Once upon a time, there was a rather ordinary pub on Qiangmenwai Avenue . At first, it didn’t have a name at all and only because of the emperor’s favor did it become famous overnight. This is Duyichu restaurant, where numerous visitors from home and abroad line up for a treat. This restaurant specializes in Shaomai, a well known snack in Beijing . When mentioning Shaomai from Duyichu, it is necessary for us to know the origin of shop’s name – Duyichu.
The story goes back to the eve of Chinese new year in the seventeenth year of Emperor Qianlong’s reign. Traditionally, people would not come out of their home at this time without a good reason. Therefore, most all other stores had closed early for the holiday. In the darkness, only a little pub run by a family of Li had the lights on, showing it was still open. Suddenly, three men sauntered into the pub, a master and two servants. The master wore the garb of a scholar, while the two servants carried gauze lanterns in the front and back to light up the way. The pub attendant welcomed them warmly and showed them the way upstairs. As the scholar sat down to dinner he asked, “What’s the name of this shop?” The attendant replied humbly, “It is too small, and does not yet have a name.” The scholar looked around, sighed thoughtfully and said “At this very moment on new year’s eve, there might only be your one shop that is still in operation in the capital, so, you can call it Duyichu.” Several days later, a score of eunuchs from the imperial palace poured into the pub to deliver a shop sign, on which were the characters Du yi chu. Only then many realized that the scholar who had visited Li’s pub on New Year’s Eve was Emperor Qianlong himself, traveling outside of the imperial palace in a commoners garb.
This romantic legend has been passed down for a couple of hundred years through generations of people at Duyichu, from shopkeepers to waiters, managers to attendants. The story might well be a rumor that has taken on some shades of romantic fabrication. In any case, the reputation of Duyichu improves day by day. Whenever customers come here, there are two things they must do: First, admire the board with the inscription of Emperor Qianlong; second, taste its traditional product, Shaomai.
Actually, the outside of Shaomai is made of wheat flour, and the fillings are mainly made of various meats. On top there are eighteen folds, which look much like a flower blossoming on the top of a wheat ear, and for this reason that it is called Shaomai. As it is prepared, it is steamed in small baskets, so the shape of it is very much like a stack of lotuses placed one after another. The outside is rather thin, while the filling is ample, which makes it delicious but not greasy. In the past, when crabs were in season in autumn, Duyichu would supply Shaomai with crab meat filling, which was apparently an entirely unique cuisine experience.
(Source: bjchinese.bjedu.cn)