Huntun Hou

Huntun Hou

　　Why did the wontons from “Huntun Hou” become so famous across Beijing? It’s mainly because the wontons here are made with great care. Since its opening, “Huntun Hou” has primarily focused on serving wontons. Except for the years during the Cultural Revolution, the main items on its menu have always been wontons and sesame pancakes. The characteristics of their wontons are thin wrappers, delicate fillings, flavorful broth, and complete seasonings. The wrappers of “Huntun Hou” wontons are said to be as thin as paper — when placed on a newspaper, you can see the text through them. Delicate filling means there's a specific ratio of vegetables to meat, with the meat carefully selected from the pork sirloin tip, seven parts lean and three parts fat, resulting in an evenly mixed filling. One bowl of wontons contains ten wrappers per liang (50 grams), filled with one liang of filling, totaling two liang — the measurements are almost never off. All of “Huntun Hou’s” wontons are handmade and made on-site. Making wontons is also called “pushing wontons,” and the speed and skill of the workers are truly astounding. Each shift has two chefs who can serve over 3,000 people, averaging more than one hundred wontons per minute. The broth at “Huntun Hou” is also exceptional. The soup used to cook the wontons is made by simmering pork leg bones for about six hours. The flavor is rich but not greasy. Since bone broth is rich in calcium, many elderly people are particularly fond of it for that reason. When it comes to seasonings, “Huntun Hou” emphasizes “completeness” — including seaweed, cilantro, preserved winter vegetables, shrimp roe, and egg crepes, among others. A reporter once wrote an article two years ago titled “Beijing’s Winter Vegetables Are Gone.” Winter vegetables are an essential seasoning for traditional Beijing-style wontons. “Huntun Hou” went to great lengths to source winter vegetables and eventually found a manufacturer in Qing County, Hebei. Nowadays, the jarred winter vegetables from Qing County have become an exclusive supply for “Huntun Hou.” As early as the 1950s, “Huntun Hou” had already gained fame in Beijing. At that time, Bamiancao was close to the Jixiang Theater and the Beijing People’s Art Theatre. After performances, some famous actors would often come to “Huntun Hou” for a bowl of wontons and a couple of sesame pancakes as a late-night snack. Don’t underestimate the humble wonton — it often appears at formal banquets. Back then, Premier Zhou Enlai hosted foreign guests and invited the chefs from “Huntun Hou” to prepare the wontons several times. Chen Baozeng, the nephew of Chen Qing’an (one of the seven founders of “Huntun Hou” and now in his 60s), wrote a memoir several years ago titled “I Made Wontons for the Premier,” detailing these events. In the early 1960s, the chefs from “Huntun Hou” participated in a national cooking competition and won a gold medal, receiving recognition from national leaders. At a recent Beijing Culinary Skills Competition, “Huntun Hou’s” wontons won a bronze award, and at a mass banquet food festival, their Wonton Banquet won a gold award. These small wontons have brought great fame to the “Huntun Hou” brand. How to leverage this golden brand to develop China’s fast-food industry has always been a key focus for Xinghua Food Company. “Huntun Hou,” as a time-honored brand, has a glorious history to be proud of. But facing the fierce competition in the food and beverage market, continuing with the old workshop-style production model clearly wouldn’t keep up with the times. Earlier this year, Xinghua Food Company invested 1.2 million yuan to give “Huntun Hou” a complete makeover — refreshing the storefront, reorganizing the dining area, and increasing the business space. The most significant change was in the way the wontons were made. While preserving tradition, they carried out a comprehensive innovation based on scientific and standardized methods. The old business model of “Huntun Hou” was that every staff member could do everything — roll wrappers, make fillings, prepare broth, and serve customers. Now roles are assigned by position: those who roll wrappers and wrap wontons focus solely on that, those who cook focus only on cooking, and service staff handle just serving. In the past, making fillings and wrappers happened in the same area, but now a central kitchen has been set up elsewhere (since Wangfujing is so expensive, every bit of space is used to increase dining area) to exclusively supply ingredients for the storefront. Previously, customers would buy a ticket and pick up their own wontons from the counter, but now the service is tableside, and billing happens after eating. The variety used to be limited — there was only one type of wonton filling, and aside from wontons, only sesame pancakes and side dishes were offered. Now, after repeated research and evaluation by chefs and nutritionists, the menu has expanded to 28 varieties, with five different types of wonton fillings alone. There are four types of sesame pancakes, plus noodles, shaomai (steamed pork dumplings), xiaolongbao (soup dumplings), and a new Wonton Banquet. In the past, wontons were boiled in a big pot and scooped out directly. Now, they’re cooked individually in a noodle strainer, while the broth is simmered separately in another pot. The broth comes in various types, such as pork bone or old hen stock, and is poured over the wontons — exactly ten per strainer, no more, no less. Previously, cooking in a large pot and directly scooping them out led to uneven portions, which could easily draw complaints. Now, those concerns are gone. These changes by the time-honored brand “Huntun Hou” have given locals a refreshing experience. After all, how can a time-honored brand survive without evolving? The value of a heritage brand lies in the weight of its name. Since reopening, “Huntun Hou” has been bustling with customers daily. Despite having only a little over 300 square meters of space and selling wontons for just three or four yuan per bowl, its average daily turnover exceeds 20,000 yuan, peaking at over 30,000 yuan — a profitability that even puts some large restaurants and eateries to shame. Because the wontons and other snacks offered by “Huntun Hou” are now largely standardized, and the original location often sees customers waiting for seats, Xinghua Food Company plans to open chain stores under this iconic brand. So far, four branches have been opened. Additionally, they aim to adopt management practices from foreign fast-food chains to rejuvenate this classic brand. Perhaps in just a few years, “Huntun Hou” will be everywhere in Beijing. How can a time-honored brand regain its former glory? The experience of “Huntun Hou” is worth learning from.