Xi'an Food Avoidance | Local Testimonial: Don't Believe Autumn is the Best Time to Eat These 7 Dishes for Four Meals During the Dog Days of Summer

The best season to make a special trip to Xi'an for food is not autumn, but the dog days of summer—a conclusion that might make people who have collected a bunch of "autumn food guides" want to curse me.

Most travel guides tell you that Xi'an's autumn is characterized by its clear skies and crisp air, and that hot paomo (pita bread soaked in mutton soup) is the perfect comfort food. But those who have lived there for more than five years know that Xi'an's summer is a seriously underestimated culinary window. During the dog days of summer, queues form for cold noodles with braised meat in the Muslim Quarter, fermented vegetables reach their most tangy and refreshing point, mutton soup is best enjoyed hot, and barbecue stalls only dare to set up their charcoal grills after dark. Autumn offers many seasonal delicacies, but missing out on these summer-limited foods means waiting another year.

Breakfast: Cold noodles with braised sauce from the Muslim Quarter, a "spicy and sour cold breakfast" only available during the hottest days of summer.

Liangfen (cold mung bean jelly) in braised sauce isn't available year-round; it's primarily served from around May Day until the end of the hottest period of summer. This breakfast, resembling "liangfen covered with a blanket," is perfect for when the summer heat hasn't fully set in. It offers a perfect balance of sour, spicy, cool, and smooth flavors, making it more refreshing than any hot soup. Tourists often assume that Xi'an breakfast only includes meatball soup, but they've missed out on this limited-time summer treat in the Muslim Quarter.

Locals have a fixed way of eating it: first, break off half of the flatbread and place it at the bottom, then pour on warm gravy, top with a layer of cold noodles, and finally drizzle with chili oil and sesame paste. It's not served with Bingfeng soda, but with large buckets of chilled plum juice from the Muslim Quarter. The plum juice has to be ice-cold; a bite of cold noodles followed by a sip of plum juice is all it takes to combat the sweltering heat of a summer morning.

Lunch: Lamb soup in a hot pot. Drinking hot soup during the hottest days of summer is the local way of fighting heat with heat.

Many people believe that one should eat cold foods during the hottest days of summer, but people in Xi'an insist on having a bowl of piping hot mutton soup at noon. This isn't anti-humanity; it's a traditional Shaanxi custom of "fighting heat with heat." After sweating profusely in the sweltering heat, drinking a bowl of clear soup sprinkled with scallions and cilantro helps to work up a sweat, which actually makes one feel cooler. This is similar to the principle of drinking hot tea in southern China.

Locals always serve mutton soup with freshly made crescent-shaped flatbread filled with meat and chili oil, along with two cloves of raw garlic. You add your own chili oil to the soup, but not vinegar. Side dishes include pickled chilies and kimchi. A bite of flatbread followed by a sip of soup, and you'll be sweating slightly – only then can you truly enjoy a proper midday in the sweltering heat.

Lunch Extra: Fermented Rice Soup with Fish – not fish, but the ultimate carb-rich cold dish for the dog days of summer.

"Jiangshui fish" sounds like a meat dish, but it's actually "small fish" made from cornmeal or starch, soaking in fermented broth. The fermentation process is most active during the hottest days of summer, resulting in the most authentic sour taste. After the hottest days, it loses its refreshing kick. Many tourists don't see this in cold noodle shops because it's a staple summer food in local households.

Locals eat fermented vegetable soup with fish, always with chili oil and stir-fried chives, topped with a spoonful of garlic water. The fish must be completely cooled, and the fermented vegetable soup should have a slightly sour and bitter taste, not too sweet. Slurping up a bowl of it cools you from your throat to your stomach—more effective than ice cream. Many of these stalls near older neighborhoods only operate in the summer; you can't find them in the fall.

Afternoon tea: Honey-glazed chilled rice dumplings paired with chilled fermented rice wine, a summer-limited dessert from the Muslim Quarter.

Honey-glazed chilled rice dumplings in the Muslim Quarter aren't just for the Dragon Boat Festival, but they're best enjoyed during the hottest days of summer. The dumplings are made by steaming glutinous rice, pressing it tightly, letting it cool completely, cutting it into pieces, and then spreading honey and rose jam on them. On hot days, these chilled rice dumplings are refreshingly cool and not sticky, and paired with a glass of chilled fermented rice wine, the sweet and sour flavor is a delightful afternoon treat for locals.

For chilled fermented glutinous rice, you must choose the freshly made kind from the local eateries, with a subtle osmanthus fragrance. Locals won't buy the sealed cups with added saccharin; instead, they'll stand in front of the stall and watch the vendor scoop it out from the ice bucket. A cool rice dumpling paired with chilled fermented glutinous rice, sprinkled with crushed peanuts, is sweet but not cloying, instantly relieving the sweltering heat of a summer afternoon. In autumn, this combination is often only available at room temperature, lacking the soul of being chilled.

Late-night snack: charcoal-grilled meat with Bingfeng soda, and cumin flavor that you only dare to eat on a sweltering summer night.

It's too hot during the day, so the barbecue stalls in Xi'an really come alive after 9 pm. As the summer night breeze picks up, the small skewers of meat grilled over charcoal begin to smoke, and the aroma of cumin and chili finally dares to waft into the air. Tourists love chain restaurants, but locals only recognize the kind of small stalls where a bunch of skewers are grilled over charcoal, and smoke billows everywhere.

When locals eat barbecue, they always order a mix of tendons, kidneys, and beef tendons, using thin iron skewers, small pieces of meat, and a high flame. Pairing it with Bingfeng soda is a must; it has to be from a glass bottle—canned soda just doesn't have the same fizz. A bite of juicy tendon, a sip of ice-cold Bingfeng, and a piece of grilled dry bread—that's the kind of exhilarating tug-of-war between fire and ice on a sweltering summer night.

To finish the late-night snack: cold noodles with sesame sauce, the sour, spicy, and savory flavor brings out the last bite of the day.

Another must-try on summer evenings in Xi'an is sesame sauce cold noodles. Unlike the Qin Town rice noodles that tourists often eat, it emphasizes the complex flavor of sesame sauce, garlic juice, and mustard. Eating a bowl of cold noodles on a hot summer night won't fill you up, but it's just the right amount to counteract the greasiness of grilled meat, leaving a lingering aroma of sesame sauce and chili oil in your mouth.

Locals often ask for extra mustard when eating sesame sauce cold noodles, and pair it with a small bowl of eight-treasure porridge. The cold noodles, coated in sauce, are slurped up and then followed by a sip of lukewarm eight-treasure porridge—a delightful contrast of sweet and savory flavors. Eating this on a summer night truly brings a sense of calm. While it's still available in autumn and winter, the coolness of the sesame sauce and cold noodles lacks that same urgent, comforting feeling.

In conclusion

First, don't ask locals if it's hot in Xi'an during the dog days of summer. It is definitely hot, but the braised jelly and chilled fermented rice are only truly delicious when it's at their hottest.

Second, don't consider the main street of the Muslim Quarter as your only option. The real summer retreats are hidden in the back streets and alleys of Sajinqiao and Dapiyuan. Following the old men queuing up is more reliable than any travel guide.

Third, don't queue for braised cold noodles at 2 pm, as many stalls close at noon. If you want to eat them, you have to go early.

Fourth, do not use canned Bingfeng (a local beverage) instead of glass bottles; the flavor is different, and locals do not recommend it.

Fifth, don't order "no chili, no garlic" dishes during the hottest days of summer. These dishes rely on chili oil and raw garlic for flavor, and removing them will leave them barely alive.