Dear Steemit friends:

Today we'll be having a look at one of the speciality's of Shaanxi cuisine, the Meat and Bread soup. This is a traditional dish that has existed since the 11th century and was originally intended as an tribute offer to the Emperor. In the Song dynasty, the dish was so popular that it was even cited by the famous poet Su Dongpo (Shu Shi) praising the food for it's marvellous taste. Today, the Meat and Bread soup has become a signature dish of Shaanxi cuisine, a staple offering at restaurants all over the region.

The Meat and Bread Soup consists of Beef and Lamb meat in a stew, finally Pita bread is soaked into the soup making for a very filling and also very warm dish, perfect for the winter months. Not only can it warm your stomach up, it's also incredibly filling because of the bread which soaks up the soup and expands. The Meat and Bread soup is now one of the first dishes visitors to Shaanxi will try.

So today, I'm taking a visit to a popular local restaurant that features this dish. At the entrance, there are two proverbs either side of the door which I found very fitting. One the left, it says "To know the taste, will be why you stop your car" on the right, it says "When you smell the food, you'll get off from your horse". Basically two reasons why people will come to this restaurant!

When you enter, you immediately get a feel of the ancient fragrance and the ancient colours.

The kitchen is behind the see through glass windows where you can see the chefs preparing the meats. The chefs are all of Hui Ethnic origin, meaning that they are Muslim and thus prepare and serve Halal meats.

There are plenty of customers, the atmosphere is very lively.

Sterilized Chopsticks.

On the toothpick cup, there is some numbers for the substitute drivers. In the North of China, people like to drink alcohol whether it's lunch time or dinner. So substitute drivers are a great way to put ease to the mind when drinking knowing that someone else can drive you home.

When eating the Beef Lamb Meat and Bread Soup, you can also prepare the bread crumbs yourself from the pita breads provided. Simply tear them into small pieces and soak in the soup.

Bread Tearing ：

First tear the round shaped bread into four pieces.

Then, take each of the larger pieces and tear into two further layers. Afterwards, take each and tear until they're the size of soy beans.

The first time I tried to tear the bread myself, it took about 20 minutes.

Once you've torn the bread into the desired small pieces, you hand the bowl of little bread crumbs to the chef who will then prepare the Meat Soup.

Cooking Points：

The meat soups have 4 styles dependent on the preferences of the diners.

a. Meat soup is served with the bread separately. Diners like to dip the bread into the soup and eat it that way.
(The other three are differentiated by the proportion of soup added)
b. Soup is poured thoroughly to allow for full permeance of the bread. After eating, nothing is left in the bowl.
c. Soup is left after eating
d. A lot of soup is left over and some bits of bread crumbs. The soaked bread is very smooth because of how much soup it has absorbed.

This is my masterpiece, pretty good right? The smaller the pieces of bread, the more surface area for the soup taste to permeate into the bread. Nowadays many restaurants employ the use of machines for tearing the bread up, but most locals choose to use their hands. It's the tradition!

We ordered type d, and here it is !

A must have amenity is the sweet garlic!

The garlic has two uses, one to curb the grease, but second is to neutralise the heavy taste of lamb.

Ingredients：

The quality beef and lamb is first cut into thin slices. It is then cooked with green onions, ginger, sichuan peppers, threads of Chinese cabbage, cooking wine and vermicelli

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Eating ：

Do not use your chopsticks to stir and mix whilst eating.

The authentic way of eating usually includes adding some coriander as well as cayenne pepper paste. Then, you use the ladle to eat until you're left with the soup.

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There are also vegetarian soups for those that do not eat meat.

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the 'd' method of eating will leave quite a bit of soup with chopped onions remaining. You can take a few spoons of the soup to help reduce the greasey after taste.

Lets take a look at some of the side dishes you can eat along with the Meat and Bread Soup.
The cold salad consisting of cucumber, potato and radish.

Cold sesame seed spinach.

Cold dried tofu strips with celery.

Sour soup dumplings.

Meatballs with braised vegetables.

I would say that the meat and bread soup is a very filling dish. It will definitely suffice on it's own as a main dish. In fact, I can eat this one meal and feel no appetite for the rest of the day. So, don't order too much if you decide to come!

今天我想带大家去探索一个有趣的陕西风味小吃——牛羊肉泡馍，它起源于公元前11世纪，当时是进贡皇帝时的饮食，到宋朝甚至有著名诗人苏轼写诗词歌颂，如今它成为陕西美食的代表小吃。今天就请跟随我，一起走进当地的泡馍店来品尝一下吧。走进餐厅，古香古色。透明的厨房里厨师正在切牛羊肉。带着白帽子的厨师都是回民，穆斯林清真办法烹饪的食物是非常干净的。装牙签的筒子上写着代驾服务，因为北方人无论中午晚上都喜欢喝酒，有了帮人开车的服务，开车的人就可以放心喝酒了。掰的讲究：首先将圆饼形状的馍掰成四块。然后每块分别掰成两层，最后把每小块慢慢掰成黄豆大小。第一次掰馍的我确实花了快20分钟掰碎一个馍。之后把掰好的碎馍交给服务员去制作泡馍。厨师们用大锅煮馍。煮的讲究：根据食客喜好，泡馍分成四种不同类型：a. 一种是分别上来汤和馍分开吃，或者吃馍的时候在汤里泡一下在吃，不用掰开馍b.要求汤水分完全渗入泡馍，吃完碗里无汤无馍无肉c.吃完碗里只剩一口汤d.汤多馍散，泡的馍非常润滑水分多。这是我的杰作，还不错吧？馍掰的越小，烹煮出来才入味，吃起来香。当然很多餐厅现在开始采用机器搅碎馍，但是本地人很少这么吃。自己亲手掰出来的馍，吃起来才香。飘香的泡馍上桌了。我们点的是汤比例最多的d类型。吃泡馍必备的甜蒜。因为吃大蒜一方面避免腻口，更可以中和羊肉的膻味。配料的讲究：将优质的牛羊肉洗切干净，煮时加葱、姜、花椒、白菜丝、料酒、粉丝等等。吃的讲究：吃的时候不要用筷子来回搅动。地道的吃法是配上香菜和辣子酱，用勺子一口一口慢慢品味，之后会把汤喝掉。除了牛羊肉泡馍，还有素食泡馍，可以让吃素的人一饱口福。d吃法吃完需再饮一小碗漂有香菜和葱花的高汤，以去油腻。对于吃牛羊肉泡馍的建议，我想说，这么一碗泡馍，分量很足，又全部是主食，可以让我一天不用吃其他食物了，所以如果你不是和一堆朋友一起来吃，就建议少点一些免得浪费了。