Halal Food Guide: Lanzhou Xiaoxihu — Dongxiang Muslim Food and Local Eats
Reposted from the web
Summary: Halal Food Guide: Lanzhou Xiaoxihu — Dongxiang Muslim Food and Local Eats is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: The Dongxiang people are a Muslim ethnic group who speak the Dongxiang language, which belongs to the Mongolic language family. The account keeps its focus on Lanzhou Halal Food, Dongxiang Food, Xiaoxihu while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.
The Dongxiang people are a Muslim ethnic group who speak the Dongxiang language, which belongs to the Mongolic language family. They mainly live in Dongxiang Autonomous County, Hezheng County, and Guanghe County within the Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture of Gansu Province. The loess hills where the Dongxiang people live are quite barren, so many people chose to move to Lanzhou to make a living after the 1980s. Xiaoxihu is located at the end of the road from Linxia to Lanzhou. It is near the Xiyuan and Xihu Hui Muslim communities that have existed since the Qing Dynasty. With the commercial growth driven by the Xiaoxihu Yiwu Trade City since the 1990s, Xiaoxihu has become the main residential area for Dongxiang people in Lanzhou.
In Xiaoxihu, the Dongxiang people are most concentrated in Baishu Lane, Jiangouyan, and Shangxiyuan, where you can find all kinds of Dongxiang food.
Pre-dawn meal (suhoor)
I first visited Xiaoxihu during Ramadan. At three in the morning, I ate a Dongxiang pre-dawn meal (suhoor) there, ordering hand-grabbed lamb (shouzhua) and lamb noodle soup (yangrou mianpian). Because it was the last of the hand-grabbed lamb (shouzhua) for the day, it didn't look very pretty, but it tasted great.
During Ramadan, many restaurants in Xiaoxihu stay open until four in the morning.
Zhonghua Hand-grabbed Lamb King (Zhonghua Shouzhua Dawang)
I went back to Xiaoxihu to eat and explore the week after Eid al-Fitr. As soon as I got off the plane, I headed straight to Zhonghua Hand-grabbed Lamb King (Zhonghua Shouzhua Dawang) on Jiangouyan Street. This place is very popular in Xiaoxihu, and you have to share tables at noon. I felt very satisfied drinking tea with dried fruits and rock sugar (sanpaotai) while eating half a jin of lamb ribs, a small bowl of lentil and sparrow-tongue noodles (biandou queshe mian), and a plate of cold starch noodles (liangpizi). The environment and service here are both good. They refill your tea often, and the tea with dried fruits and rock sugar (sanpaotai) itself is delicious.
The lamb tastes very authentic. You basically eat one piece of meat with one clove of garlic, and the garlic is very fragrant too.
Cold starch noodles (liangpizi)
Lentil and sparrow-tongue noodles (biandou queshe mian)
Rose-flavored tea with dried fruits and rock sugar (meigui sanpaotai). I wanted more after finishing it, so I ended up buying a lot at the supermarket to take home.
River-style noodle soup (heyan mianpian)
There are many restaurants one after another on Jiangouyan Street. I also ate river-style noodle soup (heyan mianpian) and braised lamb (huangmen yangrou) at this place. River-style noodle soup (heyan mianpian) originated in Guanghe County, Linxia. It evolved from stir-fried noodle soup (chao mianpian), but the flavor is much richer.
Shangxiyuan Market
There is an alley on the south side of the road in Shangxiyuan where residents near Little West Lake buy their groceries. I bought cold skin noodles (liangpizi), honey sticky rice cake (fengmi niangao), and black rice sticky rice dumpling (heimi zongzi) here.
Street view of Shangxiyuan Market
Cold starch noodles (liangpizi)
Honey sticky rice cake (fengmi niangao)
Black rice sticky rice dumpling (heimi zongzi), which you should actually peel and dip in honey to eat.
A big pot of fermented oat drink (tianpeizi)
Fried dough twists (sanzi)
The alley behind Yiwu Trade City has dozens of Dongxiang restaurants. They mostly serve Dongxiang-style hand-grabbed lamb (shouzhua), but you can also buy steamed buns (baozi), old-broth chicken (laotang ji), and various snacks like fried dough twists (sanzi).
Sesame fried dough twists (sanzi) I bought at this shop
Summary: Halal Food Guide: Lanzhou Xiaoxihu — Dongxiang Muslim Food and Local Eats is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: The Dongxiang people are a Muslim ethnic group who speak the Dongxiang language, which belongs to the Mongolic language family. The account keeps its focus on Lanzhou Halal Food, Dongxiang Food, Xiaoxihu while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.
The Dongxiang people are a Muslim ethnic group who speak the Dongxiang language, which belongs to the Mongolic language family. They mainly live in Dongxiang Autonomous County, Hezheng County, and Guanghe County within the Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture of Gansu Province. The loess hills where the Dongxiang people live are quite barren, so many people chose to move to Lanzhou to make a living after the 1980s. Xiaoxihu is located at the end of the road from Linxia to Lanzhou. It is near the Xiyuan and Xihu Hui Muslim communities that have existed since the Qing Dynasty. With the commercial growth driven by the Xiaoxihu Yiwu Trade City since the 1990s, Xiaoxihu has become the main residential area for Dongxiang people in Lanzhou.
In Xiaoxihu, the Dongxiang people are most concentrated in Baishu Lane, Jiangouyan, and Shangxiyuan, where you can find all kinds of Dongxiang food.
Pre-dawn meal (suhoor)
I first visited Xiaoxihu during Ramadan. At three in the morning, I ate a Dongxiang pre-dawn meal (suhoor) there, ordering hand-grabbed lamb (shouzhua) and lamb noodle soup (yangrou mianpian). Because it was the last of the hand-grabbed lamb (shouzhua) for the day, it didn't look very pretty, but it tasted great.
During Ramadan, many restaurants in Xiaoxihu stay open until four in the morning.
Zhonghua Hand-grabbed Lamb King (Zhonghua Shouzhua Dawang)
I went back to Xiaoxihu to eat and explore the week after Eid al-Fitr. As soon as I got off the plane, I headed straight to Zhonghua Hand-grabbed Lamb King (Zhonghua Shouzhua Dawang) on Jiangouyan Street. This place is very popular in Xiaoxihu, and you have to share tables at noon. I felt very satisfied drinking tea with dried fruits and rock sugar (sanpaotai) while eating half a jin of lamb ribs, a small bowl of lentil and sparrow-tongue noodles (biandou queshe mian), and a plate of cold starch noodles (liangpizi). The environment and service here are both good. They refill your tea often, and the tea with dried fruits and rock sugar (sanpaotai) itself is delicious.
The lamb tastes very authentic. You basically eat one piece of meat with one clove of garlic, and the garlic is very fragrant too.
Cold starch noodles (liangpizi)
Lentil and sparrow-tongue noodles (biandou queshe mian)
Rose-flavored tea with dried fruits and rock sugar (meigui sanpaotai). I wanted more after finishing it, so I ended up buying a lot at the supermarket to take home.
River-style noodle soup (heyan mianpian)
There are many restaurants one after another on Jiangouyan Street. I also ate river-style noodle soup (heyan mianpian) and braised lamb (huangmen yangrou) at this place. River-style noodle soup (heyan mianpian) originated in Guanghe County, Linxia. It evolved from stir-fried noodle soup (chao mianpian), but the flavor is much richer.
Shangxiyuan Market
There is an alley on the south side of the road in Shangxiyuan where residents near Little West Lake buy their groceries. I bought cold skin noodles (liangpizi), honey sticky rice cake (fengmi niangao), and black rice sticky rice dumpling (heimi zongzi) here.
Street view of Shangxiyuan Market
Cold starch noodles (liangpizi)
Honey sticky rice cake (fengmi niangao)
Black rice sticky rice dumpling (heimi zongzi), which you should actually peel and dip in honey to eat.
A big pot of fermented oat drink (tianpeizi)
Fried dough twists (sanzi)
The alley behind Yiwu Trade City has dozens of Dongxiang restaurants. They mostly serve Dongxiang-style hand-grabbed lamb (shouzhua), but you can also buy steamed buns (baozi), old-broth chicken (laotang ji), and various snacks like fried dough twists (sanzi).
Sesame fried dough twists (sanzi) I bought at this shop
