LAO TONG CHENG

[Taste] Laotongcheng is a store that exists in the memory of Wuhan people. It is also a representative of traditional bean curd skin, the kind without brine. I personally prefer this old-style bean curd skin. The mung bean powder plus eggs are more fragrant and chewy. The glutinous rice is the harder kind. The old-style three-fresh mushroom, bamboo shoot and diced meat tastes just like in memory. [Environment] The store is not big, and many people need to wait for a seat [Service] The service is average

Shop name: Laotongcheng Doupi Address: No. 3, No. 679, Zhongshan Avenue Transportation: Take Metro Line 1/2 to Xunlimen Station Exit H and walk 770 meters Business hours: 8:00 am-7:00 pm (8 pm from Friday to Sunday) Laotongcheng Doupi is a well-known Doupi shop in Wuhan. Their traditional three-fresh Doupi is the most recommended. The price is 9 yuan per portion, a total of 250 grams. The ingredients of the three-fresh Doupi include diced pork, diced bamboo shoots, mushrooms, glutinous rice, egg skin, etc. It is tender and crispy when eaten, and tastes good. Osmanthus Lake Rice Wine is 5 yuan per portion, 400 grams. I have also been here. This rice wine soup can smell the faint mellow fragrance of osmanthus wine. The taste is sticky and sweet. The rice wine dumplings in the rice wine soup are also delicious.

Laotongcheng on Jiqing Street is doing very good business. The traditional three-fresh bean curd is 9 yuan per portion, and the beef bean curd is 15 yuan per portion. The price is not cheap, but it is delicious and very popular. There are still many people queuing up.

This shop is near Jiqing Folk Custom Street in Hankou. It is easy to find by following the navigation. I came here after get off work on a weekday. I ate a bowl of dumplings next door, but I didn't feel full, so I came back to order more. The house is not very big, with a simple decoration style. The environment looks good and the hygiene is relatively clean. I looked at the menu, which mainly features various flavors of bean curd. Finally, I chose a pickled pepper beef bean curd. I usually eat three fresh dishes, so I tried a new one this time. The bean curd is average, only two small pieces, and there is still a lot of beef, but the taste is very ordinary, and the pickled lotus root inside is very prominent. Plastic bowls have a cheap feeling. I still like the old enamel plates, which may have a heavier smell.

1. Bean curd is a famous traditional snack in Wuhan, Hubei. It is made with exquisite stuffing and fried carefully. After frying, it is shiny, yellow and fragrant. As breakfast, it is generally available at breakfast stalls in the streets and alleys. The most famous bean curd is "Laotongcheng" located on Zhongshan Avenue in Wuhan. The bean curd it makes has a good reputation among the citizens of Wuhan. 2. "Laotongcheng" is the name of a large restaurant located at the intersection of Zhongshan Avenue and Dazhi Road in Hankou. It is famous for its famous snack, three-fresh bean curd, and is known as the "King of Bean Curd". This restaurant was founded in 1931 (some say 1929). The original site was located outside the Dazhi Gate of the ancient Hankou Castle. It used to be a passage between the city and the countryside, so it was named "Tongcheng Sweet Shop". After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, it was reopened and renamed "Laotongcheng Sweet Shop". 3. The bean curd production process requires "thin skin, clear pulp, and proper fire", so that the fried bean curd is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, oily but not greasy. The three-fresh bean curd is named after the fresh meat, fresh eggs and fresh shrimp in the filling. 4. The "Laotongcheng" restaurant's three-fresh bean curd is well-known far and wide. The three-fresh bean curd here not only contains meat, eggs, and shrimp, but also pig heart, pig stomach, mushrooms, magnolia slices, barbecued pork, etc. The filling is exquisite and the frying is fine. After frying, it is shiny, yellow and fragrant. 5. "Laotongcheng" was opened by Zeng Houcheng, a Hanyang native, at the intersection of Dazhi Road. At the beginning of its opening, it only served breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In 1953, Zeng Houcheng passed away. His children were all revolutionary cadres and did not want to inherit, so they asked the state to take over. On New Year's Day in 1955, it became the first private store in Wuhan to be converted to a state-owned store. In the same year, under the instruction of the Municipal Party Committee, a branch store was set up at the intersection of Huiji Road. On April 3 and September 12, 1958, Mao Zedong visited the branch store to taste the three-fresh bean curd, leaving behind the teaching that "state-owned enterprises should better serve the people", which became the most glorious chapter in the history of Laotongcheng Store. 6. "Celebrities who have visited "Laotongcheng" include: Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Deng Xiaoping, Dong Biwu, Li Xiannian, Li Fuchun, Cai Chang and foreign heads of state Kim Il-sung, Sihanouk... On September 12, 1968, in order to commemorate Chairman Mao's visit to the Laotongcheng Huiji Branch, Laotongcheng, which was renamed the Dongfanghong Catering Department, issued a commemorative medal for the 10th anniversary of Chairman Mao's inspection of the Laotongcheng Huiji Branch. 7. On February 14, 2006, "Laotongcheng" was forced to be demolished due to the construction of the Yangtze River Tunnel in Wuhan. On December 28, 2016, the old catering brand "Laotongcheng" returned to Xinjiqing Street, Zhongshan Avenue after 10 years away from Wuhan. "Laotongcheng", three fresh and beef bean curd are still the main products, priced at 7 yuan and 12 yuan per plate respectively.

Doupi, a Wuhan specialty snack, is especially famous for its Doupi from Laotongcheng. I remember that when I lived in Wuchang a long time ago, I would always go to Hankou just to eat a plate of Doupi. Beef and three fresh delicacies were my favorites. Later, I didn't see Laotongcheng for a long time. It was said that it had been losing money for many years and could not continue to operate, so it closed down. I saw Laotongcheng again on Jiqing Street on Sunday. It was very friendly, and it was still early, around 11:15, so there should be no need to queue. When I got closer, I saw that the winding queue had already reached the street. It was too exaggerated. I went into the store and saw that Doupi was now packed in plastic boxes, and the people in front basically bought four or five boxes. It was not easy to queue up so long. It was a pity that I didn't get to taste Laotongcheng Doupi in the end. I will go there early next time if I have the chance. It should be no problem.

I have been to Jiqing Street many times, but I have never tasted the bean curd skin of Laotongcheng, because there are too many people and the line is lined up on the road. This time I went at 12 noon, and there were not many people. I was so lucky. It is probably because of the snow, there are few people out shopping, which also gave us the opportunity to taste the bean curd skin of Laotongcheng that I have not seen for a long time. The area of ​​the Laotongcheng bean curd skin shop is not large, with only a dozen tables, and most people buy it to take away. There are only three varieties in the store, three fresh bean curd skin for 7 yuan per serving, beef for 12 yuan, and rice wine for 4 yuan. If you eat in the store, bean curd skin and rice wine are a perfect match. If you want to take it away, you can only buy bean curd skin. There are only three pots in the store, and three chefs take turns to make these two varieties. It takes a few minutes for each pot to come out of the oven, so queuing is inevitable, and people who come to order meals usually order a few more, otherwise they will feel that it is not worth it. The person in front of me ordered 12 servings of bean curd skin and took a pot away directly. We bought two servings of three fresh delicacies and one serving of beef. Personally, I feel that the beef tastes better. Of course, the three fresh delicacies are also good, much better than those sold in the snack bar downstairs. It seems that the heritage of Laotongcheng is still there. I will patronize it again in the future.