Guilin and Yangshuo

Guìlín mǐfěn

Round or flat rice noodles dressed in a dark, spiced braising liquor (卤水) made from bones and a long list of aromatics, topped with your choice of meat and finished at a free self-service bar of pickles, chilli and fried soybeans.

Tastes like: Savoury and aromatic from the braising liquor, then sharply sour and crunchy from the pickles you add

Not on the menu but in it: The braising liquor is built on pork and beef bones with soy sauce and often star anise, liquorice and rock sugar; the optional broth added halfway is pork bone stock. Fried soybeans or peanuts sit on the condiment bar. There is no vegetarian version in a traditional shop.

Might not be for you: The pickled bamboo shoot on the condiment bar has a strong sulphurous smell that many first-timers mistake for spoiled food. Some toppings are offal — tripe and intestine are standard options.

Where: Old shops on Shijiayuan Road (施家园路) in Guilin; back lanes off West Street in Yangshuo. Before 9am for the best of it.

guōshāo

Pork belly boiled, dried and deep-fried until the skin blisters and shatters, then sliced over rice noodles. The most prized of the noodle toppings.

Tastes like: Deeply savoury with a crackling-like crunch giving way to soft fat

Not on the menu but in it: Fried in oil shared with other pork products; brushed with soy and vinegar before frying.

Might not be for you: Largely fat and skin; the texture is crisp on the outside and soft-fatty inside.

Where: Ask for 锅烧粉 at any old rice noodle shop

Yángshuò píjiǔ yú

A whole Li River carp, scales left on, fried hard and then braised in beer with tomato, green and red peppers, garlic and fermented bean paste, served in a shallow pan.

Tastes like: Tangy and savoury with a malty beer sweetness and a moderate chilli warmth

Not on the menu but in it: Beer means alcohol, which rules it out for halal diners and some others; fermented bean paste and soy sauce bring wheat; lard is used in some kitchens.

Might not be for you: The scales are deliberately left on and eaten — they crisp up — which surprises most visitors. The fish is served whole with head and bones, and river carp is full of fine bones.

Where: Yangshuo — the beer-fish houses on and just off West Street, and along the river

shíbā niàng

A Guangxi tradition of stuffing seasoned minced pork into eighteen different vessels — river snail shells, bamboo shoots, aubergine, chilli, tofu, bitter melon, mushroom and more — then steaming or braising them.

Tastes like: Savoury pork against whatever it is stuffed into; the snail version is the most intensely flavoured

Not on the menu but in it: The filling is pork even in the vegetable versions, and the snail stuffing (田螺酿) mixes snail meat back into the pork. Tofu versions are not vegetarian. Egg and starch bind the filling.

Might not be for you: Snail-stuffed shells require sucking the filling out of the shell, and snail meat is chewy with a strong river-mud taste. Bitter melon versions are genuinely bitter.

Where: Home-style restaurants in Yangshuo and the villages around it; a Guilin countryside speciality

Guìlín fǔrǔ

Cubes of tofu fermented and cured in brine and rice wine, used both as a condiment and as a cooking ingredient — one of Guilin's 'three treasures' alongside its chilli sauce and its rice wine.

Tastes like: Intensely salty, pungent and savoury, closer to a strong blue cheese than to tofu

Not on the menu but in it: Cured with rice wine, so it contains alcohol. Usually vegetarian, but check: some brands use fish or shrimp in the brine.

Might not be for you: The smell and saltiness are the obstacle — it is eaten in tiny amounts with rice or congee, not by the spoonful.

Where: Markets and souvenir shops in Guilin; served as a table condiment

Guìlín làjiāo jiàng

A fermented chilli, garlic and bean paste that locals add to rice noodles, beer fish and almost everything else. One of the city's 'three treasures'.

Tastes like: Hot, garlicky, salty and fermented-sour rather than purely fiery

Not on the menu but in it: Contains fermented soybean and often wheat flour in the ferment; some versions add fermented bean curd or rice wine.

Where: On the condiment bar at every rice noodle shop; sold in jars across the city

Lìpǔ yù kòuròu

Alternating slices of pork belly and Lipu taro, deep-fried then steamed for hours with fermented bean curd until both collapse together. A Guangxi banquet centrepiece.

Tastes like: Rich, savoury and faintly sweet, with the taro turning creamy and absorbing the pork fat

Not on the menu but in it: Fermented bean curd and rice wine in the braise; everything is deep-fried first.

Might not be for you: Very fatty; the taro has a soft, powdery-wet texture unfamiliar to most Western diners.

Where: Family-style restaurants in Guilin and the countryside; Lipu county is the source of the taro

tiánluó niàng / chǎo tiánluó

Large freshwater snails either stuffed with minced pork and snail meat and braised, or stir-fried whole in their shells with chilli, garlic and perilla leaf. Eaten by sucking them out of the shell.

Tastes like: Strongly savoury, herbal from the perilla, with a chewy, earthy snail

Not on the menu but in it: Pork in the stuffing; freshwater snails count as shellfish for allergy purposes.

Might not be for you: You suck them loudly out of the shell, the texture is rubbery, and the flavour is distinctly of river mud. Freshwater snails carry a parasite risk if undercooked — eat them only where they are served piping hot.

Where: Night-market stalls in Guilin and Yangshuo

luósī fěn

Liuzhou's famous export, widely sold in Guilin: rice noodles in a snail-and-bone broth loaded with pickled bamboo shoot, fried bean curd skin, peanuts and chilli oil. No whole snails in the bowl.

Tastes like: Sour, hot, savoury and pungent, with a deep shellfish undertone

Not on the menu but in it: The broth is simmered from river snails and pork bones even though no snails are visible — a real risk for shellfish allergies. Peanuts are a standard topping.

Might not be for you: Its smell is notorious even within China — the pickled bamboo gives it a sulphurous, drains-like aroma. Most visitors either love it or cannot get past the door.

Where: Dedicated 螺蛳粉 shops in Guilin city; not a Guilin native but everywhere

zhútǒng fàn

Glutinous rice, often with sausage, peanuts or mushroom, packed into a length of green bamboo and roasted over charcoal until the bamboo chars and perfumes the rice.

Tastes like: Smoky and faintly sweet from the bamboo, with sticky, dense rice

Not on the menu but in it: Cured Chinese sausage (腊肠) is the default filling, and sausage fat flavours the whole tube; plain versions exist but are rare on stalls.

Where: Roadside stalls on the Yangshuo and Longji terrace routes

mǎtí gāo / cíbā

Street sweets of the region: a translucent, wobbly cake of water-chestnut starch, and pounded glutinous rice cakes rolled in sugared soybean or peanut powder.

Tastes like: Lightly sweet and cooling; the rice cakes are nutty and chewy

Not on the menu but in it: The coating powder is usually roasted soybean or peanut; some stalls fry the rice cakes in lard.

Might not be for you: The glutinous rice cakes are very sticky and dense.

Where: Night markets in Guilin and Yangshuo

Gōngchéng yóuchá

Tea leaves pounded and fried with ginger and garlic, then boiled into a savoury, slightly bitter soup, served with puffed rice, fried dough and peanuts to scatter in. A Yao minority tradition from Gongcheng, near Guilin.

Tastes like: Savoury, bitter and gingery — it tastes like a soup, not a drink

Not on the menu but in it: Often fried in lard, and the accompanying snacks commonly include pork crackling and small dried fish.

Might not be for you: The bitterness is pronounced and the idea of a salty tea soup takes adjusting to; locals say the third bowl is when you start to like it.

Where: Gongcheng county and oil-tea shops in Guilin city, usually at breakfast