Residents of Hohhot traditionally eat wheat-based foods, including steamed buns, dumplings, noodles, shaved noodles, hand-pulled noodles, fish-roe noodles, mixed soup (gedazi), noodle slices (piantang), flatbreads, steamed cakes, and braised noodles. Oat noodle dishes include "qialuo," "yuyu," and "wowo," with "yuyu" being hand-rolled into strips and "wowo" being rolled into a cylinder. Meat dishes primarily consist of pork, mutton, and beef, with camel, horse, and donkey meat also consumed. Vegetables include yams, Chinese cabbage, round cabbage, and various summer vegetables. Alcoholic beverages include baijiu, huangjiu, colored wine, and beer. Hohhot residents enjoy brick tea, prized for its strong flavor, digestive properties, and warming effect on the stomach.
Specialty Foods: Hohhot's diverse culinary culture is a result of the convergence of Western Expedition culture, grassland culture, and Yellow River culture. Traditional delicacies in Hohhot include shaomai (steamed dumplings), mutton offal soup, Hohhot baked buns, fried millet cakes, Tuoxian stewed fish, Helin stewed mutton, roasted fangzi (roasted bread), stir-fried mutton with scallions, braised beef, and huishao noodles.
Hohhot Baked Buns
Hohhot baked buns are a popular local specialty in Hohhot. Traditionally baked in a special earthen oven, they are fragrant, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, with a rich wheat aroma that fills the streets. There are various types of baked buns: white, savory, sweet, fried, and red bean paste. The sweet triangular buns come in both brown and white sugar varieties. They also come in round, square, rectangular, triangular, and oval shapes.
Stir-fried Lamb with Scallions
Stir-fried lamb with scallions is a traditional Hohhot dish. The key to its preparation lies in the control of heat and the combination of seasonings. The lamb must be quickly stir-fried over high heat until cooked through; this is the correct method for making stir-fried lamb with scallions. For stir-fried mutton with scallions, you generally choose slices of hind leg meat, which should be of moderate thickness. Select the white part of the scallions and cut them into chunks. Peel off the scallion skins to loosen them so that they can be cooked through quickly in the pan without wilting. The result is a dish with a strong scallion flavor and a fragrant mutton. The unique flavors of each ingredient are perfectly blended during the stir-frying process.