Guo Da, a Chinese writer, once advised readers to forget about so-called "delicacies" such as bird's nest, shark's fin, monkey's brains and camel's hump. For Huo there was nothing more delicious than flash boiled tripe "cooked just right.” And by this he meant neither overcooked (too tough) nor undercooked (still raw). "The more you eat, the more addicted you get," he wrote.
The best place to eat tripe in Beijing is Baodufeng, a restaurant that has been serving this dish "just right" for more than a century, and one of the few Beijing laozihao still in family hands. The Fengs opened their first tripe stall in the old Dong’an Market in 1894. The original location -- in the neighborhood between the present-day Sun Hong Kai Shopping Center and Oriental Plaza --is indicated on a large old map on the wall of the restaurant. Beside the map are three large photos, Mr. Feng Guoming, the current owner, his father, and his grandfather, who founded the restaurant. Mr. Feng re-launched the family business in 1996 after a 40-year hiatus, and some of the family's old customers were soon lining up at the door.
Eating tripe is not unfamiliar to me. I grew up eating cow’s tripe back home in Indonesia, prepared in the traditional Hakka way, braised in light soy with turnip. But, I never had mutton tripe. This instantly whetted my curiosity.Hovering over my table, Mr. Feng said, “Our family's way of serving tripe has not changed for centuries.” And then he warned me that I might not like eating tripe because of its "unchewable" nature. “Then why do Beijing people love tripe?” I asked. He responded by reciting a poem by Yang Miren that describes the eating of baodu, or tripe. Dipped and cooked in a flash Complete with sauce and ale Even if your teeth become blunt, it's still unchewable Just swallow the whole bit“The word tender does not appear in the entire poem,” Feng points out smiling. He says that we normally eat to satisfy our taste buds, or kougan. But he's invented a new term to describe the enjoyment of eating tripe, which he calls chigan, or "the feeling of the teeth." I was first served yangsiyang (羊四样), or four kinds of mutton, duling（肚领), duxin (肚芯), shixin (食信 ) and duban (肚板), and a bowl of dipping sauce. “We grind our own sesame seeds to make this dipping sauce (zhimajiang),” says Feng, and it's exceptionally good. He next told me to pick up a piece of the tripe, quickly dip it in the sauce and put it in my mouth. It was impossible to chew, but I was too embarrassed to spit it out; instead, I swallowed the whole thing as the poem suggested. Another round of tripe arrived at my table. It included mogu (蘑菇) round and mushroom-like, shandan (散丹)，accordian-like, and hulu (葫芦), or a honeycomb surfaced tripe. I decided to sample shandan first because that was the most familiar one on the menu, and I had had it before. What a relief! I could chew it. I was now anxious to try the mogu and hulu. I realized now why the owner emphasized the importance of the serving order. Last but not least, a plate of duren (肚仁) was served. At first bite I was ecstatic and surprised by the texture. It tasted like a scallop, but crispy. Now, I know what Beijing people mean when the make the sound kachi kachi kachi. That's the sound of eating tripe! Tangjuanguo (糖卷果) is a nice way to bring your baodu experience to an end. This Muslim desert is made of shanyao, a kind of root plant, mixed with jujube. It's in a triangular shape, pan fried and coated with dark brown sugar and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds. And for those of you who don't like tripe, Baodu Feng, also serves an excellent rinsed mutton hotpot, and the family's sesame dipping sauce, as well as traditional old Beijing favorites such as zhageda (炸疙瘩), shaobing (烧饼) and two varieties of roasted lamb, kaoyangrou （烤羊肉), and shaoyangrou (烧羊肉). Add :G/F, Qinglan Daxia, 24 Dongsi Shitiao (200m west of shitiaoqiao), Dongcheng District.
Tel: 6527 9051
Hours: 11:00 – 22:00
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