Local Cuisine and Special Snacks in Chongzuo

Located in the border area of southwest China, Chongzuo boasts unique dietary customs. Its local cuisine belongs to the style of Guangxi dishes, featuring elaborate cooking techniques, rich blended flavors, and a predominant taste of freshness, aroma and mild spiciness. The local food also absorbs culinary characteristics of ethnic minorities including the Zhuang and Yao peoples, with a wide range of ingredients and distinctive flavors. Thanks to its proximity to Vietnam, Chongzuo’s dishes also inherit the traits of Vietnamese snacks: light and slightly sour taste, as well as diverse varieties.

When talking about food in Chongzuo, Pingxiang City is a must-mention. As an important trade port on the China-Vietnam border, it is dotted with authentic Vietnamese dishes and snacks. Delicacies such as sour fish soup, fried spring rolls and beef noodle soup are deeply loved by local residents. They are also exotic treats that no tourist should miss.

Bamboo rice is a classic specialty among ethnic minorities in Guangxi. Bamboo thrives across the Lingnan region. Pingxiang features a subtropical-to-tropical transitional climate with abundant sunshine, ample heat, warm and humid weather, plentiful rainfall and a long frost-free period — ideal conditions for bamboo and various plants to grow.

Pingxiang has a long history of bamboo planting, utilization and processing. Records show that bamboo was used to make tools here as early as the Warring States Period. Using bamboo for food preparation is a local highlight, for it gives out a delicate natural fragrance. To make bamboo rice, fill rice and water into bamboo sections, seal them and roast over fire, which perfectly retains the fresh aroma of bamboo.

Ingredients: Rice, peanuts, pork, light soy sauce, refined salt, monosodium glutamate, clean water, a little lard and five-spice powder, plus fresh green bamboo tubes.

This is a signature local dish and a traditional delicacy of Guangxi. Variations in ingredients and cooking methods across different areas create subtle differences in flavor. The finest suckling pigs are fed with glutinous rice or ordinary rice to ensure tender meat and thin skin. Generally, suckling pigs weighing around 4 kilograms that have not been weaned are preferred.

Slit the pig and prop open its cavity to air-dry thoroughly, then roast it over charcoal fire. Flip it continuously while brushing with soy sauce, honey and other seasonings. When the skin turns golden brown and sounds crisp when tapped, the meat will be soft and savory. Cut the roasted pig into small pieces on a plate and serve with wampee sauce, white sugar or sweet and sour sauce. It tastes crispy with a lingering aftertaste and is utterly irresistible.

Bahe fish balls from Tiandeng County are a genuine local snack. They can be boiled in soup, deep-fried, pan-fried or steamed. Chewy yet not tough, nutritious, free of fishy odor and light on the palate, they enjoy great popularity among locals and visitors alike.

The fish balls are made from carp caught in Donglie River and best enjoyed freshly prepared. They pair wonderfully with fish heads, rice noodle rolls, dried tofu sticks, soft tofu, tremella, shiitake mushrooms, sour bamboo shoots and pumpkin flowers in soup, delivering a rich flavor that never gets greasy. They are a regular delicacy on dining tables. Alternatively, steam the fish balls, then toss them with a sauce mixed with shredded ginger, chopped scallions, tomatoes and sesame oil to boost your appetite.

Leaf-wrapped rice remains a popular food in rural areas of Fusui, mostly prepared and eaten around the Qingming Festival. Crisphead lettuce is the traditional wrapper, which grows most vigorously during this season. Larger lettuce heads feature crisper, tenderer inner leaves for a better taste. This food carries distinct local characteristics.

It is simple to make: wrap cooked rice with clean lettuce leaves. The evolution of this snack also reflects the steady improvement of people’s living standards. In the past, when life was tough, people chopped wild vegetables and stir-fried them with rice, drizzled with peanut oil or lard. A small slice of fatty pork was added inside, then the mixture was wrapped with lettuce leaves.

Nowadays, although living conditions have greatly improved, locals still keep this tradition. It is believed that eating leaf-wrapped rice helps brighten eyes. As spring brings new leaves and blooming flowers, people regard this food as a symbol of good fortune for the year ahead. Today, people create diverse versions: stir rice with premium side dishes, or wrap meat, fish, mushrooms and other ingredients directly in lettuce. This traditional snack has become a precious part of local culture.

The second day of the second lunar month marks the Mugwort Cake Festival in Zhuang villages of Daxin County. Spring rains in the first lunar month make wild mugwort grow lush all around houses, hillsides and farmlands, sending out a faint refreshing scent. Villagers pick mugwort in their spare time, wash it and boil it in a large pot.

Take out the blanched mugwort, mix it with glutinous rice flour and brown sugar pieces, then pound the mixture thoroughly in a stone mortar. Knead the paste into small cakes, wrap them with plantain leaves and steam them in a bamboo steamer. The well-known local snack — mugwort cakes — is ready to serve.

Pork sausage-shaped rice cakes are the most iconic snack in Tiandeng County. Tasty, filling and never greasy, they are a favorite among local people.

There are two common ways to enjoy them:

For varied flavors, prepare dipping sauces with chili water, rice vinegar, soy sauce or syrup. A dash of sesame oil and chopped coriander will make it even more delicious.