Liaoning Cuisine

Liaoning province has a unique natural environment and rich resource of animals and plants due to its favourable geographical conditions. With the influence of different ethnic folk customs and the introduction of regional diets, Liaoning cuisine has developed its own dietary culture with its own prominent features. From the perspective of cooking, all these elements give birth to a unique and glorious family which has become an indispensable part of Chinese culture. Liaoning province has an abundance of dishes and varies in flavour. Some famous dishes, like Stewed Chinese Grouse with Monkey Head Fungus (Houtou Feilong, 猴头飞龙), are cooked with mountain produce and wild game. Some prestigious dishes, like Steamed Fish Maws with Deep Fried Prawn Cakes (Hongmei Yudu, 红梅鱼肚), use sea food as the raw materials. Some traditional folk dishes are widely popular, such as Braised Moose Noses (Qilin Songzi, 麒麟送子) and Deep Fried Mandarin Fish (Gongting Xianyu, 宫廷献鱼). Besides these, there are increasingly more creative dishes, such as Honeydew Cherry Blossom (Mizhi Yinghua, 蜜汁樱花) and Steamed Prawn Balls (Taohua Xiangshan, 桃花香扇).

Liaoning Cuisine features a number of cooking techniques, such as braising, simmering, stewing, deep-frying and sautéing, among which braising is the most well-known whereas quick-frying, stir-frying and boiling are the most frequently used. Cooking duration and flavouring are major considerations and the dishes are renowned for their crisp and aromatic taste. Liaoning dishes have many features and multiple flavours. There is evident difference between flavours, colours, texture and taste. The food is rich and nutritious and elegantly presented.

Historic stories might bring you a better understanding about the flavours of Liaoning dishes and the psychological enjoyment it may bring making this is a major trait of Liaoning Cuisine.

Main Dishes

Sautéed Fresh Abalone with Chicken Legs (Fengtui Xianbao, 凤腿鲜鲍)

This dish is cooked with special abalone from Liaoning province and chicken legs. The abalones are quick-fried until they turn white and then placed in the centre of a tray. The bright red chicken legs are laid beside the abalones to form an elegant shape creating a contrasting effect between red and white. The abalones are tender and soft and the chicken legs crispy and slightly sweet. The dish is rich in nutrition and may well benefit the liver, improve eyesight and reduce inflammation.

Steamed Fish Maws with Deep Fried Prawn Cakes (Hongmei Yudu, 红梅鱼肚)

Minced prawns and fish maws are used to cook this dish. Minced prawns are made into reddish flat cakes placed in the centre of a tray and steamed fish maws are decorated around the outside. The dish is rich in colour, red and white, salty and sweet, fresh and tender representing excellent cooking skills.

Stewed Chicken with Ginseng (Youlong Xifeng, 游龙戏凤)

This dish uses refined raw materials and is elegantly presented with a prominent local style. Refined Liaoning sea cucumber, fresh spring chicken, ginseng from Northeast China and cooking wine are used giving the soup a thick, white appearance that is fresh, rich in nutrition and appetizing to taste. The ginseng is soft and delicious and the cooked chicken is crispy and is believed to strengthen the body and mind and nourish vital energy.

Manhan Quanxi (the Royal state feast of Qing Dynasty; Manhan Quanxi, 满汉全席)

The Manhan Quanxi feast uses a wide range of refined raw materials and comprises a number of delicacies of every kind. Eight Mountain-based Delicacies (Shan Ba Zhen, 山八珍), Eight Land-based Delicacies (Lu Ba Zhen, 陆八珍), and Eight Sea-based Delicacies (Hai Ba Zhen, 海八珍) are covered in this grand feast. Eight Mountain-based Delicacies (Shan Ba Zhen, 山八珍) uses bear’s paw, monkey head fungus, moose, Chinese grouse, tiger’s kidney, elk, ginseng, fern and other raw materials. Eight Land-based Delicacies (Lu Ba Zhen, 陆八珍) utilizes frog, camel’s hump, button mushroom, pleuvotus cirinopilea-tus, Fengzhua mushroom, corn powder, Shafeng chicken, grouse and so on. Eight Sea-based Delicacies (Hai Ba Zhen, 海八珍) selects shark fin, sea cucumber, fresh scallop, abalone, cuttlefish roe, turtle maw, shark skin and others as its raw materials. The cooking techniques applied are truly refined and possess a prominent local style. Man ethnic group’s special cuisine features, baking, hot pot and quick-boiling whereas Han ethnic group’s cooking styles, like braising, frying, sautéing, simmering and stewing are both highlighted in the feast creating a diverse selection of unique flavours.

Roasted Prawns (Hongkao Quanxia, 红烤全虾)

Prawns, as the main raw materials, are sautéed in vegetable oil with onion and ginger, then mixed with Shaoxing wine, white sugar and fine salt and baked in a pan over a moderate heat. Once the prawns have absorbed all the juice, place them in a petal shaped pattern on a big round tray. This dish resembles a blossoming peony, bright, red and pleasing in colour. The prawns are crispy and tender and have a savoury flavour which is tasty and delicious.

Steamed Abalone (Qingzheng Denglong Baoyu, 清蒸灯笼鲍鱼)

A fresh abalone is cut into the pattern of a lantern and then steamed with its original shell, onion, ginger, salt, monosodium glutamate and other flavourings for seven minutes. The method of cooking this seafood helps retain the original shape and colour of the abalone. When you pick the abalone up using chop sticks, it resembles a lantern and if you put it down on a tray, it looks like a big chrysanthemum. Assorted sauce is poured onto it before it is brought to the table making an extremely delicious and flavoursome dish that is an excellent drinking accompaniment.

Steamed Scallops with Vermicelli (Wucai Xuehua Shanbei, 五彩雪花扇贝)

This dish uses fresh scallops and egg white as its raw materials including peas, scallion, cooking wine, soy sauce and monosodium glutamate as the side ingredients. The silver white snow flakes made from egg white are dotted with pearl-shaped shells. Assorted vegetables, minced carrot and sliced peppers are placed in a pattern as a decoration. The dish looks colourful and tastes fresh and tender, light, savoury and flavoursome.

Pickled Chinese Cabbage (Suan Cai, 酸菜)

To make pickled Chinese cabbage, fresh Chinese cabbage harvested in autumn are laid inside a big jar and left to ferment and pickle until it tastes sour. Then they’re cooked in many ways either by stewing or frying, in a salad or soup or used as fillings for dumplings. Stewed Pork with Pickled Chinese Cabbage (Zhurou Dun Suancai, 猪肉炖酸菜) is a popular dish of North China’s Man ethnic group. During the Chinese Spring Festival, people like to eat Stewed Streaky Pork with Pickled Chinese Cabbage and Blood Curd (Bairou Xuechang Suancai, 白肉血肠酸菜).