Shaanxi cuisine facts for kids

Shaanxi cuisine, or Qin cuisine, is derived from the native cooking styles of Shaanxi Province and parts of northwestern China.

Description

Shaanxi cuisine makes elaborate use of ordinary materials, and is best known for its noodles and lamb/mutton dishes. It makes heavy use of strong and complex flavours. There is an emphasis on savoury flavours such as salt, garlic, onion and vinegar; sugar is seldom used. The main cooking methods are steaming, frying and stir-frying.

Due to its geographical location between the provinces of Shanxi and Sichuan, the flavours of Shaanxi cuisine include both the sour and spicy of Sichuan cuisine, and the salty flavours of Shanxi. Shaanxi cuisine's primary flavor profile is xiāng là (香辣) or "fragrant spicy".

Shaanxi cuisine uses more noodles than other Chinese cuisines, but Shaanxi noodles are almost always thicker and longer than those of Beijing cuisine, and to a lesser degree, Shanxi cuisine.

The taste of Shaanxi cuisine can be quite spicy; however, this can be diluted by adding soy sauce. Many different types of meat are used in Shaanxi cuisine such as duck, lamb, chicken, and beef. Additionally, there are vegetarian mixed dishes where no meat is included, the extra flavour being provided by more spices, resulting in these dishes being considerably spicier.

Regional styles

Shaanxi cuisine includes three regional styles:

• Northern Shaanxi style is characterised by the wide use of steaming as the method of cooking. The most common meat is pork, although lamb and mutton are also popular.
• Guanzhong style, which uses pork and lamb / mutton equally with heavy flavours and tastes.
• Hanzhong style, similar to Sichuan cuisine, is characterised by its spicy taste.

Dishes

The following is a selected list of dishes in Shaanxi cuisine.

English	Traditional Chinese	Simplified Chinese	Pinyin	Image	Notes
Biangbiang noodles	麵	面	biángbiáng miàn		Notable for its name being written with one of the most complex characters used in modern Chinese.
Crispy fried noodles	金線油塔	金线油塔	jīn xiàn yóu tǎ
Cured beef and lamb	臘牛羊肉	腊牛羊肉	là niú yáng ròu
Gourd head	葫蘆頭	葫芦头	húlú tóu		A dish made from pig's large intestine. It is called "gourd head" because the pig's large intestine looks like the top of a gourd. It originated as street food during the Northern Song dynasty. Since then, the dish has evolved to include variations with meat fillings inside the pig's large intestine, as well as the inclusion of other ingredients. Pictured with bottle of Ice Peak soda.
Guokui	鍋盔	锅盔	guōkuī		A kind of pancake made from flour. It is round in shape, about a foot long in diameter, an inch in thickness, and weighs about 2.5 kg. It is traditionally presented as a gift by a grandmother to her grandson when he turns one month old.
Hanzhong hot rice noodles	漢中熱米皮	汉中热米皮	Hànzhōng rè mǐ pí
Lamb paomo	羊肉泡饃	羊肉泡馍	yáng ròu pào mó		Bread is shredded into pieces and put into a boiling beef or mutton broth before serving.
Lamb soup	水盆羊肉	水盆羊肉	shuǐ pén yáng ròu
Mingsixi	明四喜	明四喜	míng sì xǐ		As Shaanxi is located far away from the coast, seafood hardly features in Shaanxi cuisine. This dish, composed of ingredients such as abalone, sea cucumber, squid, Shaoxing wine and clear chicken broth, is served only at major banquets and festivals in Shaanxi.
Qishan saozi noodles	岐山臊子麵	岐山臊子面	Qíshān sàozǐ miàn
Rose mirror cake	玫瑰鏡糕	玫瑰镜糕	méiguī jìng gāo		A type of pastry made from glutinous rice. It is round in shape and looks like a mirror.
Roujiamo	肉夾饃	肉夹馍	ròujiāmó, ròugāmó		Often called "Chinese hamburgers", this famous Shaanxi dish can now be found everywhere in China.
Shaanxi style liangpi	陝西涼皮	陕西凉皮	Shǎnxī liángpí		Cold wheat noodles with a chili and vinegar sauce.
Spicy soup	胡辣湯	胡辣汤	hú là tāng
Vermicelli in lamb's blood soup	粉湯羊血	粉汤羊血	fěn tāng yáng xué		A soup composed of ingredients such as congealed lamb's blood, paomo and other condiments. It is eaten with vermicelli and coriander.