11 Traditional Chinese Foods You Cannot Miss

Chinese food history is as long as Chinese history. In the long period of development, many delicious food keep popping up and many are still enjoyed today. Among them, some are festival foods more frequently eaten on special festivals while some are eaten commonly in everyday life. Here are the 11 best traditional Chinese foods you cannot miss if you are a Chinese food lover.
 

Dumplings

Chinese Name: 饺子 jiǎo zi
Flavor: salty
Time of Origin: Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220 AD)

Dumpling is the most famous traditional Chinese food, which was invented by medical sage Zhang Zhongjing more than 1,800 years ago. At that time, Chinese herbal medicine was using mutton to prevent cold and cure chilblains in winter. During the Three Kingdoms Period (220 - 280 AD), dumplings had been a common food. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420 - 589 AD), dumplings became popular around China, and people ate with together with soup. During the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 AD), dumplings started to be eaten without soup. As to the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279 AD), various dumplings appeared, and dumplings were introduced into Mongolia, then to the world. The custom of eating dumplings on Chinese New Year was latestly started in the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644 AD). The present named started being used in the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911 AD).

Nowadays, dumplings are a festival food on Chinese New Year and Winter Solstice. The fillings are varied including pork, beef, lamb, fish, cabbage, carrots, leek, etc. On the Chinese New Year’s Day, people eat dumplings to say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new one. In addition, dumplings have the auspicious meaning of great fortune and family reunion.

Read more: Recipe - How to Make Chinese Dumplings
 

Noodles

Chinese Name: 面条 miàn tiáo
Flavor: salty, spicy, sour, umami…
Time of Origin: more than 4,000 years ago

Noodles are one of the oldest traditional Chinese foods. Chinese people have started eating noodles about 4,000 years ago. At first, noodles was small dough sheet. Later, in the Jin Dynasty (265 - 420 AD), thin noodles like strips appeared. In the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 AD), a kind of noodles that was cooled in cold water appeared. It was also at that time that long noodles were associated with longevity, thus people began to eat the longevity noodles on their birthdays. In the Northern Song Dynasty (960 - 1127 AD), the name for noodles was fixed and there were several kinds of noodles in the earliest commercial streets in the capital city. During the Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368 AD), fine dried noodles that could be preserved were invented. During China's long history, the skill of making noodles and its cooking methods had been continuously improved.

Now, people in north China take noodles as a staple food, while southern people more often eat it as a snack. Whatever, noodles are a vitally important daily food in China. Its shape, thickness, and length are varied, as well as the side ingredients and seasonings. To name a few most famous ones: Lanzhou Hand-Pulled Beef Noodles, Beijing Noodles with Minced Pork, Sichuan Dandan Noodles, Chongqing Spicy Noodles, Shanxi Sliced Noodles, Cantonese Wonton Noodles….

Read more:
10 Most Popular and Tasty Chinese Noodles Recipes

Recipe - How to Make Hand-made Noodles

Recipe - How to Make Noodles with Minced Pork

Recipe - How to Make Noodles with Tomato Egg Sauce

Recipe - How to Make Chow Mein (Stir-fried Noodles)
 

Chinese Name: 包子 bāo zi
Flavor: salty generally, spicy
Time of Origin: Three Kingdoms Period (220 - 280 AD)

Steamed stuffed bun is a flour dough wrapper with stuffing, which is a kind of Chinese traditional food. It is said that it was created for sacrifices to dead soldiers in battles by Zhuge Liang, who was an outstanding politician and military strategist during the Three Kingdoms Period. The stuffing was originally minced beef and mutton. Later, stuffings became more and more varied. The name we use today was settled in the Song Dynasty.

Nowadays, the stuffing can be pork, beef, pickled Chinese cabbage, vermicelli, mushrooms, bean paste, eggplant, cabbage, Chinese chives, fried eggs, tofu and so on. There is larger variety of buns, including Small Steamed Buns, Soup Infilled Buns, and Pan-Fried Buns.

Steamed Stuffed Buns

Soup Infilled Bun

Chinese Name: 汤圆 tāng yuán
Flavor: sweet
Time of Origin: Song Dynasty (960 - 1279 AD)

Glutinous Rice Balls are a traditional Chinese food as well as the festival food of Lantern Festival and Winter Solstice. They are made of glutinous rice flour with fillings and shaped like balls. Glutinous Rice Balls originated from Ningbo, Zhejiang Province in the Song Dynasty. At that time, the filling was black sesames, white sugar and lard. Now, the fillings are various, like black sesame, rose, walnut kernel, date paste, pumpkin, fruits, pork and chicken, etc. They are usually boiled and then eaten with a light soup; sometimes rice wine and white sugar are added for better flavor.
 

Chinese Name: 馄饨 hún tún
Flavor: salty
Time of Origin: Spring and Autumn Period (770 - 476 BC)

Wonton is a traditional Chinese dish made with wheaten flour and meat filling, like the dumplings but the wrapper is much thinner or can be almost transparent. It is eaten together with the soup. According to the legends, wonton might have originated in the Spring and Autumn Period (770 - 476 BC) or the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC - 9 AD). At the beginning, wontons and dumplings shared the same name but, by the Tang Dynasty, they got their respective names.

The custom of eating wonton on Winter Solstice sprang up during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127 - 1279 AD). Quite a few new sets of fillings appeared in the 1990s, such as lotus root, BBQ pork and fresh pork; cured pork, Chinese yam and fresh meat; sweet broad peas and fresh meat; egg yolks and chicken; pork and shrimps; pork and vegetables, etc.

Read more: Recipe - How to Make Chinese Wonton

 

Chinese Name: 月饼 yuè bǐng
Flavor: sweet or salty
Time of Origin: late Shang Dynasty and early Zhou Dynasty

Moon Cake is a traditional Chinese food for the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is round, which symbolizes family reunion. It is also a sacrificial offering to Moon God on Mid-Autumn Festival. The Taishi cake which appeared in the late Shang Dynasty (17th century BC - 1046 BC) and the early Zhou Dynasty (1046 BC - 256 BC) might be the predecessor of the Moon Cake. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, Moon Cake was a royal food; later, it was brought to the people. Up to the Ming Dynasty, eating Moon Cake on Mid-Autumn Festival had become popular. During the Qing Dynasty, skills improved and the Moon Cake evolved into many different styles.

There are many types of traditional moon cakes, and the most common stuffings includes five nuts, red bean paste, roses, lotus seed paste, osmanthus, dried plum, rock sugar, ginkgo, pork floss, black sesame, ham, egg yolk, etc.

See more about
3,000 Years’ Timeline of Mooncake History, from its Origin ‘Taishi Cake’

10 Best Mooncakes in China - Have you ever tried?

Traditional Mooncakes in China - 12 Types of Regional Variations

10 Most Popular Mooncake Flavors - Which one do you like?

Halal Mooncake - Features, Fillings, Recipe

Snow Skin Mooncake – Non-Baked Mooncake

Jelly Mooncake - How to Make Colorful and Crystal Mooncakes
 

Zongzi

Chinese Name: 粽子 zòng zi
Flavor: sweet or salty
Time of Origin: Spring and Autumn Period (770 - 476 BC)

Zongzi is a Chinese traditional food for the Dragon Boat Festival. The glutinous rice is wrapped into reed leaves and then steamed. Zongzi appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period (770 - 476 BC), and was used for the worship of ancestors and Gods. Starting from Warring States Period (475 - 221 BC), it was used to commemorate the great poet Qu Yuan. In the Jin Dynasty (265 - 420 AD), it was fixed as the festival food for Dragon Boat Festival, and Chinese medicine, meat, chestnuts and other things were added as fillings except for glutinous rice. During the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279 AD), preserved fruits were added into fillings of Zongzi. Later, more and more spicy Zongzis came out. Nowadays, the common fillings of sweet Zongzi are red bean, red date, rose, date paste, bean paste, etc.; while those of salty ones are pork, ham, sausages, shrimp, etc.

Read more: Recipe - How to Make Zongzi
 

Chinese Name: 年糕 nián gāo
Flavor: sweet, or salty
Time of Origin: Spring and Autumn Period (770 - 476 BC)

Rice Cake, also called New Year Cake, is a traditional Chinese food eaten on Chinese New Year, accompanied with a wish for a better new year. It is a steamed glutinous rice flour cake. It can be red, yellow and white. People often make them into auspicious shapes, such as coins, treasures and some lucky animals. They can be fried, boiled, deep-fried, boiled with seasoned soup, etc.

It is said Rice Cake originated in Suzhou during the Spring and Autumn Period. In the Han Dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD), they had several names. In the Jin Dynasty (265 - 420 AD) and the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420 - 589 AD), rice cake became popular. And in the Liao Dynasty (907- 1125 AD), the custom of eating rice cake on Chinese New Year started. Up to the Ming (1368 - 1644 AD) and Qing (1644 - 1911 AD) Dynasties, rice cakes had become a year-round snack, and the flavor differed between north and south.
 

Chinese Name: 春卷 chūn juǎn
Flavor: sweet or salty
Time of Origin: Eastern Jin Dynasty (317 - 420 AD)

Spring Rolls are popular all over China, especially in the south. This traditional Chinese food is a wheaten crust wrapped with fillings, and then deep-fried to be golden. The dish is aromatic with a crisp thin crust. The fillings can be minced pork, beef, mutton, bean paste or varied vegetables. It is a custom to eat Spring Rolls on the day of The Beginning of Spring, one of the 24 solar terms, to welcome spring and make auspicious wishes.

Spring Rolls already existed during the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317 - 420 AD). People ate the food on The Beginning of Spring, and took out on spring outings. In the Tang (618 - 907 AD) and Song (960 - 1279 AD) dynasties, the custom became more and more popular. In the Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368 AD), there were records of deep-fried spring rolls, which was much more similar with the food we have today. During the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911 AD), it was not only a folk festival food but also a royal pastry.

Read more: Recipe - How to Make Spring Rolls
 

Chinese Name: 煎饼 jiān bǐng
Flavor: slightly sweet, slightly salty, spicy, or sour
Time of Origin: more than 5,000 years ago

Pancake is a traditional Chinese staple food especially popular in northern China. It originated in Shandong Province. According to the relics unearthed, Chinese pancakes date back to over 5,000 years ago. In the Jin Dynasty (265 - 420 AD), pancake had specific meanings; on some special festivals, pancakes were used with fumigation and as a symbol of repairing sky. In the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 AD), pancakes were popular and were listed as a royal dish. In the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279 AD), pancake became even more welcomed, especially on some festivals, such as Qixi Festival. In the late Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644 AD), the present-day pancake cooking method was formed.

There are many types of Chinese pancakes nowadays and the Shandong Pancakes are the most famous. They can be made from wheat flour, rice flour, bean flour, corn flour, sorghum flour or sweet potato flour. People usually eat pancakes at breakfast with egg, sauce, pickled vegetables and deep-fried dough sticks rolled inside. The flavor can be salt, sweet, spicy, etc.

Read more:
Recipe - How to Make Chinese Pancake

Recipe - How to Make Chinese Leek Pancake
 

Home-style Tofu

Chinese Name: 豆腐 dòu fu
Flavor: bean aromatic
Time of Origin: Western Han Dynasty (202 BC - 9 AD)

Tofu, or bean curd, is a traditional bean product that is mostly made of soybeans, black beans or other beans with a high protein content. Most people believe that tofu was invented in about 164 BC during the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC - 9 AD) by Liu An, the seignior in Huainan, Anhui. However, its taste was not as good as the current tofu, so it was not widely used as a cooking ingredient. In the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 AD), tofu was taken to Japan. Until the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279 AD), the method of making tofu was greatly improved and tofu became an important daily Chinese food. In the meantime, tofu was introduced into Korea. Later, it came to Europe, Africa and North America in the early 19th century. Nowadays, tofu has became an important food not only in China, but also in Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea, Japan and other neighboring countries.

Now, Tofu can be made into different dishes, such as Ma Po Tofu, Home-style Tofu, Vegetable and Tofu Soup, Stinky Tofu, Tofu with Crab Roe, etc.

Read more:
Recipe - How to Make Ma Po Tofu

Recipe - How to Make Home-style Tofu

Recipe - How to Make Vegetable and Tofu Soup