chess, play diabolo, enjoy the cool air and chat... basically They are all nearby neighbors and citizens.
To the north of the Drum Tower Square are traditional Beijing-style alleys such as Zhaofu Street, Tofu Pond, Zhuzhong Hutong, Guowang Hutong, and Zhangwang Hutong. The atmosphere here is more comfortable and livable. It has been transformed from the old Gulou Street stretches all the way to the North Second Ring Road.
"The Bell and Drum Towers are sucking the dust and smoke, and you can paint its face..." Just as He Yong sang in the song, the Bell and Drum Towers, the central axis, and the entire old Beijing city, They all seem to have changed beyond recognition.
Right now, Xiaobei hopes that in the alleys behind the Bell and Drum Towers, old Beijing style like the Zhaofu Street Food Store can exist for a while longer; because here it is hidden away from the hustle and bustle. Behind the "Internet Celebrity Scenic Area", the last pure land where Beijingers live, lies the feelings and roots of Beijingers!
Beijing flavor in Bell and Drum Towers
Stuffed Laoman (Drum Tower)
Recommended: Signature dumplings, top-quality Kung Pao Chicken, Laoman dumplings, fried enema , fried meatballs, Qianlong cabbage
Per capita: 65 yuan
Address: No. 51, Old Drum Tower Street (south of James Joyce Coffetel Hotel)
Yanji Cold Noodles ( Gulou Store)
Recommended: premium cold noodles, mixed beef, mutton skewers, chicken leg bibimbap, kimchi, pollack shreds, platycodon
Per capita: 36 yuan
Address: No. 80, Old Gulou Street
Zhizi Revolution Old Beijing Zhizi Barbeque
(Drum Tower Store)
Recommended: Fat and lean mutton, garlic flavor Fatty beef, colorful pulled skin, fat beef enoki mushroom rolls, meat stuffed mushrooms, grilled chicken wings
Per capita: 94 yuan
Address: No. 25, Lingdang Hutong, Jiugulou Street
Kuandian (Gulou Branch)
Recommendations: Original grilled chicken wings, homemade mashed potatoes, frosty love fruit, bone and flesh joints, toast, steamed buns
Per capita: 74 yuan
Address: No. 135, Old Gulou Street
Yaoji Fried Liver (Drum Tower Store)
Recommendations: Fried liver, braised and roasted, vegetarian buns with zucchini and egg filling, Fried sausage, fried crunch, and sesame tofu