China
Chow Mein
炒面
Boiled wheat noodles stir-fried at high heat with shredded meat, cabbage and bean sprouts until the edges catch.
eastern-asia
China
Explore 248 foods connected to China, from everyday staples to rare local specialties.
248 foods12 leading categories2 Essentials guides
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Beijing Essentials
9 editor-selected foods for understanding the place through what people eat.
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Traditional foods from China.
248 foods in this view. Filter by category, type, rarity, or search every recorded name.
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China
Chrysanthemum Tea
菊花茶
Dried chrysanthemum flowers infused to a pale gold liquor, drunk sweetened with rock sugar and often with goji berries.
China
Chwee Kueh
水粿
Steamed cups of soft rice-flour pudding, unmoulded and topped with salty preserved radish fried with garlic and chilli.
Guangdong, Hong Kong
Claypot Rice
煲仔饭
Rice cooked to order in a lidded clay pot with cured sausage, salted fish or chicken laid on top, finished with sweet soy poured round the rim.
Shaanxi, China
Cold Skin Noodles
凉皮
Wide translucent noodles steamed from washed wheat starch, served cold with wheat gluten, cucumber and bean sprouts in vinegar, garlic water and chilli oil.
Shaanxi, China
Cold Starch Jelly
凉粉
Pea or mung bean starch set into a firm translucent jelly, cut into strips and dressed with vinegar, garlic and chilli oil.
Guangdong, Hong Kong
Crispy Roast Pork Belly
烧肉
Pork belly salt-rubbed and air-dried, then roasted so the rind blisters into a layer of crackling above the striped fat and meat.
Yunnan, China
Crossing the Bridge Noodles
过桥米线
A bowl of chicken broth kept boiling under a layer of oil, into which you add raw meat slices, quail egg, vegetables and rice noodles in order at the table.
Xinjiang, China
Cumin Lamb (Ziran Yangrou)
孜然羊肉
Ziran yangrou stir-fries lamb with cumin seed and chilli; it arrives as a dry northwestern plate rather than skewers.
Xinjiang, China
Cumin Lamb Skewers
羊肉串
Cubes of lamb alternated with fat, grilled over charcoal in a long narrow brazier and dusted with cumin and chilli powder.
Fujian, China
Da Hong Pao Rock Tea
大红袍
Da Hong Pao, the Wuyi rock oolong whose six surviving mother bushes are a protected cliff-face monument and whose leaf has sold for more per gram than gold, is the one Chinese tea beyond the five carried that earns its own sticker.
Sichuan, China
Dan Dan Noodles
担担面
Thin wheat noodles under a spoonful of minced pork fried with preserved mustard greens, dressed with chilli oil, sesame paste, soy and Sichuan pepper.
China
Dezhou Roast Chicken
德州扒鸡
A Shandong dish of a whole chicken braised with soy sauce, sugar and 16 spices until so tender the meat falls off the bone, a famous train-trip snack.
China
Dong'an Chicken
东安鸡
A Hunan dish of shredded chicken stir-fried with vinegar, chilli, ginger and peppercorns, one of China oldest documented dishes, from the 8th century.
China
Dongpo Pork
东坡肉
A tied square of pork belly braised whole in Shaoxing wine, soy and sugar until it can be cut with a spoon, served one cube per person.
Guangdong, China
Double-Skin Milk
双皮奶
Buffalo milk set twice so that two skins form, giving a custard that is firm on top and loose beneath, served warm or chilled.
China
Doupi
豆皮
Doupi, the Wuhan breakfast square of egg-coated tofu skin over glutinous rice, pork and mushroom, cut from a giant pan, is a named city dish with a distinctive method.
Beijing, China
Douzhi (Fermented Mung-Bean Drink)
豆汁
A sour, grey-green liquid left over from making mung bean noodles, fermented and drunk warm with a salted vegetable shred and a fried dough ring.
China
Dragon Beard Candy
龙须酥
Malt sugar pulled repeatedly into thousands of hair-fine threads, wrapped around crushed peanut and sesame, and eaten within minutes.
China
Dragon Well Tea
龙井茶
A pan-fired green tea from the hills round West Lake, its leaves pressed flat by hand in the wok, tasting of chestnut and fresh grass.
Tibet, China
Dresil Sweet Rice
འབྲས་སིལ
Dresil, sweet saffron rice with droma roots and raisins served at Tibetan New Year and weddings, is a named ceremonial dish.
Zhejiang, China
Drunken Chicken
醉鸡
Poached chicken chilled and steeped overnight in Shaoxing wine, stock and goji berries, served cold in bone-in slices.
Zhejiang, China
Drunken Prawns
醉虾
Drunken prawns, live prawns doused in Shaoxing wine and eaten as they still, is a named Jiangnan dish and a distinctive table ritual.
Hunan, China
Dry Pot (Ganguo)
干锅
Ganguo (dry pot), a wok of chilli-fried ingredients set over a burner and eaten without broth, is a named Chinese restaurant format distinct from hotpot.
Sichuan, China
Dry-Fried Green Beans
干煸四季豆
Green beans blistered in hot oil until wrinkled, then tossed with minced pork, preserved mustard greens and dried chilli.
Jiangsu, China
Duck Blood and Vermicelli Soup
鸭血粉丝汤
Cubes of set duck blood, duck gizzard, liver and tofu puffs in a clear duck broth over sweet potato vermicelli.
China
Egg Drop Soup
蛋花汤
A simple Chinese soup of chicken broth with silken egg ribbons swirled in at the end, thickened with cornstarch and seasoned with white pepper.
Guangdong, Hong Kong
Egg Tart
蛋挞
A small tart of smooth egg custard in either a flaky puff shell or a shortcrust one, eaten warm.
China
Eight Treasure Porridge
八宝粥
A sweet porridge of glutinous rice cooked with red bean, lotus seed, peanut, jujube, longan and other dried fruits.
Beijing, China
Erguotou
二锅头
Beijing's everyday sorghum baijiu, distilled twice and sold in squat green bottles; sharper and cheaper than Maotai, drunk in thimble-cup toasts.
Yunnan, China
Erkuai Rice Cake
饵块
Steamed rice pounded into a dense cake, then cut into sheets or ribbons — grilled and wrapped round a fried dough stick, or stir-fried like pasta.
China
Fermented Bean Curd (Furu)
腐乳
Bean curd fermented into salty soft cubes — red with yeast rice or white and pungent — eaten in smears over plain congee or stir-fried with greens.
China
Fish Head with Chopped Chillies
剁椒鱼头
A split fish head steamed under a blanket of fermented chopped red chillies, garlic and ginger, with noodles slid underneath at the end.
Sichuan, China
Fish-Fragrant Pork Slivers
鱼香肉丝
Slivered pork stir-fried with wood ear, bamboo shoot and pickled chilli in a sauce of vinegar, sugar, garlic and ginger — the seasoning once used for fish, with no fish in it.
China
Five Spice Powder
五香粉
A ground blend built on star anise, fennel, cassia, clove and Sichuan pepper, used in braises, cures and roast meats.
Yunnan, China
Fried bee pupa with rice wine
油炸蜂蛹
Fried bee pupae, eaten with rice wine in Yunnan, is a named regional insect dish.