Best Halal Food in Henan: Hui Muslim Beef Soup, Noodles and Local Snacks
Reposted from the web
Summary: This Henan halal food map follows Hui Muslim restaurants and local dishes across Henan, including beef soup, noodles, snacks, and city food stops preserved from the original guide.
A single long WeChat post is not enough to fully introduce the halal food of the Great Central Plains. Historically, the food culture of the Central Plains has influenced all of China. This region is one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization. Most of the ancient figures we learned about in school were from Henan. You could say Henan is a concentrated version of China, and you can find halal versions of all kinds of food here.
First stop: Zhengzhou
Fang Zhongshan Spicy Soup (hulatang)
The famous Fang Zhongshan Spicy Soup is a must-eat every time I come to Zhengzhou. Spicy soup is the breakfast of choice for people in Henan. Fang Zhongshan is arguably the most popular spicy soup shop in Zhengzhou. It is more expensive and spicier than the average spicy soup, but it is very popular. You even have to wait in line to drink it early in the morning.
Address: Zijingshan Road, Zhengdong New District
2. Qingyan Xiaoyao Town Spicy Soup
Xiaoyao Town is the most famous place for selling spicy soup outside of its home. If you are not used to the strong flavor of Fang Zhongshan, you can try the Xiaoyao Town Spicy Soup. Pair it with pan-fried buns (jianbao) and fried dough fritters (youmotou). It is very fragrant and delicious.
Address: 10 meters east of the intersection of Tongle Road and Huanghe South Street, north side of the road (next to Chaifu Dumplings)
3. Heji Braised Noodles (huimian)
Braised noodles are to Henan what beef noodles are to Lanzhou. Heji Braised Noodles is considered a famous Chinese snack. Locals give it mixed reviews, but I have tried a few braised noodle shops, and I think this one tastes pretty good. It is quite crowded when you go at noon.
Address: 200 meters south of the intersection of Dongfeng East Road and Zhongyi Road, Jinshui District, east side of the road
4. Zhenwei-Hongyuanzhai Restaurant
This is a large halal restaurant that serves various stir-fried dishes and roast duck. The food is quite refined, and they have several branches in Zhengzhou.
Address: Intersection of Shinan Road and Lianhua Street, High-tech Development Zone, Zhongyuan District (opposite the Boiler Factory)
5. Zhecheng Stacked Lamb (duozi yangrou)
Stacked lamb is made by boiling the lamb, pressing it into a solid block, and then slicing it to eat with steamed buns or flatbread. Eating stacked lamb and beef is very popular in Henan.
Address: 57-19 Chengdongnan Road
6. Tongshengxiang
You can eat Xi'an-style lamb pita bread soup (yangrou paomo) here. Perhaps due to the local environment, the taste changes when a Xi'an shop opens in Zhengzhou. Similarly, when Zhengzhou braised noodles are opened elsewhere, they do not taste as good as they do locally.
Address: Southeast corner of the intersection of Hanghai Road and Zhongzhou Avenue, Guancheng Hui District (southeast corner of Zhongzhou Avenue intersection)
7. Yisai Mansion
You can eat halal steak in the Zhengdong New District. Yisai beef is very famous. The environment here is nice, the prices are not expensive, and there is a self-service fruit salad and snack platter.
Address: 3rd Floor, Dennis, CBD, Zhengzhou East District
Second stop: Kaifeng
Wuyi Night Market
Kaifeng is less than an hour's drive from Zhengzhou, and people say the two cities will soon merge. Kaifeng has many night markets with so many snacks that they rival the Hui Muslim Street in Xi'an. They feel even more traditional. You can eat beef tripe skewers (shuan niudu), almond tea (xingren cha), soup-filled buns (guantangbao), flatbread (luomo), and lamb offal soup (yangza tang) every day without getting tired of them.
Address: Wuyi Road, Kaifeng City
2. Little Fatty Beef (Xiaofeiniu) Buffet Hot Pot
This buffet hot pot is quite affordable. It has a wide variety of seafood and meat, plus unlimited bottled drinks.
Address: No. 79 Xinsong Road, Shunhe Hui District (200 meters west of the south entrance of Laodong Road, on the south side of the street)
3. Wife's Braised Noodles and Braised Flatbread (Laopo Huimian Huimo)
They sell various Kaifeng snacks here, including sweet rice (tianfan) and stacked beef (duozi niurou).
Address: 200 meters south of the intersection of the middle section of Zhongshan Road and Baogonghu South Road
4. Around Kaifeng East Great Mosque (Dongdasi)
The East Great Mosque is the largest mosque in Kaifeng. The streets are full of halal snack shops. Famous Kaifeng halal snacks also include barrel chicken (tongziji) and peanut brittle (huashengsu).
Address: Near Chunping North and South Streets
Third Stop: Xuchang City
Dongyishun Restaurant
Dongyishun is a fairly large halal chain brand. The dipping sauce tastes slightly different from the ones in Beijing because they add dried shrimp skin. You can also try their snacks.
Address: Intersection of Xinxing Road and Xingye Road, Weidu District
Fourth Stop: Yuzhou City
Qingdao Ma Family Halal Seafood Hot Pot
Yuzhou is a county-level city under Xuchang. There are many Hui Muslims here, and there is a wide variety of halal restaurants. This seafood hot pot place is quite unique.
Address: West of the south gate of Pingshan Yongheyuan, Jianshe East Road
2. Guangba Sichuan Spicy Chicken Pot
I haven't had chicken pot hot pot since leaving Yuzhou. You eat the chicken pieces first, then add broth to start cooking vegetables. Locals like to cook instant noodles in it and pair it with a local cola called Yinmei Koule. This drink is incredibly popular locally and even outsells Coca-Cola.
Address: 70 meters west of the intersection of Huaxia Avenue and Fuxi Road, Yuzhou City, on the south side of the street
Stop 5: Pingdingshan City
1. Halal Yanbin Restaurant
There are not many halal restaurants in Pingdingshan. This one is relatively large and serves Henan-style food, including sweet rice (tianfan) and lamb bones (yanggutou).
Address: 50 meters west of the Mediterranean, 28 Nanhuan Road, Pingdingshan City
Stop 6: Jiaozuo City
Yili Three-Fresh Braised Noodles City
The food style in Jiaozuo is similar to Zhengzhou, with braised noodles (huimian) as the main dish. This restaurant is quite large, and their three-fresh braised noodles are very good.
Address: 100 meters south of the intersection of Jiefang Road and Dongyuan Road, on the east side of the road
2. Tripe Shred Soup
This shop has no name and is just called Tripe Shred Soup (dusi tang). I consider it a local halal snack. It is only served for breakfast and comes with oil pancakes (youbing), which are actually griddle-baked pancakes (laobing) in Jiaozuo.
Address: Southeast of Jiaozuo Railway Station, walk through a vegetable market, the shop is on the east side of the road
Stop 7: Jiyuan City
Xiajie Hui Muslim Commercial Street
When you come to Jiyuan, just go to the Hui Muslim Commercial Street to eat. You can find all kinds of local snacks, such as clay pot mixed stew (shaguo zaban), steamed buns (baozi), lamb soup (yangtang), and sesame flatbread (shaobing). They are delicious, affordable, and come in large portions.
Address: Xiajie, Jiyuan (intersection of Minzu Road and Beihai Avenue)
Stop 8: Sangpo Village
As one of the wealthiest Hui Muslim villages in Henan, Sangpo surprisingly lacks decent halal restaurants. Perhaps the local Hui Muslims are all busy running their sheepskin shearing businesses.
There is a market at the entrance of the village where you can stroll at night to eat roasted lamb leg. Since the people in Sangpo process snow boots for Australian UGG, the lamb leg you eat might even be imported from Australia.
Address: North entrance of Sangpo Village, Mengzhou City
Stop 9: Luoyang City
Stir-fried Lamb in 6 Minutes
Luoyang has a lot of good food, mostly concentrated in the Hui Muslim district. The stir-fried lamb in six minutes is eaten like roast duck, wrapped in thin pancakes (baobing). It is very satisfying, and after you finish, you can add soup to the pot to cook more meat.
Address: No. 257 Qiming East Road, Chanhe Hui Muslim District, Luoyang
2. Yuxiuzhai
This is a fairly large halal restaurant. I only ate breakfast here. People in Luoyang drink beef soup in the morning and add meatballs. These meatballs are unique to Henan and are a dry food that Hui Muslims often carry when they travel.
Address: 243 Qiming East Road, Chanhe Hui District, Luoyang.
I only made short stops in Nanyang and Xinyang and did not find any halal restaurants worth recommending, though I did pass by a halal hot pot restaurant in Nanyang.
Wang Family Hot Pot (Wangjia Shuairou) on He Street in Nanyang.
Address: 30 meters south of the intersection of Zhongjing South Road and Xinhua East Road, on the west side of the road.
Xinyang is known for hot dry noodles (reganmian). Many people think these are a Wuhan snack, but people in Xinyang love them too, and Xinyang's version was even featured on the show A Bite of China. However, they are not halal. Following a local recommendation, I tried the Xinyang specialty pot-lid bread (diguomo), which was soft and delicious. Inshallah, I will explore this place more thoroughly next time.
Summary: This Henan halal food map follows Hui Muslim restaurants and local dishes across Henan, including beef soup, noodles, snacks, and city food stops preserved from the original guide.
A single long WeChat post is not enough to fully introduce the halal food of the Great Central Plains. Historically, the food culture of the Central Plains has influenced all of China. This region is one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization. Most of the ancient figures we learned about in school were from Henan. You could say Henan is a concentrated version of China, and you can find halal versions of all kinds of food here.
First stop: Zhengzhou
Fang Zhongshan Spicy Soup (hulatang)
The famous Fang Zhongshan Spicy Soup is a must-eat every time I come to Zhengzhou. Spicy soup is the breakfast of choice for people in Henan. Fang Zhongshan is arguably the most popular spicy soup shop in Zhengzhou. It is more expensive and spicier than the average spicy soup, but it is very popular. You even have to wait in line to drink it early in the morning.
Address: Zijingshan Road, Zhengdong New District
2. Qingyan Xiaoyao Town Spicy Soup
Xiaoyao Town is the most famous place for selling spicy soup outside of its home. If you are not used to the strong flavor of Fang Zhongshan, you can try the Xiaoyao Town Spicy Soup. Pair it with pan-fried buns (jianbao) and fried dough fritters (youmotou). It is very fragrant and delicious.
Address: 10 meters east of the intersection of Tongle Road and Huanghe South Street, north side of the road (next to Chaifu Dumplings)
3. Heji Braised Noodles (huimian)
Braised noodles are to Henan what beef noodles are to Lanzhou. Heji Braised Noodles is considered a famous Chinese snack. Locals give it mixed reviews, but I have tried a few braised noodle shops, and I think this one tastes pretty good. It is quite crowded when you go at noon.
Address: 200 meters south of the intersection of Dongfeng East Road and Zhongyi Road, Jinshui District, east side of the road
4. Zhenwei-Hongyuanzhai Restaurant
This is a large halal restaurant that serves various stir-fried dishes and roast duck. The food is quite refined, and they have several branches in Zhengzhou.
Address: Intersection of Shinan Road and Lianhua Street, High-tech Development Zone, Zhongyuan District (opposite the Boiler Factory)
5. Zhecheng Stacked Lamb (duozi yangrou)
Stacked lamb is made by boiling the lamb, pressing it into a solid block, and then slicing it to eat with steamed buns or flatbread. Eating stacked lamb and beef is very popular in Henan.
Address: 57-19 Chengdongnan Road
6. Tongshengxiang
You can eat Xi'an-style lamb pita bread soup (yangrou paomo) here. Perhaps due to the local environment, the taste changes when a Xi'an shop opens in Zhengzhou. Similarly, when Zhengzhou braised noodles are opened elsewhere, they do not taste as good as they do locally.
Address: Southeast corner of the intersection of Hanghai Road and Zhongzhou Avenue, Guancheng Hui District (southeast corner of Zhongzhou Avenue intersection)
7. Yisai Mansion
You can eat halal steak in the Zhengdong New District. Yisai beef is very famous. The environment here is nice, the prices are not expensive, and there is a self-service fruit salad and snack platter.
Address: 3rd Floor, Dennis, CBD, Zhengzhou East District
Second stop: Kaifeng
Wuyi Night Market
Kaifeng is less than an hour's drive from Zhengzhou, and people say the two cities will soon merge. Kaifeng has many night markets with so many snacks that they rival the Hui Muslim Street in Xi'an. They feel even more traditional. You can eat beef tripe skewers (shuan niudu), almond tea (xingren cha), soup-filled buns (guantangbao), flatbread (luomo), and lamb offal soup (yangza tang) every day without getting tired of them.
Address: Wuyi Road, Kaifeng City
2. Little Fatty Beef (Xiaofeiniu) Buffet Hot Pot
This buffet hot pot is quite affordable. It has a wide variety of seafood and meat, plus unlimited bottled drinks.
Address: No. 79 Xinsong Road, Shunhe Hui District (200 meters west of the south entrance of Laodong Road, on the south side of the street)
3. Wife's Braised Noodles and Braised Flatbread (Laopo Huimian Huimo)
They sell various Kaifeng snacks here, including sweet rice (tianfan) and stacked beef (duozi niurou).
Address: 200 meters south of the intersection of the middle section of Zhongshan Road and Baogonghu South Road
4. Around Kaifeng East Great Mosque (Dongdasi)
The East Great Mosque is the largest mosque in Kaifeng. The streets are full of halal snack shops. Famous Kaifeng halal snacks also include barrel chicken (tongziji) and peanut brittle (huashengsu).
Address: Near Chunping North and South Streets
Third Stop: Xuchang City
Dongyishun Restaurant
Dongyishun is a fairly large halal chain brand. The dipping sauce tastes slightly different from the ones in Beijing because they add dried shrimp skin. You can also try their snacks.
Address: Intersection of Xinxing Road and Xingye Road, Weidu District
Fourth Stop: Yuzhou City
Qingdao Ma Family Halal Seafood Hot Pot
Yuzhou is a county-level city under Xuchang. There are many Hui Muslims here, and there is a wide variety of halal restaurants. This seafood hot pot place is quite unique.
Address: West of the south gate of Pingshan Yongheyuan, Jianshe East Road
2. Guangba Sichuan Spicy Chicken Pot
I haven't had chicken pot hot pot since leaving Yuzhou. You eat the chicken pieces first, then add broth to start cooking vegetables. Locals like to cook instant noodles in it and pair it with a local cola called Yinmei Koule. This drink is incredibly popular locally and even outsells Coca-Cola.
Address: 70 meters west of the intersection of Huaxia Avenue and Fuxi Road, Yuzhou City, on the south side of the street
Stop 5: Pingdingshan City
1. Halal Yanbin Restaurant
There are not many halal restaurants in Pingdingshan. This one is relatively large and serves Henan-style food, including sweet rice (tianfan) and lamb bones (yanggutou).
Address: 50 meters west of the Mediterranean, 28 Nanhuan Road, Pingdingshan City
Stop 6: Jiaozuo City
Yili Three-Fresh Braised Noodles City
The food style in Jiaozuo is similar to Zhengzhou, with braised noodles (huimian) as the main dish. This restaurant is quite large, and their three-fresh braised noodles are very good.
Address: 100 meters south of the intersection of Jiefang Road and Dongyuan Road, on the east side of the road
2. Tripe Shred Soup
This shop has no name and is just called Tripe Shred Soup (dusi tang). I consider it a local halal snack. It is only served for breakfast and comes with oil pancakes (youbing), which are actually griddle-baked pancakes (laobing) in Jiaozuo.
Address: Southeast of Jiaozuo Railway Station, walk through a vegetable market, the shop is on the east side of the road
Stop 7: Jiyuan City
Xiajie Hui Muslim Commercial Street
When you come to Jiyuan, just go to the Hui Muslim Commercial Street to eat. You can find all kinds of local snacks, such as clay pot mixed stew (shaguo zaban), steamed buns (baozi), lamb soup (yangtang), and sesame flatbread (shaobing). They are delicious, affordable, and come in large portions.
Address: Xiajie, Jiyuan (intersection of Minzu Road and Beihai Avenue)
Stop 8: Sangpo Village
As one of the wealthiest Hui Muslim villages in Henan, Sangpo surprisingly lacks decent halal restaurants. Perhaps the local Hui Muslims are all busy running their sheepskin shearing businesses.
There is a market at the entrance of the village where you can stroll at night to eat roasted lamb leg. Since the people in Sangpo process snow boots for Australian UGG, the lamb leg you eat might even be imported from Australia.
Address: North entrance of Sangpo Village, Mengzhou City
Stop 9: Luoyang City
Stir-fried Lamb in 6 Minutes
Luoyang has a lot of good food, mostly concentrated in the Hui Muslim district. The stir-fried lamb in six minutes is eaten like roast duck, wrapped in thin pancakes (baobing). It is very satisfying, and after you finish, you can add soup to the pot to cook more meat.
Address: No. 257 Qiming East Road, Chanhe Hui Muslim District, Luoyang
2. Yuxiuzhai
This is a fairly large halal restaurant. I only ate breakfast here. People in Luoyang drink beef soup in the morning and add meatballs. These meatballs are unique to Henan and are a dry food that Hui Muslims often carry when they travel.
Address: 243 Qiming East Road, Chanhe Hui District, Luoyang.
I only made short stops in Nanyang and Xinyang and did not find any halal restaurants worth recommending, though I did pass by a halal hot pot restaurant in Nanyang.
Wang Family Hot Pot (Wangjia Shuairou) on He Street in Nanyang.
Address: 30 meters south of the intersection of Zhongjing South Road and Xinhua East Road, on the west side of the road.
Xinyang is known for hot dry noodles (reganmian). Many people think these are a Wuhan snack, but people in Xinyang love them too, and Xinyang's version was even featured on the show A Bite of China. However, they are not halal. Following a local recommendation, I tried the Xinyang specialty pot-lid bread (diguomo), which was soft and delicious. Inshallah, I will explore this place more thoroughly next time.
