Although pickles are still difficult to give up under the current healthy public opinion of low salt and low sugar, pickles in old Beijing are still an indispensable table porridge, which remains fragrant after eating. The inheritance of pickles in old Beijing has a long history, which can be traced back to the Southern and Northern Dynasties. By the Yuan Dynasty, it had formed a scale and formed three schools according to different tastes.
First, the old sauce garden, which is said to be related to Baoding pickles, has a salty taste and a strong sauce flavor, represented by Liubiju. The main products are sweet pickled radish, sweet pickled cucumber, sweet pickled manna, sweet pickled Jiang Miao, sweet pickled cabbage, sweet pickled coriander, sweet pickled wax gourd and white sugar garlic.
The second type is Beijing Sauce Garden, in which sucrose is added in the pickling process and sweet noodle sauce is used as the main raw material for pickling. The taste is sweet, fragrant, light and pleasant, represented by Tianyuan. The main products are sweet sauce manna, sweet sauce pumpkin, sweet sauce mixed rice, sweet-scented osmanthus sugar boiled mustard, and hemp seed. Sweet sauce manna, sweet sauce pumpkin, sweet sauce mixed rice, sweet-scented osmanthus sugar boiled mustard, hemp seed gold thread, etc.
Third, the Southern Sauce Garden operated by southerners is salty and sweet, with a strong sauce flavor, represented by Guixinzhai. The main products are prunes and bergamot pimples, which are known as the "old shop of winter vegetables". There are many kinds of pickles in old Beijing, a dish of pickles and a bowl of porridge. Pickled vegetables are a side dish in spare time and a main course in simple time, which cannot be separated from the table.