Jinggangshan Cuisine

Jinggangshan cuisine belongs to the Luling culinary school. It features exquisite knife skills and precise heat control. Braising, simmering and stir-frying are the most common cooking methods. The dishes are richly aromatic, mostly sour and spicy, with a crispy, tender and soft texture. Ingredients are mainly local farm produce, carrying strong regional flavours.

Famous local dishes include the Whole Imperial Feast, Yongxin Dog Meat, Home-style Stir-fried Blood Duck, Glass Carp, Sautéed Stone Frogs, and Dry-fried Orange Peel Shreds.

Travel Tip: Apart from classic local dishes, tourists should try the distinctive red rice served in nearly all local restaurants across Jinggangshan.

Pumpkin is a healthy food. Mountain-grown pumpkins taste exceptionally sweet. The soup made from them is delicious and highly nutritious.

Chicken is braised slowly with lard and dried chili peppers. The finished dish has a glossy reddish colour, rich aroma and melt-in-your-mouth tenderness.

Red carp steamed together with shiitake mushrooms. It is bright red, sweet and fresh, with delicate and smooth flesh.

Fresh young duck meat is stir-fried with dried chili peppers and garlic cloves. The dish is purplish-red, spicy and savoury, with extremely tender meat.

Dried orange peels are stir-fried with ginger, chili peppers and cauliflower cores. It tastes crisp and tender with a strong citrus fragrance. This dish helps clear internal heat when travelling.

Jinggangshan Winter Wine, Jinggangshan Old Cellar Liquor, Jinggang Pure Liquor, Jinggang Red Rice Wine, Jinggang Pumpkin Wine, Jinggang Kiwi Fruit Wine, Duihua Tribute Liquor, Duihua Special Qu Liquor, as well as Jinggangshan mineral water.

Dozens of local dishes are made with three mountain specialties: stone frogs, stone fungus and stone fish. Popular choices: Sautéed Stone Frogs, Sweet-and-Sour Stone Frogs, Stewed Stone Frogs, Chicken Steamed with Stone Fungus, Sautéed Stone Fungus, Stone Fungus Soup, Clear-stewed Stone Fish, Orchid-style Stone Fish and Stone Fish Soup.

Orchid bamboo shoots, stir-fried winter bamboo shoots with mushrooms, magnolia slices, dried bamboo shoots, bamboo shoots sautéed with shiitakes, pickled vegetables with young bamboo shoots, pickled vegetables with winter bamboo shoots, cured pork with winter bamboo shoots, pork tripe tips with winter bamboo shoots.

Braised mole cricket (locally called "Xiangmang", not a protected species), dried mountain rat, loach soup with pickled radish, stir-fried bitter herbs and red leaf greens.

Stir-fried Blood Duck, Braised Dog Meat, Clear-stewed soft-shelled turtle, Braised soft-shelled turtle, Stewed Wushan Chicken, Crispy Jinggangshan Chicken, Crispy Jinggangshan Duck, Eight-Treasure Stuffed Duck, Stuffed Triangular Tofu, Pan-fried Dried Loaches, Loaches with Rice Noodles, Rice-noodle Steamed Goose, Four Stars Over the Moon, Braised Wild Boar.