Silk Road China : Dunhuang Food Review

Dunhuang means magnificent

Dunhuang is a famous tourist city, located at the western end of Hexi Corridor in Gansu Province in northwest of China. It is the major stop on the ancicent Silk Road.  Dunhuang was always the capital of county, government office, town and province even though the government of Dunhuang changed many times. It is the last city that I spent in Gansu Province, China.

The main staple food in Dunhuang is wheat flour noodles instead of rice. Usually noodles are served with lamb, beef and chicken. These were the food that I ate in Dunhuang.

Camel Hoof on Silk Road – Highlight!

We were quite shocked when the Camel Hoof arrived at our table. We were told is actually tendon and highly nutritious. The hoof is hard to find and very precious. In ancient time, only the Emperors were able to taste this dish. The camel hoof was braised with tofu at the bottom. The texture is similar to sea cucumber.  White fried beehoon were used as decoration to represent the sand dunes desert. White beehoon can be eaten too, quite crispy.  We did not finish the dish as most people in our table weren’t brave enough to taste it.

Roast Mini Chicken

Pork Ribs

Eggplants with Green Pepper

Tofu with Green and Red Chili

The tofu here is also cooked together with green pepper and red chili, may be just for the sake of their beautiful colors.

Vegetable Soup

The soup tasted very starchy which I don’t really prefer.

Steam Chicken with Ginger

This dish is similar to our Singapore chicken rice chicken.

Vegetable Rolls

The filling were mainly vegetables, such as carrot and bean sprout.  I am not sure what kind of skin these were, probably made from bean curd skin.

Beef Skewers

This is like what we called “Satay” in Singapore and Malaysia, but without the peanut sauce for you to dip with. The skewers in Dunhuang are marinated with it special sauces, a little spicy and plenty of spice.

Big bird in Stone Dish

The meat used is goose which was very soft.  Cooked with green pepper, chili, onion and plenty of pebbles. Interesting.

Dunhuang  Lamian Noodles

The Dunhuang Lamian tasted spicy and the noodles are hand pulled. Broth was tasty if is boiled with beef.

Pork Belly Bun

First we notice the bun shape looks like a shell, quite pretty.  The pork belly was extremely fat! The slice of pork are too thin.

Steam Sticky Rice Ball

I like this dish a lot, the rice ball was steam and it is very soft when you bite it.

Steam Dish

This is the super healthy dish, everything in this plate is steam so it is super clean diet.  It consists of sweet corn, sweet potato, carrot, potato and Chinese Yam / Shan Yao.

Hong Shao Fish

The fish in Dunhuang is river fish so be careful of the tiny bones when you eat the fish.  River fish also has a very strong taste which I don’t prefer.

Mushroom & Pop Corn Dish

Quite surpise to find popcorn are served together with the braised mushroom.  The popcorn tasted sweet.

Apricot Peel Water – Highlight

In Dunhuang one of the drink you needed to drink is Apricot Peel Water. The taste is sweet and a little sour, making you feel extremely cool especially in the hot weather.

Sculpture in Dunhuang, depicting an Apsara playing the pipa behind her back /反弹琵琶

In Dunhuang city, there is the iconic sculpture, Fetian – the flying Apsara who played the “pipa” at her back, a unique dance moved found in walls of  Magao Gottoes.

Final Thoughts :

The one dish I can remember from the food in Dunhuang is – Camel Hoof Silk Road.  It makes even harder for me to try this after an hour of camel riding  in the Crescent Moon Lake / Yueyaquan in the afternoon.  I pluck up the courage  and tried a tiny bite since it is the most famous dish in Dunhuang.

Related :

• Mingsha Mountain & Crescent Moon Lake  – 13 tips
• Silk Road China : Legend of Dunhuang Show – ‘Silk Road, Flower Rain’ 丝路花雨