【Main Ingredients】1250g of mandarin fish head and tail. 【Accompaniments】100g of winter bamboo shoots, 2.5g each of soaked dried mushrooms, scallion sections, and ginger pieces. 【Seasonings】200g of cooking oil, 50g of soy sauce, 2.5g of MSG, 25g of cooking wine, 10g of salt brine, 30g of sugar, 400g of first-stock broth. …
Scholars' Cake and Number One Scholar's Pastry are traditional delicacies from the ancient city of Kaifeng, cherished for hundreds of years and still widely celebrated. Legend has it that during the Song Dynasty, when the imperial examination system flourished, scholars from all over the country flocked to the capital city of Kaifeng to take the exams. Merchants, catering to the candidates’ aspirations, competed to make “Scholars' Cake” and “Number One Scholar's Pastry.” The ingredients and preparation methods of the two are similar, both crafted with fine craftsmanship, with the only difference being the fillings…
Willow weaving from Qixian County is one of China’s distinctive traditional cultural handicrafts. The weaving techniques of Qixian willow weaving mainly include six types: fine weaving, interlaced weaving, fixed weaving, wooden weaving, flat weaving, and twisted weaving. Products made from Qixian willow weaving range from household items such as trays, baskets, hampers, and crates, to decorative pieces like bookcases, cradles, vases, screens, and picture frames. Qixian willow...
Fried Reed Catkins Chicken is named for its use of young chickens harvested when reed catkins are in full bloom as the main ingredient, which are then deep-fried. Preparation: First, process the chicken by removing the large bones from the legs and wings, cutting the ribs and spine, and chopping off the beak, wing tips, and two-thirds of the claws. Then, place the chicken in a pot to boil. When it is half-cooked, remove it and coat it evenly inside and out with lard, saltwater...
Fried Walnut Kidney is a traditional dish from Kaifeng. It is made primarily with pork kidney, along with scallion segments, eggs, and starch slurry as ingredients, and seasoned with monosodium glutamate, salt water, soy sauce, cooking wine, Sichuan peppercorn salt, and peanut oil. Method: First, clean the kidney, make crisscross cuts with an upright knife, and cut it into pieces about one inch square…
Steamed buns with leavened dough Steamed buns with leavened dough are a traditional food of Kaifeng. Buns were historically called "mantou." As early as the Northern Song Dynasty, there were the renowned "Wanjia Mantou" and "Sun Haoshou Mantou," which were hailed as the best in the capital. Since they were widely consumed in the Imperial College, they were also called "Imperial College Mantou." In the early Ming Dynasty, because Prince Zhou Ding, Zhu Musu, loved them, they were renamed "Yipin Baozi" (First-Rank Buns). Passed down to this day, they are commonly known as steamed buns with leavened dough…
Soup dumplings are a traditional food of Kaifeng, sold as early as in the markets of Dongjing during the Northern Song Dynasty, where they were called "gravy-filled steamed buns" or "soup dumplings." One of the 72 renowned restaurants in Dongjing, "Wanglou," served a variety known as "Cave Plum Blossom Dumplings," acclaimed as the "best in Dongjing." After the Northern Song Dynasty, soup dumplings continued to be made and enjoyed in Kaifeng. In the 1920s...
Braised Shredded Chicken with Tofu Skin is a Kaifeng-style dish known for its smooth tofu skin and fragrant, savory taste. To prepare, first debone the smoked chicken, then cut it into long shreds one millimeter square. Cut the tofu skin into strips one and a half inches long and one millimeter wide. Soak the tofu skin in a basin of boiling water with a bit of alkaline flour mixed in, then change the water to remove the alkaline taste, and keep the tofu skin in hot water until ready to use. Place a pot on the stove…
Mushroom Rice Crust Soup, also known as "A Sudden Thunderclap on Flat Ground." Thanks to its unique preparation method, fragrant mushrooms, crispy rice crust, and deliciously savory broth, this dish is highly popular among consumers. Preparation: First, wash the mushrooms, steam them until cooked, then slice them and place them in a large bowl; next, pour in the seasoned broth. Finally, in front of the customer, add the deep-fried rice crust to the soup...
Mojia Pickles are a specialty of Qixian County, Kaifeng City, Henan Province. Made with natural fermented paste, fresh vegetables, and a variety of aromatic Chinese medicinal herbs, Mojia Pickles boast a unique flavor with excellent color, aroma, and texture. They are known for being salty, sweet, crisp, tender, savory, appetizing, and effective in cutting through greasiness and stimulating the appetite. Qixian is the birthplace of pickles, and Mojia Pickles stand out among Kaifeng’s pickle offerings...
A traditional snack that evolved from the "vegetable pancake" of the Northern Song Dynasty. It became famous in the early Republican era thanks to the versions made by Yutinglou and Yuchunlou in Xiangguo Temple. The filling is made with spinach, starch noodles, daylily buds, wood ear mushrooms, and yellow chives, wrapped in unleavened dough, and cooked on a flat griddle. About the size of a bowl’s opening, it features a generous filling, chewy yet fragrant skin. After the founding of the People’s Republic, Chef Du Guangting’s version gained the most renown. In 1958 and 1965, it was twice recognized as a “Famous Local Snack.” The small vegetable box made by Wang Mantou Lamian Restaurant was awarded the title of “Chinese Famous Snack” by the China Cuisine Association at the Second National Chinese Famous Snacks Recognition Conference.
A halal-style snack resembling a large open-faced dumpling, traditionally sold from baskets along the street and served drizzled with garlic sauce for a unique flavor...
Anyone who has tasted the mashed sweet potatoes from Qixian County can’t help but marvel at the ingenuity of the locals. The key ingredient of this famous dish is the common sweet potato, also known as “white potato,” “yam,” or “batata” in some regions. Its preparation is meticulous: first, the sweet potatoes are boiled, peeled, and the fibrous core is removed. Then they are wrapped in clean white…
Qixian County in Kaifeng, Henan Province, is the hometown of pickles, renowned both domestically and internationally for the Mo Family Pickles. The pickled red radishes are bright red in color, salty with a hint of sweetness, rich in pickle aroma, while the sweet potato mash is fragrant yet not greasy—these flavors have been widely cherished through the years. The Mingde Hall Mo Family Pickles were first created in 1815 during the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty. Mr. Motesheng, building upon the original foundation,…
Qi Gu You Pi Zhou, also known as Zongdian Zhouzi, is primarily made from the front pig trotter. It is carefully cooked in a seasoned broth with spices and traditional Chinese herbs over many years. What sets it apart from other trotters is that the bone and meat of the front pig trotter are cooked together. When freshly served, Zongdian Zhouzi looks golden and translucent, has a springy texture when picked up with chopsticks, and tastes...
The selection of ingredients for pickled baby cucumbers is particularly meticulous. Only those that are picked before sunrise, bathed in morning dew, still bearing fine hairs, with flowers and tiny thorns at the tip, about the thickness of a thumb and five to six inches long, are chosen—preferably from the second harvest. Though the first-harvest cucumbers are tender due to ample sunlight, their vitamin and other nutrient content is lower. Late-harvest cucumbers, on the other hand, come from aging vines with insufficient nutrient absorption, making them prone to wilting, hollowing, deformities, and lacking in plumpness. The selected fresh, emerald-green baby cucumbers are washed, dried, and then added to a specially prepared sweet bean paste. They are stirred regularly until they turn from bright green to deep green and develop an even sauce color all over—indicating that the pickled cucumbers are ready.
Qixian garlic has over a thousand years of cultivation history. Through long-term careful cultivation, it has become a distinctive local specialty, enjoying a high reputation in both domestic and international markets. The product is exported to countries and regions such as the UK, the US, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia. The main characteristics of Qixian garlic include large cloves, white flesh, crisp freshness, …
Sweet Potato Puree from Qixian County When it comes to sweet potatoes, they are truly nothing out of the ordinary. During times of hardship, the people of Qixian once regarded sweet potatoes as a lifeline, as the saying goes: “Sweet potato soup, sweet potato buns—life is unbearable without sweet potatoes.” Yet, the culinary-skilled people of Qixian have long been able to turn this most ordinary of tubers into a myriad of delightful dishes. One such dish is sweet potato puree…
Origin of pickled red carrots: Qixian, Henan Province, China. The era when sweet potatoes and carrots served as staple foods and main dishes has become history. Eating them occasionally is mostly out of curiosity or nutritional needs, rather than for filling one’s stomach. However, the skilled artisans of Qixian refine sweet potatoes into mashed sweet potato and pickle carrots into...
Majuying Bucket Chicken and Roast Chicken. Majuying is a renowned traditional food store in Kaifeng, officially named the Halal Majuying Chicken and Duck Shop. It was first established in the third year of the Tongzhi reign during the Qing Dynasty (1864) when Ma Yongling opened a shop southeast of the Drum Tower. Bucket Chicken is one of its main offerings. The Majuying Bucket Chicken has a perfectly round shape, a goose-yellow hue, and a glossy, oily appearance...