Lanzhou (the capital city of Gansu) dishes are representative of Gansu cuisine which features the roasting, steaming, and braising of beef and mutton. Lanzhou people enjoy many tastes including salty, fresh, tart, and spicy. Gansu cuisine can be sampled at various hotels in Lanzhou. Typical dishes include Jincheng Baita, Jincheng Babao Melon Carving, Baihe Tao, Lanzhou Beef Noodles and Niang pi zi.

Recommended foods:

Lanzhou Beef Noodles

Lanzhou Beef Noodles (Stretched Noodles) is the most famous local dish in Lanzhou. It was first created during the reign of Emperor Guangxu (1875 - 1908), Qing Dynasty (1616 - 1911) and it is now popular all over China. This dish has five main features: clear soup, white radish, red pepper, green caraway and yellow noodles.

The noodles can be wide or slim to meet different preferences. Boys like er xi (wider and thicker) while girls like slim ones, the middle-aged and the old like jiuyezi (leek leaf but thinner) and maoxi (the slimmest) and scholars prefer slim and jiuyezi. Farmers, soldiers and workers prefer wide or even wider. If a girl or an old man asks for wider noodles or a boy asks for maoxi noodles, it would be rather strange. The noodles have gone beyond food to become a culture.

The chef twists and stretches the dough skillfully and in less than two minutes the noodles are finished. This quick and inexpensive food is undoubtedly the first choice among the locals. There are one or two beef noodles eateries on every street in Lanzhou.

Baihe Tao

Baihe (Lily) Tao (Peach) is so named because the dish is shaped like peaches. The washed fresh lily-a specialty of Lanzhou-is steamed for about 15 minutes. The lily is then stuffed with sweetened bean paste so that it looks like a peach. The "peach" is braised in a bamboo steamer for about twenty minutes and then served with a white sugar sauce.

Jingcheng Babao Melon Carving
 


Jincheng Babao (eight treasures) Melon Carving is a traditional food of Lanzhou. The carved melon peel is used as a bowl to hold white fungus, pineapple, cherry, longan, waxberry, and other delicacies. The carving is exquisite and the food is fresh and sweet. This dish will satisfy not only your palate but also your eye.

Jinyu Facai

Jinyu (golden fish) Facai (a kind of fungus that grows in the desert near the Yellow River) is a classic dish in Gansu Province. There is no golden fish in the dish; the name comes from the shape. The Fa Cai is soaked in water until it is soft and then kneaded until it is round. Minced chicken flavored with salt, egg white, sesame oil, and cooking wine is used to stuff the Fa Cai so it looks like a golden fish. The "fish" is steamed until it is cooked and then served in a dish surrounded with bree, giving the look of a "golden fish swimming in water". This popular Lanzhou dish goes well with wine.

Niang pi zi

Niang pi zi cannot be missed among the local delicacies. Flour paste is steamed for 3 to 4 minutes, then cut into strips and served with mustard, garlic, sesame butter, chili oil, vinegar, and soy sauce. This is a favorite among the locals and many of the tourists.

Fried Sheep Tail is actually made up of egg, bean paste, and starch. It is crispy with a golden top.

As many Hui people live in Lanzhou, barbequed mutton, boiled mutton, and lamb with wide vermicelli are local delicacies among the various ethnic groups.

Recommended restaurants:

Ma Zilu Beef Noodle Restaurant
Add: Dazhongxiang, Zhangye Road, Lanzhou

Sanqianli Restaurant
Add: No.20, Xijin Western Road, Lanzhou

Zhonghua Shouzhua Dawang Restaurant
Add: No.158, Jianyangou, Lanzhou

Shunfeng Feiniu Restaurant
Add: No.123, Beibinghe Road, Lanzhou　　

Jincheng Chaomianpian Restaurant
Add: Dazhongxiang, Zhangye Road, Lanzhou
 
For Lanzhou specialty-dishes, we recommend that tourists try them in the Chinese restaurants of the classic hotels because of their professional cooking style. In the Nongminxiang (Peasant's Lane), there are many restaurants and many of them are very good. The other place is the Dazhongxiang, which is located on the Zhangye Pedestrian Street. In Dazhongxiang, you can find many famous local snacks of Lanzhou.

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