8 Must-Try Chinese Dishes You Might Not Know About

8 Must-Try Chinese Dishes You Might Not Know About
Apr 01, 2015 By Thomas Ackerman , eChinacities.com

Many foreigners in China arrive with a culinary knowledge from their favorite Chinese restaurant at home or from word of mouth. They might be familiar with the famous dishes and famous styles, but there’s little way to be familiar with most of it, short of being a scholar, since Chinese cuisine is ancient and spans the whole geography and many cultures of the nation.

Shortly after arriving, foreigners usually get the treat of being shown a few new dishes, and recommended restaurants foreigners like. From there, visitors begin to branch out, although it can take a while to learn about the cuisines beyond your region. Naturally, it’s not hard to get stuck in a rut, sticking with a handful of favorite dishes, or cooking the same few things at home.

I’ve put together this list to help newcomers to China in finding a variety of delicious, but less-than-famous meals. A few of them are well-known locally, but not world famous. Others are from less travelled regions. In the major cities you can probably find many of them, though you may have to travel for others. I hope this list can delight your palate, as well as open you up to explore more of China’s incredible variety of food and culture.

1.Biang Biang Noodles, Xi’an 彪彪面/彪彪面/冰冰面 (Biang’Biang’Mian)
( BiangBiang面—this is the original Chinese character for Biang Biang Noodles, but because the character is very complicated you can’t find it in the computer system; people usually use other characters to replace it. )

 

These thick and very long noodles from Xi’an are an eating experience you won’t get anywhere else, except where Shaanxi cuisine is catching on. These enormous noodles, often served in a soup, are aptly named “belt noodles” in English. In a typical shop, you can pick the number of giant noodles you’d like in your dish, usually either one or two.

What makes this dish sensational, other than the fun-inducing experience of eating a giant noodle with chopsticks, is the balanced combination of local flavors such as cumin, cilantro, chili peppers, dark vinegar and more. They make up a rich, textured tangy sensation that can become addictive with enough Xi’an dining.

 

2.Er’kuai Spicy Chicken, Yunnan 饵块辣鸡 (Er’Kuai’La’Ji)

Yunnan cuisine is so broad and varied as to be difficult to describe. Some even insist Yunnan has no proper cuisine at all, just tons of of cooking and a fascinating array of fresh ingredients. Nevertheless, its signature snack er’kuai is not hard to find. This is a carefully prepared rice cake with its own unique texture, flavor and rice aroma. More than being a snack, it finds itself in a variety of dishes to be roasted, steamed, stir fried, stewed and anything else you can do with food.

While spicy dishes can be hard to come by in parts of Yunnan province, Yunnan er’kuai chicken is one of the best. Its potent flavor is built with a blend ingredients such as preserved soybean paste (a common regional product), chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns and ginger. The cooking process also gives the rice cake a crispy exterior while preserving its soft insides. Dishes like er’kuai chicken are a chance to enjoy the popular Yunnan snack and varied Yunnan cuisine at the same time.

3.Hot and Sour Fish Soup, (fish in sour soup) Guizhou 酸汤鱼(Suan’Tang’Yu)

Unlike other dishes we cover here, hot and sour fish soup is from a region fewer travelers to China visit. It is characteristic of parts of Guizhou province and of Guangxi as well. Guizhou, despite its history and beauty, doesn’t possess as many famous areas as other provinces, and its infrastructure is still behind other parts, although this is changing. In reality, its environment of beautifully folded emerald hills and countless ethnic villages is well deserving of time and exploration.

Hot and sour fish soup is among the best dishes of the region, in a cuisine which is not well known. It combines boiled fish (usually carp) with a tangy and hot soup including bamboo shoots, tofu, ginger, dark mushrooms, tomatoes and seasonings. Some of the best hot and sour soup is said to be among the Miao ethnicity, which has a commonly spicy cuisine, an is especially good around Kaili. Missing out on this dish would be missing out on a unique region of China as well.

4. Songshu Guiyu, sweet and sour fish, Suzhou 松鼠鲑鱼(Song’Shu’Gui’Yu)

This delicious fish is one of my personal favorites, so I have an agenda here. It is traditionally a dish from Suzhou in Jiangsu province, but can be found in other regions as well. I found it was a staple at most Dongbei restaurants in Guangzhou, where it was sometimes served sprinkled with pine nuts. I don’t think too many Chinese recipes can beat this one.

Songshu guiyu, which is literally called “squirrel fish” or can also be called sweet and sour fish, is attractive in its texture, smell, flavor and even sight. Unlike other fish, the flesh is prepared by being scored into cubes, with one end still attached to the bone, so that the cubes of meat stick out like spines. It is battered and fried golden brown, having a crispy exterior and soft meat within.
A strong sweet and sour sauce which is composed of white vinegar, tomatoes, sugar, rice wine and sometimes lime is prepared and poured over the fish while steaming hot. There may also be small garnishing of glazed vegetables along with it, but you can trust they are truly secondary. It is a big and impressive sweet and sour fish, and visitors should not miss out.

5.Stuffed River Snails, Guangxi  田螺酿(Tian’Luo’Niang)

Stuffed river snails sound like one of those out-of-the-way specialties, but since they are common in the Guilin and Yangshuo area of Guangxi province, one of the most popular regions of China with backpackers, they’re a fairly accessible dish.

It might me true that most westerners don’t think of snails as a meal, but once you have tried a well-prepared dish it doesn’t take you long to love them. They defy foreigner expectations. Don’t be surprised if you start eating them regularly during your stay.

The stuffed snails found along the Li River of Guangxi are made through a time-consuming process; this involves removing the meat, carefully cleaning them, then grinding them together with meat and spices before returning them to the shell to be cooked. Common ingredients include pork, ginger, mint, soy sauce and the acclaimed local rice wine Sanhua jiu (three flowers wine).

6. Bamboo Rice (Hainan) 竹筒饭(Zhu’Tong’Fan)

There are truly many specialties from Hainan province worth trying. This is just becoming known to travelers with the popularity of Sanya and other spots on this lush island, which represents the only tropical portion of China’s enormous territory. Bamboo rice is among the must-try dishes from this region decorated with beaches and rolling hills.

A traditional dish of the Li ethnic minority, who have communities in the center and south of the island, it is cooked within a section of bamboo and could be a meal or a snack, depending on the size of the bamboo. Along with rice you can choose a variety of meat and vegetables to fill the bamboo, which is then sealed with a bamboo leaf, and typically cooked over a fire. Between the ingredients, and the unique cooking method, it has a taste not quite captured in more conventional ways.

Today regionally very popular, and served in restaurants in major cities throughout the country, bamboo rice captures some of the look, spirit and taste of tropical China.

7.Durian Chicken Stew (Guangdong) 榴莲炖鸡(Liu’Lian’Dun’Ji)

This dish may not be famous among foreigners in Guangdong, but the durian fruit is, often in the negative sense because of its pungent smell. However, a number of dishes are made with durian which lessen its less-then-attractive elements. Durian chicken stew is one of them, having a rich and sweet flavor, but with a milder smell. The durian meat and sometimes the skin are used in making the stew, along with ginger, walnuts, dates, wolfberries and more.

The health benefits of durian are also well known, since it is rich in vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber while lacking saturated fats and cholesterol. Authentic Chinese food is not as universally healthy as many westerners imagine, but dishes like this are.

8.Stir-fry Oyster with Preserved Soybean (Fujian) 豆豉煎蚵 (Dou’Chi’Jian’Ke)

The oyster and the soybean have been popular since ancient times in Fujian and other parts of southern China. This delicious dish including both proves that what poor fishermen likely first served up out of necessity can become a delicacy. The blackened soybean, a popular flavor among the poor, is not the first type of soy product foreigners encounter in China, with the soy sauce, paste and tofu being much more accessible. Yet the dark and salty soybean, sprinkled on this dish or others, can prove to be a favorite even with the unfamiliar. As a westerner myself I was sold on the first try. Along with preserved black soybeans and good quality oysters, this characteristic southern dish includes garlic cloves, ginger, chili peppers and rice wine.

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Keywords: must-try Chinese dishes China meals must-try

19 Comments

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royceH

Try Xinjiang food. Your best bet would be to go to Xinjiang. The meats cooked in the clay ovens and covered in spices are fantastic. Wash it down with Wusu hong. Also the spicy skewers found in the north of Xinjiang. The ones in the South, say from Urumqi down, are too big.

Apr 08, 2015 15:59 Report Abuse

YangYuanHan

Looks good, minus the snails. I've tried them before, the texture is very off-putting.

Apr 08, 2015 07:17 Report Abuse

Guest2781358

River snails are torturous when you're drunk, 5am trying to eat with a toothpick

Apr 06, 2015 08:48 Report Abuse

alexglez

In my case, one of my favourite dishes is the fanqiejidan (hope that's well written) which is simply tomato and egg! Yummy! Also can be a dumplings' filling

Apr 04, 2015 02:09 Report Abuse

Chairman_Cow

Yes. I'm also a fan of the 兰州牛肉拉面 Muslim restaurants. Food decent, good variety and I've never been sick from eating there.

Apr 01, 2015 22:21 Report Abuse

Chairman_Cow

You're a dumb shit.

Apr 04, 2015 09:28 Report Abuse

Guest2781358

Same here I stick to the lamian places, the're usually friendly too. Not all of them, but most with young families are friendly

Apr 05, 2015 07:39 Report Abuse

Guest2368048

8 Must-Try Chinese Dishes You Might Not Know About, All Cooked with Oil You Definitely Don't Know Where From.

Apr 01, 2015 11:37 Report Abuse

Chairman_Cow

Quad stacker Italian burger now available at Burger King Guangzhou.

Apr 01, 2015 10:58 Report Abuse

Chairman_Cow

True mate couldn't agree more. Unfortunately I made the unforgivable mistake last night of thinking I could just pop downstairs for a quick meal in the newly opened Hong Kong style restaurant. How wrong I was...after being laughed and sneered at by the local staff and virtually treated like a freak show because I can speak Chinese, I lost the plot and stormed of - as I normally do. It's extremely rude, uncivilised and offensive behaviour. If I owned a restaurant and my staff treated customers like that they'd be out the door quicker than they could pick their nose. The sad thing is, this bullshit happens weekly here. In the end I settled for a Big Mac meal.

Apr 01, 2015 22:17 Report Abuse

Chairman_Cow

Ahh the gutless guest is back. Troll of the year. You're pathetic. You really are a sad little person...

Apr 04, 2015 09:27 Report Abuse

RiriRiri

Bones skin fat oil

Apr 01, 2015 10:34 Report Abuse

Guest2781358

completely agree. i can't speak mandarin yet but i can say "where's the meat?"

Apr 03, 2015 17:46 Report Abuse

Guest2301262

Not just today, decades ago seasoned china expats knew that most of the keepers of traditional, genuine chinese cuisine had left mainland china, more than half a century ago when the communists tookover china. Plenty of those who have spent time in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia.....etc. noticed the differences although not everyone figured out why. Today there are the added questions,'what kind of environment do the animals grow up in, what do they eat, how are they treated.....etc.' Even without contacts in the food industry telling you the truth, you probably know the % of polluted water bodies in china (unless you're a mainlander).

Apr 01, 2015 10:04 Report Abuse

Englteachted

Only the first one looks interesting to me.

Apr 01, 2015 06:27 Report Abuse

wagon

I recently had it in Xian. It's just thick-ass lasagne noodles that clump together if you don't inhale them in 30 seconds like a Chinese. Pass.

Apr 01, 2015 18:33 Report Abuse