Zhangjiajie is rich in tourism resources: lakes, waterfalls, mountain views, stone scenes, karst caves, rafting, humanities and history, celebrities, large-scale evening parties are all available, and the food is more distinctive. After you have played in the mountains and in the water, you should experience the charm of Zhangjiajie cuisine.
Zhangjiajie Mixed Pot
Zhangjiajie Mixed Pot (San Xia Guo) is the most notable dish of Zhangjiajie. “San” in Chinese means “three”, and “Xia Guo” means “cook together”, is the signature dish of Zhangjiajie.
The so-called three-time pot is actually a very convenient dry pot, also called co-eating dish. It is made of three main ingredients, including bacon, fatty intestines, pork belly, tripe, lamb tripe, trotters, sausages, and pig heads. Meat, etc., diners can choose the three of their choice; supplemented with side dishes such as dried pepper, beauty pepper, tomatoes, potatoes, tofu, bamboo shoots, dried radish, dried cowpea, sweet potato flour, tofu skin; as well as onion, ginger, garlic, pepper, cinnamon Wait for the seasoning, the local chef will fry it in a dry pot after marinating in a secret recipe. After serving, continue to cook on a low fire. The spicy flavor slowly drifts out, making people salivate. Three times the pot is bright red and translucent, oily but not greasy, spicy but not strong, fragrant, numb and spicy.
Recommended restaurants: Master Hu Sanxia Guo(胡师傅三下锅), Fu Zhengyi Sanxia Guo(富正毅三下锅) and Sanxia Guo in the old place(老地方三下锅).
Beef Leather drums
- Chinese：打鼓皮
- Pinyin: Dǎ gǔ pí
- Price (CNY): from 99
Beef Leather drums
Drumming skin is the meat attached to beef ribs. It tastes soft and crispy, but an adult cow can only pick up to 30 or 40 kilograms. The meat in the crevices of the beef bones tastes a little bit crumbly, but it will become more brittle as it is stewed, and the ingredients are relatively simple, so it has become the main ingredient in hot pot. Small red peppers, small green peppers, garlic seeds, pepper and pepper leaves are the ingredients for hot pot.
Recommended restaurants: Beizhan Dagupi Restaurant(北站打鼓皮餐馆), Lao Li Beef Dagupi Restaurant(老李牛肉打鼓皮餐馆).
Stewed duck feet with skin beef
- Chinese：牛肉炖鸭掌
- Pinyin: Niú ròu dùn yā zhǎng
- Price (CNY): from 68
Stewed duck feet with skin beef
Slice beef with ribs from the hooves, add the boneless duck feet and put it in the pot, add the secret sauce and cold water to boil it over high heat, wait until the water is boiled and ready to collect the juice. Wash the pot and put a little oil, add ginger, garlic, dried chili, pepper, etc. to fry to get a fragrance, then add the boiled beef and duck feet to the pot and fry until the food tastes good, and finally season with salt, etc., add a small amount of boiling water and wait for the soup When the juice is in color, it can be out of the pot.
Tuan New Year dishes
An indispensable dish during the New Year of the Tujia people, there are Robus, tofu, cabbage, fire onions, pork, etc. mixed and boiled together. Each has its own flavor and allows you to enjoy a different taste.
Health sour fish
- Chinese：酸酢鱼
- Pinyin: suān cù yú
- Price (CNY): from 68
Health sour fish
This dish is very delicious, and is usually used by the host to entertain guests. The sour vinegar fish is marinated for a long time in a vegetable jar after the broken belly is washed, and it is deep-fried after it has a sour taste. It has a sour scent on the outside and tender inside, which is irresistible.
Blood tofu
- Chinese：血豆腐
- Pinyin: xiě dòu fǔ
- Price (CNY): from 28
Blood tofu
Blood tofu is made by mixing tofu with fresh pork blood, diced pork, Chinese pepper, chili and other condiments into a puree shape, kneading it into a round shape, placing it on a fire kang with a bamboo sieve, smoking it and roasting it until it is yellow, and sautéing it with garlic. It tastes chewy and fragrant, and it is a special dish of Tujia people.
Stewed Chicken and Duck with Umbilicaria Esculenta
- Chinese：岩耳炖鸡鸭
- Pinyin: mǎ dié ěr bīng gùn
- Price (CNY): about 138
Stewed Chicken and Duck with Umbilicaria Esculenta
Umbilicaria Esculenta, or called Shier by the locals, is a kind of edible lichen hidden deep in the mountains of Zhangjiajie. To get this precious gift from nature, the locals have to collect them by climbing steep cliffs. If you are lucky enough, you could meet one of those brave heroes when you hiking in Wulingyuan Scenic Area. He is hanging on the cliff and moving, with only a long rope tied with to his waist.
Stewed Chicken and Duck with Shier is one of the best dishes to warm you up during the winter season and also some cold nights. Besides, it is also one of the several dishes without spicy flavor. If you gave tried some classic spicy Zhangjiajie food and looking for some light food, this is the best recommended.
Pueraria Lobata Starch
- Chinese： 葛根粉
- Pinyin: gé gēn fěn
- Price (CNY): about 5
Pueraria Lobata Starch
If you type the word “Piermaria” on google, you could get a list of articles telling you the benefits of it. Also, you will get some recommended shopping links of Amazon. Piermaria Lobate is also known by the names Kudzu, Kuzu, Gwat Gun, and Ge Gan. It is a coarse, high-climbing, twining, trailing, perennial vine, containing more than 10 kinds of amino acids and 10 kinds of trace elements needed by human body.
Among the mountainous areas of Zhangjiajie, there grows many Pueraria Lobata. The locals collect them and grind them into powder. And using the powder, they created a snack – Ge Gen Fen. Ge Gen Fen tastes fresh and cool. It is a superstar during the hot summer days, because it is the best way to kill the heat.
Glutinous Rice Cake (Ciba Cake)
- Chinese：糍粑
- Pinyin: cí bā
- Price (CNY): from 20
Glutinous Rice Cake
Glutinous Rice Cake is one kind of snack made up of steamed glutinous rice. It needs many steps to make such a snack. Firstly, it requires about 2-3 hours to allow the glutinous rice to soak in thoroughly in water before putting it into a wooden pot to be steamed. After cooking, grind the glutinous rice with a pestle and mortar. After several rounds of hard pounding, divide or cut the rice dough into dozens of egg-sized rice balls or square cakes. This is not the end. Once get the balls or square cakes, the locals may fry or roast them and drizzle with brown sugar and other seasonings.
Glutinous Rice Cake is crispy on the outside with a gooey texture inside. The first bite of the slightly spongy and pleasantly fragrant rice cake has such a delightful mouthfeel. Besides, it can cheer you up after the tiring hiking experience on those mountains in Zhangjiajie.
Sweet wine glutinous rice balls
- Chinese：甜酒汤圆
- Pinyin: Tián jiǔ tāngyuán
- Price (CNY): from 10
Sweet wine glutinous rice balls
The farm’s homemade sweet rice wine is heated, and the cooked glutinous rice glutinous rice balls are added. A few minutes later, a bowl of sweet wine glutinous rice balls is ready. Take a sip in your mouth. The sweetness and softness of glutinous rice plus the sweetness of sweet wine are swallowed warmly. Belly, have a bowl with your significant other (girlfriend), warm the whole body, sweet to the heart!
Where to Eat in Zhangjiajie
You can find restaurants in Zhangjiajie downtown, Wulingyuan District Central Area and also near the scenic areas like Wulingyuan, Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge, Tianmen Mountain, etc. Besides, you can find a more reliable brand to replace.
