Halal Food Guide: Western China — Muslim Snacks and Local Halal Food (Part 1)
Reposted from the web
Summary: Halal Food Guide: Western China — Muslim Snacks and Local Halal Food is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: I am sharing 53 halal snack spots I visited across 53 places in Western China. Some are in small restaurants and others are at street stalls, each with its own unique flavor. The account keeps its focus on Western China Food, Halal Snacks, Halal Food while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.
I am sharing 53 halal snack spots I visited across 53 places in Western China. Some are in small restaurants and others are at street stalls, each with its own unique flavor.
Table of Contents
1. Sichuan
1. Guangyuan 2. Langzhong 3. Nanchong 4. Tuqiao in Chengdu 5. Dujiangyan 6. Mimou Town
2. Yunnan
1. Zhaotong 2. Ludian 3. Kunming 4. Xundian 5. Xiaguan in Dali 6. Weishan in Dali 7. Dali Ancient City 8. Ruili 9. Xishuangbanna 10. Daying in Yuxi 11. Najiaying 12. Jianshui 13. Shadian 14. Mengzi
3. Shaanxi
1. Xi'an 2. Ankang 3. Shuhe Ancient Town 4. Xixiang 5. Xianyin Mosque (Xianyin Si) in Hanzhong
4. Inner Mongolia
1. Hohhot 2. Longshengzhuang 3. Jining
5. Ningxia
1. Yinchuan
6. Gansu
1. Lanzhou, 2. Linxia
7. Qinghai
1. Ping'an 2. Xunhua 3. Xining
8. Xinjiang
1. Urumqi 2. Toksun County 3. Turpan 4. Huoyanshan Town 5. Shanshan County 6. Yarkant (Shache) 7. Kashgar (Kashi) 8. Yining 9. Qingshuihe Town, Huocheng County 10. Zhaosu County 11. Nalati Town, Xinyuan County 12. Hami 13. Korla (Ku'erle) 14. Bayanbulak Town, Hejing County 15. Hejing County 16. Yanqi County 17. Lopnur (Yuli) County 18. Kuqa 19. Yengisar (Yingjisha) County
1. Sichuan Province
1. Guangyuan
Around the mosque on Shanghe Street in Guangyuan, Sichuan, there are many local halal restaurants. They specialize in beef soup pot (niurou tangguo) and stewed flatbread (huimo). Compared to other parts of Sichuan, the halal food here is closer to the style of Hanzhong in Shaanxi.
2. Langzhong
There are many halal restaurants inside the old town of Langzhong. At one of them, I ate twice-cooked pork made with salted leaf beef (yanyezi niurou), as well as northern Sichuan cold jelly noodles (chuanbei liangfen) and steamed sugar buns (baitang zhengmo). Steamed sugar buns are a specialty of the Hui Muslims in Langzhong. They were created by the Hui Muslim pastry chef Ha Gongkui during the Qianlong era. Instead of using lye, they are fermented with naturally cultivated enzymes and include some osmanthus flowers. You can also steam them again later.
3. Nanchong
At the entrance of the Nanchong Mosque, Imam Feng Yong and his family sell Yunus beef jerky, which is a precious piece of intangible cultural heritage.
Imam Feng Yong’s ancestors moved from Shaanxi to settle in Nanchong during the Qing Dynasty. At that time, the busy Jishikou market had many stalls selling braised beef, and the Imam’s great-grandfather, Yang Fangyun, ran his family’s traditional halal beef jerky business there. Because they used a red lantern to block the wind and provide light on windy days, people started calling it Red Lantern beef jerky (hongdenglong gan niurou).
During the Republic of China era, the Feng family joined forces through marriage with Yang Fangyun, who made Red Lantern beef jerky, Ma Yutu, who made Ma Laizi jarred beef (guanguan niurou), and Zhang Dechao, who made beef crispy cakes (niurou jiaobing). The Imam’s grandfather, Feng Zifeng, then opened the Shixian shop on Fu Street, establishing the Hui Muslim halal restaurant to keep the Red Lantern beef jerky tradition alive.
In 1958, the Red Lantern brand became a public-private partnership. Yang Fangyun chose not to work in the factory and instead stayed home to do small-scale work. In the early 1990s, Imam Feng's grandfather set up a stall selling spiced beef (lu niurou) in front of their old family home and passed the craft down to Imam Feng, who was still in middle school at the time.
To make beef jerky, you first marinate the meat with various spices, then braise it, and let it dry in the sun. Finally, you toss it in a pan with chili powder, salt, Sichuan peppercorn powder, and white sesame seeds.
4. Tuqiao, Chengdu
After the Huangchengba Muslim community in Chengdu was dismantled, the town of Tuqiao in the northwest suburbs became the closest traditional Muslim community to the city center. Many local Hui Muslims come here for Friday namaz. Although Tuqiao has gone through demolition, the traditional mosque and the halal snack shops at its entrance are still there, so the area remains very lively. I arrived at Tuqiao just before Friday prayers (Jumu'ah) and stopped at a small snack shop by the entrance. I had beef offal noodles (niuzafen), steamed beef with rice flour (fenzheng niurou), and fermented rice with egg (laozaodan) to get a taste of authentic Chengdu halal snacks.
5. Dujiangyan
Starting in 2009, Dujiangyan City turned the old Guanxian County town into a tourist destination similar to Dali or Lijiang. It has now become a heavily commercialized tourist spot, not much different from other highly developed ancient towns in the south. Luckily, there are still several traditional halal restaurants on South Street and West Street in the old town. I ate Min River fine-scaled fish (minjiang xilinyu) and bamboo leaf greens (zhuyecai) at the Maji Huixiang Restaurant.
6. Mimou Town
Mimou Town sits on the Golden Ox Road (Jinniu Dao), an ancient path from Chengdu to Shaanxi. Hui Muslims began settling here during the Ming Dynasty, and many more from Shaanxi and Hunan moved in after the Kangxi era. Unlike the heavily developed ancient town of Dujiangyan, Mimou Town has no signs of tourism. It is full of everyday life and keeps its own pace. I ate goose soup noodles (etang mian) and small steamed beef dumplings (xiaolong zheng niurou) here.
2. Yunnan
1. Zhaotong
Inside the Sanguan Mosque vegetable market across from the Zhaotong East Mosque, all the stalls are run by Hui Muslims. They sell all kinds of raw and cooked meat, pea starch jelly (wandoufen), corn flour, and more. At a stall by the market entrance, I drank some pea starch jelly and ate a rice cake sandwich with a fried dough cake (erkua jia yougao), which is a traditional local breakfast.
2. Ludian
I was invited to a banquet at the Longtoushan Mosque in Ludian. I really love attending banquets, especially because the crispy stir-fried meat (surou) is so delicious!
3. Kunming
Shuncheng Street Mosque in Kunming was first built during the Hongxi and Xuande periods of the Ming Dynasty (1425-1435). Many of the first Hui Muslims to settle here were soldiers who came to Yunnan with Mu Ying to guard the region. Shuncheng Street is the main hub for halal food in Kunming. I ate papaya cold shrimp jelly (mugua liangxia) and a mix of thick and thin pea starch noodles (wandoufen) here.
4. Xundian
In Xundian County, I ate grilled beef in mushroom soup (juntang kaoniurou). The mushroom soup was incredibly fresh, the beef was very tender, and the dipping sauce with fish mint (zhe'ergen) had a real kick.
5. Xiaguan, Dali
The Hui Muslims street in Xiaguan, Dali, is tucked away behind the main roads. It is quite quiet now, and mostly only locals know about it. I ate braised meat rice noodles (menrou ersi) here.
6. Weishan, Dali
I caught a very lively market in Yongjian Town, Weishan, and bought some rose-flavored milk curd (rufan).
In the evening, I went to a restaurant near the Dingjiachang Mosque in Weishan County and asked the lady to fry the rose-flavored milk curd for me.
7. Dali Ancient City
Zaihuishou is a famous halal snack shop in the ancient city, known for its cold rice noodles with free-range chicken (tuji liang mixian).
8. Ruili
From the 1980s to 2020, there was a halal food street on Baijing East Lane near the Ruili jewelry market. It served food to Burmese Muslim merchants working in the jewelry trade, and locals in Ruili usually called it Old Burmese Street (Lao Mian Jie).
The substance on this lady's face is called Thanaka. It is made by grinding yellow fragrant cedar branches into a powder and mixing it with water. It helps prevent mosquito bites and provides a cooling sensation.
In front of her are various mixed noodles, ranging from thick to thin: Nan ji, lat, and thay thout. The white ones are glass noodles (ja zan).
On the plate is Burmese tofu (to hpu), which comes from the Shan people and is made from yellow peas and Burmese chickpeas.
Mixed noodles made with Burmese fried tofu.
A type of bean soup.
9. Xishuangbanna
I had a halal Dai-style breakfast in Manluanhui, Menghai County, Xishuangbanna. The place I chose is called Paxidai. Paxidai calls itself 'Paxi.' They are Hui Muslims who follow the faith and keep the rules, but they speak the Dai language, use the Dai script, and cook halal Dai-style food. You could say they have kept their Hui Muslim identity while blending into Dai culture.
In the morning, Paxidai mostly serves beef rice noodles (mixian) and rice sheets (migan). We ordered the rice sheets. The variety of side dishes here is really impressive. They have pea tips, chives, bean sprouts, and all kinds of dipping sauces. The best part is that their beef is delicious! It is a little sweet and very fragrant.
10. Daying in Yuxi
I walked through the market in Daying, Yuxi, and bought some local crispy roast duck (kaoya) from a shop that has been open for 30 years. The leaner duck tastes much better than Beijing roast duck, though the dipping sauce is not as good as the one in Nanjing.
11. Najiaying
I had beef rice noodle rolls (niurou juanfen) for breakfast in Najiaying.
12. Jianshui
There are so many halal stalls on Zitao Street in Jianshui! The main ones are grilled tofu, grilled potatoes, and meat skewers. Of course, there are also all kinds of cattail shoot rice noodles (caoya mixian), tilapia, pounded chicken feet, and more. You just can't eat it all.
13. Shadian
We ate at Shadian Food Court on the road in front of the Great Mosque of Shadian. We had stir-fried chayote tips (fengshou guajian), five-spice chicken, sweet and sour pork tenderloin, cold tossed cattail shoots with wood ear mushrooms, and steamed lotus root with rice flour. The food here is really rich in variety! Also, someone had just finished hosting a banquet when we arrived, so our food came out very quickly.
14. Mengzi
Yitiange is the most popular halal bridge-crossing rice noodle (guoqiao mixian) shop in Mengzi. They have copper pot bridge-crossing rice noodles ranging from 12 to 50 yuan. We ordered the 50-yuan deluxe version. It comes with 26 small plates, and you can get unlimited refills of the meat broth and rice noodles. The plates include raw fish slices, raw beef slices, raw quail eggs, shrimp, dried beef (niuganba), beef tongue, cold duck slices, cold beef slices, crispy beef fat, braised beef, cattail shoots (caoya), chrysanthemum flowers, pea starch jelly (wandoutuo), bean sprouts, tofu skin, chives, cilantro, mint, green onion, pumpkin tips, ginger, garlic, chili, and chili sauce. This is the most complete variety I have ever eaten! They also serve a wide variety of stir-fried dishes and seasonal vegetables, with so many options to choose from. We ordered the egg-white spring rolls (furong juanfen) and bitter greens soup (kucai tang), and both were delicious. I recommend this place to all the friends (dosti) planning a trip to Mengzi!
3. Shaanxi
1. Xi'an
I ate rose sticky rice cake (cigao) on Primary School X Lane. In the past, Hui Muslims in Xi'an usually carried sticky rice cakes (cigao) on shoulder poles to sell along the streets, but they are much less common now than steamed date cake (zenggao). As far as I know, only Ma Jiguang Cigao Shop still sells them.
Sticky rice cake (cigao) is a glutinous rice snack filled with red bean paste. The filling contains small beans, brown sugar, sweet osmanthus sauce (huanggui jiang), rose sauce (meigui jiang), and walnut kernels. After it is made, sesame seeds are sprinkled on top.
Traditionally, there are two ways to eat it: cold or hot. To eat it cold, you wrap it up and sprinkle white sugar on it. To eat it hot, you pan-fry it over low heat with rapeseed oil. We chose to eat it hot, and the lady added some honey at the end.
2. Ankang
Ankang is the largest area where Hui Muslims live in southern Shaanxi. They have settled here since the Ming Dynasty, and by the Republican era, seven mosques had been built. In the morning, I went to the most popular spot at the entrance of Gulou Street to have steamed noodles (zhengmian) with pickled vegetable soup (suancai bantang). The owners are Hajj who returned from their pilgrimage in 2005. Ankang steamed noodles are a type of Shaanxi cold skin noodles (liangpi). Unlike the version in Xi'an that uses raw vinegar, Ankang steamed noodles use cooked vinegar. Steamed noodles usually come with hot chili oil (youpo lazi), but I skipped it because I cannot handle much spice.
3. Shuhe Ancient Town
Shuhe Ancient Town is the last town the Han River passes through in southern Shaanxi before it flows into Hubei. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, when Han River shipping was booming, it was an important trading post. Merchants gathered and shops lined the streets. Hui Muslims moved to Shuhe to settle down during that time, and hundreds of families still live there today.
After attending Jumu'ah prayers at the mosque, we happened to catch a ten-bowl feast, a local Shuhe specialty. Zainab really enjoyed the meal, and we were even given plenty of fried dough (youxiang) to take home. The ten-bowl feast includes lotus root boxes (liancai hezi—lotus root stuffed with lamb, coated in egg, fried, and then steamed), lamb meatballs (yangrou wanzi—coated in egg, fried, and then steamed), braised beef, steamed lamb with flour (fenzheng rou—lamb coated in flour and steamed with sweet potato chunks), steamed white meat (fatty meat with lamb cartilage, steamed), chicken (half-fried then steamed), fish chunks (grass carp chunks coated in flour, fried, and then steamed), and three vegetable dishes. Hui Muslim banquet dishes are different from everyday home cooking. Since they usually serve many people, most dishes are prepared halfway and then steamed together in a large pot. This keeps the food hot and makes the cooking process efficient.
4. Xixiang County
Xixiang County sits in the middle of the Hanzhong Basin in southern Shaanxi. It is tucked between the Qinling Mountains and the Bashan Mountains, and the Muma River, a tributary of the Han River, flows through the county town. Starting in the Ming Dynasty, Hui Muslims from Pingliang, Gansu, moved to Xixiang to settle down. The Hui Muslim population continued to grow during the Kangxi and Qianlong eras. Today, more than 2,000 Hui Muslims live in the Xiguan area of the county town.
Hui Muslims in Xixiang have been famous for making beef jerky since the Tongzhi era. The local Xizhen cattle in Xixiang are a nationally famous breed of yellow cattle that are perfect for making beef jerky. Today, you can see shops selling halal beef jerky all over the Xiguan area of Xixiang, with the highest concentration found at the Xiguan Halal Beef and Mutton Market. Every shop in Xiguan makes its beef jerky a little differently, so some are hard, some are soft, some are salty, and some are mild.
We bought some beef jerky at a shop called Zhongping Food Store, where many locals go to shop.
Summary: Halal Food Guide: Western China — Muslim Snacks and Local Halal Food is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: I am sharing 53 halal snack spots I visited across 53 places in Western China. Some are in small restaurants and others are at street stalls, each with its own unique flavor. The account keeps its focus on Western China Food, Halal Snacks, Halal Food while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.
I am sharing 53 halal snack spots I visited across 53 places in Western China. Some are in small restaurants and others are at street stalls, each with its own unique flavor.
Table of Contents
1. Sichuan
1. Guangyuan 2. Langzhong 3. Nanchong 4. Tuqiao in Chengdu 5. Dujiangyan 6. Mimou Town
2. Yunnan
1. Zhaotong 2. Ludian 3. Kunming 4. Xundian 5. Xiaguan in Dali 6. Weishan in Dali 7. Dali Ancient City 8. Ruili 9. Xishuangbanna 10. Daying in Yuxi 11. Najiaying 12. Jianshui 13. Shadian 14. Mengzi
3. Shaanxi
1. Xi'an 2. Ankang 3. Shuhe Ancient Town 4. Xixiang 5. Xianyin Mosque (Xianyin Si) in Hanzhong
4. Inner Mongolia
1. Hohhot 2. Longshengzhuang 3. Jining
5. Ningxia
1. Yinchuan
6. Gansu
1. Lanzhou, 2. Linxia
7. Qinghai
1. Ping'an 2. Xunhua 3. Xining
8. Xinjiang
1. Urumqi 2. Toksun County 3. Turpan 4. Huoyanshan Town 5. Shanshan County 6. Yarkant (Shache) 7. Kashgar (Kashi) 8. Yining 9. Qingshuihe Town, Huocheng County 10. Zhaosu County 11. Nalati Town, Xinyuan County 12. Hami 13. Korla (Ku'erle) 14. Bayanbulak Town, Hejing County 15. Hejing County 16. Yanqi County 17. Lopnur (Yuli) County 18. Kuqa 19. Yengisar (Yingjisha) County
1. Sichuan Province
1. Guangyuan
Around the mosque on Shanghe Street in Guangyuan, Sichuan, there are many local halal restaurants. They specialize in beef soup pot (niurou tangguo) and stewed flatbread (huimo). Compared to other parts of Sichuan, the halal food here is closer to the style of Hanzhong in Shaanxi.
2. Langzhong
There are many halal restaurants inside the old town of Langzhong. At one of them, I ate twice-cooked pork made with salted leaf beef (yanyezi niurou), as well as northern Sichuan cold jelly noodles (chuanbei liangfen) and steamed sugar buns (baitang zhengmo). Steamed sugar buns are a specialty of the Hui Muslims in Langzhong. They were created by the Hui Muslim pastry chef Ha Gongkui during the Qianlong era. Instead of using lye, they are fermented with naturally cultivated enzymes and include some osmanthus flowers. You can also steam them again later.
3. Nanchong
At the entrance of the Nanchong Mosque, Imam Feng Yong and his family sell Yunus beef jerky, which is a precious piece of intangible cultural heritage.
Imam Feng Yong’s ancestors moved from Shaanxi to settle in Nanchong during the Qing Dynasty. At that time, the busy Jishikou market had many stalls selling braised beef, and the Imam’s great-grandfather, Yang Fangyun, ran his family’s traditional halal beef jerky business there. Because they used a red lantern to block the wind and provide light on windy days, people started calling it Red Lantern beef jerky (hongdenglong gan niurou).
During the Republic of China era, the Feng family joined forces through marriage with Yang Fangyun, who made Red Lantern beef jerky, Ma Yutu, who made Ma Laizi jarred beef (guanguan niurou), and Zhang Dechao, who made beef crispy cakes (niurou jiaobing). The Imam’s grandfather, Feng Zifeng, then opened the Shixian shop on Fu Street, establishing the Hui Muslim halal restaurant to keep the Red Lantern beef jerky tradition alive.
In 1958, the Red Lantern brand became a public-private partnership. Yang Fangyun chose not to work in the factory and instead stayed home to do small-scale work. In the early 1990s, Imam Feng's grandfather set up a stall selling spiced beef (lu niurou) in front of their old family home and passed the craft down to Imam Feng, who was still in middle school at the time.
To make beef jerky, you first marinate the meat with various spices, then braise it, and let it dry in the sun. Finally, you toss it in a pan with chili powder, salt, Sichuan peppercorn powder, and white sesame seeds.
4. Tuqiao, Chengdu
After the Huangchengba Muslim community in Chengdu was dismantled, the town of Tuqiao in the northwest suburbs became the closest traditional Muslim community to the city center. Many local Hui Muslims come here for Friday namaz. Although Tuqiao has gone through demolition, the traditional mosque and the halal snack shops at its entrance are still there, so the area remains very lively. I arrived at Tuqiao just before Friday prayers (Jumu'ah) and stopped at a small snack shop by the entrance. I had beef offal noodles (niuzafen), steamed beef with rice flour (fenzheng niurou), and fermented rice with egg (laozaodan) to get a taste of authentic Chengdu halal snacks.
5. Dujiangyan
Starting in 2009, Dujiangyan City turned the old Guanxian County town into a tourist destination similar to Dali or Lijiang. It has now become a heavily commercialized tourist spot, not much different from other highly developed ancient towns in the south. Luckily, there are still several traditional halal restaurants on South Street and West Street in the old town. I ate Min River fine-scaled fish (minjiang xilinyu) and bamboo leaf greens (zhuyecai) at the Maji Huixiang Restaurant.
6. Mimou Town
Mimou Town sits on the Golden Ox Road (Jinniu Dao), an ancient path from Chengdu to Shaanxi. Hui Muslims began settling here during the Ming Dynasty, and many more from Shaanxi and Hunan moved in after the Kangxi era. Unlike the heavily developed ancient town of Dujiangyan, Mimou Town has no signs of tourism. It is full of everyday life and keeps its own pace. I ate goose soup noodles (etang mian) and small steamed beef dumplings (xiaolong zheng niurou) here.
2. Yunnan
1. Zhaotong
Inside the Sanguan Mosque vegetable market across from the Zhaotong East Mosque, all the stalls are run by Hui Muslims. They sell all kinds of raw and cooked meat, pea starch jelly (wandoufen), corn flour, and more. At a stall by the market entrance, I drank some pea starch jelly and ate a rice cake sandwich with a fried dough cake (erkua jia yougao), which is a traditional local breakfast.
2. Ludian
I was invited to a banquet at the Longtoushan Mosque in Ludian. I really love attending banquets, especially because the crispy stir-fried meat (surou) is so delicious!
3. Kunming
Shuncheng Street Mosque in Kunming was first built during the Hongxi and Xuande periods of the Ming Dynasty (1425-1435). Many of the first Hui Muslims to settle here were soldiers who came to Yunnan with Mu Ying to guard the region. Shuncheng Street is the main hub for halal food in Kunming. I ate papaya cold shrimp jelly (mugua liangxia) and a mix of thick and thin pea starch noodles (wandoufen) here.
4. Xundian
In Xundian County, I ate grilled beef in mushroom soup (juntang kaoniurou). The mushroom soup was incredibly fresh, the beef was very tender, and the dipping sauce with fish mint (zhe'ergen) had a real kick.
5. Xiaguan, Dali
The Hui Muslims street in Xiaguan, Dali, is tucked away behind the main roads. It is quite quiet now, and mostly only locals know about it. I ate braised meat rice noodles (menrou ersi) here.
6. Weishan, Dali
I caught a very lively market in Yongjian Town, Weishan, and bought some rose-flavored milk curd (rufan).
In the evening, I went to a restaurant near the Dingjiachang Mosque in Weishan County and asked the lady to fry the rose-flavored milk curd for me.
7. Dali Ancient City
Zaihuishou is a famous halal snack shop in the ancient city, known for its cold rice noodles with free-range chicken (tuji liang mixian).
8. Ruili
From the 1980s to 2020, there was a halal food street on Baijing East Lane near the Ruili jewelry market. It served food to Burmese Muslim merchants working in the jewelry trade, and locals in Ruili usually called it Old Burmese Street (Lao Mian Jie).
The substance on this lady's face is called Thanaka. It is made by grinding yellow fragrant cedar branches into a powder and mixing it with water. It helps prevent mosquito bites and provides a cooling sensation.
In front of her are various mixed noodles, ranging from thick to thin: Nan ji, lat, and thay thout. The white ones are glass noodles (ja zan).
On the plate is Burmese tofu (to hpu), which comes from the Shan people and is made from yellow peas and Burmese chickpeas.
Mixed noodles made with Burmese fried tofu.
A type of bean soup.
9. Xishuangbanna
I had a halal Dai-style breakfast in Manluanhui, Menghai County, Xishuangbanna. The place I chose is called Paxidai. Paxidai calls itself 'Paxi.' They are Hui Muslims who follow the faith and keep the rules, but they speak the Dai language, use the Dai script, and cook halal Dai-style food. You could say they have kept their Hui Muslim identity while blending into Dai culture.
In the morning, Paxidai mostly serves beef rice noodles (mixian) and rice sheets (migan). We ordered the rice sheets. The variety of side dishes here is really impressive. They have pea tips, chives, bean sprouts, and all kinds of dipping sauces. The best part is that their beef is delicious! It is a little sweet and very fragrant.
10. Daying in Yuxi
I walked through the market in Daying, Yuxi, and bought some local crispy roast duck (kaoya) from a shop that has been open for 30 years. The leaner duck tastes much better than Beijing roast duck, though the dipping sauce is not as good as the one in Nanjing.
11. Najiaying
I had beef rice noodle rolls (niurou juanfen) for breakfast in Najiaying.
12. Jianshui
There are so many halal stalls on Zitao Street in Jianshui! The main ones are grilled tofu, grilled potatoes, and meat skewers. Of course, there are also all kinds of cattail shoot rice noodles (caoya mixian), tilapia, pounded chicken feet, and more. You just can't eat it all.
13. Shadian
We ate at Shadian Food Court on the road in front of the Great Mosque of Shadian. We had stir-fried chayote tips (fengshou guajian), five-spice chicken, sweet and sour pork tenderloin, cold tossed cattail shoots with wood ear mushrooms, and steamed lotus root with rice flour. The food here is really rich in variety! Also, someone had just finished hosting a banquet when we arrived, so our food came out very quickly.
14. Mengzi
Yitiange is the most popular halal bridge-crossing rice noodle (guoqiao mixian) shop in Mengzi. They have copper pot bridge-crossing rice noodles ranging from 12 to 50 yuan. We ordered the 50-yuan deluxe version. It comes with 26 small plates, and you can get unlimited refills of the meat broth and rice noodles. The plates include raw fish slices, raw beef slices, raw quail eggs, shrimp, dried beef (niuganba), beef tongue, cold duck slices, cold beef slices, crispy beef fat, braised beef, cattail shoots (caoya), chrysanthemum flowers, pea starch jelly (wandoutuo), bean sprouts, tofu skin, chives, cilantro, mint, green onion, pumpkin tips, ginger, garlic, chili, and chili sauce. This is the most complete variety I have ever eaten! They also serve a wide variety of stir-fried dishes and seasonal vegetables, with so many options to choose from. We ordered the egg-white spring rolls (furong juanfen) and bitter greens soup (kucai tang), and both were delicious. I recommend this place to all the friends (dosti) planning a trip to Mengzi!
3. Shaanxi
1. Xi'an
I ate rose sticky rice cake (cigao) on Primary School X Lane. In the past, Hui Muslims in Xi'an usually carried sticky rice cakes (cigao) on shoulder poles to sell along the streets, but they are much less common now than steamed date cake (zenggao). As far as I know, only Ma Jiguang Cigao Shop still sells them.
Sticky rice cake (cigao) is a glutinous rice snack filled with red bean paste. The filling contains small beans, brown sugar, sweet osmanthus sauce (huanggui jiang), rose sauce (meigui jiang), and walnut kernels. After it is made, sesame seeds are sprinkled on top.
Traditionally, there are two ways to eat it: cold or hot. To eat it cold, you wrap it up and sprinkle white sugar on it. To eat it hot, you pan-fry it over low heat with rapeseed oil. We chose to eat it hot, and the lady added some honey at the end.
2. Ankang
Ankang is the largest area where Hui Muslims live in southern Shaanxi. They have settled here since the Ming Dynasty, and by the Republican era, seven mosques had been built. In the morning, I went to the most popular spot at the entrance of Gulou Street to have steamed noodles (zhengmian) with pickled vegetable soup (suancai bantang). The owners are Hajj who returned from their pilgrimage in 2005. Ankang steamed noodles are a type of Shaanxi cold skin noodles (liangpi). Unlike the version in Xi'an that uses raw vinegar, Ankang steamed noodles use cooked vinegar. Steamed noodles usually come with hot chili oil (youpo lazi), but I skipped it because I cannot handle much spice.
3. Shuhe Ancient Town
Shuhe Ancient Town is the last town the Han River passes through in southern Shaanxi before it flows into Hubei. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, when Han River shipping was booming, it was an important trading post. Merchants gathered and shops lined the streets. Hui Muslims moved to Shuhe to settle down during that time, and hundreds of families still live there today.
After attending Jumu'ah prayers at the mosque, we happened to catch a ten-bowl feast, a local Shuhe specialty. Zainab really enjoyed the meal, and we were even given plenty of fried dough (youxiang) to take home. The ten-bowl feast includes lotus root boxes (liancai hezi—lotus root stuffed with lamb, coated in egg, fried, and then steamed), lamb meatballs (yangrou wanzi—coated in egg, fried, and then steamed), braised beef, steamed lamb with flour (fenzheng rou—lamb coated in flour and steamed with sweet potato chunks), steamed white meat (fatty meat with lamb cartilage, steamed), chicken (half-fried then steamed), fish chunks (grass carp chunks coated in flour, fried, and then steamed), and three vegetable dishes. Hui Muslim banquet dishes are different from everyday home cooking. Since they usually serve many people, most dishes are prepared halfway and then steamed together in a large pot. This keeps the food hot and makes the cooking process efficient.
4. Xixiang County
Xixiang County sits in the middle of the Hanzhong Basin in southern Shaanxi. It is tucked between the Qinling Mountains and the Bashan Mountains, and the Muma River, a tributary of the Han River, flows through the county town. Starting in the Ming Dynasty, Hui Muslims from Pingliang, Gansu, moved to Xixiang to settle down. The Hui Muslim population continued to grow during the Kangxi and Qianlong eras. Today, more than 2,000 Hui Muslims live in the Xiguan area of the county town.
Hui Muslims in Xixiang have been famous for making beef jerky since the Tongzhi era. The local Xizhen cattle in Xixiang are a nationally famous breed of yellow cattle that are perfect for making beef jerky. Today, you can see shops selling halal beef jerky all over the Xiguan area of Xixiang, with the highest concentration found at the Xiguan Halal Beef and Mutton Market. Every shop in Xiguan makes its beef jerky a little differently, so some are hard, some are soft, some are salty, and some are mild.
We bought some beef jerky at a shop called Zhongping Food Store, where many locals go to shop.
