Flavor Expedition: 32 Iconic Chinese Dishes to Try on Your Next Trip

Flavor Expedition: 32 Iconic Chinese Dishes to Try on Your Next Trip - Dumplings Galore: Savory Bites with Endless Variety

Dumplings are ubiquitous in Chinese cuisine, with endless regional variations that offer a world of flavors in just one little parcel. From pan-fried and steamed to boiled and deep-fried, Chinese dumplings come in all styles and fillings. Trying different types of dumplings is one of the best ways to dive into China's diverse regional cuisines.

In northern China, you'll find jiaozi, the delicate folds stuffed with pork, cabbage, scallions and ginger that are perfect dunked in vinegar and chili oil. Beijing is famed for its juicy pork and chive dumplings, while Tianjin offers up seafood-filled offerings. Further west in Xi'an, biang biang noodles and lamb dumplings reign supreme.

As you travel south, the wrappers get thinner and flavors get spicier. Szechuan province is known for wontons doused in fiery chili oil as well as Chongqing's xiaolongbao, the soup-filled Shanghainese dumplings you have to sip ever so carefully. In Yangzhou, fried crab and pork dumplings are a local specialty.

Venturing southwest, Yunnan's cross-border influences from Myanmar and Laos shine through in dishes like sour and spicy bamboo shoot dumplings. Down south in Guangdong, you'll find delicately wrapped har gow shrimp dumplings and juicy siu mai pork and mushroom bundles.

While frozen dumplings have spread around the world, nothing beats that first bite of a tender, freshly-wrapped dumpling straight from the steamer. Taking a dumpling making class is one of the most hands-on ways to learn about Chinese cuisine. From preparing the filling to mastering the perfect pleat, classes take you through all the steps to make dumplings at home.

Daoxiangcun in Beijing offers classes in traditional jiaozi folding styles passed down for generations. The Hutong restaurant lets you craft delicate vegetable or lamb and coriander dumplings in a restored Qing Dynasty courtyard home. In Shanghai, the Lost Heaven cooking school teaches you how to fold xiaolongbao with perfectly thin wrappers that won't leak.

If you can't get to China, many Chinatowns around the world offer dumpling-making classes too. Fold savory potstickers in San Francisco or try rolling har gow shrimp dumplings in New York. You can even opt for virtual classes from the comfort of home.

Flavor Expedition: 32 Iconic Chinese Dishes to Try on Your Next Trip - Noodles: Slurping Up Chinese Comfort Food

Noodles are the ultimate Chinese comfort food, from street vendor stalls to home kitchens across China. More than just a quick carb fix, noodles represent the diversity of Chinese cuisine across different regions and cultures. While rice reigns supreme down south, wheat-based noodles are a staple dish across northern and western China.

Beyond the ubiquitous takeout menu staple of chow mein, Chinese noodles come in endless shapes, sizes and textures. Slippery smooth Shanghai rice noodles, hearty hand-pulled Lanzhou beef noodles, knife-cut noodles with mouth-numbing Sichuan chili oil, chewy udon-style noodles swimming in broth, crispy pan-fried potstickers — the variety is endless.

My most memorable Chinese noodle experiences capture the soul of the country through a bowl. In Xi'an, I joined the crowds digging into steaming bowls of biang biang noodles, watching the chef rhythmically slap and stretch the dough into meter-long ribbons. The name evokes the sound the giant noodles make as they hit the counter. In Chengdu, I perfected my chopstick skills slurping up dan dan noodles, the salty-spicy-numbing combo Sichuan does best.

In lesser-visited Yunnan province, crossing the border flavors of Myanmar and Laos came through in every warm, comforting bowl of mixian rice noodles — perfect fuel for exploring mist-shrouded, pagoda-topped mountains. One cold and rainy afternoon in Yangshuo, I ducked into a tiny family-run restaurant where the owner hand-pulled noodles to order, texture and taste far superior to any machine-made noodles.

Beyond geography, noodles also traverse centuries of history across China. Lamian, hand-pulled noodles stretching back over 4,000 years to the Han Dynasty, can still be found in little lanes of Beijing. Zhajiangmian, Beijing's signature noodle dish combining meat sauces and vegetables, offers a savory taste of imperial court cuisine dating back to the Qing Dynasty.

Taking a cooking class is one of the most interactive ways to dive into China's noodles. In Chengdu, learn the nuances of preparing authentic dan dan noodles with the perfect ratio of chili oil to keep the authentic numbing mala tingle. Up north, master the technique of pulling and slapping lamian, feeling the dough stretch and fold just like the street vendors do. Virtual cooking classes now make Chinese noodle tutorials accessible from anywhere around the world.

Flavor Expedition: 32 Iconic Chinese Dishes to Try on Your Next Trip - Street Food Snacks: Quick Bites on the Go

From bustling city streets to remote rural villages, street food vendors are the backbone of casual dining across China. These hardworking cooks serve up quick, cheap bites from sizzling woks and steaming carts that offer a tasty window into regional specialties. Street food stalls bring local flavors to life in an edible form that you can sample on the go.

Walk down any busy street in urban China and your senses will be overwhelmed with the sights, sounds and smells of enticing street snacks. Bubbling pots of spicy Sichuan hot pot, skewers of meat sizzling over coal grills, the harmonic chop-slap rhythm of handpulled noodle makers, clouds of steam pouring out of dumpling stalls, the aroma of scallion pancakes ready to be stuffed – street food represents the heart and soul of Chinese cuisine.

Beyond big cities, mobile vendors and tiny stalls scattered across rural roads and farming villages serve up hyper-local specialties you would never find in restaurants. Often, the best way to discover Chinese cuisine is to simply let your nose lead the way and sample whatever that little cart or hole-in-the-wall shop is serving up.

In coastal cities like Qingdao, wandering among seaside stalls yields tender skewers of grilled scallops seasoned with cumin and sesame oil. Throughout the Silk Road trading posts of Xinjiang province, kebabs sizzle with the spices of Central Asia and Middle Eastern influences. In rice basket towns across southern China, look for sticky rice tamales wrapped in leaves and delicately sweet egg custard tarts.

For many migrant workers far from their hometowns, favorite childhood street snacks from back home are a comforting treat. That's how xianguo from Shaanxi province, a noodle soup loaded with vegetables and meat, has made its way from urban construction sites to food stalls across China. The portability, accessibility and affordability of street food makes it the perfect way to get a taste of provincial cuisines from across China.

One key tip for safely enjoying street food in China is to look for vendors with a line and high turnover. Crowds mean the food is fresh and turnover indicates the stall is clean. Don't be afraid to point at what you want and interact with numbers or hand gestures. For sit-down street food stalls, take a peek at how clean utensils and seating areas are before you commit. Adventurous eaters can sometimes get traveler's tummy, but street food is absolutely worth the occasional upset stomach for an authentic local experience.

Flavor Expedition: 32 Iconic Chinese Dishes to Try on Your Next Trip - Regional Specialties: China's Diverse Cuisine Across Provinces

China's vast landscape encompasses a diversity of terrains and climates that shape the local cuisine of each province. Venturing beyond major metropolises reveals an intricate patchwork of hyper-regional Chinese dishes you would never find in big city restaurants. Exploring China provincially unveils hidden flavors far from the ubiquitous takeout staples of General Tso's chicken and chow mein.

Yunnan province offers a prime example of China's geographic and cultural diversity. Bordering Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar, Yunnan cuisine assimilates Southeast Asian influences with its own local Dai minority flavors. Delicately cured Yunnan ham carries a subtle sweetness from local pine needles and ferns. Crossing-the-bridge noodles, a brothy chicken soup with rice noodles, chicken, fish, mushrooms and vegetables, encapsulates Yunnan's mix of cuisines. The dish was created by a wife who prepared food midstream on a wooden bridge to keep her husband's noodles hot on his daily commute home.

Venturing north to frigid Harbin, hearty stews and dumplings provide fuel against the cold. Harbin-style guo bao rou pot stickers, pan-fried pork and cabbage crescents, are a local specialty. Lamb and mushroom hotpot bubbles away all winter long, with paper-thin slices of lamb cooked tableside in piping broth. Summer ushers in Russian influences, like kvas, a refreshing fermented rye bread drink.

Down south in tropical Hainan province, coconut milk infuses seafood curries with Thai influences. Wenchang chicken, free-range poussin simply roasted with garlic, imparts deep flavors. Odorous mangosteen, lychee, rambutan and exotic tropical fruits flourish in Hainan's rich volcanic soil.

Venturing inland reveals each province's unique geographic blessings shaping local cuisines. Sichuan's fertile river valleys produce fiery peppers that define trademark dishes like mapo tofu and dandan noodles. Xinjiang's desert oases give rise to lamb kebabs, grilled meat and breadnative to Central Asian trade routes. For produce, each microregion boasts its own iconic crops, like Hunan's renowned long grain rice, mushrooms from Yunnan's misty forests or aromatic Jinxiang garlic from Shandong.

Flavor Expedition: 32 Iconic Chinese Dishes to Try on Your Next Trip - Spicy Sichuan: Turn Up the Heat with Mala

Sichuan cuisine is synonymous with one word: mala. The tantalizing tingle and merciless burn of Sichuan peppercorns and chili peppers define the province's signature seasoning blend. Beyond blow-your-socks-off spiciness, mala encapsulates broader principles of Sichuan cooking: aroma, numbness, and flavor depth.

While many Chinese provinces employ chili peppers, Sichuan chilies impart a unique lingering numbing sensation called ma. Tiny Sichuan peppercorns create a citrusy aroma and tongue-tingling effect known as la. Combine mala in just the right proportions and you get addictively delicious flavors.

The key to Sichuan cuisine is balancing nutty, floral peppercorn numbing and the searing heat of chilies. Too much of one overpowers the other. When done right, mala seduces you with its complexity and leaves you craving more.

Getting my first true taste of mala was a revelation. At a dingy back-alley restaurant in Chengdu, the fiery mapo tofu burned my mouth in the best possible way. I scooped up cubes of soft tofu drenched in a cumin-scented chili oil sauce until the ma la haze made my scalp tingle. The lingering numbness subdued the raging chili heat just enough to keep going back for more.

Beyond mapo tofu, mala underlies Sichuan staples from dandan noodles to spicy wontons and crispy shrimp with chili peppercorns. Even familiar dishes get the mala makeover, like Gong Bao chicken amped up with a double dose of Sichuan pepper and chili flakes. Kung Pao past its prime, this chicken dazzled my tastebuds with its depth and complexity.

While certain Sichuan dishes have spread worldwide, experiencing mala's true essence requires a pilgrimage to its source. In spice shops across Sichuan, I discovered dizzying arrays of chili powders and Sichuan pepper blends to bring home the flavors. Local markets overflow with an endless variety of peppers from mild and fruity to searingly hot, their levels indicated by number of stars.

My most vivid mala moments capture its soul. At a Chengdu street stall specializing in noodles, the chef let me sample his scintillating chili oil, prepared fresh each morning. I nearly went into a heat-induced coma after one tiny dab. In a countryside village, a home cook demonstrated grinding toasted Sichuan peppercorns with dried tangerine peel and cloves, a secret family recipe perfected over generations.

Flavor Expedition: 32 Iconic Chinese Dishes to Try on Your Next Trip - Dim Sum Delights: Yum Cha All Day Long

Dim sum defines the Cantonese dining tradition of yum cha – drinking tea while snacking on small plates of dumplings, buns, and other bite-sized eats. While dim sum has become a weekend ritual for families across China, Hong Kong remains its true spiritual home. From hole-in-the-wall teahouses to opulent banquet halls, Hong Kong offers a world of dim sum delights worth traveling for.

For uninitiated gweilo like me, dim sum can be overwhelming. Textbook-sized menus feature photos of dishes you’ve likely never heard of. Servers wheel around carts piled high with steaming baskets while yelling out names in Cantonese. How do you know what to order? Just point at whatever looks good – there are no wrong choices. Go in with an adventurous spirit and let the flavors surprise you.

My most memorable dim sum experiences capture the noisy chaos of the culture. At Lin Heung Tea House, one of Hong Kong's oldest and most traditional joints, I shared a table with locals amid the clamor of clacking chopsticks and waiters bellowing orders. As veterans scanned the tea carts wheeling by, I mimicked their moves and ended up with custard tarts, shrimp dumplings and savory turnip cakes.

At Luk Yu Tea House, I indulged in luscious barbecue pork buns and fragrant lotus leaf rice with salty XO sauce while watching the dumpling makers demonstrate their craft. Dim sum masters make it look effortless, but perfectly pleating har gow shrimp dumplings takes years to master.

While Instagram stars flock to modern spots like Duddell's and Mott 32, nothing beats old-school charm. At Joy Hing Roasted Meat in Wanchai, opened in 1968, I joined the line snaking down the street for sweet and savory soy sauce chicken, roasted pig and fluffy pineapple buns. At Lin Heung Kui, I watched the chef chop char siu roast pork to order, its melt-in-your-mouth fat glistening.

Beyond Hong Kong, top dim sum spots around the world keep the tradition alive. Classic Cantonese fare like siu mai dumplings and crispy spring rolls are ubiquitous, but regional chefs put their own spin on traditions. At Lunasia in Los Angeles, I indulged in "nouveau dim sum" like lobster har gow and foie gras cheung fun rice noodle rolls. Din Tai Fung's soup dumplings satisfy cravings across Asia and America. From Tokyo to Bangkok, local influences like yuzu and coconut make the dim sum experience unique.

Flavor Expedition: 32 Iconic Chinese Dishes to Try on Your Next Trip - Exotic Ingredients: Expanding Your Palate

Venturing beyond familiar ingredients opens up a world of exciting new flavors and textures in Chinese cuisine. While China's diverse regional cuisines share staple ingredients like soy sauce, ginger and scallions, each province puts its unique geographic blessings on the table. Native crops, foraged delicacies from mountainous forests and exotic seafood from bordering seas create a cuisine filled with mystery for unfamiliar palates. For adventurous eaters, discovering Chinese cuisine's funky, bitter and downright weird ingredients provides an edible education in local terroir.

My first forays into exotic ingredients were intimidating yet exhilarating. Browsing the snack stalls at a Beijing night market, curious flavors like spicy rabbit heads and stinky tofu tempted my taste buds. I nibbled tentatively on sausages scented with heady, medicinal Dong’an chicken – a breed of fowl fed only herbs to impart intense flavor. Fermented thousand-year eggs, their yolks turned a foreboding black, revealed a creamy texture when steamed in rice porridge. Food writer Fuchsia Dunlop recalls sampling Yunnan snail noodle soup, the rén mǐ (snail roe) adding an extraordinary bouncy, pizza cheese-like texture.

While some ingredients appear bizarre to outsiders, understanding their origins dispels the “weird” factor. Pungent stinky tofu derives its odor from fermenting in brine, but frying or steaming transforms its funk into a pleasant, cheese-like taste. The subtle smokiness of lapsang souchong tea comes from drying black tea leaves over pine fires. Fragrant Angostura bark from Sichuan peppercorns mysteriously numbs the tongue. Adventurous eaters soon realize each exotic ingredient tells a unique story of local traditions.

Traveling China province by province unveils vastly different native delicacies. Chefs transform obscure mountain mushrooms, treasured for their meaty texture and smoky essence, into luxurious vegetarian dishes. Dai tribes in Yunnan forage for wild plants like bamboo shoots and fiddlehead ferns to add complexity. Guizhou Province's famously stinky Chou Doufu cheese congeals fermented beans into a potent, salty paste. Oolong tea from Wuyi Mountains carries lingering notes of rock and orchid from the misty terrain.

Flavor Expedition: 32 Iconic Chinese Dishes to Try on Your Next Trip - Cooking Courses: Learn Authentic Chinese Cooking Techniques

Taking a Chinese cooking class immerses you in centuries of culinary tradition and technique. Hands-on courses unlock the secrets behind the incredible flavor complexity of Chinese cuisine. Learning from master chefs illuminates how subtle tweaks make all the difference in teasing out a dish’s essence.

Chinese cooking emphasizes balance through thoughtfully combining ingredients, aromatics, textures and cooking methods. Subtle variations in knife skills, marinades, stir-frying motions and temperature control create an intricate symphony of flavors. Watching chefs effortlessly julienne razor-thin slivers of ginger, smash garlic cloves into pungent paste and stir-fry with graceful wrist flicks offers edible insight into why Chinese cuisine tastes so incredible.

Cooking school experiences capture the soul of Chinese cuisine by connecting you directly to food origins. At the Hutong Cooking School, situated in a restored Qing Dynasty courtyard home in old Beijing, you can craft delicate jiaozi dumplings just like imperial family chefs centuries ago. Their knife skills class takes you through all the proper slicing, dicing and julienning techniques while touring authentic hutong alleyway markets.

The Sichuan Culinary Academy lets you unlock the secrets of mala through hands-on courses. Pound Sichuan peppercorns and dried tangerine peel into aromatic powder for authentic Kung Pao Chicken. Master the perfect chili flake to oil ratio for mouth-numbing mapo tofu. Learn the ideal chicken cut and marinade for intensely flavored Gong Bao chicken with chilies.

At the Apicius Culinary School in Shanghai, chop through the basics of Chinese cleavers to turn out restaurant-worthy stir-fries. Contrast the technique of northern hand-pulled noodles verses southern knife-cut noodles. Fold delicate soup dumplings and Wu Xiang style pork mooncakes under the guidance of Shanghainese masters.

Many local farms and food producers also offer immersive cooking courses connected to their specialties. At Longsheng Rice Terrace villages near Guilin, explore tea leaf picking and rice planting before learning to cook regional rice-based dishes. Local foraging tours uncover wild herbs and mushrooms for Yunnan-style veggie stir-fries. Hands-on courses along the Li River teach flavor secrets behind fiery Guilin chili sauce.

For those who can’t make it to China, top chefs now offer virtual cooking classes too. Martin Yan of Yan Can Cook fame promises to teach you restaurant secrets to sauces and stir-frying. Chinese Cooking Demystified’s video tutorials demystify daunting dishes like soup dumplings and hand-pulled noodles. Spice Journey’s Fuchsia Dunlop unveils regional Chinese cooking techniques inspired by her decades of food writing travels across China.