🍽️ Fried Liver

Pork liver and intestine in thick gravy.

Fried Liver is a genuine old-Beijing breakfast snack, the perfect partner to steamed buns, still the signature of old southern-city shops. It uses pork liver and intestine: the intestine is first braised until soft, the liver sliced, both simmered in bone broth seasoned with garlic, ginger and soy, then thickened heavily with starch into a translucent porridge-like gravy. Diners do not stir but sip along the rim of the bowl, paired with a couple of pork buns. The liver is tender, the intestine soft, the garlic aroma strong, and the thick gravy warming. Despite its name fried, it is really boiled and thickened, with timing and gravy consistency the keys. In Beijing, old shops draw long queues from early morning; a bowl of fried liver with buns is the most down-to-earth way old Beijingers start the day.