Hebei Cuisine (also known as Ji Cuisine) Family has three branches, Middle and South Hebei Cuisine, Chengde Summer Resort Royal Cuisine and East Beijing Seafood Cuisine. Middle and South Hebei Cuisine is the most typical cuisine of Hebei and is primarily based upon Baoding dishes. It features a wide selection of raw materials and utilises mountainous wild game, fish from Baiyangdian, shrimps and crabs. The dishes taste strong and savoury and are always served with soup. Chengde Summer Resort Royal Cuisine is based on Chengde dishes.
East Beijing Seafood Cuisine is based on Tangshan dishes and is renowned for using fresh seafood as its basic ingredients. It features refined cutting skills with a light and fresh taste which stresses the spraying of starch on to dishes cooked with light oil (such oil is pure and clean and not mixed with starch or any other flavourings) and its dishes are uniquely displayed in fine Tangshan porcelain trays.
Ji Cuisine excels with the use of various seafood, poultries and livestock, emphasising the balance between colour, smell, fragrance, shape, quality and presentation. The selection of raw materials is very strict and the cutting skills are very refined requiring the chefs to cut various patterns and slice the meat into very thin pieces. Ji Cuisine pays special attention to the cooking time, focusing on fresh, salty and delicate flavours. Its dishes taste salty but slightly sweet, tender and crispy. Various cooking techniques are employed, such as stir-frying, quick-frying, sautéing, braising, stewing, baking, steaming and caramelising. The braised and fried dishes use pure and light oil to spray on to the finished dishes whereas, the baked and quick-fried dishes use cooked oil (such oil mixed with starch and fat could make the finished dish more colourful and delicious). The cooking techniques are refined and the appearance of the dishes looks nice and fresh which are rich in colour and savoury. Typical Ji dishes are Sautéed Tender Chicken Breast (Baiyu Jipu, 白玉鸡脯), Sautéed Chicken Breast with Green Peppers and Carrots (Furong Jipian, 芙蓉鸡片), Braised Chinese Cabbage with Chestnuts (Lizi Ba Baicai, 栗子扒白菜), Sautéed Pork Kidneys (Liu Yaohua, 熘腰花), Deep Fried Prawns with Fish Balls(Qunlong Xizhu, 群龙戏珠), Braised Plaice (Guanshao Muyu, 官烧目鱼), Braised Chub with Fermented Bean Curd (Jiangzhi Wakuai Yu, 酱汁瓦块鱼), Chang Style Prawns, (Chang Da Xia, 嫦大虾), Chicken Stewed with Chestnuts (Jingdong Banli Ji, 京东板栗鸡), Sautéed Shredded Pork (Qingchao Rousi, 清炒肉丝), Tofu Stewed with Bean Sprout (Jingou Yuzhu, 金勾玉柱), Deep Fried Pancake Made with Green Bean (Zhaliu Gezha, 炸熘咯扎), Deep Fried Chicken Legs (Luhua Ji, 芦花鸡) and Quick-fried Crabs (Liu Quan Xie, 熘全蟹).
Main Dishes
Smoked Meat, Chaigoubao Style (Chaigoubao Xunrou, 柴沟堡熏肉)
Smoked Meat, Chaigoubao Style (Chaigoubao Xunrou, 柴沟堡熏肉) is the speciality of Chaigoubao Town of Huai’an County, Hebei province with a history of more than 200 years. The dish, smoked with cypress wood, looks bright in colour and tastes savoury but not at all greasy. The major varieties derived from these dishes are Smoked Pork (Xun Zhurou, 熏猪肉; here the term pork refers to streaky pork, pigs head, spare ribs and offal), Smoked Mutton (Xun Yangrou, 熏羊肉), Smoked Chicken (Xun Jirou, 熏鸡肉), Smoked Rabbit (Xun Turou, 熏兔肉) and Smoked Dog Meat (Xun Gourou, 熏狗肉). Among these, the smoked meat with the Xi (玺) brand is the most famous and popular.
Sweet and Sour Deep Fried Carp (Jinmao Shizi Yu, 金毛狮子鱼)
This dish is decorated using special carving techniques giving the effect of a lions mane. It looks yellow and slightly red in colour and tastes sweet and sour, tender and delicious.
Baked Chicken Wrapped with Lotus Leaf (Yutu Heye Ji, 御土荷叶鸡)
The dish derives from Baked Chicken Wrapped with Yellow Mud (Jiaohua Ji, 叫化鸡) and uses similar cooking methods. First, the stomach of a hen is removed and then the hen is washed leaving the feathers intact. Then, it is wrapped with a lotus leaf and coated with yellow mud. Next, the mud-coated hen is baked until cooked. Finally the mud covering is broken apart so that the feathers are ripped away by the mud. The unique yellow mud, hot spring water and lotus leaf come from Chengde Imperial Summer Resort, hence the name, Baked Chicken Wrapped with Lotus Leaf (Yutu Heye Ji, 御土荷叶鸡). The baked chicken tastes savoury and delicious with a light and lingering lotus leaf fragrance. It is very appetizing and delightful.
Sautéed Button Mushrooms with Brocoli (Kou Mo, 口蘑)
The button mushrooms are produced in Bashang, Hebei province. Normally, such mushrooms are transported to Zhangjiakou for processing and then sold across Mainland China. Thus, people call these mushrooms Kou Mo (derived from the city name of “Zhangjiakou”). Button mushrooms are a rare variety of fungus and comprise of white mushrooms, Leucopaxillus giganteus mushrooms, Maliangan mushrooms and Xingxiang mushrooms, among which the white ones have the best taste, colour and fragrance. Due to their unique taste, button mushrooms can be used for stewing, braising and making soup. They are delicate and have always been among the rare and most popular dishes.
Bridge Shaped Steamed Assorted Fruits (Xueqiao Baxian, 雪桥八仙)
The cooking method of this dish is as follows. First, the egg white of six eggs is beaten and made into the shape of a bridge. Second, cucumber or marrow sticks are placed at both ends acting as bridge pillars. Third, the bridge-shaped dish is steamed so as to set the shape. Fourth, pear, orange and radish are peeled and steamed and placed on to a big tray. The steamed egg bridge is laid on the tray and then cherries, green plums, longan, raisins and sultanas and white fungus are decorated around the bridge. Last of all, the stewed soup is poured on to the bridge. This dish symbolises the pleasant surrounding scenery of the local countryside and has excellent taste with the fragrance of multiple fruits.
Stewed Button Mushrooms and Bamboo Shoots (Shao Nan Bei, 烧南北)
This is a traditional dish in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province. It uses sliced Button mushrooms from Saibei area (referring to north China, north of the Great Wall) and the shredded bamboo shoots from Southeast China. The main ingredients are fried in oil then stewed in chicken stock with other flavours. Starch is added to thicken the soup then it is sprayed with oil to complete the dish. It looks silvery red, tasting delicious and fresh and strongly aromatic.
Deep-fried Meat Balls (Nanjian Wanzi, 南煎丸子)
Deep-fried Meat Balls (Nanjian Wanzi, 南煎丸子) are made up of local water chestnuts along with bamboo shoots, mince meat and sea cucumber from South China. Originating from the ancient governmental banquet it is a unique dish which looks bright red and tastes soft, fresh, salty and delicious. The meat balls are not round but form the shape of a flat Chinese chess piece.
Baked Cakes Made with Plain Flour (Huoshao, 火烧)
Baked Cakes Made with Plain Flour (Huoshao, 火烧) normally uses unfermented flour. The chef first places the cakes on a grilled pan and then bakes them over an open fire so that the surface of the cakes becomes crusty and tender inside. While the cake is still very hot, the chef cuts it open and places inside steamed donkey meat. This is the most recognized way of eating this cake. It is also common for people to add Menzi (焖子, Meat Soup Thickened with Starch) inside the cake. Dingzhou Menzi from south of Baoding is the most delicious and popular of all. Some chef’s might add donkey intestines to improve the taste. Donkey meat is a typical low fat, high protein food. Each 100 grams of donkey meat contains 18.6 grams protein which is much higher than that of pork, beef or lamb. Every 100 grams of donkey meat has 0.7 grams of fat and is rich in iron, calcium and phosphor. An old saying goes that dragon meat is the most delicious in heaven whereas donkey meat is on earth, giving rise to the popularity of donkey meat. The selection of donkey meat is very strict. The meat from the face is the most tender and flavoursome and the texture perfectly matches the soft, crisp and freshly cooked dough of baked cakes.
Snacks
Drinks
Almond Syrup(杏仁露)
Chengde, Hebei province, grows some of the finest almonds in China. The Chengde Almond, mixed with mineral water to produce almond syrup drink, had been used to serve generations of Chinese ancient kings and other prestigious parliament members in the past. The Chengde almond syrup also has the reputation of preserving youthfulness and strengthening the body.
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