Xian Food and Restaurants
The food culture of Xi'an is permeated with a strong style of northwest China. It is a great pleasure to travel to Xi'an to taste the numerous flavorful food in Xi'an.
Otherwise, as one of the most populated areas of the Hui ethnic group, many of Xian's eating habits and traditions also incorporate ethnic and halal requirements. If you have eaten halal food abroad, you will definitely taste a totally different style in Xian.
In this popular tourism city of both home and abroad, you can find all kinds of Chinese cuisines and taste the food of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Of course, if you prefer vegetarian food or western food, there are also great restaurants to serve you.
Xian Cuisine: Regional Flavor in Shaanxi Province
Xi'an cuisine, also known as Shaanxi cuisine or Qin cuisine, is a representative cuisine of Northwest China, encompassing flavors from Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. With its history dating back to the Zhou, Qin, Han, and Tang dynasties, more than 2000 years ago, Xi'an cuisine was once considered one of China's five major culinary styles, earning it the nickname "A Millennium Capital and a Gourmet Paradise."
Specifically, Xi'an cuisine comprises three major regional flavors: Guanzhong cuisine, Southern Shaanxi cuisine, and Northern Shaanxi cuisine. Guanzhong focuses on wheat-based dishes with many famous noodles in Xian, Southern Shaanxi centers on rice-based dishes, and Northern Shaanxi emphasizes meat-based dishes.
Xian cuisine is primarily based on roasting, steaming, simmering, stir-frying, blanching, and sautéing. Its hallmarks are "three highlights": beef, mutton, and wild delicacies are prominent as main ingredients. The primary flavor emphasizes a single dominant flavor; and the aroma emphasizes the complex aromas of dried chilies, aged vinegar, and Sichuan peppercorns. Seasonings of Xian cuisine are typically garlic-infused oil and chili oil, with an emphasis on the original broth for enhanced flavor.
Through thousands of years of culinary history, Shaanxi cuisine boasts approximately 800 hot and cold dishes and around 1,000 varieties of snacks. Signature dishes include gourd chicken, fish in milk soup (derived from the milk-stuffed fish of the Tang Dynasty), and pork elbow with a handle (originally prepared during the Hongzhi reign of the Ming Dynasty).
Must-Try Xian Famous Foods
1. Mutton/ Beef Paomo
It is a tasty Xi'an specialty that consists of a mutton soup served with wheat flour flat bread. The hard bread is broken up and added to the soup. Then the mixture is eaten along with pickled garlic cloves. It makes for a hearty, filling meal that is not very expensive. This Xi’an food can be found at several restaurants that have become famous for their delicious Mutton Paomo, as well as a small "mom and pop" restaurants throughout Xi'an.
2. Xian Rougamo (Chinese hamburger)
This kind of food in Xian has been listed into nonmaterial cultural heritage list, such a representative Xian food. Select the pork leg meat with fat and thin, with more than 30 kinds of spices and condiments, to make delicious brine meat. To serve, mince the stewed meat with chili, peanuts or other ingredients, put into the hard break with crispy skin, each bite is unforgettable. The rougamo pervades the streets of Xi'an.
3. Soup-within Steamed Bun
Its history can be traced back to the Song dynasty. The biggest difference between Soup-within Steamed Bun and the ordinary steamed bun is that in addition to the soup as the filling, its skin is very thin, crystal clear. Other than its formal beauty, its filling of meat has a soft feel as it is steamed with the broth. And the way of eating it is also a joy for people to taste this delicacy. Whether you're drinking soup through a straw or by biting through the skin, be careful not to burn your tongue.
4. Shaanxi Cold Noodles
It’s said that the cold noodles or named Liangpi, one of the most famous Xian noodles, originated from the reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huang and has a history of more than 2,000 years. The noodles are much thinner than most noodles in northern China, steamed and cut into a wider shape. As a very convenient vegetarian food, it doesn't need to be boiled any more. It can be made hot, sour or sweet with shredded cucumber and carrots and your own favorite ingredients.
5. Biangbiang noodles
Biangbiang noodles are named for the "biang biang" sound they make when slapping the noodles against the chopping board. If you know a bit of Chinese language, you'll notice that even a Chinese input method won't work.
Biangbiang noodles are the pinnacle of wide noodles, sometimes as wide and long as a belt, and are incredibly chewy, hence also the name "kua belt noodles." The seasoning is imbued with the flavors of Guanzhong: chili oil, soy sauce, vinegar, chopped green onions, minced garlic, and finally a spoonful of boiling vegetable oil. After mixing thoroughly, each wide noodle is coated in the sauce. A sour, spicy, salty, and fragrant flavor perfectly reflects the Shaanxi people's character.
6. Xi'an Dumpling Banquet
Among all featured Xian foods, “dumpling feast” can be the most amazing banquet. It is mainly made up of the various dumpling banquet feast guest, so called "Xian dumpling feast." Particularly pleased by Chinese or foreign customers is, that hundreds of dumplings, match with different filling, molded into different shapes, exquisitely carved, or steamed or cooked, delicious, each has a refined and the name of the legend, really make a person dazzling, full of praise. This was first started in 1984 by the Xi'an Dumpling Feast Restaurant on Jiefang Road, offers up to 108 different kinds of Chinese dumplings (Jiaozi).
Traditional Xian Street Food
Zenggao
Legend has it that this was the breakfast enjoyed by Yang Guifei during the Tang Dynasty over a thousand years ago. Made with glutinous rice, red dates (or candied dates), and red beans or kidney beans, it's layered and slowly steamed for hours in an ancient steamer called a "zeng." Once cooked, it's a deep brown, with the date paste permeating every grain of rice, creating a sweet yet non-greasy treat. Today, it's a common sight in Xi'an street vendors selling it early in the morning, freshly scooped from large pots to keep it warm, for around 5 yuan per portion.
Golden Thread Oil Tower
Another popular Xi'an breakfast, its appearance is described as “resembling golden threads when lifted, and pine cones when placed down.” The noodle strands are as fine as hair, steamed to be loose and non-sticky. It melts in the mouth with a rich, oily aroma without being greasy, often served with garlic chili paste or sweet bean sauce.
Huanggui Persimmon Cake
Made from Lintong Huojing persimmons and flour. Its crispy exterior conceals a molten persimmon filling, bursting with sweetness and fragrance the moment you bite into it. On the autumn streets of Xi'an, freshly baked persimmon cakes steaming hot are the most delicious street food in the ancient city.
Meatball Hu La Tang
A favorite breakfast food for Xi'an locals – a thick broth filled with beef meatballs, potatoes, and lotus root, drizzled with oil and chili peppers.
Gourd Chicken
Legend has it that Wei Zhi, the Minister of Rites of the Tang Dynasty, in pursuit of the ultimate taste, killed two chefs and mentored the third to invent "Gourd Chicken." This whole chicken is boiled, steamed, and deep-fried, resulting in crispy skin and tender meat.
>> Related reading: Most Popular Street Foods in China
Famed Xian Food Streets or Areas
Muslim Quarter
Muslim Street and area around Dapiyuan Lane & Sajinqiao Lane is the most popular place in Xian when you mention food street. Although Muslim Street is located in the Muslim Quarter of Xian, halal food is only a small part of it. If you're on your own, you can easily find the five most distinctive foods mentioned above, as well as many snacks hidden among the residential buildings.
These two lanes, Dapiyuan Lane & Sajinqiao Lane, are not easy to find, although they are near the hui min street, and are usually only known by old locals in Xi'an. These two alleys are relatively narrow and usually serve the surrounding residents. Although many shops are small and rough decoration, they have a long history, good reputation and low prices.
Yongxing Fang
If you have no time to wander around all the Muslim Street, Yongxing Fang is another good place to find delicious Xian food. It is a kind of tourist area, which gathers the delicacies and local snacks from all over Shaanxi Province including Xian city. It is a place for you to find a quick solution for a meal.
Recommended Chinese Food Restaurants in Xian
De Fa Chang Restaurant
Tong Sheng Xiang Restaurant
Xi'an Restaurant
Xi'an Hua Zheng Food Dining and Drinking Co. Ltd.
Recommended Vegetarian Restaurants in Xi’an
Suxin Chafang
Pusu Chafang
Tianlong Baoyan Vegetarian Restaurant
Shangshan Vegetarian Restaurant
New Delhi Indian Restaurant
Red Fort India Restaurant
Recommended Western Restaurants
Isola del Nord
Lotus
ST. LOUIS
Le Régal Bistro
Popular China Food Tours with Xian
Taste authentic Xian food with Easy Tour China. Feel free to talk with your travel consultant to customize a Xian tour with delicious local cuisine experiences in Michelin-starred restaurants and neighbourhood stalls.