5 Beijing Famous Foods Most People Dare NOT to Eat

There are many Beijing famous food popular among not only locals, but also travelers, such as Peking duck, instant-boiled mutton, Zhajiangmian, etc. But there are also some special Beijing food seldom known by the outsiders. The below listed 5 are famous street food in Beijing, but someone call them dark dishes. Why? One reason is that some of them tastes strange, only a few locals can accept it; another reason is that some use animal organs as ingredients, such as pig intestines, liver, stomach, etc., which is unacceptable to many people.

If you are eager to try the most authentic Beijing taste, you must read this article as a guide; if you are afraid to try, you should also read this article to avoid these “terrible” foods.
 

 Chinese name: 豆汁儿 dòu zhī er
Mung Bean Milk is a traditional snack unique in Beijing. It has a written history of 300 years. The ingredient is remaining of making mung bean vermicelli and the method is fermentation, hence tasting sour and has a strange smell, unaccepted even by some locals. Although tasting “terrible” for most customers, it is a healthy and nutritive food which nourishes the stomach, releases overmuch heat in body and stimulate the appetite. Beijing people often have it together with fried bread rings, baked sesame seed cake and spicy salted vegetable at breakfast. 
 

 Chinese name: 卤煮 lǔ zhǔ
Unlike Mung Bean Milk, this Beijing famous food is widely welcomed by the locals. Outsiders dare not to eat it mainly because of the ingredients, including pig intestines and pig lungs. They are boiled together with bean curd sheets and the staple food baked wheaten cake in a big pot with various seasonings. After being ordered, the server takes several out from the big pot, dice them and add in the soup used to boil them. If wanted, you can also add minced garlic, red chili oil, fermented bean curd and chives flower sauce, etc based on your taste. Absorbing enough soup, they are tender and juicy.
 

 Chinese name: 炒肝儿 chǎo gān er
Stewed Liver is a special Beijing food that looks like bright brown or red thicken soup with pork intestines and liver inside. The pork intestines and pig liver are stewed in pork bone soup with ginger, garlic, star anise, vinegar, soy sauce and salted and fermented soya paste. It has the heavy flavor of intestines, liver and garlic. Beijing people often have it with steamed stuffed buns as breakfast.
 

 Chinese name: 爆肚bào dǔ
The cooking methods of this Beijing local food is extremely simple. The ox tripe or lamb tripe is quickly boiled in hot water and then dish up. Beijing people love to eat it and have some liquor in autumn. The tripe is always dipped with dipping sauce made of soy sauce, vinegar, chopped green onion, and sesame sauce and eaten together with sesame seed cake. 
 

 Chinese name: 老北京灌肠 lǎo běi jīng guàn cháng
This Beijing famous food has been popular since the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644 AD). The intestine is stuffed with batter made of red yeast rice water, buckwheat or starch and various seasonings and steamed, then the steamed stuffed intestines are cut into thin pieces and fried with lard or cooking oil. It is often eat with garlic juice. It tastes crispy outside and tender inside and has the natural flavor of garlic.