1.Qinghai fermented bean curd
Qinghai Niangpi is a traditional snack with a strong local flavor in Qinghai, mainly popular in Xining and towns in agricultural areas. Niangpi is mainly made of starch-rich ingredients such as mung bean flour, sorghum flour and wheat flour. After a series of complex production processes, including washing gluten and steaming the Niangpi, it finally presents a soft, smooth, sour and spicy taste. Common types include dipping Niangpi, Lanzhou Niangpi and Gaodan Niangpi, each with its own unique characteristics. In Qinghai, Niangpi is not only a must-have snack for home, but also a delicacy loved by men, women, young and old, especially in summer, it is the best cold food.
2.Gamian
Ga noodles are the most common and unique home-cooked meal among the noodles of Qinghai people. This kind of noodles is not made with a rolling pin, but directly pulled out by hand. When making it, first cut the soft noodles into thick strips, let them rest for 30 minutes, flatten them with fingers and pull them apart, and then put them into boiling water to cook. Ga noodles can be eaten in various ways. They can be poured with mutton broth to become “tomato mutton noodles”, or mixed with beef, mutton slices, tofu, vermicelli, and vegetables to become “stewed noodles”, or stir-fried with beef, mutton, vermicelli, and vegetables to become “fried noodles”. Each one has its own unique taste and flavor.
3.Qinghai sweet fermented rice
Qinghai sweet mash is a specialty snack of the Qinghai Plateau. It is made from cold-resistant and early-maturing barley on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. This snack is sold in Lanzhou, Dingxi, Longnan, Tianshui in Gansu, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and the ancient plateau city of Xining and agricultural areas in Qinghai. Sweet mash is mellow, cool, and sweet, and emits a burst of wine aroma when eaten. Eating it in summer can refresh the mind and remove fatigue; eating it in winter can strengthen the body, warm the stomach, and increase appetite.
4.Qinghai Yogurt
Qinghai yogurt stands out among local delicacies for its unique taste and flavor. The characteristic of this yogurt is its thick texture, which makes people smell a faint milky fragrance before tasting it. The most attractive part is the layer of sweet mash on the surface of the yogurt, which adds a sweet taste to the yogurt. After adding white sugar, it tastes sour and sweet, and tastes cool and delicious. Qinghai old yogurt has a long history and has a thousand-year traditional production history. It is fermented in a porcelain bowl to form a solid yogurt with milk skin floating on the top. It has a soft and refreshing taste and moderate sweetness and sourness. It is a good choice for summer heat relief.
5.Qinghai Hand-Pulled Lamb
Qinghai hand-pulled mutton is a famous specialty snack in Qinghai. It originated from the Mongolian, Tibetan, Hui, Kazakh, Uyghur and other ethnic groups in northwest China and has a history of nearly a thousand years. This dish is made with lamb loin meat and coriander as the main ingredients. It is characterized by delicious meat, not greasy or smelly, and attractive color. Especially the hand-pulled mutton in Xining, the meat is red and white, fat but not greasy, and paired with the unique hand-pulled hot sauce and pepper salt, the taste is refreshing and the meat is tender. This dish is not only delicious, but also represents the rough, bold, enthusiastic, pious and hospitable character of the people of Qinghai, and is deeply loved by tourists from all over the world.
6.Lamb Intestine Noodles
Lamb intestine noodles are a traditional snack in Xining, Qinghai. Lamb intestines are the main ingredient and are eaten with hot soup noodles. When making it, the lamb intestines are filled with bean flour paste, and seasonings such as onions, ginger, and pepper are added. Lamb intestines are divided into meat sausages and noodle sausages. The meat sausages are filled with lamb and lamb offal, while the noodle sausages are made of bean flour. After cooking, the lamb intestines are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and the fragrance is overflowing. When eating, drink the lamb intestine soup first, then eat the cut lamb intestines and noodles. The taste is fine and crispy, the filling is soft, and the noodles are long and refreshing.
7.Dog peeing
Dog urine is a special noodle dish in the northwest of Qinghai Province, with white flour and highland barley flour as the main ingredients. The name of this dish comes from the action of pouring oil along the edge of the pan when making pancakes, which looks like a dog peeing, hence the name. Although the name sounds unrefined, dog urine tastes sweet, soft and golden in color, and is a very popular local delicacy in Qinghai. In Xining, Qinghai, dog urine is a household delicacy, often eaten with milk tea, which brings people a sense of happiness.
8.Offal Soup
Offal soup is a special breakfast snack in Qinghai. It is made from cooked beef and mutton offal, including heart, lung, intestines, stomach, etc., commonly known as “offal”. This soup is divided into two types: “beef offal” and “mutton offal”. When making it, first cut the offal into small pieces or thin slices and cook them in a pot, then add seasonings and simmer until the intestines and stomach are rotten, then remove them and continue to cook the head and trotters. Add seasonings such as shredded shallots and coriander to the soup to make it fragrant, non-greasy, and nourishing. This dish is not only delicious, but also has the effects of nourishing the body, resisting hunger, and resisting cold, so it is regarded as the best breakfast by the people of Qinghai.
9.Hot pot steamed bun
Kunguo steamed bun is a popular pasta in Qinghai. Its characteristics are soft inside and crispy outside and crispy and delicious taste. This delicacy is mainly made of leavened dough, cooking oil, fragrant beans and other seasonings, put into a special round Kunguo, and slowly baked over a grass fire. Kunguo steamed bun is not only widely popular in Qinghai, but also often used as a traditional gift for festivals and visiting relatives and friends. Red yeast rice, turmeric and other pigments are also added during the production process to make the steamed bun attractive in color and distinct in layers. This pasta is similar to steamed buns in the south, but it is called “momo” in Qinghai and is highly respected for its diverse varieties and rich cultural connotations.
10.Qinghai hot pot
Qinghai Earthen Hotpot is a specialty food of Qinghai Province, and is loved by diners for its spicy and mellow taste and natural ingredients. This dish is simple to make, and the main ingredients are beef, mutton, pork, hairtail, potatoes, tofu, etc. The bottom of the pot is made of mutton broth and sauerkraut, and the soup is clear and mellow. Unlike common hot pots, Qinghai Earthen Hotpot uses copper hot pots and charcoal as fuel, which makes the heat even and the taste more natural. In addition, the ingredients are neatly placed in the pot, accompanied by red and green pepper shreds and green onion shreds, which is not only pleasing to the eye, but also adds a layer of taste.