Lamb offal stew is a local snack from Right Yu County. Legend has it that the people of Shanxi began eating this Shanxi specialty during the Yuan Dynasty, and the name "Za Ge" (offal stew) was bestowed by Kublai Khan’s mother. When Kublai Khan, the founding emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, marched from Shanxi into the Central Plains, his mother, Empress Dowager Zhuangsheng, fell ill while passing through Quwo County. The renowned local physician Xu Guozhen cured her, earning her favor...
Made with flour, white sugar, and flaxseed oil, along with ingredients such as rose petals, candied fruits, walnut kernels, peanut kernels, raisins, and sesame seeds, a traditional recipe meets modern production techniques in the making of these mooncakes. Today marks the opening of the First Right Yu County Mooncake Culture Festival. Zhang…, member of the Standing Committee and Minister of Propaganda Department of Right Yu County…
Right Yu Sea Buckthorn is a specialty of Youyu County, Shuozhou, Shanxi Province. Known as the "Oasis on the Frontier," the national-level ecological demonstration county of Youyu is abundant in sea buckthorn. Also called vinegar willow or sour thorn, sea buckthorn is a plant that serves both medicinal and dietary purposes. It has pharmacological effects such as promoting blood circulation, removing blood stasis, nourishing the stomach, strengthening the spleen, benefiting the lungs, and resisting inflammation while promoting tissue regeneration. It is recorded in the Tang Dynasty's "Moon King Pharmacopoeia," the "Four Medical Tantras" from the late 8th century...
Right Yu County has historically been a production area for millet and grains. In 2000, it was designated as a millet and grain base construction county by Shanxi Province. The millet and grains produced here are renowned both within and outside the province for their high quality, minimal pesticide use, and pollution-free cultivation, earning them the reputation of "green food." The main types of millet and grains produced in the county include: oats, peas, soybeans, black beans,…
Pan-Fried Pork is an essential dish in any Youyu restaurant and on every Youyu dining table. It is highly popular due to its premium ingredients, precise knife skills, fresh accompaniments, quick preparation, crispy texture, rich flavor, and high nutritional value. The cooking method involves selecting pork tenderloin or pork sirloin as the main ingredient, slicing it thinly to the thickness of a coin…
Shanyin oats are a specialty of Shanyin County, Shuozhou City, Shanxi Province. Shanyin oats are a distinctive local crop in Shanyin, where they are known as "youmai." Shanyin oats are a unique agricultural product of the region. Oats, also called bird's wheat or wild wheat, belong to the subfamily Pooideae and the genus Avena. Oats are generally divided into two main types: hulled and naked. The oats cultivated around the world are mostly...
The flour is white, smooth, and silky, with various cooked dishes showcasing rich local flavors. The color, aroma, and shape are uniquely distinctive, staying fresh for days without spoiling—an absolute marvel (Shuozhou)…
With an oil content as high as 48%, this oil is rich in linoleic acid, has strong drying properties, and is widely suitable for light industrial uses. It boasts a fragrant taste for culinary use, remains unspoiled over time, does not feel greasy when eaten raw, produces minimal smoke when fried, dyes quickly, and is an ideal oil product for the food industry (Shuozhou)…
Available in a variety of flavors including sugar-coated, honey-glazed, stuffed, filled, crisp-rubbed, and syrup-infused, these tasty and nutritious treats are beloved across the region and have been one of the popular export specialties since the Qing Dynasty (Shuozhou)…
Fried cake is a beloved traditional food among the people of Shan Yin County. It is considered a premium dish during festivals, holidays, and when entertaining guests. The fried cakes here have soft dough and fragrant oil, resulting in a crispy crust and tender, fluffy interior that is deliciously smooth. They are even more flavorful when filled with delicate red bean paste, mashed potato filling, or leeks. …
Shanyin Lotus Root – The scientific name of lotus root is Nelumbo nucifera, also known as lotus or hibiscus. Its fruit is called lotus seed, the root is known as lotus rhizome (or lotus root), and the flower is referred to as lotus blossom. Lotus root boasts high nutritional value—typically containing 10–20% starch and 1–2% protein. Lotus seeds contain even higher levels, with starch at 40–50% and protein at 19–22%, along with...
Milk Powder
Frozen Rabbit Meat from the Frontier is delicious, tender, and highly nutritious, with a digestion rate as high as 80–90%, making it very popular among consumers. Rabbit meat is very rich in protein — twice as much as pork or mutton, one-third more than chicken, and even one-sixth higher than beef, which is already known for its high protein content. Its fat content is also very low, being only...
The deliciousness of pig's head meat has long been celebrated among the people. It is said that "Braised Whole Pig's Head," a dish from the Huaiyang cuisine, is the most meticulous in cooking technique and the most historically significant, making it a long-renowned signature dish of Huaiyang cuisine. Pork provides high-quality protein and essential fatty acids for humans. It also supplies heme (organic iron) and cysteine, which promotes iron absorption...
Flaxseed (Hu Ma), the main oil crop in Baode County. It has a short growth period, requires low soil fertility and water conditions, is drought-resistant and cold-resistant, labor-saving, and easy to manage. A farming proverb says: “Sow flaxseed at the Start of Summer, and it will branch into nine stems and eight forks.” Flaxseed is sown at the Start of Summer and harvested at the Limit of Heat, with a growth cycle of only about 90 days. Growing flaxseed is low-cost but high-yield. From sowing to harvesting, it only requires weeding in summer—sometimes even none—and no other management, making it labor-saving, seed-saving, fertilizer-saving, and land-saving (often planted on infertile land by locals), yet highly profitable. As locals say: “Fill up the oil jar, and you won’t have to worry about money.”
Glass Dumplings: Peeled cooked yam is inserted into yam starch flour, kneaded into a smooth dough, then shaped into dumpling wrappers. These are filled with either meat or vegetable stuffing, pinched into dumplings, steamed, and served with vinegar or spicy oil-fried chili peppers. The dumpling wrappers are milky white and semi-transparent, allowing the filling to be faintly seen from the outside—hence the name "glass dumplings." They have a chewy, fragrant, fluffy texture...
A Shanxi specialty—Baode Lamb Offal Stew. The selection of sheep is meticulous, with only top-grade goats chosen. The preparation of ingredients is also an art; it’s said that the stewing is done at night, with the chef secretly adding over a dozen kinds of Chinese herbs and various seasonings—the exact ingredients are a closely guarded secret. The cooking heat must be controlled with great precision: too long and it becomes greasy, too short and it lacks flavor. It needs to be just right—not too hot, not too mild. Once cooked, the ingredients are sorted and arranged carefully. The chef’s knife skills must also be top-notch, with the meat sliced extremely thin and evenly. Finally, it’s seasoned with chili, cilantro, MSG, vinegar, and other condiments before being served.
The main variety of Baode red dates is the Youzao (oily date), one of the famous date varieties in Shanxi Province, with a long cultivation history. In 1963, the Taigu Fruit Tree Research Institute of the Shanxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences traced the cultivation history of Baode dates to approximately 1,100 years based on the family genealogy of Feng Yuhe. The date-producing areas in Baode County are concentrated in villages along the Yellow River, such as Fengjiachuan, Shenshan, and Yang…
The Bohai Crabapple series is produced in Baode, located along the banks of the Yellow River in Shanxi Province. It has a unique flavor. Research has shown that Bohai Crabapple contains a variety of vitamins as well as ACP aspartic acid and THB threonine. It also offers benefits such as strengthening the spleen and aiding digestion, relieving fatigue, enriching blood, and softening blood vessels. Bohai Crabapple... Located in northwestern Shanxi, Baode County...
Yellow River Carp: After the Yellow River passes through Hekou Town in Togtoh County, Inner Mongolia, it turns sharply and flows through Pianguan, Hequ, and Bao De in the Xinzhou region. This section of the river varies in width — offering both naturally serene environments and areas where the winding currents from upstream deposit nutrient-rich sediments. The Yellow River carp, especially those from Tianqiao Gorge in Bao De County and Tang…