Famous Snacks to Try in China’s 10 Cities
Chinese are good at cooking, any ingredients could be cooked into delicacy, and this is evidence in the street food, which is fun, special, absolutely delicious and great value! Make sure you try the snack food when visiting China’s top cuisine cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou…
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1. Beijing Snacks
Douzhi'er (豆汁) is the most typical traditional drink in Beijing, which is made from mung bean lees and tastes slightly sour. Real Beijingers love it, and they usually have it for breakfast with a pair of Jiaoquan (Fried dough rings).
Zhajiangmian (炸酱面) or Fried Sauce Noodles is a flavorful dish of thick wheat noodles covered with a mixture of ground meat stir-fried and sliced vegetables with fermented soybean paste.
Kaorouwan (烤肉宛) refers to a barbecue restaurant chain brand located in Inner St., Xuanwu Gate, Xicheng District. First found in 1686, Kao Rou Wan is the oldest barbecue restaurant in Beijing. It is most well-known for roast beef and favored by many famous people, such as Chinese painter Qi Baishi and Beijing Opera artist Mei Lanfang.
Recommended Culinary Tour of Beijing:
★ 5-day Beijing Food Tour - Eat Like a Local Beijinger
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2. Shanghai Snacks
Steamed Buns (小笼包) are the iconic food of Shanghai, famous for thin peeling, fresh stuffing, multi juice, delicious flavor, and cute shape. Try Nanxiang Steam Buns with a history of over 100 years in City God Temple. It's known as “the heaven of snacks”.
Cong You Bing (葱油饼) or Scallion Pancake is popular street food in Shanghai. It’s a fresh-baked crispy pancake folded with pork oil and minced green onions. Ada Scallion Pancake (阿大葱油饼) was featured on the BBC program Rick Stein’s Taste of Shanghai. Be noted that Mr. Wu’s Ada Scallion Pancake on Yongjia Road is famous now, so you may expect to wait for 2 to 3 hours.
Xie Ke Huang (蟹壳黄), literally Crab Shell Cake, is a traditional Shanghai dim sum with salty or sweet stuffing and topped with sesame seeds on the upper crust. It’s called Crab Shell Cake because it looks like the shell of a cooked crab.
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3. Xian Snacks
Dumpling Banquet (饺子宴) is renovated from traditional dumpling, and brought forth new ideas on the color, taste, shape and the cooking method, with nearly 120 varieties. Xi'an Jiefang Road Dumpling Restaurant and De Fa Chang Dumpling Restaurant are the best places to have authentic Dumpling Banquet.
>> Learn How to Make Chinese Dumplings at Home
Paomo (泡馍) is a featured Xian snack, with a great amount of baked bun soaked in mutton soup or beef soup, called Yangrou Paomo (羊肉泡馍) or Niurou Paomo (牛肉泡馍).
Liangpi (凉皮), aka Cold Skin Noodles, is one of the most popular street foods in Xi’an. Its making method is to steam the mixture of flour and water into thin layers then cut into stripes, very different from regular noodles. Liang Pi is usually served with steamed gluten, sliced cucumber, garlic, soy sauce, black vinegar, chilli oil, etc.
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4. Chengdu Snacks
Long Chao Shou (龙抄手) is what Sichuan locals call wonton. Similar to dumpling, handmade Longchaoshou is also stuffed with pork and vegetables, but of thinner crust and usullay served in a bowl of soup. You can choose either the white soup or the red soup. The white soup is made with chicken bones and pig bones, while the red one is prepared with chili oil, sichuan peppercorns, and chili.
Bo Bo Chicken (钵钵鸡, Bo Bo Ji) is a characteristic snack in Chengdu. Bo Bo is what Sichuan people called earthen jars. Originated from Leshan, Bobo Chicken has been popular since the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Boneless chicken slices are sold in jars with spicy sauce. Nowadays, there are a variety of ingredients, such as quail eggs, duck intestines,pork skin, and vegetables like lotus root slices, potato slices, and sea kelp.
Spicy Rabbit Head (麻辣兔头) : Yes, You did read that right. Rabbit head is another signature snack in Chengdu. If you’re an adventurous foodie, don’t miss rabbit head when traveling in Chengdu. There’re are no spice, medium spice, and hot spice to choose.
Recommended Culinary Tour of Chengdu:
★ 4-day Chengdu Food Tour – the Best Way to Get to Know the City
★ 3-day Chengdu Tour with Panda & Leshan Giant Buddha
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5. Guangzhou Snacks
Chang Fen (肠粉), also known as Cheung Fun, or Steamed Rice Noodle Roll, is a very popular dim sum in Guangzhou. It is a thin roll made of rice, filled with pork, fish, beef, shrimp or vegetables inside, and often topped with soy sauce.
Double Skin Milk (双皮奶) is a famous Cantonese dessert. It’s called double skin milk because its thick milk surface needs to be coagulated twice. Nanxin Dessert Shop at Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street is a popular place for snacking creamy double skin milk pudding in Guangzhou.
Shrimp Dumpling (虾饺), Har Gow in Cantonese, is one of the dim sum dishes you don’t want to miss when experiencing Yum Cha (a Cantonese-style morning tea) culture in Guangzhou. It’s one of the “Four Kings” of Cantonese dim sum. The translucent shrimp dumpling is usually stuffed with shelled fresh shrimps and bamboo shoots.
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6. Hong Kong Snacks
Gai Daan Jai (鸡蛋仔) is a kind of egg waffle, mainly made of egg, sugar, flour, and light evaporated milk, crispy, fragrant and simply delicious. Some stores create different flavors by adding chocolate, strawberry and other ingredients. Remember to eat Gai Daan Jai before it gets cold.
Fish Balls (鱼蛋) is one of the most favorite and classic street food in Hong Kong. This Hong Kong local delicacy is made from fish meat, and usually cooked in hot curry sauce. Hong Kong fish balls are sold on a stick, or in a bowl.
Pineapple Bun (菠萝包) is a beloved Hong Kong snack food. Literally means Pineapple Bun in Cantonese, this bun doesn’t have any pineapple in it. It gets the name because its cookie-style crust on top looks like a pineapple.
Recommended Culinary Tour of Hong Kong:
★ Hong Kong In-depth Culture Tour with Food Tasting
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7. Kunming Snacks
Yunnan Rice Noodles or Crossing-the-bridge noodles (过桥米线) is the most well-known Yunnan food. It’s served with a large bowl of boiling soup and the soup ingredients separate. Ingredients may include several slices of ham, chicken, tine peas, chives, vegetables and rice noodles. And the more you pay the more ingredients you’ll get.
Rose Flower Cake (鲜花饼) is a flaky pastry cake using edible roses as filling. According to historical records, the history of making flower cake can be traced back more than 300 years ago.
Modern Cake (摩登粑粑, Modeng Baba) is a flavorful traditional Kunming snack, being popular since 1930s. The word “modern” here means fashionable. Modern Cake is crispy on the crust and soft inside. Using butter instead of cooking oil gives it a richer smell and softer taste.
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8. Nanjing Snacks
Salted Duck (盐水鸭) is a traditional Nanjing cuisine you’ll see sold everywhere when traveling in Nanjing. And there are vacuum packed and gift-boxed salted ducks for souvenirs. Different from the Cantonese Poached White Cut Chicken (Bai Qie Ji), Nanjing slated duck tastes just fine without sauce.
Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup (鸭血粉丝汤) is an iconic delicacy of Nanjing. This soup is made of duck blood curds, duck intestines, duck liver, Chinese vermicelli (made from sweet potato), dried fried tofu, dried small shrimps, etc. Some restaurants use glass noodles, aka cellophane noodles, instead of vermicelli.
Nanjing Dim Sum (糕团小点, Gao Tuan Xiao Dian) is a range of old-fashion Nanjing local desserts in different colors and shapes. Fuzimiao Dining Street (夫子庙小吃街) is where you can enjoy the many tasty varieties of Nanjing Dim Sum, as well as other Nanjing traditional foods, such as spicy Gan Si, wheat cake baked with duck oil, tea eggs, bean boiled in tea…
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9. Taipei Snacks
For people fond of oysters or seafood, Oyster Omelet (蚵仔煎) is a great choice in Taipei. It is available at almost every night market in Taiwan. The oysters are wrapped by an omelet coated in potato starch and tapioca. Oyster Omelet taste sweet and sour, and sometimes spicy if mixed with chili sauce.
Bun in a Bun or Dabing Bao Xiaobing (大饼包小饼) is one of the most popular snacks in Taipei’s Shilin night market. A crispy bun, the ‘xiao bing.” is wrapped by a flour tortilla, which is the ‘da bing”. Various flavors, of both sweet and salt are served.
Pineapple Cake (凤梨酥) is a buttery pastry filled with jammy pineapple. If you are not a pineapple fan, you can check out other flavors like winter melon, strawberry, cranberry, prune, etc. In Hokkien dialect of Taiwan, the word pineapple is pronounced as “luck arrives”. So pineapple cakes are perfect good luck gifts for family and friends at home.
10. Fuzhou Snacks
Rouyan (肉燕), also known as Yanpi Dumpling (燕皮饺子), is a traditional Fuzhou-style handmade meat wonton. Rouyan is chewy and bouncy with generous filling. The thin skin used to make Rouyan is called Yanpi, literally swallow skin. Unlike the usual flour wrappers of dumplings and wontons, Yanpi is made from pounded lean pork and tapioca starch.
Fried Oyster Cake (蛎饼) is a classic Fuzhou snack and a popular to-go breakfast for Fuzhou locals. It’s stuffed with fresh oysters, lean pork, celery and studded with peanut on the outside. This UFO-shaped Fuzhou-style cake is crispy on the edge and moist inside.
In Fuzhou An Tai Lou Restaurant (安泰楼, located on No. 39, Jibi Road), visitors will have chance to feast on the most famous Min dishes like Fo Tiao Qiang and Li Zhi Rou (Litchi Pork), as well as fun local snacks as many as 200 varieties, including Yu Wan (Fish Ball), Li Bing (Oyster Cake), Chun Juan (Spring Roll), Yanpi Dumplings…
