The founder of Donglaishun is Ding Deshan, whose courtesy name is Ziqing. He is from Cangzhou, Hebei Province. In his early years, he was a coolie delivering loess to the city. Before liberation, there were no gas or heating facilities in the city, so heating and cooking in winter relied on briquettes. Shaking briquettes is inseparable from the binder - loess. Deshan specializes in delivering loess to various coal mines. Every day I haul loess from outside the city to the city and often pass by the old Dong'an market.
Dongan Market was formerly the racecourse of the Royal Palace. During the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, when the emperor went to court, all civil and military officials had to enter the palace through the Meridian Gate, but they could not enter the palace on horseback or in sedan chairs. When we arrived at Donghua Gate, there was a dismounting stone, which said that civil servants dismounted from sedan chairs and military attaches dismounted from horses. The predecessor of Laodong'an Market was the place where military attachés kept their horses after they dismounted. Later, it gradually formed a trading market with people coming and going and it was very lively.
Ding Deshan saw the Feng Shui treasure here and invested all the savings he had saved from working hard into the north gate of Dong'an Market to build a shed. Hanging up the sign of "Dong Laishun Porridge Stall", a stall specializing in cornmeal pancakes and millet porridge was set up to entertain the common people, mainly coachmen and horsemen, and the business was quite prosperous. So we expanded the business and hired a noodle maker to attract customers.
The horse farm in Dong'an Market was under the supervision of a eunuch named Wei Yan. He loved eating the noodles from the porridge stall and often visited Ding Deshan's porridge stall. Ding Deshan was also very discerning. Every time Wei Yan came, he entertained and flattered Wei Yan very thoughtfully, which won the favor of the old eunuch. Wei Yan saw that Ding Deshan people were very clever and knew how to get into trouble, so he came and went and recognized his godson. In 1912, a fire broke out in Dong'an Market and the porridge shed was also burned down. Eunuch Wei came forward to help, and took out some silver coins to help Ding Deshan rebuild three tile-roofed houses and set up the name "Dong Laishun Mutton Restaurant". At first, they just made some mutton soup, haggis, etc., and later introduced "mutton shabu-shabu" to the restaurant.
It is said that the flavor of mutton-shabu-shabu was invented by Kublai Khan’s chefs in an emergency situation during the march for first aid. During the war, it happened to be winter, the weather was cold, and the military rations were cut off, so I boiled a pot of water, cut the frozen mutton into slices, rinsed it in the pot, fished it out and mixed it with condiments. Although it is not very delicious, Bi Jing solved the temporary eating problem. Later, it was appreciated by Kublai Khan and promoted throughout the army. Of course, the method at that time was relatively primitive, the knife skills were not exquisite, and the condiments were not complete. After generations of chefs' painstaking research, there has been gradual improvement and a special flavor has gradually been formed.
Ding Deshan introduced the flavor of mutton-shabu-shabu into the store, and after careful consideration, the mutton-shabu-shabu is tender and delicious, mainly relying on the careful selection of ingredients, fine processing, and complete seasonings. So he spent a lot of money to recruit a famous chef with excellent knife skills from Zhengyanglou Restaurant outside Qianmen to help him pass on his skills. This expert in cutting and boiling mutton made standardized regulations on the place of origin of the sheep, the parts of the meat used, and the techniques of cutting the meat. The cut mutton slices are spread on a blue and white porcelain plate. The patterns on the plate can be vaguely seen through the meat, forming a scene of watching Master Dong Laishun cut meat. Eating Dong Laishun Shabu Shabu is a kind of enjoyment. Dong Laishun is famous for this. Beijing. "Donglaishun Mutton Restaurant" has not only become a place frequented by ordinary people, but also some dignitaries and literati often come in and out to taste the special flavor of hot-boiled mutton. In this way, the scale of "Dong Laishun Mutton Restaurant" was given the opportunity to further develop, and its reputation was further expanded. It was later renamed Dong Laishun Restaurant.
At this time, Ding Deshan did not put on airs because of his fame. In addition to mutton-shabu-shabu, he continued to operate the porridge stall business. It has three main purposes: First, it can make the coachmen, horsemen and coolies come more often. They are all living advertisements. After entertaining them, they run around, promote everywhere, and take the initiative to send customers to Donglaishun; secondly, the scraps from Donglaishun Restaurant have a place to go, and they can be sold again, which reduces costs. ; Third, as a starting point for success, it can inspire future generations not to forget the hardships of starting a business.
In the past hundred years, Donglaishun people, while adhering to the tradition, have learned from others' strengths and strived for excellence, creating a unique harmonious unity of color, aroma, taste, shape and utensils, forming eight characteristics of flavor-shabu-shabu: selection The ingredients are exquisite, the knife skills are beautiful, the seasonings are fragrant, the hot pot is popular, the soup base is fresh, the sugar and garlic are crispy, the ingredients are fine, and the accessories are complete.