Qingdao

Là chǎo gélí

Small Jiaozhou Bay clams - locals call them 'gala' - thrown into a screaming wok with garlic, dried chilli, spring onion, soy and a splash of beer, cooked only until the shells open. They arrive as a mountain in a bowl and you eat them with your fingers, piling shells on the table. This is the single most Qingdao thing you can order.

Tastes like: Sweet, briny clam meat with a garlicky, lightly chilli-hot sauce you end up drinking from the shells.

Not on the menu but in it: Beer is often used to deglaze the wok; the sauce usually contains sugar and soy.

Dàizhuāng píjiǔ / Sǎn pí

Unbottled beer drawn straight from a keg at a street-side counter into a food-grade plastic bag, which is knotted with a straw poked through the top. It is sold by weight, not volume, and comes in three grades: unfiltered 原浆 with live yeast and about three days of shelf life, filtered 鲜啤 fresh draft, and flavoured craft versions. Buy it, carry it to wherever you are eating, and drink it the same day - it genuinely sours overnight.

Tastes like: Much softer, maltier and less gassy than the bottled export version; the unfiltered 原浆 is cloudy and bready.

Not on the menu but in it: Nothing, but know the going rate: roughly ¥10-12 a jin for standard fresh draft and ¥15 for 原浆, IPA or pilsner. Stalls charging far more are pricing for tourists.

Bàyú jiǎozi

Spanish mackerel is scraped off the bone, beaten into a paste with a little pork fat, water and chives, and wrapped into large boiled dumplings. They are so much a Qingdao emblem that giving a relative mackerel in spring is a local custom. Eat them with vinegar and raw garlic; a steamed version exists for breakfast.

Tastes like: Soft, almost mousse-like fish filling that is sweet rather than fishy, with chive sharpness.

Not on the menu but in it: Pork fat is worked into the fish paste in most recipes, so these are not fish-only. The dipping vinegar is dark Shanxi or Zhenjiang vinegar.

Páigǔ mǐfàn

Pork ribs stewed for hours with soy and spices in a clay pot, then tipped over rice with a ladle of the braising liquid and whatever vegetable the shop is using - cabbage, potato, tofu or vermicelli. It is the Qingdao working lunch and has been for about a century; Wanhechun has been selling it since 1941. Eat it with a spoon straight from the pot.

Tastes like: Deeply savoury, soy-dark and fatty, with rice soaked in gravy.

Not on the menu but in it: Star anise and cassia dominate the braise; some shops add sugar heavily. Rice is often refillable free.

Liútíng zhūtí

Pig trotters braised in a master stock with more than a dozen spices until the skin goes translucent and the collagen sets, then served cold and sliced as a starter. The recipe comes from the Liuting area near the old airport and is reckoned to be over 120 years old. Eaten cold with garlic and vinegar, with a bag of beer.

Tastes like: Salty, spiced and intensely gelatinous - the texture is the dish, not the meat.

Not on the menu but in it: Nothing hidden, but the clear jelly around the meat is pure set collagen and there is very little lean meat.

Hǎicài liángfěn

Stone-flower seaweed is boiled down until it sets into a clear, faintly green jelly, then cut into cubes and dressed cold with raw garlic, coriander, vinegar, sesame oil and dried shrimp. A summer dish and a standard beer-house opener, served very cold.

Tastes like: Barely any flavour of its own - clean, slippery and cooling, carried entirely by garlic and vinegar.

Not on the menu but in it: The dressing almost always contains dried shrimp (虾皮), so it is not vegetarian despite being made of seaweed. Ask for it without if you need to.

Hǎixiān lúbāo

Yeasted dough parcels filled with chive and whatever is in season - yellow croaker, prawn, scallop or clam - packed into a flat pan and fried with a little water so the base caramelises into one crisp sheet while the tops steam. Sold by weight (per jin) rather than by the piece. The old Great Wall Hotel opposite the Qingdao Theatre is the name locals queue for, and it serves them at lunch only.

Tastes like: Crunchy fried base, soft bread top, hot seafood-and-chive juice inside.

Not on the menu but in it: Fillings change daily and are rarely written down - if you have a shellfish allergy, ask specifically, because prawn and clam are common in a bun sold as 'seafood'.

Chuōzi ròu / Qīngdǎo shāokǎo

Qingdao grills differently from the Xinjiang-style skewers found elsewhere in China: pork belly, ribs, intestine and prawns are laid in a shallow iron box over charcoal so the fat renders and the meat cooks in it, seasoned heavily with cumin and chilli. Sifang Road is the barbecue street. It is eaten at a plastic table with bagged beer, late.

Tastes like: Smoky, cumin-heavy and very fatty, with a concentrated seasoning crust.

Not on the menu but in it: The dry seasoning mix usually contains sesame and sometimes ground peanut. Pork intestine and other offal are standard items on the grill list.

Kǎo yóuyú

A whole squid, or a long strip of one, skewered flat and grilled over charcoal, then brushed with chilli and cumin and snipped into pieces with scissors. It is the default thing in your hand while walking a Qingdao night market, and the large 'oil-splashed' version (油泼大鱿鱼) appears as a proper dish in Shandong restaurants.

Tastes like: Chewy, smoky and savoury with a cumin-chilli crust.

Not on the menu but in it: Brushed with a sweet-savoury sauce containing soy and sugar; seasoning mixes often include sesame.

Hǎixiān lǔ miàn

Hand-pulled wheat noodles under a thick seafood gravy of prawns, clams, beans and beaten egg, thickened with starch so it clings. A Shandong home dish that doubles as a hangover cure and the thing locals eat at the end of a night of beer and clams. Stir it all together before eating.

Tastes like: Savoury, slightly gelatinous gravy over firm chewy noodles.

Not on the menu but in it: The gravy base is usually a dried-shrimp or clam stock; some versions use pork as well.

Cōng shāo hǎishēn

The classic Shandong banquet dish: dried sea cucumber rehydrated over days, then braised with whole scallions, soy and stock until dark and glossy. Qingdao and the Shandong coast are the main source of the prized spiky Apostichopus japonicus. Served as a small, expensive dish to be shared, usually at a proper restaurant.

Tastes like: Almost no flavour of its own - deep soy and sweet scallion with a slippery, springy, cartilage-like bite.

Not on the menu but in it: The braising stock is usually chicken or pork based. Price per portion is high because the raw material is expensive, and cheap versions use lesser species.

Suànróng fěnsī zhēng shànbèi

Scallops are left on the half shell, a nest of soaked glass noodles tucked underneath, then topped with minced garlic, chilli and a little soy and steamed so the noodles absorb everything that comes out of the scallop. Served half a dozen to a plate; eat the scallop, then the noodles with a small fork.

Tastes like: Sweet scallop, pungent garlic, and noodles saturated with shellfish liquor.

Not on the menu but in it: The orange roe is left attached - it is the richer-tasting part and is meant to be eaten.

Jītāng húntún

Thin-skinned wontons filled with prawn, pork or fish, floated in a clear broth boiled from old hen and pork bone, with dried seaweed, dried shrimp and coriander scattered on top. A breakfast and late-night bowl rather than a dish you order at dinner.

Tastes like: Clean, savoury chicken broth with delicate, almost dissolving wrappers.

Not on the menu but in it: The dried shrimp and seaweed garnish go in by default, and the 'vegetable' versions still sit in a meat broth.

Hǎixiān gēda tāng

Flour is rubbed with water into irregular pea-sized lumps and dropped into a seafood broth with prawns, clams, tomato and egg, so the soup thickens as the dough cooks. It is Shandong home cooking and the comfort dish that appears at the end of a seafood dinner to fill everyone up.

Tastes like: Mildly savoury and slightly tart from tomato, with soft chewy dough nuggets.

Not on the menu but in it: Dried shrimp or clam stock in the base; sometimes a spoon of lard.