【Delicacies in Haichuan Chemical Industry City】What are some delicious foods to try in Yulin, the city renowned for its coal chemical industry?

In northern Shaanxi, there is a folk song that is known to everyone in Yulin. That is to say, “The women of Mizhi, the men of Suidé; the slate-roofed houses in Qingjian and the charcoal from Yaobao… and the lamb noodles from Sisi Li Pu are truly special…” This shows just how popular the lamb noodles from Sisi Li Pu are. Suide’s lamb noodle soup features noodles that are chewy and firm, with a broth that is fresh and delicious. The meat has a delicious flavor; it’s truly outstanding. The 40 Li Pu mutton noodles are particularly popular among people in northern Shaanxi, as they are prepared with care and have a authentic flavor. After a long journey, a bowl of lamb noodles will surely leave you feeling refreshed, with all your fatigue gone. 2. Suide oil swirl pastry

Youxuan is a snack from Suide. The method is as follows: First, knead the dough with warm water, starting with a harder consistency and then moistening it to make it softer; let it rest for 2 hours. Next, place it on a floured surface and roll it into a long strip. Apply melted pork fat to it, continue rolling while thinning it out, sprinkle in chopped green onions, salt, and Sichuan pepper powder, then roll it into a ball and flatten it into a pancake shape. Then, put it on the griddle and spread lard on it before flipping it. Once the heat is just right, transfer it to the baking area below the flat griddle to be cooked until done. It has a golden, shiny color; its layers are as thin as wings, crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, with a rich, fragrant oil flavor. I heard that Yulin’s specialty dishes, lamb offal and youxuan, pair even better together~

Dry furnace is a famous snack in Zhenchuan. Knead the dough with warm water, making sure it is firm; sprinkle a pinch of dry flour on it, shape it by hand, and then cook it by first frying it and then baking it. It is shaped like a drum, with a small red mark in the center. It is said that when Li Zicheng was trapped by the Ming army in the mountains of Shangluo, he was able to resist for three months thanks to the dry stoves, which were hollow on the inside but brittle on the outside; they did not break over time, provided strength when used as food, and were ideal for storage or as food for travel ； If a little sesame oil is added when kneading the dough, an oil-based dried snack can be made that is both crispy and crunchy. As the saying goes, \"It tastes fragrant, is crisp to the bite, and leaves a distinctive flavor of dried snack in your mouth\" – indeed, it has a unique taste.

““Shagai mixed with dumplings” uses Shagai, a wild vegetable unique to the sandy areas of Yulin. It is made by cooking together pickled mustard greens, potatoes, tofu cubes, and dough balls, and its sticky texture has made it a favorite for many people. After a busy day, having a bowl of hot shagai mixed with dumplings for dinner satisfies hunger while also being a pleasure to eat. This is a traditional local home-cooked dish from Yulin; it’s definitely worth trying for friends from other places!

Yulin’s “Pin San Xian” involves cutting cooked pork into slices 1 centimeter wide, cooking them half in a braised sauce and half in a stewed sauce; potatoes are fried into slices, while vermicelli is cut into strips； Use raw meat along with seasonings to make meat balls, fried meat balls, and crispy meat pieces. After the broth comes to a boil, add pork, meatballs, crispy meat pieces, vermicelli, along with ingredients such as dried shrimps, water wood ear, water daylily, kelp strips, ginger, **flour, leek greens, scallions, coriander, salt, soy sauce, monosodium glutamate, spinach, and more.

“\"Qingjian pancake\" is a snack with the flavor of Qingjian. As early as the Yuan dynasty, Wang Zhen’s work \"Nong Zhong\" recorded that buckwheat could be \"processed by removing its skin and shell, ground into flour, and used to make pancakes to be eaten with garlic\", indicating its long history. Pancakes are made by turning buckwheat flour into a paste, which needs to be thin; this paste is then scooped onto a heated griddle to form paper-thin discs about 20 centimeters in size ； It is made by mixing mung bean sprouts or black bean sprouts with vermicelli, shredded meat, and fried tofu strips in a cold dish; pancakes can also be rolled around this mixture. It can be served with pork head meat and dipping sauce, offering a refreshing and appetizing taste – it’s truly a snack that young people really enjoy.

“The \"Zizhou stuffed buns\" use a flaky dough as the wrapper, filled with jujube paste, and are shaped using wooden molds, resulting in a red mark in the center and a rounded edge similar to that of a wheel. After several such buns are shaped, they are placed in a flat-bottomed pot and baked over medium heat until they turn golden brown. Its crust is crisp while the interior is sweet, with a pleasant jujube flavor. The ancients often used it to offer sacrifices to their ancestors or to honor the gods. To this day, people in northern Shaanxi still climb heights on the third day of March while making prayers for peace; hence it is also known as “Guo Xian”. Even when young men and women in northern Shaanxi get engaged, the groom is required to give 8 to 24 stuffed buns as a gift to the bride’s family, and these are also given as gifts to relatives and friends on regular occasions.