Lao Chiqikou Douzhi Dian , Beijing Top Restaurant, Beijing Dinning

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Beijing Dinning Home : Beijing Dinning Lao Chiqikou Douzhi Dian That’s Beijing June 2005 The Old Chiqikou Bean Juice shop is a nondescript restaurant just opposite the north gate of Temple of Heaven. Though their store is tiny, locals line up here everyday for a bowl of douzhi, a fermented mung bean drink, with many customers bringing their own containers to take a bowl home as well. While not all Chinese are obsesses with douzhi, a drink that some consider akin to hog spill, many Beijingers can’t live without its trademark sour taste. King Hu, the well-known director who was born in Beijing, wrote once: “Those who cannot drink douzhi can’t be called true Beijingers.” The drink is somewhat like soybean milk, except that it is extracted from mung beans instead of soybeans, and is fermented for a few days. It was discovered in a bean-starch noodle (fensi) shop, when workers found that when the pulp was drained and the juice slowly cooked at a steady temperature, the flavor became intense, with an alluring sweet and sour taste. Douzhi is served with complimentary thin-sliced pickled radish, but one can also order jiaoquan, a crispy dough ring, to accompany it. The restaurant also has a variety of Hui (Chinese speaking Muslim) pastries, both salty and sweet, such as tang erduo, a baked and honey-glazed ear bun, and the interestingly named laopo bing, or wife’s cake. Many years ago, it was mainly the people who lived inside the city wall who had the koufu, or gourmet’s appreciation, for douzhi. Both retired Manchu banner men, and opera stars like Mei Lanfang, would enjoy the drink. The popular writer Liang Shiqiu, who grew up in what was known as Beiping, offered advice on how to consume douzhi, which he described as sour in taste and hot in temperature. Liang cautioned against gulping down douzhi, suggesting that people sip it from the edge of the bowl between nibbles of the spicy pickled turnip. When your tongue turned numb from the taste of the spicy pickled turnip, it was time to take another sip of the douzhi. The more you sipped, the hotter you felt, and the hotter you got, the more you perspired. Add :Southeast corner of Chiqikou (opposite the north gate of Temple of Heaven) Tel: 6703 5725 Hours: 6am-8pm Back to the Restaurant Review Index