Inner Mongolia Food, Snacks & Cuisines | Inner Mongolia Food Tour 2024/2025

• Chinese：手扒肉 Pinyin: shǒu pá ròu

• Type: Mongolian Food, Boiled Mutton

• Best at: Grasslands in Inner Mongolia >>

The traditional Mongolian food can be divided into white food and red food: white food refers to dairy and red food refers to meat. Braised meat is a kind of red food, Mongolian called "Ulanyi". Braised meat is cooked using the original juice of the meat, splitting the bone-in lamb at the bone joints, putting it in a large pot without adding salt and other condiments.

When eating, diners can use one hand to grab the lamb bone and the other hand to take the Mongolian knife to pick off the lamb, then dip it in the prepared sauce to eat. According to the herdsmen's habit, this dish is usually served for dinner.

Hand Grilled Meat with Special Sauce ©jingyan.baidu.com

Hand Grilled Meat ©dianping

• Chinese: 烤全羊 Pinyin: kǎo quán yáng

• Type: Mongolian Food, Roasted Lamb

• Best at: Grasslands in Inner Mongolia >>

Roasted Whole Lamb is a traditional meat dish with the local flavor of Mongolian people's diet. It is a big dish with the most ethnic characteristics. It is a traditional delicacy formed in nomadic life for thousands of years and a traditional dish for Mongolian guests.

Roast whole sheep generally choose plump and sturdy four-teeth three-year old sheep as raw materials. After slaughter, a variety of spices are placed in the rib cage of the sheep. Then, the limbs are hung four legs up and the back down with the iron chain. The lambs will be baked in the oven until the whole body is brown. After roasting, get the lamb out first and pour out the lamb soup and ingredients. Then place the whole sheep in a kneeling position into a plate about 1 meter in diameter. On the table, the sheep will be cut into small pieces in front of the guests by a specially-assigned person and served according to the guest status.

Roast Whole Lamb ©纳兰小鱼 / weibo

Roast Leg of Lamb ©dianping

• Chinese: 羊杂碎 Pinyin: yáng zá suì

• Type: Snack, Street Food, Lamb Sweetbread

• Best at: local famous diners in Hohhot Downtown

Mongolian Haslet occupies the supreme position among snacks in Inner Mongolia. It is fastidious about "three materials", "three soups" and "three condiments". Three materials are divided into three main materials and three side materials. The three main materials are the heart, liver and lung, also known as the "three reds"; Three side materials are tripe, intestines, head and foot meat, also known as "three white".

Three tastes is very simple to say. These three flavors are displayed on the table of the restaurant specializing in Mongolian Haslet: verdant cilantro, burning red pepper powder and crystal white salt. Diners can adjust the mixture according to their own taste.

Lamb Haslet Light Soup in the Copper ©dianping

Lamb Haslet Red Soup ©dianping

• Chinese：稍美,烧麦 Pinyin: shāo mài

• Type: Staple, Minced Mutton enfolded with Thin Crust

• Best at: downtown areas of Hohhot and Bayannur

Shaomai is a traditional food that has been passed down for a long time in Hohhot. As early as the Qing Dynasty, Shaomai became famous in the capital. At that time, on the signboard hanging in front of the Shaomai diners, often marked with the words "Authentic Shaomai from Guihua City (nowadays Hohhot City)" in the Qianmen area of the imperial capital Beijing.

When foreign guests come to Hohhot, almost everyone will try this delicious cuisine. The cooking method of Shaomai is unique and the material is excellent. The wrapper of Shaomai is fine and thin, the minced mutton filling is medium, and the seasonings such as spring onion and ginger, etc. are complete. Put the wrapped Shaomai in a bamboo cage on the upper layer of the steamer. When lifting the lid, the fragrance of Shaomai is overflowing. Viewing its shape, you can see the wrapper is as thin as cicadas’ wings, glittering and translucent. Lifted with chopsticks, it looks like a hanging bag, placed on the plate, it shaped like a meat pie. Shaomai tastes delicious but not greasy. It's a good meal in China with a beautiful shape and an unforgettable taste. Shaomai used to be used for breakfast, and served in teahouses. Today, it has become a staple food in many restaurants and a common meal at home. Hohhot and Bayannur are two top cities to enjoy delicious Shaomai.

Fresh Steamed Shaomai in a Bamboo Steamer ©sohu

Make Delicious Shaomai ©安琪酵母烘焙之家 / Sohu

• Chinese: 扒驼掌 Pinyin: pá tuó zhǎng

• Type: Specialty Dishes

Camels are mainly raised in the desert grasslands of Inner Mongolia. They are tall and muscular. Four hoofs are the most active tissue in the camel body, so its meat is very delicate and elastic, fat but not greasy. Camel's hoofs are rich in nutrition and have long been known as bear paws, cubiloses and hericiums. The camel's hoof is one of the "Eight Treasures in the North" used in ancient imperial meals. If you are planning to travel to Ejin Banner (Ejina Populus Euphratica Forest, Badain Jaran Desert...), do remember to add this special food to your must try list.

Braised Camel Hoof with Broccoli ©maigoo

Xue Shan Tuo Zhang (雪山驼掌) ©君君电影院163 / sohu