thumb|Beijing cuisine in Menkuang Hutong, a century-old restaurant
Beijing cuisine, also known as Jing cuisine, Mandarin cuisine and Peking cuisine and formerly as Beiping cuisine, is the local cuisine of Beijing, the national capital of China.
Background
As Beijing has been the capital of China for centuries, its cuisine is influenced by culinary traditions from all over China, but the style that has the greatest influence on Beijing cuisine is that of the eastern coastal province of Shandong. Beijing cuisine has itself, in turn, also greatly influenced other Chinese cuisines, particularly the cuisine of Liaoning, the Chinese imperial cuisine and the Chinese aristocrat cuisine. as well as from Huaiyang cuisine.
Huaiyang cuisine has been praised since ancient times in China and it was a general practice for an official travelling to Beijing to take up a new post to bring along with him a chef specialising in Huaiyang cuisine. When these officials had completed their terms in the capital and returned to their native provinces, most of the chefs they brought along often remained in Beijing. They opened their own restaurants or were hired by wealthy locals.
Chinese Islamic cuisine is another important component of Beijing cuisine and was first prominently introduced when Beijing became the capital of the Yuan dynasty. However, the most significant contribution to the formation of Beijing cuisine came from Shandong cuisine, as most chefs from Shandong Province came to Beijing en masse during the Qing dynasty. Unlike the earlier two cuisines, which were brought by the ruling class such as nobles, aristocrats and bureaucrats and then spread to the general populace, the introduction of Shandong cuisine begun with serving the general populace, with much wider market segment, from wealthy merchants to the working class.
History
The Qing dynasty was a major period in the formation of Beijing cuisine. Before the Boxer Rebellion, the foodservice establishments in Beijing were strictly stratified by the foodservice guild. Each category of the establishment was specifically based on its ability to provide for a particular segment of the market. The top ranking establishments served nobles, aristocrats, and wealthy merchants and landlords, while lower ranking establishments served the populace of lower financial and social status. It was during this period when Beijing cuisine gained fame and became recognised by the Chinese culinary society, and the stratification of the foodservice was one of its most obvious characteristics as part of its culinary and gastronomic cultures during this first peak of its formation.
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| Cold pig's ears in sauce || || || || ||
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| Dried soy milk cream in tight roll with beef fillings || || || || ||
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| Fried dry soybean cream with diced meat filling || || || || ||
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| Fried meatballs || || || || ||
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| Fried pig's liver wrapped in Chinese small iris || || || || ||
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| Fried triangle || || || || ||
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| Fried wheaten pancake with meat and sea cucumber fillings || || || || ||
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| Glazed fried egg cake || || || || ||
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| Goat or sheep's intestine filled with blood || || || || ||
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| Hot and sour soup || 120px|| || || ||
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| Instant-boiled mutton ||120px|| || || || A variant of hot pot which usually features boiled water as its base (with no additional spices) and mutton as the main type of meat.
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| Lard with flour wrapping glazed in honey || || || || ||
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| Lotus ham || || || || ||
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| Lotus-shaped cake with chicken || || || || ||
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| Meatball soup || || || || ||
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| Meat in sauce || || || || ||
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| Meat wrapped in thin mung bean flour pancake || || || || ||
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| Moo shu pork || 120px || || || || Literally "wood shavings meat"
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| Napa cabbage hot pot || || || || || A variant of hot pot of Northeast China origin. Its main ingredients are pickled napa cabbage, cooked pork belly and other meats, and other typical dishes include leaf vegetables, mushrooms, wontons, egg dumplings, tofu, and seafood. The cooked food is usually eaten with a dipping sauce.
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| Peking barbecue ||120px|| || || ||
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| Peking duck ||120px|| || || || Usually served with pancakes
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| Peking dumpling || || || || ||
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| Peking wonton || || || || ||
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| Pickled Chinese cabbage with blood-filled pig's intestines || || || || ||
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| Pickled meat in sauce || || || || ||
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| Plain boiled pork || || || || ||
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| Pork in broth || || || || ||
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| Pork shoulder || 120px|| || || ||
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| Quick-fried tripe ||120px || || || ||
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| Roasted meat || || || || || Could be beef, pork or mutton
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| Shredded mung bean skin salad || || || || ||
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| Soft fried tenderloin || || || || ||
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| Stewed pig's organs || || || || ||
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| Stir-fried tomato and scrambled eggs || 120px || || || ||
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| Sweet and sour spare ribs ||120px|| || || ||
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| Sweet stir-fried mutton or lamb || || || || ||
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| Wheaten cake boiled in meat broth ||120px || || || ||
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Fish and seafood dishes
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! English !! Traditional Chinese !! Simplified Chinese !! Pinyin !! Notes
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| Abalone with peas and fish paste || || || || The dish's name literally means "toad abalone".
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| Boiled fish in household-style || || || ||
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| Braised fish || || || ||
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| Egg and shrimp wrapped in corn flour pancake || || || ||
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| Fish cooked with five kinds of sliced vegetable || || || ||
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| Fish cooked with five-spice powder || || || ||
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| Fish in vinegar and pepper || || || ||
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| Fish soaked in soup || || || ||
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| Sea cucumber with quail egg || || || || The dish's name literally means "the black dragon spits out pearls".
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| Shrimp chips with egg || || || || The dish's name literally means "the goldfish playing with the lotus".
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| Soft fried fish || || || ||
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Noodles (both vegetarian and non-vegetarian)
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! English !! Image !! Traditional Chinese !! Simplified Chinese !! Pinyin !! Notes
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| Naked oats noodle || || || || ||
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| Noodles with thick gravy || 120px || || || ||
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| Sesame sauce noodles ||120px|| || || || A well-known noodle dish in Northern China. The sesame sauce is mainly made of sesame paste and sesame oil. In American cooking, peanut butter is often a substitute for the sesame paste.
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| Zhajiangmian || 120px || || || ||
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Pastries
{| class="wikitable"
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! English !! Image !! Traditional Chinese !! Simplified Chinese !! Pinyin !! Notes
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| Fried butter cake ||120px|| || ||
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| Fried cake with fillings |||| || ||
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| Fried sesame egg cake |||| || ||
|The dish's name literally means "open mouth and laugh/smile".
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| Fried tofu with egg wrapping |||| || ||
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| Jiaoquan || 120px || || || ||Shaped like a fried doughnut, but has a crispier texture
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| Steamed egg cake |||| || ||
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| Sachima ||120px|| 沙琪瑪 || 沙琪玛 || || Chinese pastry of Manchu origin similar looking to Rice Krispies Treats but different in taste
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| Yellow pea cake |||| 豌豆黃 || 豌豆黄 || || made from sweetened pea puree
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Vegetarian
thumb|[[Tanghulu|Bingtanghulu]]
thumb|A bowl of [[douzhi (left) with breakfast items]]
thumb|[[Nai lao (Beijing yogurt)]]
thumb|[[Liangfen]]
thumb|[[Shaobing]]
thumb|Traditional [[Tangyuan|tangyuan with a sweet sesame filling]]
thumb|[[Wotou]]
thumb|[[Xi gua lao]]
thumb|[[Zongzi both ready to eat (left) and still wrapped in a bamboo leaf (right)]]
{| class="wikitable sortable"
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! English !! Traditional Chinese !! Simplified Chinese !! Pinyin !! Notes
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| Baked sesame seed cake || || || ||
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| Baked wheaten cake || || || ||
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| Bean jelly || || || ||
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| Bean paste cake || || || ||
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| Beijing yoghurt || || || ||
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| Buckwheat cake || || || ||
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| Cake with bean paste filling || || || ||
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| Candied fruit || || || ||
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| Chatang / Miancha / Youcha || || || ||
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| Chestnut broth || || || ||
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| Chestnut cake with bean paste || || || ||
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| Chinese cabbage in mustard || || || ||
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| Crisp fritter || || || ||
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| Crisp fritter with sesame || || || ||
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| Crisp noodle || || || ||
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| Crisp thin fritter twist || || || ||
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| Deep-fried dough cake || || || ||
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| Dried fermented mung bean juice || || || ||
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| Dried soy milk cream in tight rolls || || || ||
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| Fermented mung bean juice || || || ||
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| Freshwater snail-shaped cake || || || ||
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| Fried cake || || || ||
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| Fried cake glazed in malt sugar || || || ||
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| Fried dough twist || || || ||
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| Fried ring || || || ||
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| Fried sugar cake || || || ||
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| Fuling pancake sandwich || || || ||
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| Glazed / candied Chinese yam || || || ||
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| Glazed steamed glutinous rice cake || || || ||
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| Glazed thin pancake with Chinese yam and jujube stuffing || || || ||
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| Glutinous rice ball || || || ||
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| Glutinous rice cake || || || ||
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| Glutinous rice cake roll || || || ||
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| Hawthorn cake || || || ||
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| Honeycomb cake || || || ||
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| Iced fruit || || || ||
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| Jellied beancurd || || || ||
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| Kidney bean roll || || || ||
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| Lama cake || || || ||
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| Millet zongzi || || || ||
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| Mung bean cake || || || ||
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| Noodle roll || || || ||
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| Pancake || || || ||
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| Pease pudding || || || ||
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| Preserved fruit || || || ||
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| Purple vine cake || || || ||
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| Rice and jujube cake || || || ||
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| Rice and white kidney bean cake with jujube || || || ||
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| Rice cake with bean paste || || || ||
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| Shortening cake || || || ||
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| Soybean flour cake || || || ||
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| Stir fried hawthorn || || || ||
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| Stir-fried starch knots || || || ||
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| Suncake || || || || Not to be confused with Taiwanese suncake, whose name in Chinese is () translates more literally as "sun cookie".
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| Sweet flour cake || || || ||
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| Sweet hard flour cake || || || ||
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| Sweet potato starch jelly || || || ||
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| Sweetened baked wheaten cake || || || ||
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| Tanghulu || || || ||
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| Tangyuan || || || ||
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| Thin millet flour pancake || || || ||
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| Thin pancake || || || ||
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| Thin pancake of lard || || || ||
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| Thousand-layered cake || || || ||
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| Veggie roll || || || || Not to be confused with spring rolls.
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| Watermelon jelly || || || ||
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| Wotou || || || ||
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| Xing ren cha || || || ||
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| Xingren doufu || || || ||
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| Yellow cake || || || ||
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Beijing delicacies
- Deep-fried pie
- Soy bean curd
Restaurants known for Beijing cuisine
Numerous traditional restaurants in Beijing are credited with great contributions in the formation of Beijing cuisine, but many of them have gone out of business. However, some of them managed to survive until today, and some of them are:
thumb|The introduction board at the [[Bianyifang describes the restaurant's history]]
- Bai Kui (白魁): established in 1780
- Bao Du Feng (爆肚冯): established in 1881, also known as Ji Sheng Long (金生隆)
- Bianyifang: established in 1416, the oldest surviving restaurant in Beijing
- Cha Tang Li (茶汤李), established in 1858
- Dao Xiang Chun (稻香春): established in 1916
- Dao Xian Cun (稻香村): established in 1895
- De Shun Zhai (大顺斋): established in the early 1870s
- Dong Lai Shun (东来顺): established in 1903
- Dong Xin Shun (东兴顺): also known as Bao Du Zhang (爆肚张), established in 1883
- Du Yi Chu (都一处): established in 1738
- Dou Fu Nao Bai (豆腐脑白): established in 1877, also known as Xi Yu Zhai (西域斋)
- En Yuan Ju (恩元居), established in 1929
- Fang Sheng Zhai (芳生斋), also known as Nai Lao Wei (奶酪魏), established in 1857
- Hong Bin Lou (鸿宾楼): established in 1853 in Tianjin, relocated to Beijing in 1955.
- Jin Sheng Long (金生隆): established in 1846
- Kao Rou Ji (烤肉季): established in 1828
- Kao Rou Wan (烤肉宛): established in 1686
- Liu Bi Ju (六必居) established in 1530
- Liu Quan Ju (柳泉居): established in the late 1560s, the second oldest surviving restaurant in Beijing
- Nan Lai Shun (南来顺): established in 1937
- Nian Gao Qian (年糕钱): established in early 1880s
- Quanjude (全聚德): established in 1864
- Rui Bin Lou (瑞宾楼): originally established in 1876
- Sha Guoo Ju (砂锅居), established in 1741
- Tian Fu Hao (天福号): established in 1738
- Tian Xing Ju (天兴居):, established in 1862
- Tian Yuan Jian Yuan (天源酱园): established in 1869
- Wang Zhi He (王致和): established in 1669
- Wonton Hou (馄饨侯): established in 1949
- Xi De Shun (西德顺): also known as Bao Du Wang (爆肚王), established in 1904
- Xi Lai Shun (西来顺): established in 1930
- Xian Bing Zhou (馅饼周): established in 1910s, also known as Tong Ju Guan (同聚馆)
- Xiao Chang Chen (小肠陈): established in the late 19th century
- Xin Yuan Zhai (信远斋), established in 1740
- Yang Tou Man (羊头马): established in the late 1830s
- Yi Tiao Long (壹条龙): established in 1785