Pingyao

píngyáo niúròu

The town's most famous product: beef salted and slow-braised for hours by a traditional method, then cooled and sliced thin. Eaten cold as a starter, with no sauce.

Tastes like: Deeply savoury and salty with a faint sweetness, extremely tender — it genuinely falls apart in the mouth.

Not on the menu but in it: Beef, salt and spices; some commercial versions add nitrites and soy. Not halal-certified despite being beef — processing is conventional.

Might not be for you: Nothing. Vacuum-packed versions sold to tourists are much saltier and drier than the fresh sliced article, so eat it in a restaurant first.

Where: Guanyun (冠云) beef shops and restaurants throughout the walled town.

wǎn tuō

Buckwheat batter steamed in a shallow bowl until set, then cut into strips and either dressed cold with garlic paste, vinegar and chilli oil, or stir-fried hard with vegetables.

Tastes like: Earthy buckwheat under a punchy garlic-vinegar-chilli dressing; springy and bouncy to bite.

Not on the menu but in it: Usually meat-free, but fried versions often get pork or a lard-based chilli oil; a few stalls add meat floss.

Might not be for you: The bouncy, rubbery texture and the aggressive raw-garlic hit. Nothing else.

Where: Dong Ji fried wantuo (董记炒碗托) and snack stalls on South Street; 8-15 CNY.

yóumiàn kǎolǎolao

Naked-oat dough rolled by hand into thin tubes, stood upright in a honeycomb pattern in a steamer, then eaten dipped in a mutton or tomato sauce, or dry-fried with vegetables.

Tastes like: Nutty and distinctly oaty, dense and chewy; the dipping sauce supplies the salt and heat.

Not on the menu but in it: The oats are plain, but the classic dipping sauce is mutton-based and fried versions are cooked with pork fat.

Might not be for you: Very filling and heavy; the oat flavour is strong and quite unlike wheat noodles. The dry-fried version is easier than the steamed one for most newcomers.

Where: Hongwuji Restaurant (洪武记饭店) on South Street is known for the dry-fried version.

guò yóu ròu

The defining Shanxi dish: pork loin coated in egg and starch, flash-fried, then tossed with garlic shoots, wood-ear mushroom and a splash of aged Shanxi vinegar.

Tastes like: Savoury and glossy with a sharp vinegar tang that cuts the oil; the meat is velvety rather than crisp.

Not on the menu but in it: Egg in the coating; Shanxi aged vinegar is fermented from sorghum with wheat bran, so it is not gluten-free.

Might not be for you: Nothing — the most reliable order on any Pingyao menu.

Where: Tianyuankui (天元奎) and most Shanxi restaurants inside the walls; 35-55 CNY.

lǎo chéncù mèn niúròu

Beef slow-braised with Shanxi's aged black vinegar until the sauce reduces to a dark, sticky glaze. A modern restaurant dish built on the province's signature ingredient.

Tastes like: Sour-savoury and faintly sweet, with a malty depth from the vinegar — closer to a balsamic braise than anything else.

Not on the menu but in it: Shanxi aged vinegar contains wheat bran; the braise uses soy and often rock sugar.

Might not be for you: The sourness is more forward than Western palates expect in a meat dish, but most visitors like it immediately.

Where: Hongwuji Restaurant (洪武记饭店), 84 South Street; also at Backpacker Restaurant in a vinegar-beef version.

pào pào yóu gāo

A Shanxi pastry: a scalded dough parcel filled with sugar, date or rose paste, deep-fried so the surface blisters into a mass of crisp bubbles.

Tastes like: Shatteringly crisp outside, molten and sweet inside; lightly perfumed if filled with rose.

Not on the menu but in it: Traditionally made with rendered lard in the dough at older shops, even for sweet fillings.

Might not be for you: Nothing; just very sweet and very hot in the middle — let it cool for a minute.

Where: Snack stalls on South Street and Ming-Qing Street; 5-10 CNY.

shuǐ jiān bāo

Yeasted buns filled with pork and cabbage or with vegetables, packed into a flat pan and cooked with a splash of water under a lid so the bottoms fry crisp while the tops steam.

Tastes like: Crunchy base, soft fluffy top, juicy savoury filling.

Not on the menu but in it: The default filling is pork; vegetable versions usually still contain egg and are often fried in the same pan.

Might not be for you: Nothing — excellent cheap breakfast.

Where: Morning stalls around the Old Town gates; 2-4 CNY each.

cáo jiā xūn zhǒu

A local speciality named after the Cao merchant family: pork knuckle braised with spices then smoked, served cold in slices or warmed through.

Tastes like: Smoky, rich and salty, with gelatinous skin and soft fat.

Not on the menu but in it: Pork skin and fat are the whole point; the braise uses soy.

Might not be for you: Mostly fat and gelatin rather than lean meat, which puts off visitors expecting ham.

Where: Traditional restaurants and cured-meat shops inside the walled town.

cháng shānyao

Chinese long yam grown locally, served either crisp in a sweet-sour cold salad or deep-fried and tossed in sugar syrup as a dessert.

Tastes like: Clean, faintly sweet and crunchy when raw-cured; starchy and soft when fried.

Not on the menu but in it: None known in the cold version; the candied one is cooked in vegetable oil and sugar.

Might not be for you: Raw yam is slightly slimy to handle and can irritate skin, though that is the kitchen's problem rather than yours.

Where: Shanxi restaurants inside Pingyao Old Town as a vegetable course.