Hebei Food

Introduce

Hebei Province, called “Ji” in ancient times, was one of the nine provinces in ancient China. also known as Ji Cuisine. Therefore, Hebei Cuisine is also called “Ji Cuisine” for short. Hebei Cuisine is one of the local schools of the Chinese cuisine.

Being the leading agricultural province in China (mainly wheat, cotton and sunflower oil), eating in Hebei is never a problem. There are many local specialties waiting for you as well as various other provincial and imperial cuisines.

History

Located in the northern part of North China, Hebei spans the southeastern area of the Inner Mongolia Plateau and borders the Bohai Sea in the east. With favorable geographical conditions, Hebei is one of the earliest developed regions in China. In the Tang and Song dynasties, Baoding, Zhending (present-day Zhengding), Darning, Xinde (present-day Xingtai) had a prosperous economy, and people there invented a great number of special local dishes. In the Yuan and Ming dynasties, the nation’s political center was moved to Hebei, thus greatly facilitating the economic and cultural development of the region. In the meantime, the region’s culinary culture witnessed rapid growth. In mid-Qing Dynasty, the Hebei Cuisine took shape.

Hebei is adjacent to Shandong, so Shandong Cuisine has exerted great influence on Hebei cuisine. Overall, Hebei Cuisine adopted the advantages of both Shandong Cuisine and Beijing Cuisine.

Characteristics

Materials from the locality, meticulously selection of ingredients, emphasis on slicing techniques, gravy and soup, a salty taste and a fainted smell.

Ji Cuisine excels with the use of various seafood, poultries and livestock, emphasizing the balance between color, smell, fragrance, shape, quality and presentation. The selection of raw ingredients is very strict and the cutting skills are very refined requiring the chefs to cut various patterns and slice the meat into very thin pieces.

Ji Cuisine pays special attention to the cooking time, focusing on fresh, salty and delicate flavors. Its dishes taste salty but slightly sweet, tender and crispy.

Branche

The Hebei Cuisine Family has three branches, Middle and South Hebei Cuisine, Chengde Summer Resort Royal Cuisine and East Beijing Seafood Cuisine.

Middle and South Hebei Cuisine

Middle and South Hebei Cuisine is the most typical cuisine of Hebei and is primarily based upon Baoding dishes. It features a wide selection of raw materials and utilizes mountainous wild game, fish from Baiyangdian, shrimps and crabs. The dishes taste strong and savory and are always served with soup.

Chengde Summer Resort Royal Cuisine

Chengde Summer Resort Royal Cuisine is based on Chengde dishes.

East Beijing Seafood Cuisine

East Beijing Seafood Cuisine is based on Tangshan dishes and is renowned for using fresh seafood as its basic ingredients. It features refined cutting skills with a light and fresh taste which stresses the spraying of starch on to dishes cooked with light oil (such oil is pure and clean and not mixed with starch or any other flavorings) and its dishes are uniquely displayed in fine Tangshan porcelain trays.

Cooking Techniques

Various cooking techniques are employed, such as stir-frying, quick-frying, sautéing, braising, stewing, baking, steaming and caramelizing. The braised and fried dishes use pure and light oil to spray onto the finished dishes, whereas the baked and quick-fried dishes use cooked oil (such oil mixed with starch and fat could make the finished dish more colorful and delicious). The cooking techniques are refined and the appearance of the dishes looks nice and fresh, rich in color and savory.

Famous Food

Shijiazhuang

Shijiazhuang is the capital of Hebei Province, which was called “Shimen” in ancient China. Shijiazhuang is an important agricultural production base, with a highly intensified and industrialized agriculture.

Special Local Dishes:

Lion-shaped Fish—金毛狮子鱼

Procedure: Prepare a carp as the main ingredient, clean the carp, slash the carp diagonally, and fry the carp until the fish meat stripes erect. Before it is served, pour the ready-made gravy onto the fish.

The fish is in the shape of a lion's head, hence the name. The dish has a unique shape and is very delicious.

White Dragon Crossing the River—白龙过江

Procedure: Prepare a carp and scallops as the main ingredients, clean the carp, and stew it with scallops and some ready-made broth. Before the dish is served, pour egg white paste onto it which represents a "white dragon."

Hebei Cuisine+Hello+Famous Dishes and Snacks of Some Cities in Hebei(Braised Chestnuts and Pork in Soy Sauce)

Braised Chestnuts and Pork in Soy Sauce—栗子红烧肉

(Braise pork and chestnuts with soy sauce, salt, and other seasonings.)

Special Local Snacks:

Condensed Tofu Jelly—豆腐脑

Cake Baked in Jar—缸炉烧饼

(A traditional local wheaten food)

Hebei Cuisine+Hello+Famous Dishes and Snacks of Some Cities in Hebei(Steamed Bun with Mutton Stuffing)

Steamed Bun with Mutton Stuffing—羊肉包子

Buckwheat Hele Noodles—荞麦饸饹

Procedure: Press buckwheat dough into noodles, boil the noodles and add seasonings to the noodles before it is served.

Baodu—爆肚

(Quick-boiled tripes)

Eight-treasure Golden Millet—八宝黄粱饭

Hebei Cuisine+Hello+Famous Dishes and Snacks of Some Cities in Hebei(Naked Oats Bun)

Naked Oats Bun—莜面窝窝

Jiaozi Dumpling—水饺

Baoding

Baoding is a city with a long history. The catering trade in the city is very mature.

Special Local Dishes:

Stewed Sliced Fish in Sauce—酱汁瓦块鱼

(The main raw material of the dish is a fresh black carp. The fish is cooked with more than ten kinds of seasonings. When finished, the dish is bright red, and aromatic.)

Sweet and Sour Carp—糖醋鲤鱼

Stewed Soft-shelled Turtle in an Earthen Pot—沙锅元鱼

(Prepared with soft-shelled turtles and various kinds of supplementary materials in an earthen pot, this dish is delicious and very nutritious.

Hebei Cuisine+Hello+Famous Dishes and Snacks of Some Cities in Hebei(Steamed Crabs in Clear Soup)

Steamed Crabs in Clear Soup—清蒸湖蟹

Mr. Xiang Bean Curd—相先生豆腐

In ancient China, a wealthy official by the surname of Xiang was very fond of this dish, hence the name.

Procedure: Prepare bean curd as the main ingredient, cut bean curd into pieces, fry bean curd slices one by one, and cook the bean curd with onions, ginger, garlic and spicy sauce.

Bright red in color, this dish is very delicious.

Special Local Snacks:

Hebei Cuisine+Hello+Famous Dishes and Snacks of Some Cities in Hebei(Lightly Fried Dumpling)

Lightly Fried Dumpling—锅贴

Bai Yunzhang Steamed Bun with Stuffing—白运章包子

Created by a person by the name of Bai Yunzhang, this steamed bun with stuffing is very tasty.

Baked Wheaten Cake with Boiled Pork—白肉罩火烧

This dish consists of three parts: Pork boiled in a soup with a wide variety of seasonings, the soup, and baked wheaten cakes.

Hebei Cuisine+Hello+Famous Dishes and Snacks of Some Cities in Hebei(Pot-stewed Chicken by the Ma’s Old Chicken Delicatessen)

Pot-stewed Chicken by the Ma's Old Chicken Delicatessen—马家老鸡铺卤鸡

Chengde

Chengde is well known both at home and abroad for the Chengde Summer Resort and the Eight Outer Temples. Here tourists can taste special delicious food from the north of the Great Wall and the dishes and snacks of the provisional imperial palace, especially the delicious dishes prepared with game, and wild vegetables and edible funguses.

Special Local Dishes:

Roast Whole Deer—烤全鹿

Beggar's Pheasant—叫化子山鸡

(Similar to Beggar's Chicken of Jiangsu)

Gaidaorou—改刀肉

(Fried shreds of pork and bamboo shoots in the shape of a pyramid)

Gaidaorou was created by the provisional imperial kitchen in the Mountain Resort of Chengde and can be preserved for several months in winter. It has the same taste as the Twice-cooked Pork. In the Qing Dynasty, Gaidaorou was a must food for Manchu and Mongolian nobilities when they need to take a long journey to the capital.

Hebei Cuisine+Hello+Famous Dishes and Snacks of Some Cities in Hebei(Fried Pheasant Slices)

Fried Pheasant Slices—滑炒山鸡片

Procedure: Slice an artificially raised pheasant, and fry the sliced pheasant meat together with many kinds of required seasonings.

This dish is less delicious if prepared with home-raised chicken.

Game Chafing Dish—野味火锅

(Prepared with pheasant meat, deer meat and wild edible funguses as the raw materials)

Hebei Cuisine+Hello+Famous Dishes and Snacks of Some Cities in Hebei(Fried Tender Brake Ferns and Pork Shreds)

Fried Tender Brake Ferns and Pork Shreds—厥菜肉丝

Special Local Snacks:

Instant-boiled Mutton—涮羊肉

Hebei Cuisine+Hello+Famous Dishes and Snacks of Some Cities in Hebei(Qizi Sesame Seed Cake)

Qizi Sesame Seed Cake—棋子烧饼

Shaped like the pieces on the board of Chinese chess, such cakes are crisp, soft and aromatic.

Fresh Rose Cake—鲜花玫瑰饼

(Baked cake stuffed with rose petals, sugar, and kernels)

Almond Tea—杏仁茶

Procedure: Add water to apricot kernels, grind them into pulp, and boil the pulp.

Nansha Cake—南沙饼

It was created in the early Qing Dynasty and is aromatic and soft. It is easy to preserve. Like Gaidaorou, Nansha Cake was a must food for the Manchu and Mongolian nobilities during their journey to the capital.

Tangshan

Tangshan borders the Bohai Sea in the south. It is an industrial city and an important transportation hub with an advanced transportation infrastructure.

Special Local Dishes:

Grapes in Hot Toffee—拔丝葡萄

Hebei Cuisine+Hello+Famous Dishes and Snacks of Some Cities in Hebei(Stir-fried Conches in Original Juice)

Stir-fried Conches in Original Juice—爆原汁海螺

(Conches cooked with many kinds of seasonings. The dish is delicious and tender.)

Three-taste Flatfish—三吃比目鱼

(Cut flatfish into three parts and cook them with three different methods.)

This dish provides three tastes and has unique characteristics.

Hebei Cuisine+Hello+Famous Dishes and Snacks of Some Cities in Hebei(Sesame Seed and Mutton)

Sesame Seed and Mutton—芝麻羊肉

Procedure: Cut mutton into small pieces, add various seasonings to them, cover the mutton with sesame seeds, and fry the mutton until it is well done.

Special Local Snacks:

Jiaozi dumplings—水饺

Steamed Buns with Various Kinds of Stuffing—不同口味的包子

Almond Porridge—杏仁茶

Hebei Cuisine+Hello+Famous Dishes and Snacks of Some Cities in Hebei(Fried Cake Stuffed with Turnip Shreds)

Fried Cake Stuffed with Turnip Shreds—萝卜丝饼

Anguo

Anguo is named the “capital of medicine.” The medicated food restaurants in the city reflect the quintessence of the homologous nature of medicine and food. Dishes in Anguo perfectly combine herbal medicines with delicacies.

Sweet Rice of the Seeds of Job's Tears—惹米甜饭

Lilies and Sliced Pork—百合肉片

Braised Chinese Caterpillar Funguses and Pork’s Elbows—虫草扒肘子

Fried Fruits of Chinese Wolfberry and Scalloped Pork Kidneys—杞果腰花