List of Featured Delicacies in Different Cities of Shanxi Province

In the past, people in Shanxi Province used to “start work at day break and return home at sunset”; they worked very hard and lost a lot of sodium when sweating. They seldom ate vegetables, but loved salt and vinegar, which could add some flavor to their food. Besides, they were in need of salt physiologically. People in the middle region of Shanxi Province are accustomed to drink rice mixed with soup in the morning, because they need to replenish water. People in the southern region of Shanxi Province like to eat cakes and dried food. All the local people in Shanxi Province love salt and vinegar, such habits have been formed since ancient times, which may be attributed to the local conditions, such as soil and water characteristics, natural climates and the habit of taking miscellaneous grains as their main food. Due to lack of diversified food, they had strong dependency on salt and vinegar, which can make their food more delicious. After a day of hard work, they would take in salt to supplement sodium. For example, people in Lin County, Shanxi Province still like to eat noodles with salt, vinegar and soy sauce.

People in Shanxi Province like to eat miscellaneous grains, rice and porridge, they adopt various methods to make food using main grains and miscellaneous grains, their cooking techniques differ greatly from north to south. The northern region of Shanxi Province is cold, people like eating high-calorie food made from oat flour, maize and potatoes. Their non-staple food includes radish, tofu and pickles. People in Xinzhou City and Jinzhong City are fond of sorghum, corn and pickles, while people in the southern region of Shanxi Province has strong interest in cooked millet, steamed bread and cakes.

People in Shanxi Province like to eat vinegar, and take in a lot of vinegar. The water in Shanxi Province contains high alkalinity. In addition, their staple food is made from miscellaneous grains such as oat flour, sorghum, corn and potatoes, which have high calories and are hard to digest. Vinegar can help them digest food. People in Shanxi Province are nicknamed as “Old Vinegar”, they usually add vinegar to noodles, steamed buns, dumplings, pies and stir-fried vegetables (most of them), and they cannot make any food without vinegar. Otherwise, they would dislike their meals. Some residents in mountainous areas have developed the habit of replacing pickles with sour soup. In the past, people in the mountainous areas of Shanxi Province were too poor to afford vinegar, so they could only cook with sour soup. All each family in Shanxi Province could make vinegar at home; vinegar pots and salt are always on their dining table.