Falling in love with Tiantai is easy: the picturesque landscape, the peaceful village stroll, the historical atmosphere, and the unforgettable local dishes.

Jigong Burrrito

Being a local favorite, Jigong Burrito is popular in China and beyond—it was exhibited as a representative Chinese delicacy at Shanghai World Expo. Legend has it that Jigong, a famous monk born in Tiantai, always took a flat bread to wrap some leftovers for his next meal. That is, as is largely believed, where the name came from.

To make a Jigong Burrito, you need a batter, which is a mixture of flour and water, and make sure it is soft and elastic. Take some of the batter to put on a hot pan, before smearing it evenly clockwise or counterclockwise; fill the freshly made flat bread with home-cooked shredded potatoes, fried eggs, stir-fried sliced meat… you name it, roll it up, and pan-fry it until it is nice and crispy. For Tiantai people working away from their hometown, this is a taste of home.

Bianshi Dumpling

Mainly made of flour, bianshi dumpling is finer than ordinary dumpling, and fuller stuffed than wonton. It is a traditional food for Dragon Boat Festival in some parts of Tiantai.

This is how you make it: prepare a flour dough, chop it into small squares, and use a rolling pin to roll out each square into a thin-skinned, palm-sized disc; put the filling—a well-stirred mixture of cooked radish, dried bamboo shoots, lean meat—into the middle of a disc; fold it and seal its edges.

After it is properly made, it could be cooked in different ways, such as boiling, steaming, and pan-frying. Just member: freshly made and cooked bianshi dumpling is the best, so dig in while it is hot.

Hulatai Pancake

For Tiantai locals, a decent breakfast cannot do without a piece of hulatai pancake, an authentic wheaten snack.

Make a thin yet elastic batter from wheaten powders, its main ingredient, spread some of the batter evenly over a hot pan to create an extra-thin pancake, then add filling on top to your liking: shredded potatoes, mustard greens, bean sprouts, eggplants, shredded pumpkin, eggs, dried vegetables, tofu... It takes less than 1 minute to cook a crispy hulatai pancake—easy breezy.

Huoshao Flat Bread

The recipe of huoshao flat bread, a type of baked, stuffed flat bread, is refined and convenient: make your pastry dough with leavened quality flour, flatten it to make wrappers, and stuff each wrapper with pork fat and chopped shallot as you shape it into a flat bread; brush some pre-stirred oil glaze at the top, which is to be coated with sesame; and press the flat bread onto the side wall of a special stove until it is baked perfectly.

Both the temperature and humidity of the working stove are attention-worthy, so is the aroma coming out of the stove—you know it is time for a  huoshao flat bread.

Sanhe Fried Gluten Ball

Similar to tofu sheet, fried gluten balls go well with meat. Since they are less dense in texture than the former and absorbs flavors easily, you may need a bowl of rice when eating a meat dish cooked with fried gluten balls, which could taste overly strong. The fried gluten ball made in Sanhe county is highly recommended for its extra softness and sweetness, and it is really delicious when stewed with marrow bones.

Tiantai Tofu Sheet

Tiantai Tofu sheet is a versatile ingredient, which appears in a wide range of popular dishes including stir-fried bean curd roll, spring roll, meat ball, and noodles. Light, thin, and resilient in texture, it is also nutritious and easy to carry and store, an ideal specialty for travelers to take back and give out as a gift—or enjoy for themselves.

Sheep Hoof-Shaped Pastry

Sheep Hoof-Shaped Pastry, as the name suggests, is a pastry shaped like a sheep hoof. It is not hard to make: take some leaven sweetened powder and shape it into a sheep hoof—rounded on all sides, flat on the bottom with a top divided into four flaps; sprinkle the top with sesame; and bake it until it is sweet and crispy. This is the kind of take-away local snack that soothes a stomach filled with too many greasy foods, and cheers visitors up whenever they feel tired and hungry.

Egg Tea

Egg tea is actually no tea at all. Making egg tea, or rather boiling water with whipped egg, is as simple as it sounds: while keeping the “tea” boiling, add some goji berries, red dates, dried longan fruit, brown sugar, yellow wine...the way you like it. It is a wholesome drink for autumn, for it helps reduce internal body heat and invigorate vital energy.

Shilian Tofu and Green Grass Jelly

Shilian tofu is a drink made from Shilian fruit (climbing fig fruit), and white in color. To make Shilian tofu: pack some Shilian fruit with a cloth bag to soak in well water, rub them repeatedly to squeeze out the gelatinous juice, and leave the juice to rest for about half an hour. Then this silken, crystal Shilian tofu is ready to serve.

Green grass jelly is a black-colored drink made by simmering a kind of “green grass”, which helps cool down internal body heat and clean blood vessels. It looks a little like Chinese herbal jelly, but tastes better.

Nine-Course Dish (Jiudawan)

Nine-course dish (jiudawan) is a traditional delicacy for wedding banquets in Tiantai. Each served in a big bowl, the nine courses are given different meanings, and must thus be served in a special order to deliver an auspicious message of “good fortune”. Because the “jiu”(九) in “jiudawan” (where it means “nine”)  sounds the same as another Chinese character which means “everlasting” (久), the name of the dish is auspicious as well.