Flavorful Origins

A slow-cooked beef broth is the soul of the hand-pulled Lanzhou beef noodle, a go-to dish for discerning eaters searching for a taste of home.

Grown in the Longdong plateaus, buckwheat can be made into jelly noodles, pancake batter and Tianshui guagua, a savory breakfast dish.

In Wuwei County, watermelon farmers enjoy flaxseed rolls as a dry staple food. Flaxseed oil also infuses pastries like Yongdeng mooncake with aroma.

From Linxia to the Hexi Corridor, sheep offal can be found sizzling on hot plates, stuffed into casings and wrapped in caul fat.

Baked, steamed or stir-fried, the root of the lily plant is sweet and aromatic. Its flower also serves as a salad ingredient or a noodle topping.

In Jiayuguan city, mutton tallow envelops lamb skewers with layers of flavor. In the Ganjia pastures, herders cook lamb with tripe using hot stones.

Salted and partially dried, the sow thistle can be pickled and stir-fried with pork to lend a sour, crunchy flavour, or added to white radish stew.

Found in local moon cake fillings, Xuanwei cured ham can be thinly sliced, steamed, cooked with egg, stewed or served as cold cuts.

Derived from the fruits of the Chinese lacquer tree, qiyou is an oil used to cook eggs, congee, pork stew, roast chicken and even bee larvae.

Sa is a culinary tradition that pairs cold meat or raw vegetables with a versatile sauce that is often mixed with pig blood curd.

A local wild berry features in nanpie, which refers t different types of flavorful pastes made from mashed vegetables or fish.

Yunnan is known for a variety of dairy products, including Dali rushan: thinly sliced cheese that can be fried, grilled or dipped in honey.

Indispensable to Chaoshan cooking, fish sauce is traditionally made by salt-curing and fermenting hilsa herring, but new methods have cropped up.

Salted, boiled and air-dried in bamboo baskets, the mackerel scad is among many seafoods that make for a chewy, flavorful and simple main dish.

Enjoyed with vegetables and dipping sauce, yu sheng (freshly sliced raw fish) is a delicacy with a long history in Chaoshan.

Inheriting the techniques of previous generations, makers of Chaoshan beef meatballs dedicate hours of hard work to achieve perfect texture and flavor.

Expert butchers in Chaoshan sharpen their knives to slice premium beef into perfect, marbled cutlets that are juicy, tender, and ready for hot pot.

Garlic, fat, liquor and fermented bean curd. The traditional tofu cake is a baked pastry boasting a rich taste profile and centuries of history.

In the Hakka tradition, tea leaves are cooked with fresh herbs, then ground with sesame seeds or peanuts in a mortar to make lei cha, a fragrant drink.

A regional product, the Chaozhou orange can be deep-fried or dried and preserved to make sweet treats, while its peel can be used for zesty seasoning.

Steamed, marinated, stir-fried, grilled or dried. A classic in Chaoshan cuisine, the oyster is traditionally cultivated in the town of Jingzhou.

To bring out umami and impart the flavor of the sea, the versatile ingredient seaweed can be stir-fried, deep-fried, roasted and sprinkled on soup.

An age-old Chaoshan tradition, the preserved white radish can put an innovative spin on various dishes, from spare ribs to stir-fried squid.

Long ago, migrants from the north brought soybeans to Chaoshan, now home to a unique bean paste featured in many dishes, from spinach to steamed fish.

Cinnamon, anise and galangal are among the spices that go into Chaoshan brine, a key ingredient in braised offal, goose head and hot pot.

Garlic. Cilantro. Chili pepper. The marinated raw-crab dish varies in style from Puning to Shantou, but it's always fresh and tender.

A quintessentially Chaoshan staple and a taste of home for many, kway teow (rice-noodle strips) can be stir-fried or wrapped around tasty fillings.

In Chaoshan, olives are preserved in distinct ways and appear in a variety of dishes, including fresh juices and meat soups.