Halal Food Guide: Tianshui - Laosanpian, Guagua and Jiangshuimian
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Summary: Tianshui's old-town snacks include laosanpian, guagua, jiangshuimian, and other local foods tied to Qinzhou's Hui Muslim neighborhoods. This food note preserves the source's dish names, shop locations, flavors, and street details.
At the entrance of Chengyuan Lane in the old town of Qinzhou, Tianshui, Gansu, the most popular winter foods are the 'Old Three Dishes' (laosanpian): mixed stew (zahui), pork tenderloin (liji), and clear-stewed beef (qingdun). Mixed stew is made of egg skin and meat filling sandwiches topped with sauce. Pork tenderloin is beef coated in flour and egg white, fried, dried, and then topped with sauce. Clear-stewed beef is beef strips slow-cooked with meat seasonings. The Old Three Dishes are classic banquet dishes for Tianshui people during the Lunar New Year.
Eat a bowl of beef hand-pulled noodles (che mian) across from Chengyuan Lane. I really love the chili in Tianshui; it is incredibly fragrant. Inside Chengyuan Lane, there is a shop called Jushengxiang Maji Dabao Seasoning Workshop. Their hand-pounded chili powder smells amazing. They do not have an online store and only make it by hand in small batches on-site.
When visiting Tianshui, you must try the local snacks guagua and ranran. Guagua is made by grinding buckwheat into 'buckwheat pearls' (qiaozhenzi), soaking and filtering them, then boiling the buckwheat starch until it is semi-solid. After it sets, it is mixed with oil-poured chili (youpo lazi), garlic paste, and other seasonings. Ranran is made from potato starch and is softer and stickier than guagua. In the Northwest dialect, 'ran' means sticky and soft.
I ate guagua at a street stall at the north entrance of Zizhi Lane, and the freshly made crispy flatbread (subing) next to it was also delicious. I think the secret to guagua is the oil-poured chili made with Gangu chili powder, which makes it feel very warm when eaten in winter.
Eat hand-grabbed lamb (shouzhuo), fermented vegetable noodles (jiangshuimian), and eight-treasure tea (babaocha) at Yixianglan Restaurant on Jiefang Road. Hand-grabbed lamb and fermented vegetable noodles are probably my two favorite Gansu dishes. The tender lamb paired with fragrant chili sauce is addictive, and the fermented vegetable noodles served with pickled chives are also very appetizing. They also sell various vacuum-packed 'Eight Great Bowls' (badawan), including mixed stew, yellow-braised chicken (huangmenji), eight-treasure rice (babaofan), crispy meat (surou), bowl lamb (wanyangrou), and beef brisket, offering a wide variety.
Various delicacies on the streets of Qinzhou.
Summary: Tianshui's old-town snacks include laosanpian, guagua, jiangshuimian, and other local foods tied to Qinzhou's Hui Muslim neighborhoods. This food note preserves the source's dish names, shop locations, flavors, and street details.
At the entrance of Chengyuan Lane in the old town of Qinzhou, Tianshui, Gansu, the most popular winter foods are the 'Old Three Dishes' (laosanpian): mixed stew (zahui), pork tenderloin (liji), and clear-stewed beef (qingdun). Mixed stew is made of egg skin and meat filling sandwiches topped with sauce. Pork tenderloin is beef coated in flour and egg white, fried, dried, and then topped with sauce. Clear-stewed beef is beef strips slow-cooked with meat seasonings. The Old Three Dishes are classic banquet dishes for Tianshui people during the Lunar New Year.
Eat a bowl of beef hand-pulled noodles (che mian) across from Chengyuan Lane. I really love the chili in Tianshui; it is incredibly fragrant. Inside Chengyuan Lane, there is a shop called Jushengxiang Maji Dabao Seasoning Workshop. Their hand-pounded chili powder smells amazing. They do not have an online store and only make it by hand in small batches on-site.
When visiting Tianshui, you must try the local snacks guagua and ranran. Guagua is made by grinding buckwheat into 'buckwheat pearls' (qiaozhenzi), soaking and filtering them, then boiling the buckwheat starch until it is semi-solid. After it sets, it is mixed with oil-poured chili (youpo lazi), garlic paste, and other seasonings. Ranran is made from potato starch and is softer and stickier than guagua. In the Northwest dialect, 'ran' means sticky and soft.
I ate guagua at a street stall at the north entrance of Zizhi Lane, and the freshly made crispy flatbread (subing) next to it was also delicious. I think the secret to guagua is the oil-poured chili made with Gangu chili powder, which makes it feel very warm when eaten in winter.
Eat hand-grabbed lamb (shouzhuo), fermented vegetable noodles (jiangshuimian), and eight-treasure tea (babaocha) at Yixianglan Restaurant on Jiefang Road. Hand-grabbed lamb and fermented vegetable noodles are probably my two favorite Gansu dishes. The tender lamb paired with fragrant chili sauce is addictive, and the fermented vegetable noodles served with pickled chives are also very appetizing. They also sell various vacuum-packed 'Eight Great Bowls' (badawan), including mixed stew, yellow-braised chicken (huangmenji), eight-treasure rice (babaofan), crispy meat (surou), bowl lamb (wanyangrou), and beef brisket, offering a wide variety.
Various delicacies on the streets of Qinzhou.
