Diet characteristics of
Xian is mainly northwest flavor, flour-made food like Roujiamo, and beef and mutton Paomo for people who seldom eat may not be easy to accept the heavy taste, but there are many types of Xian snacks with different tastes, so we recommend tourists to try many different kinds of snacks.
Eating in Muslim street and other places of halal restaurants, all need to pay attention to respect the habits and customs of Hui nationality and Muslim religion. Basically all Hui store are not allowed to drink alcohol.
Rou Jia Mo
Rou Jia Mo which is called meat burger or meat sandwich in English can be considered China anwer to the Western hamburger. It is a street food in Shaanxi Province in the past. This local snack could be taken as the world oldest hamburgers, since it can be traced back to the Qin Dynasty.
The original Rou jia mo was invented by Han Chinese, pork was chosen as the meat in this snack. But Islam prohibited the eating of pork, Muslims changed the pork into beef or lamb so that they could also enjoy this delicious food. Thanks to the Muslims in the ancient time, they made tastes of Rou jia mo various.
Nowadays, Rou jia mo becomes a symbol of Xian catering culture, if you do not have a taste of this snack, you may be regret and plan another visit to Xian again.
Mutton Paomo
As the most representative local food and a "unique food peculiar to Shaanxi", the well-known Muslim snack named Mutton Paomo (Yangrou Paomo) enjoys an international reputation.
It is hard to image what are put in this snack from its name. But from its English name mutton soup with pancake pieces, you may have a general idea of this local food. The main materials used in this snack are mutton and pancakes. The culinary art required for Pancake slices soaked in mutton soup is very carefully selected, the craft of boiling meat is very exquisite too. The mutton soup is the essence of this snack, beside the main materials, the ingredients, such as shallot, ginger, Chinese prickly ash, aniseed, fennel, cassia, etc., also play very important roles in this food.
Try to image that you are tearing a pancake into small pieces, soaking them in a bowl of the boiling mutton soup and taste them at once in a winter morning; you will know why it is a popular snack among Xian citizens.
Qishan Noodles
Qishan Noodles have a long history. Since the Qing Dynasty, the reputation of this food had already spread widely. Qishan Noodles gets the name only because its hometown is Qishan County, Xian.
The noodles are very particular. They must be hand-made of good wheat flour so the taste can catch your stomach at once. With many kinds of ingredients include pork shreds, day lily, egg, wood fungus, and bean curd which are flavored with a variety of spices, the hot and sour soup with slightness noodles, is suitable for both the elderly and young.
Qishan Noodles take a very important position in the eating cultural of Guanzhong district. During festival periods and some events such as wedding and birthday party, people will cook Qishan noodles to entertain their relatives and friends.
Liangpi
As a dish of cold noodles in a sauce that hits every possible flavor category (sweet, tangy, savory, herbal, nutty and dozens of others), Liangpi (cold noodles) is a famous summer snack (also sold in winter) in Xian. It is a noodle-like Chinese dish made from wheat or rice flour.
Originally, this snack only can be found in Shaanxi province. But because of its good taste, it has already been spread around the country, in particular the northern and central regions.
There are three kinds of Liangpi that you can choose to taste. The first one called Hanzhong Liangpi which is a kind of Liangpi that are steamed with garlic and hot chili oil. The second type is Majiang Liangpi which is garnished with julienned cucumber and a sauce made of salt, vinegar, hot chili oil and especially black sesame paste. The last one called Shan Xin Gan Mian Pi which is tasted a bit firmer and seemed dark in color.
Dumpling Banquet
Dumplings, called Jiaozi in Chinese, is a food that can be made and cooked in many different ways, so this delicacy can even be served as a banquet dish during your Xian tour.
Dumpling is very popular food in north China. Customarily, the people prepare and eat dumplings at the Spring Festival and Winter Solstice.
The Dumpling Banquet was developed by Xian Dumpling Restaurant and Defachang Dumpling Restaurant on the basis of traditional dumpling. The dumplings served at the banquet are prepared with well-selected materials, including a wide variety of ingredients and featuring different kinks of stuffing, aromatic taste and rich in nutrition. Over 200 varieties of dumplings are served for several dozen kins of banquets, such as Imperial Banquet, Eight Treasure Banquet, Dragon and Phoenix Banquet, Peony Banquet and Hundred Flower Banquet.
Dumplings served at the banquet, which can be steamed, boiled, fried, roasted or fried in shallowe oil, are salty, spicy, sweet, sweet and sour, fish-flavored or crisp. Stuffing of dumplings is mainly made of fresh vegetables, pork, shark’s fin, sea cucumbers, hedgehog hydnum, squid and other delicacies from land and area, as well as special local products, such as peach kernels and persimmons.
Xian Biangbiang Noodle
Xian Biangbiang Noodle is a kind of traditional cooked wheaten food at Guanzhong area of Shanxi Province. The character "biang" is a combined word with a variety of writing, which can not were not input the computer and often instead of written alphabet "BiángBiáng ", “Bángbiang noodle", "biao biao noodle" or "Binbin face". The Biangbiang Noodle was made primarily by rubbing, stretch, throw, pull and other steps to make. The noodle is wide and thick, like the waistband, before eating adding various SaoZi or Hot pepper sauce, spicy and fragrant.
Biangbiang Noddle is made of fine pour. It is a cooked wheaten food contains certain fat, B vitamins and calcium, phosphorus and iron. It is one of Shaanxi folk customs and one of the "Shaanxi Ten Stranges." "Wide noodles like belt", refers to this feature pasta.
Fried Rice with Pickled Chinese cabbage
It is so pity that when you go to Xian but you don’t eat Xian special snack. When mentioning Xian special snack, Muslim street plays an important role. It is long lasting from ancient time, whatever day or night in Muslim street, there is a lot of customers here to go for delicious food. And everywhere here is filled with fragrances. And there is a famous restaurant of Fried Rice With Pickled Chinese Cabbage; the name of the restaurant is “Red Fried Rice with Pickled Chinese Cabbage” in the Muslim Street.
Fried rice with pickled Chinese cabbage is a kind of fried rice. Rice can be fried with shredded meat, vegetable and eggs, but the most common practice is using pickled cabbage fried with shredded meat. The dish mix the sour of pickled cabbage and fragrant oil, and it taste sour and hot, fragrant but not oily, the rice is not sticky and it gives you a fresh-tasting. Eating with roast meat, syrup of plum, and egg soup will give you another feeling.
Xian Gourd Chicken
Gourd Chicken is a famous traditional dish of Xian, known as the "best dish of the ancient capital of Changan". The golden rich color, crisp skin, tender meat and good smell make it become a must-eat dish in Xian.
There is a legend of this cuisine. It is said that an official in Tang Dynasty was very particular about eating. One day, he wanted to eat tender meat of chicken. But the first two cook were fail to meet his requirement and whipped by him heavily. The third cook learnt from the experience of previous cook. He roped the chicken during the cocking process. After that, the chicken meat became very tender. And the official nodded his head finally.
Due to the shape of the cooked chicken looks like a gourd, the dish got the name as gourd chicken.
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