Beijing snacks, combining varied flavors from different nationalities like Han, Hui, Meng, Man and court snacks from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), include many kinds and form the characteristic of their own.
It is said that there are over two hundred kinds of snacks in Beijing, including dishes going with wine, such as Quick-Fried Tripe (Bao Du), Boiled Sheep's Head (Bai Shui Yang Tou), Flour-Pastry desserts, like Pancakes with Meat-Fillings (Rou Mo Shao Bing) and some other snacks for breakfast or as midnight snack, like Sticky Rice with Sweet Fillings (Ai Wo Wo) and Rolling Donkey (Lu Da Gun). What local Beijing people, especially elder ones like most are Mung Bean Milk (Dou Zhi), Fried Liver (Chao Gan) and Filled Sausage (Guan Chang).
There are also lots of famous restaurants selling snacks. Fangshan Restaurant sells Sticky Rice with Sweet Fillings and Pea-Flour Cake (Wan Dou Huang); Donglaishun Restaurant sells Cream Fried Cake (Nai You Zha Gao). In many restaurants you may find some other things special.
In fact, there are too many places for snacks in Beijing for you to make a decision which one to go to. So my suggestion may be helpful for you to save some time. Generally speaking, there are four places popular of this kind. One is Duyichu Restaurant, sitting at 36 Qianmen Dajie, Chongwen District. It was opened in 1738, and is famous for its Shao Mai, which has both attractive appearance and delicious taste. Another is Nanlaishun in Xuanwu District, where you can find about seventy kinds of snacks. The third place is LongfuTemple (Longfu Si) Snacks Restaurants which mainly sell Islamic Snacks. The fourth one is Evening Market Snacks Street near Donghuaemen, Wangfujing. It is a place where most common people go to have snacks. Fangshan Restaurant is a place where snacks of royal family are available.
Apart from what are mentioned above in fixed places, you can find many other kinds along roadsides. For example, Sugar-Coated Haws on a stick (Bing Tang Hu Lu), which is sold everywhere in cold days and is one of the daintiest snacks. It looks brightly red, bearing a little sour and sweet. You can also try Roast Sweet Potato (Kao Hong Shu or Kao Bai Shu). Eat it when it is still hot, it is fragrant and sweet. I bet you will never forget it.
Shish kebab (Yang Rou Chuan) is another good choice. Xingjiang Shish kebab is a snack that is popular not only in Beijing but all over the country. Mutton is strung together on a skewer and roasted over a charcoal. It is continually turned and when it is done, salt, pepper and zi ran, which is a special Xinjiang seasoning, are sprinkled over it. It is a little salty, a little hot but hasn't any unpleasant taste.
If you have enough time you may saunter around and drop in small restaurants, especially when the bigger ones have closed. You will find that it won't cost you much for your dinner, which is really good. You will find steamed bread, steamed dumplings, dumplings, noodles, and family-style dishes, which you probably couldn't see in bigger ones.
Quick-Fried Tripe (Bao Du)
Quick-Fried Tripe is an Islamic snack of tripe of sheep or cattle. When served, it is first cut into stripes or slices. Then, it is boiled in water. After it is cooked and dipped into sesame sauce it gets ready for eating. One of the famous restaurants is Bao Du Man, which lies in Niujie, Xuanwu District with a history of more than one hundred years and still run by Man family.
Boiled Sheep's Head (Bai Shui Yang Tou)
Boiled Sheep's Head is another Islamic snack people eat while drinking some wine. It undergoes the following procedures. First, boil sheep's head in water without putting in any seasoning and then cut it into paper-thin slices, at last scatter over it with a kind of special salt.
Pancakes with Meat-Fillings (RouMo Shao Bing)
Pancakes with Meat-Fillings are a kind of court snack, eating as a breakfast dessert by Empress Dowager Ci Xi. When you eat it you need to hollow a pancake and fill it with some minced meat. The pancake is a little burnt outside while the inside is still tender. It tastes salty, delicious and a bit sweet.
Sticky Rice with Sweet Fillings (Ai Wo Wo)
Sticky Rice with Sweet Fillings was once a court snack in Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368). Sticky rice is first steamed, pounded into pulp, shaped into a ball and then filled with sesame and white sugar, pea-flour, jujube paste or some other fillings. Then it is spread over with rice flour. It looks frostlike, tastes smooth and flexible and its fillings are loose and sweet.
Rolling Donkey (Lu Da Gun)
Rolling Donkey is a kind of cake made of bean-flour and is a famous Islamic snack in Beijing. It is made from steamed glutinous millet or sticky rice, scattered with fried bean-flour and filled with red pea. After being cut into blocks, it is rolled in soya bean-flour, which is why this snack gets the name, L¨² Da Gun. When you roll it in soya bean-flour, it looks like a donkey rolling on the ground, raising dusts.
Mung Bean Milk (Dou Zhi)
Mung Bean Milk, which was first drunk about one thousand years ago, is the Number one snack when people are talking about Beijing Snacks. It is actually remnant of mung bean when it is used to make starch. It looks grey-green and tastes sour and a little sweet. When served, it must go with pickles, which are thinly cut and sprayed with cayenne pepper oil. It will taste better, especially for those who try it for the first time. Most people will find it hard to swallow because of its flavor, but if you could manage to try for the second time, maybe you will like it. Some people have got into the habit of drinking it and they even would search everywhere and wait a long time in lines for it. Mung Bean Milk is also rich in protein, vitamin C and dietary fiber and has some effects like appetizing, relieving summer heat, detoxifying and some other effects that account for its popularity among many people.
You could find it in Jinxin Douzhi Restaurant, Ciqikou, Chongwenmenwai.
Fried Liver (Chao Gan)
Fried liver is actually done with such raw material as pig's intestines and some liver with soy sauce, mashed garlic, starch, aniseed etc. as seasonings. The intestine is boiled with seasonings and later the liver is added. When cooked, the juice is sparkling and clear while the intestine is tender and the liver is tasty. It is in fact not fried but boiled. But since it got the name in Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), people accepted it according to the custom. Tianxingju Chaogan Restaurant, the most well-known restaurant for Fried Liver is in Xianyukou Jie, Qianmen, Chongwenmen District.
Filled Sausage (Guan Chang)
Filled Sausage is a dish made with intestine filled with starch, minced meat and some spices. It is first steamed and then cut into cubes and fried. When it is done, it looks inviting with salty water and garlic juice. It is said that Empress Dowager Ci Xi sang high praise of it, so you can imagine how delicious it is. Fuxingju, the earliest restaurant that sells Fried Sausage, used to pay this tribute to the royal family of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
Pea-Flour Cake (Wan Dou Huang)
Pea-Flour Cake, which is made of white pea, is a snack people usually eat in spring. White-pea flour is first mixed with water, cooked over gentle heat and then fried with sugar. After it solidifies, it is cut into rhombohedra -shaped pieces. It has both nice look and nice taste. The best point of it is its fine and smooth texture that melt at the same time when you put it in your mouth.
Shao Mai
There are not many restaurants selling Shao Mai in Beijing and Duyichu Shaomai Restaurant, which lies in Qianmen Dajie and was named by Emperor Qian Long in 1752. It has the best reputation and attracts friends from home and abroad.
The wrappers of Shao Mai are made of flour, and it is rolled by a specially-made roller to form nice shape. Then it is put in different fillings in different seasons, usually young chives in spring, cucurbits together with mutton or vegetables in summer, crabs in autumn and pork with onion in winter. Steamed Shao Mai looks white and translucent, with beautiful pleats on the top, which look quite like sheaves of wheat heads or bunches of white flowers.
