Goubuli Stuffed Bun

Goubuli stuffed bun

狗不理包子 

Goubuli stuffed bun is a famous snack of Tianjin City, China. There is a common saying among the Tianjin people that “If you don’t have a taste of Goubuli stuffed bun in Tianjin, you are perceived to be not having been here”. 

狗不理包子是中国天津的一道有名的小吃。在天津人中间有一种俗语是说“如果你在天津没吃过狗不理包子，就等于没来过天津”。 

The name “Goubuli” came into existence early in 1858. A person named Gao Guiyou ran a snack pub exclusively dealing in stuffed bun. Since he was apt at various crafts for making stuffed bun, his products were provided with peculiar features in color, scent, taste and shape, which won him a booming business. Gao Guiyou was always too busy to talk to his customers who then said jokingly “Gouzi (nickname of Mr. Gao) only sells his stuffed buns, paying no attention to customers”. Later, people all called him “Goubuli” and his stuffed bun “Goubuli Stuffed Bun”, which had outlived the original name of the pub. It is said that Yuan Shikai once brought Goubuli stuffed bun as a tribute to Empress Dowager Cixi, who was very pleased after tasting the bun. From then on, Goubuli stuffed bun rose to fame swiftly and branch stores dealing in the bun were gradually extended to numerous places in China. 

“狗不理”这个名字最早产生于1858年，一个名叫高贵友的人经营着一家小吃铺，但是只卖包子。因为他做包子的手艺很好，而且他的包子在颜色、香气、味道以及外形上面都很与众不同，所以这些就为他赢得了很多的生意。（因为生意太好），高贵友忙的根本没时间和顾客说话，所以顾客就开玩笑说：“狗子（高贵友的绰号）只忙着卖包子，根本不理人”。随后人们就都戏称他为“狗不理”，称他的包子为“狗不理包子”，而店铺原来的名字也就渐渐被人们遗忘了。据说袁世凯曾把狗不理包子作为贡品献给慈禧太后，而且慈禧太后品尝之后龙颜大悦。从那以后，狗不理包子就名声大振，而且它的分店很快就在中国的许多地方铺展开来。 

With its fresh and delicious taste, Goubuli stuffed bun is famous across China and even abroad, and Tianjin, Beijing and other cities have set up branch stores. Its high popularity is attributed to the fine materials, elaborate making, as well as unique skills in material selection, formula making, churning of materials, dough kneading and dough rolling. Furthermore, strict regulations have been set in the bun-making process that plaits on the buns should be symmetrical and the number of plaints on every bun should not less than 15. In virtue of these standards, the piping hot stuffed buns are uniform in shape, white, tender, fat but not greasy, as well as fresh and tasty, and thereby have been being popular among both Chinese and foreigners. 

因为色鲜味美，狗不理包子很快就驰名中外，而且还在天津、北京和其他的很多城市开设了分店。它的广受欢迎得益于优质的材料，精心的制作，像选材，配比，搅拌，捏合还有蒸煮等等。此外，在包子的制作过程中还有着严格的规定：包子上面的褶子必须要匀称而且每个包子褶子的数量不能少于15个。正是凭借这些标准，滚烫的包子有着统一的外形，又白又嫩，油而不腻，而且色鲜味美，从而使它在国内外都很受欢迎。