Ningxia Cuisine

Formation and Characteristics of Ningxia Cuisine

Ningxia, situated in the middle Yellow River valley, is the smallest autonomous region in China, and its southeastern part spans the Loess Plateau. Due to its proximity to the Yellow River, the people here have developed the Yellow River culture a long time ago. And because the irrigation agriculture here has a long history, a saying was widely spread, “Ningxia is the richest in the Yellow River valley.”

The Huis have lived in compact communities in Ningxia for a long time. With the Yellow River as the main water source, agriculture in Ningxia is highly developed which has laid a material foundation for the development of its culinary culture. The Hui and other ethnic groups in Ningxia have adopted the culinary features of cuisines in other areas and created a large number of Muslims’ dishes and snacks. The Hui people are very skilled at cooking dishes using local agricultural products such as beef, mutton, and the innards of various animals.

Ningxia Cuisine mainly features special dishes prepared by the Hui people. Ningxia cuisine places a great emphasis on halal food and simplicity. The Hui people are especially good at cooking beef and mutton. The Ningxia cuisine is characterized by strict selection of ingredients, great emphasis on sanitation, strictly abidance by the religious disciplines of the Koran, adoption of various cooking techniques used by other ethnic groups, careful preparations of dishes, and a wide variety of dishes. The snacks at Ningxia are also very delicious.

Famous Dishes and Snacks of Some Cities in Ningxia

(1). Yinchuan

Yinchuan was designated as the capital of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in 1958. In ancient China, Yinchuan was a very important city beyond the Great Wall, and once served as the capital of the Xixia Kingdom. As an important city where many ethnic minority groups converge, one can enjoy foods of many different styles. Because the Hui people are in the majority among the ethnic groups, Muslims’ food plays an important role in the Yinchuan people’s daily life.

Special Local Dishes:

Sweet and Sour Yellow River Carp—糖醋黄河鲤

With a carp from the Yellow River as the main material, plus some ingredients and seasonings, this meticulously cooked fish is beautiful in color and shape. The river carp is crisp outside, tender inside, and very delicious.

Hair-like Seaweeds with Stuffing—酿发菜

The ingredients of the dish include hair-like seaweeds, minced pork, minced chicken chest meat, egg white, ginger, spicy powder and other condiments. Meticulously prepared, this dish has five colors and is delicious and nutritious with a faint scent.

Steamed Lamb Meat in Clear Soup—清蒸羊羔肉

The ingredients of the dish include lamb(with bines), flour, spring onion, ginger, Coriander and various kinds of seasonings.

Procedure: Cut lamb meat into stripes; add Chinese prickly ashes, onions, ginger, garlic, and seasonings to it and steam it. The dish will be served together with the juice prepared with vinegar, garlic, and salt.

The lamb of the dish is tender and soft with a strong fragrance of spring onions.

Braised Tendons of Mutton—烧羊蹄筋

The ingredients of the dish include the tendons of the sheep’s rear legs, daylilies, edible funguses, slices of bamboo shoots and various kinds of seasonings.

It is soft, chewy, smooth and refreshing.

Steamed Pigeon-shaped Fish in Clear Soup—清蒸鸽子鱼

The ingredients of the dish include Pigeon fish (Coreius septentrionalis), Water mushrooms, hawkweed slices, cooked ham, coriander, and various kinds of seasonings.

Procedure: Clean the fish; put the fish in boiling water for a little while; cut the mushrooms, cooked ham into slices; place the slices onto the fish; pour a liquid containing necessary seasonings onto the fish; steam the fish for fifteen minutes.

Beef Fried with Licorice Extract Spray—甘草霜烧牛肉

The ingredients of the dish include beef, linseed oil, spring onion, Licorice Extract Spray, seasoning bag (containing licorice pieces, Pepper, ginger slices, Chenpi, Star anise, Fennel), white sugar, and beef soup.

Procedure: chop the beef into small lumps; soak the lumps with water for one hour; boil the water in a pot then clean the beef with warm water; pour linseed oil into a wok; put spring onion pieces and the beef lumps into the wok; stir-fry the beef; add licorice extract, salt, soy sauce, white sugar and place the seasoning bag into the wok; pour beef soup into the wok; stew the beef until the beef is soft and juicy; take out the seasoning bag; have the sauce thickened with strong heat; place the beef onto plates.

When the dish is ready, the beef will become bright red and the juice sweet.

Cooked Chopped Entrails of Sheep—烩羊杂碎

The ingredients of the dish include chopped entrails of sheep (include sheep’s head, stomach, intestines, feet, heart, liver, lungs), coriander, spring onion, ginger, garlic scapes, salt, chili oil, and mutton soup.

Procedure: burn the hairs on the sheep’s head and foot; remove the food residue in the sheep’s stomach and intestines; clean the head, feet, stomach, and intestines thoroughly; stew them together with the sheep’s heart and liver; chop them into pieces and remove the bones when it is done; pour dilute flour paste into the sheep’s lungs; slice the lungs when they are stewed; simmer all the cooked ingredients in a mutton soup for a moment; add garlic scapes, coriander, and chili oil.

The mutton tender, the soup spicy and refreshing, this aromatic dish often makes an impression on those who have tasted it.

Fruits of Chinese Wolfberries and Gorgon Fruits—杞子鸡米

Thin Pancake Made of Millet Flour Stuffed with Dried Shelled Shrimps—煎饼裹虾皮

Special Local Snacks:

Naked Oats Noodles—燕面揉揉

Ingredients of the snack include naked oats, cooked Chinese chives, cooked spinach, garlic scapes, and various kinds of seasonings.

Procedure: soak the naked oats with water; stir-fry the oats; grind the oats; pour hot water into the flour and work the flour into a dough; put the dough into a pasta maker; squeeze the dough into thin noodles; steam the noodles.

Before eating, one can add cooked Chinese chives, cooked spinach and garlic scapes to the noodles.

The noodles are bright white, tough and chewy.

Mutton Eaten with Hands—手把羊肉

(Similar to Mutton Eaten with Fingers in the Xinjiang Cuisine)

Jiangshui Noodles—浆水面

Cake Sandwiched with Mutton—羊肉夹馍

Fried Glutinous Rice Cake—炸糕

Grid-like Deep-fried Dough Twists—馓子

Kunmo—锟馍

Similar to leavened pancakes, kunmo falls into three sizes: large, medium-sized and small. It is one of the wheaten foods loved by the Ningxia people. It is said that as early as in the Xixia Kingdom, the Hui people began to make kunmo, and often presented them to their friends and relatives as gifts.

Buckwheat Lump in Bowl—荞面碗坨

Procedure: Put buckwheat dough into a bowl; steam it; slice the steamed buckwheat lump and add various seasonings to it.

Dough Lumps and Jiaozi Dumplings Stuffed with Minced Mutton—粉汤羊肉水饺

The ingredients of the dish include cooked dumplings stuffed with mutton, dough lumps, onions, and various kinds of seasonings.

Procedure: Plunge the cooked jiaozi dumplings into boiling water together with dough lumps; add salt, onions, vinegar, and peppers to the pot before the jiaozi dumplings, and dough lumps are taken out. Sour, spicy and delicious, it is an ideal snack for cold winters because it can help people dispel cold and feel warm.

Nianzhuan’er—碾馔儿

Made of tender highland barleys, the strip-shaped snack is delicious with a faint smell.

Buckwheat Noodles with Mutton—羊肉荞剁面

Prepared with buckwheat noodles and mutton, it is the most popular snack of Yinchuan. Every local girl must learn to cook this food; because the first thing for a bride to do at her husband’s home is to make Buckwheat Noodles with Mutton.

Interesting Story of a Famous Dish of Ningxia

Steamed Pigeon-shaped Fish in Clear Soup—清蒸鸽子鱼

Steamed Pigeon-shaped Fish in Clear Soup is a famous dish of Ningxia. The pigeon-shaped fish only lives in the Nanchangtan section of the Yellow River in Jingzhuang Township, Zhongwei County, Ningxia. Though it resembles the carp, it has a narrower body and a sharper mouth. One may mistake it for a pigeon at first sight, hence the name. The output of the pigeon-shaped fish is quite low, though it tastes very delicious. Therefore, this dish is a rare delicacy. In ancient China, the local officials sent the fish to the imperial palace as tributes every year. The soup prepared with the pigeon-shaped fish is very palatable and can help dispel the effects of alcohol. Accordingly, in ancient times, a special organization was set up here to purchase the fish and sent it to the capital. Thus the local people also called it “Palace Banquet Fish.”