A Taste of Shaanxi

Shaanxi cuisine undoubtedly ranks first among all Chinese cuisines for its long history and authentic traditions. Shaanxi is the cradle of Chinese civilization and one of the birthplaces of Chinese culinary culture. Its thousands years of history has greatly enriched its food culture, and as China’s political, economic and cultural center over a long period of time, Shaanxi has enjoyed the privilege of drawing widely upon the strengths of other culinary schools.

Shaanxi cuisine has gathered the essence from all available sources. Nurtured by the tradition of the past dynasties, Shaanxi cuisine also benefits from the abundant produces of the Yellow River and Yangtze River valleys, and is influenced by the simple and honest folk customs. All these factors make Shaanxi cuisine gradually stand out from China’s four culinary schools with such characteristic identities as being all-inclusive, popular and refined.

As is known that food in East China tends to be spicy while food in West China tends to be sour and food in South China tends to be sweet whereas food in North China tends to be salty. Shaanxi is geographically made up of northern Loess Plateau, Central Shaanxi Plain and Southern mountainous Basins. Dishes in those respective areas all excel in their own ways to include all the above mentioned flavors.

In general, Shaanxi cuisine embodies various traits of Chinese cooking. Be it traditional dishes with ancient allusions behind it or innovative one borrowing from and blending with other schools, it always makes one feel that it embodies thousands years of Chinese culinary culture; embrace a dazzling variety of cooking techniques and materials for their own development.

Browsing through the history of Shaanxi culinary culture is like reading a soul-touching long historical roll that contains the heritage of past dynasties. Each seemingly ordinary delicacy reveals the unique way of livelihood in Shaanxi. From ostentatious state banquets to special diets and snacks for the populace, you might as well indulge yourself in the vast array of delicacies that will surely bring a feast to both your eyes and taste buds.