People visiting Xi'an must be surprised by the numerous historical sites and interesting places, as well as being left with a deep impression of the food of the city. Xi'an's food, generally speaking, is served in large portions, is inexpensive and each dish has its own story.
Xi'an cuisine has a good, hearty style that should never let you leave the table hungry. Noodles and dumplings are the staples of the local food and these are almost always filling and warming.
☆ Food
● Yangrou Paomo
Yangrou Paomo is a tasty Xi'an specialty that consists of a mutton soup served with wheat flour flat bread. The hard bread is broken up and added to the soup. Then the mixture is eaten along with pickled garlic cloves.
● Xi'an Dumpling Feast
It is another interesting culinary experience to be had in Xi'an. The Xi'an dumpling feast was conceived in 1984 by the Xi'an Dumpling Restaurant, and has since become a city-wide sensation.? Diners are plied with a continual stream of tiny, bite-size dumplings (jiaozi) with various shapes and fillings.? The Xi'an Dumpling Feast Restaurant is still standing, allowing the diner to trace this gluttonous culinary experience back to its roots and indulge.
● Large Portions
On a downtown street, everywhere one can see signs, including "Old Sun Family's Paomo (steamed bun soaking in mutton soup), "Old Ma Family's Mutton" and "Old Liu Family's Hulutou (a local snack)". At the food street, food stands one after another stretch several hundreds meters. At night, temporary food stands fully line both sides of the street. E
verywhere, there is a smell of delicious snacks.
☆ Restaurants
● Jiefang Road Dumpling Restaurant
As the originators of the dumpling feast, one would expect Jiefang Road Dumpling Restaurant to wow and dazzle customers with exotic dumplings galore. Indeed, almost 110 varieties of dumplings are available on the menu, stuffed with every imaginable filling and wrapped with a variety of noodles. Cooking methods vary as well, from deep-frying to steaming.
Diners order from one of several set "feasts", and dumplings are paraded out in a steady stream of delicious nosh, each new flavor presented in a round, wooden steaming basket. Don't miss the "peony feast" or the "imperial court feast". The average price is about RMB16 per person.
● Tongshengxiang
Tongshengxiang is known for its Niuyangroupaomo (steamed bun soaking in beef or mutton soup). It has become very popular as a dish for entertaining foreign state leaders. In 1983, the dish was moved from the restaurant to the national banquet, and in 1993, Chinese traditional painting master Huang Zhou wrote an inscription mainly describes its appetizing taste. Because of this the dish becomes more and more famous. If you come here to taste it first, you do not eat too much because it is very filling.
● Defachang
Defachang has many special dishes, but the dearest is jiaoze made of Shark's fin. Another kind of jiaoze as big as a small fingertip filled with chicken meat. It is called a pearl jiaoze and is boiled in a hotpot of chrysanthemum soup. About this, there is a vivid story that when Empress Dowager Ci Xi came to the city she asked her cook to provide her with a new taste, and the cook prepared this kind of jiaoze to please her. It was well received. She ate three, six or nine in number, which is regarded in China as meaning good luck. Today, the words are different, for having one jiaoze, means to go off smoothly, and two jiaoze for double happiness coming at the same time. When having jiaoze, you can listen to the story and receive a beautiful blessing.
● Xi'an Restaurant
Add: 298 Dong Dajie, Xian
Tel: 029-87680618
● Shaanxi Local Food Restaurant
Add: Dong Dajie, Xian
Tel: 029-87251166
● Zhuyuancun Hotpot Restaurant
Add: 19 Laodong Nanlu, Xi'an
Tel: 029-88473333
● Longgong Branch
Add: 168 Dongxin Jie, Xi'an
Tel: 029-87433556
● Jixiang Branch
Add: South-section of 68 Hanguang Lu, Xi'an
Tel: 029-88218168
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