Kaifeng
was the birthplace of Henan Cuisine, based on the
royal cuisine of the Northern Song Dynasty. Henan
dishes combine a number of different Chinese cuisine
including Sichuan, Beijing and Canton styles of
food. Dishes here are characterized by their salty
taste and colorful appearance. Unlike Shanghainese
cuisine, little oil is used in the preparation of
Henan dishes and flour is often the major ingredient;
noodles and bread are especially popular.
The most characteristic Kaifeng dishes include
Sweet and Sour Carp with Baked Noodles, the Four
Treasures Wrap and Steamed Rib with Bamboo Shoot.
For snack food, the best area is around the train
station and for Fast Food, check out the area
south of Gulou Jie. There is a good variety of
snack and street food here, although the best
dumplings or jiaozi are found in the Diyilou Dumpling
Restaurant . The Night Market on Shudianjie is
also popular not only for shopping but also for
good snack food.
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| Sweet and Sour Carp with Baked Noodles |
Baked Noodle with Sweet and Sour Carp is the
Kaifeng's brand dish. The dish is actually made
up of two individual dishes, the baked noodle
which is fried before being dried by baking, and
the Sweet and Sour Carp which uses carp from the
Yellow River, delicately cooked with sour and
sweet sauce. When covering the baked noodle on
the hot carp, the rich juice is completely absorbed
by the dry noodle. This dish has been popular
among the local people for over 200 years.
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| Four Treasures Wrap |
Four treasures wrap uses deboned duck, chicken ,
pigeon and quail, one of each. As the name suggests,
the smallest fowl is wrapped by a bigger one until
it is finally wrapped by the duck. After the delicate
process of preparation, the whole thing is deeply
stewed. When served, the dish looks just like a ordinary
duck stew, but when guests finish the outmost duck,
the chicken is there, after the chicken is the pigeon
until there is the quail stuffed with sliced mushroom
and ham. This dish was used by Kaifeng cooking masters
as a tribute to Empress Cixi at the end of the Qing
Dynasty in the late 19th century.
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| Steamed Rib with Bamboo Shoot |
Steamed Ribs with Bamboo Shoot uses fresh pork rib
as its basic material. The meat is boiled to almost
80 percent cooked and then steamed over a strong fire
and mixed with sliced bamboo shoots. The scent of
bamboo and the richness of the meat are sufficiently
infused. After the materials are cooked, the meat
is mixed with pure meat soup to complete the dish.
Unlike the normal ways of cooking pork in China, this
dish is light and refreshing, the meat tastes soft
and fragrant.
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