Dietary characteristics,
Baotou is a combination of grassland culture and Yellow River civilization. Since the Qing Dynasty, Baotou has become a fur distribution center in the western region. The prosperity and development of business also promoted the development of local catering industry. It combines the dietary traditions of Mongolia, Han nationality and Hui nationality, absorbs the advantages of the dietary culture of northern provinces, and forms the famous old Baotou cuisine. The specialties are "West Lake Fish", roasted arhat beads and mutton wrapped in paper.
Baotou, located in the west of Inner Mongolia, has a strong northwest flavor. Baotou and its surrounding areas mainly produce cattle, mutton and pasta, and it is similar to Hohhot's diet, which is divided into white food and red food, namely Mongolian dairy products and meat food, among which koumiss, oatmeal, smoked chicken and plain pot helmet have the most flavor.
The places where you can taste the local flavor in Baotou are "The First Street beyond the Great Wall" (Steel Street) and the intersection of Huancheng Road and Nanmenwai Street. These places are home to many local restaurants, snacks, night markets, etc. There you can taste the flavor food of Baotou.
When it comes to the delicious food in Baotou, we can't help but mention the instant-boiled mutton in Baotou. It is said that when Kublai Khan commanded the army to go south, he wanted to eat stewed mutton in his hometown because he was exhausted, so he ordered his men to cook stewed mutton. Just as the chef was preparing to cut the meat, a spy reported that the enemy was approaching and they had to move for the safety of the big army. But he really wanted to eat it, so he got on the horse and shouted mutton. The cook knew that he was impatient, so he cut off a dozen pieces of thin mutton and boiled it in boiling water several times to make it boil. Then he sprinkled some fine salt on him. After Kublai Khan ate it, he led his troops against the enemy and won. So this way of eating has been passed down to this day.
Compared with other places, the mutton in Baotou is more delicious, and it has no fishy smell. The soup is also very particular, and it tastes particularly fragrant!
Besides instant-boiled mutton, Baotou's barbecue is also famous. Whether it's old people, busy street people or teenagers, even celebrities will have a soft spot for barbecue. My favorite is kebabs. Baotou kebabs are pure and delicious. Drinking some cold draft beer makes me feel that this is the life of the gods!
Braised noodles are also a special snack in Baotou. The method of braised noodles is also quite simple. The ingredients are braised pork, ribs, beans and potatoes. Stir-fry in a pot until half cooked, then add noodles and stew the contents of the pot directly with slow fire without any soup. In this way, the flavor of the dish is integrated into the noodles, and the taste is naturally delicious. You don't need to add any spices after cooking, so it is delicious and kind to eat in your mouth!
Festival food
During the Spring Festival, Baotou people are used to eating fried cakes. This kind of fried cake is called "fried cake", especially yellow rice cake fried with flax. Any glutinous rice glutinous rice was improved later. It used to be a good thing to eat during the Spring Festival. There is a saying often circulated by the older generation: "Thirty miles of oat flour, forty miles of cake and ten miles of bean flour are not enough to eat." This is the most anti-hunger food in the eyes of those who walked west in those years. In fact, eating oil cakes is not only a necessary food for Baotou people during the Spring Festival (especially for Shanxi and Shaanxi people who came to the west, but later Hebei and Northeast people didn't understand or like it). Eating cake means "step by step".
Yellow river carp festival
The Yellow River Carp Festival is held every year when Nanhai Lake is open (from the end of March to the beginning of May), aiming at promoting the Yellow River Carp culture originated in China. By then, the plump and pure authentic wild carp of the Yellow River will be listed. The beautiful scenery and rich aquatic products in the South China Sea have attracted the majority of fishing enthusiasts to come fishing. In order to attract tourists better, Nanhai Management Office held a fishing festival, at which a series of preferential policies were introduced. The vast number of fishing enthusiasts along the lake each hold a fishing rod and hold their breath. From morning till night, counting strokes is fun.