city Essentials · 9 foods
Beijing Essentials
A considered first route through Beijing: the foods that carry its everyday habits, celebrations, ingredients, and memory.
Explore all China foods →THE
ESSENTIALS
The complete shortlist
9 foods to know.
Each selection includes the reason it belongs here—so this is a guide, not just a pile of names.
Beijing, China
Peking Duck
北京烤鸭
Carved tableside skin-first, the skin dipped in sugar, the rest rolled with scallion in thin pancakes.
Beijing, China
Noodles with Fried Bean Sauce
炸酱面
Old-Beijing noodles under black soybean paste with cucumber shreds stirred in at the table.
Beijing, China
Beijing Mutton Hotpot
涮羊肉
Paper-thin mutton swished seconds in copper-pot boiling water and dipped in sesame sauce.
Beijing, China
Luzhu Huoshao
卤煮火烧
Pork offal and wheat cakes simmered in broth since dawn — the original Beijing working breakfast.
Beijing, China
Quick-Boiled Tripe
爆肚
Tripe blanched seconds per portion and dipped in sesame sauce; the fast knife-work is the show.
Beijing, China
Douzhi (Fermented Mung-Bean Drink)
豆汁
Grey-green fermented mung-bean drink with an acquired sour tang, served with pickles and fried dough rings.
Beijing, China
Lüdagunr (Rolled Glutinous Rice Cake)
驴打滚
Sticky rice roll rolled in soybean flour like a dust storm — the name means rolling donkey.
Beijing, China
Candied Hawthorn Skewers
糖葫芦
Hawthorn berries in shattered sugar glass on bamboo skewers — the winter street snack of hutong fairs.
Beijing, China
Shredded Pork in Sweet Bean Sauce
京酱肉丝
Sweet-bean-sauce pork slivers folded into tofu skins — Peking duck's sauce living a life of its own.