Xi’an is one of the oldest and most important cities in the world. The former capital of China, for several dynasties, home to the first emperor, Qin She Huang . The city is the starting point of the Silk Road and home to the UNESCO World Heritage set Terracotta Army of Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
It is the world’s first megacity to reach 1 million inhabitants; and is home to some lip smacking foods as well! Today, I’ll be showing you the top 5 food items you should order if you ever step into a Xi’an restaurant, which you should definitely try! On the menu today: hot and sour dumplings, the most luxurious and pure flavored lamb soup, the best food combo in existence, the liangpi roujiamo marriage, and of course no Xi’an list would be complete without noodles, Xian has without some of the best noodles, not just in China, not just in the world, but the best in history of noodles and noodle related things! Let’s jump straight in!


5) 酸汤水饺-Hot and sour soup dumplings

At number 5 we have the Hot and sour soup dumplings, you know the list is going to be good when dumplings come at number 5, the pork dumplings are delicious and juicy, with the hot and sour soup as well, extra depth of flavour, there’s so many flavours going on in your mouth, savoury, sour, hot, spicy. A great meal in its own right.

4) 羊肉泡馍- Lamb soup with bread

Paomo is a specialty of Shaanxi cuisine and is a typical food eaten in the city of Xi'an. It is a hot lamb soup with Chinese flat bread broken into it. Legend has it that the founding emperor of the Song dynasty, returned to his hometown after seeing his fiancée off. He had consumed most of his food and money on the journey. He had only two pieces of inedible big hard bread. His party went through a shop selling lamb soup and broke the bread in pieces and added it to the soup.

The soup is delicious, very rich, with bits of glass noodles and thin slices of lamb, corr look at that, the flat bread adds a depth of flavour, eaten with the pickled garlic, really balances the flavour scale! Pickled garlic is one of my favourite things, it’s sweet, crunchy, and the raw powerful taste of garlic disappears! This is a very hearty dish, perfect for winter!

Next up, the world famous Yang You Pao Mo, Dare I say this dish represents Xi’an cuisine, I think you will have a hard time finding a soup as pure as this one!

3) 凉皮- Cold Noodles

Coming in at no.3, the Xi’an cold noodles! The liang pi- literally translates to cold skin, don’t worry it’s got no animal products in there, its completely vegan! The thick cold noodles are made out of rice flour, served with soy, vinegar, chili mixture, gluten, cucumbers and a dreamy sesame sauce!

This dish hits every possible flavour category (sweet, tangy, savoury, herbal, nutty and dozens of others). It is absolutely delicious! It really hits the spot, be sure to give this a go!


2) 肉夹馍- Chinese Hamburger

Number 2 we have the awesome rou jia mo, the Chinese hamburger, the mo, or the flat bread, is filled with fatty braised pork belly. It’s stewed for hours in a soup containing over 20 spices and seasonings. It’s so soft, the bread is quite stale but it balances out in your mouth. This to me is very similar to the doner kebab, this could very well be the oldest hamburger/ sandwich dish in history, dating back to the Qin dynasty 206 BC!

Break- drink time

Bing Feng, Ice peak, if you ever go to xi’an or visit a xi’an restaurant you have to try the bing feng, the ice peak! Taste a lot like the Fanta to be honest, but you still get it in a glass bottle form.

1) Biang biang noodles

Number 1, the biang biang mian, this Chinese character is an absolute nightmare, look at that, I wouldn’t want to write that in a million years! The specialty of this noodle dish is hand pulled and it’s as long as a belt!

It can be topped with meat toppings, doused in hot oil over the chili powder and minced garlic, you taste the vinegar, and the chili and garlic because its hit with the hot oil, its completely covers the noodles! An absolute treat, one of the best noodles in China, most definitely!


Alright guys there you have it, the 5 must get dishes in Xi’an cuisine, it is noodle heaven, it is quite heavy, in terms of weight and flavour. All the flavours are bold, and definitely ranks highly in the Chinese culinary world. Let me know down in the comment down below, which dish would you like to try. Until next time, good bye!

0:00 Intro about Xi'an
1:21 Suantang Shuijiao (Dumplings in Hot and Sour Broth)
2:20 Yangrou Paomao
3:38 Liangpi
4:05 Roujiamo
6:09 Biang Biang Noodles

свернуть