Liangpi & Persimmon Cakes: Xi'an's Two Best Cheap Snacks

Liangpi (凉皮, liángpí) is what Xi'an eats when it's too hot for noodle soup. A thin wheat-starch batter is steamed in flat pans into translucent sheets, then cut into wide ribbons and tossed cold with black vinegar, chilli oil, garlic water, shredded cucumber, bean sprouts, and often chewy squares of wheat gluten (面筋, miànjīn). The texture is unusual — slippery, bouncy, almost jelly-like — and the dressing is sharp and cooling rather than heavy. At ¥8-14 ($1.10-2) it's the perfect counterweight to a roujiamo, and the standard local lunch combination is one of each.

There are regional sub-styles. Majiang liangpi adds sesame paste; Hanzhong-style rice-flour liangpi is softer and served with more vinegar. Vegetarians can eat liangpi almost anywhere in Xi'an with confidence, which makes it a genuinely useful dish here.

Persimmon cakes (柿子饼, shìzibǐng) are the sweet counterpart, and they're a true Xi'an specialty you won't reliably find in other Chinese cities. Persimmons from nearby Lintong (临潼) are mashed into a dough, wrapped around walnut, sesame, or rose-and-sugar filling, and fried on a flat griddle until the outside is caramelised and blistered. Straight off the pan they're crisp-edged, molten inside, and taste faintly of honey and dried apricot. Cold, they're leaden.

You'll see them being flipped in enormous shallow pans throughout the Muslim Quarter, usually two or three vendors deep. Buy one, not four — they're much richer than they look.

Where to eat: Wei Jia Liangpi (魏家凉皮) for a dependable ¥12 ($1.70) bowl citywide; persimmon cake griddles on Xiyangshi (西羊市) and Dapiyuan (大皮院) lanes, ¥5-8 ($0.70-1.10).