one day, the master of the imperial chef made a dim sum with filling for cixi, and after cixi finished eating it, she felt that the taste was very good, so she asked the imperial chef what this dim sum was, but at that time, it had not yet been named, and the imperial chef moved his mind and remembered the nail hat on the palace gate, so he casually replied, "this is called 'door nail meat cake'." this dim sum was born.

origin of old beijing door nail meatloaf

many of beijing's famous snacks are related to empress dowager cixi, and door nail meat cakes are no exception. one day, the master of the imperial kitchen made a dim sum with filling for cixi, and after cixi ate it, she felt that the taste was delicious and liked it very much, so she asked what kind of food it was. at that time, there was no name, but the empress dowager asked, can't you say you don't know? so the cook thought of the nail hat on the gate of the court, so he casually said, "this is called 'door nail meatloaf.'" door nail meatloaf was born.

door nail meat cake is one of the traditional flavor snacks of old beijing, so named because it is shaped like a door nail, which has the meaning of symbolizing auspiciousness