Henan is located in the Central Plains, known as Zhongzhou in history, and is one of the earliest cradles of Chinese civilization. Food is the most important thing for the people. There are four distinct seasons and rich products here, so it has formed the cooking characteristics of melting and smelting the four cooking cultures in one furnace, blending five flavors and moderate taste.

Changyuan County, Henan Province has a tradition of respecting teachers and attaching importance to Taoism since ancient times, and there has always been a saying among the people that "Changyuan village women blocked the country's chefs". Chef Changyuan has always been favored by dignitaries and literati. Among the excellent chefs from Changyuan, Hou Ruixuan, the former head chef of Diaoyutai Hotel in Beijing, is undoubtedly the most accomplished, and is known as the "national treasure chef". "Diaoyutai Cuisine" is created on the basis of inheriting and developing Changyuan Cuisine and other Henan cuisines, and it is a new and distinctive cuisine besides the main cuisines in the state banquet.

After all, there are not many opportunities to taste the state banquet, but there are many mouth-watering foods in Changyuan County, the hometown of Diaoyutai cuisine. Here are some of the most famous local foods.

Gao Cun vermicelli, also known as Zhang vermicelli.

Changyuan is located in the northeast of Henan, with medium taste and good use of local products. Gaocun cold rice noodles are made of mung beans widely planted in the local area. Mung beans are sweet and cool, and have the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying in traditional Chinese medicine. Gaocun vermicelli made of mung beans is deeply loved by local people because of its "crystal clear and as thin as cicada's wings" appearance and unique smooth taste. There are various methods, such as cold salad, stir-frying and soup making.

Fried eight pieces, also called eight pieces of chicken

The traditional method of frying eight pieces is to use the whole chicken, chop it into eight pieces, marinate it with seasoning, fry it in the oil pan until it is golden, and then take it out and put it on a plate. It is better to dip it in salt and pepper or spicy soy sauce. At present, restaurants in Changyuan County mostly use chicken legs, which are convenient to obtain and easier to operate.

Shuangdamao

"Steamed bread" is steamed bread. The frosted steamed bread is to peel the steamed bread, fry it until the yellow skin becomes hard, and then take it out. When the juice is thick and white, put the fried steamed bread into the pot, turn it gently with a shovel, and the sugar juice will be wrapped on the steamed bread and solidified. Then, take them out of the pot with a shovel and put them on a plate, and then cool them with a fan to get the cream. Because of its sweet taste and simple production, it is very popular in Changyuan area.