Pingyao Beef

Pingyao beef is essence of China's extensive and profound food culture which has a long history. As early as in the ancient Han Dynasty, there was a description of beef processing as "buying calves by selling swords and cattle by selling blades with ease". Pingyao beef with unique flavor and long reputation had been exported to Asian countries as early as the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is recorded that in the late Qing Dynasty, the Empress Dowager Cixi enjoyed Pingyao beef during her stay in Pingyao, and she was refreshed by the smell and her sleepiness was away by the taste. Therefore, she decided it as the tribute food.

Pingyao beef enjoys a long history of sound reputation. Although the origin of it is unclear, it was famous in Shanxi during the Qing Dynasty. During the reign of the Emperor Jiaqing, Lei Jinning and his three generations of descendants, had opened a beef shop called Xing Sheng Lei in Wen Temple Street for more than 100 years. To the end of Emperor Guangxu's reign, his son Ren Yangwen set up his own beef shop in the West Street, whose beef could be compared with the prosperous Xing Sheng Lei beef. Both of them were authentic.

Pingyao beef has a unique traditional production process. From the slaughter of raw cattle, raw meat cutting, pickling, pot cooking and other operating procedures and methods, to the use of salt, water and processing of solar terms and seasons, the procedures are all very particular. Ruddy, fresh, fat but not greasy, thin and not wood, and mellow delicious with rich nutrition, Pingyao beef boasts the effect of strengthening the stomach and spleen.