Shandong Cuisine Why This Chinese Food Is a Must-Try
Shandong Cuisine Overview🧸
Shandong cuisine, one of China’s traditional Four Great Cuisines and one of the Eight Great Cuisines, is the only cuisine among them that developed independently. As the representative of northern Chinese food and the foundation of Chinese home-style cooking, it is the oldest, most technically sophisticated, and most skill-intensive cuisine, embodying the culinary culture of the Yellow River region.
Around 2,500 years ago, the Confucian school in Shandong shaped the Chinese culinary aesthetic that values refinement, balance, and health. Later, in the late Northern Wei period, Qimin Yaoshu (compiled around 533–544 AD) summarized the cooking practices of the middle and lower Yellow River region—such as steaming, boiling, roasting, fermenting, pan-frying, stir-frying, simmering, quick-frying, deep-frying, curing, salting, and the use of fermented beans, vinegar, soy sauce, wine, honey, and pepper—thus laying the foundation for the framework of Chinese cooking techniques.
*Shandong Cuisine: Braised Sea Cucumber with Scallion
*Shandong Cuisine: Dezhou Braised Chicken
Origins and Development🍬
“Bordering both mountains and seas, blessed with fertile lands stretching for a thousand li” (Records of the Grand Historian, Treatise on the Wealth of Nations). Located in the lower reaches of the Yellow River with a mild climate, Shandong is home to diverse landscapes including great rivers, vast lakes, hills, plains, and the sea. This natural abundance has given Shandong cuisine an exceptionally rich and well-balanced variety of ingredients. Fruits and vegetables, poultry and livestock, seafood, freshwater fish, wild fungi, and preserved delicacies each account for roughly 15–18% of its dishes.
By contrast, Huaiyang cuisine relies heavily on freshwater products, and Sichuan cuisine on poultry and livestock. Since each ingredient is best suited to a different cooking method, this diversity of produce directly stimulated the broad range of cooking techniques in Shandong cuisine. Coupled with the region’s favorable natural conditions and over two millennia of Confucian influence—embodying the ideal of “food should not be coarse, and preparation should not be careless”—Shandong cuisine has developed into a grand and comprehensive culinary tradition.
Spring and Autumn Period🍖
During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the culinary traditions of Qi and Lu began to emerge. Dishes were primarily based on beef, lamb, and pork, while poultry, game, and seafood were also widely prepared. Numerous written records from that time describe the culinary standards and dining preferences. In the Western Zhou and Qin–Han periods, the capitals of the State of Lu (Qufu) and the State of Qi (Linzi) were flourishing cities, where the food and catering industry thrived and many renowned chefs appeared.
Qin and Han Periods
Archaeological findings from Han dynasty pictorial stones include nearly forty depictions of kitchens, more than half of which were unearthed in Shandong—ranking first among all provinces. This indicates the prominence of Shandong cooking in Chinese culinary history. Particularly notable is a finely detailed “kitchen scene” carved on a stone from a Han tomb at Qianliangtai in Zhucheng, at the southern end of the Jiaodong Peninsula.
Ming and Qing Periods
After the fall of the Northern Song, invasions and prolonged wars devastated the northern regions, causing a sharp decline in the Han population of the Yellow River basin. With the Song court’s relocation to Hangzhou, China’s economic center shifted south to the Yangtze River basin. Yet this did not prevent Shandong cuisine from continuing to advance. The integration of different ethnic groups introduced new seasonings, such as spices brought by Arab-Hui people, enriching the flavor palette of Shandong cooking.
During the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, Shandong’s proximity to the capital gave it a special advantage: Shandong chefs became an important source of talent for imperial and official kitchens, and Shandong cuisine was elevated through its service to the court. At the same time, Shandong supplied Beijing with premium ingredients—abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin, and fish roe became staples in imperial and official banquets.
Modern Period
Since the 1980s, the state and government have recognized Shandong cuisine as a treasured part of China’s cultural heritage, adopting policies to preserve and promote it. A new generation of chefs has flourished on this foundation, contributing to the continued evolution of Shandong cuisine. For decades, people in Shandong have also eaten the pupae of pine caterpillars.
In the 1960s, when pine caterpillars spread uncontrollably and aerial pesticide spraying proved ineffective, local residents were mobilized to collect them. Since silkworm pupae were already a common food, people began experimenting with pine caterpillars, and over time their pupae became a distinctive ingredient on Shandong tables.
*Shandong Cuisine: Stir-Fried Pork Kidney Slices
*Shandong Cuisine: Moo Shu Pork
Flavor Characteristics🥣
Savory and Umami as the Core
Shandong cuisine emphasizes the use of high-quality ingredients, highlighting their natural flavors with salt to enhance savoriness and rich broths to deepen umami. Seasoning is marked by a clean, salty-umami taste that preserves the original essence of the food. Green onions, a Shandong specialty, along with ginger and garlic, are indispensable in most dishes. They are used across methods such as stir-frying, quick-frying, sautéing, braising, and stewing. Onion-braised dishes, such as Braised Sea Cucumber with Scallions and Braised Tendon with Scallions, are especially prized for their strong onion aroma
From fillings and cold dishes to hot oil seasoning, the trio of scallion, ginger, and garlic is considered essential. Seafood, abundant and of superior quality, has a lighter fishiness; live shrimp, crabs, clams, and shellfish are often served with ginger and vinegar to enhance freshness. Premium ingredients such as bird’s nest, shark fin, sea cucumber, dried abalone, fish skin, and fish bones—delicate in flavor—are elevated with rich broths.
Mastery of Heat Control
Signature techniques of Shandong cuisine include bao (quick stir-frying over high heat), pa (braising), and basi (caramelizing with sugar threads). Among these, bao and basi are particularly celebrated. Bao encompasses multiple variations—oil-bao, sauce-bao, coriander-bao, scallion-bao, soup-bao, and fiery-bao. As the saying goes: “The art of cooking is like retrieving treasure from fire—undercooked and it remains raw, overdone and it is spoiled; success or failure lies in an instant.” The precision required for bao demonstrates Shandong cuisine’s mastery of fire, hence the proverb: “In China lies the food, but in Shandong lies the fire.”
Expertise in Soups🍲
Shandong cuisine regards soup as the source of all flavors, with clear soups and milky soups forming the foundation. Each type is distinct in appearance and taste—clear soups prized for freshness, milky soups for richness. As early as Qimin Yaoshu, methods for making clear soups were recorded. Many renowned dishes are based on these soups, such as Clear Soup Assorted Delicacies, Clear Soup Tremella, Clear Soup Bird’s Nest, Poached Squid with Egg White, Milky Soup with Water Caltrop, Milky Soup Eight-Treasure Stuffed Chicken, and Soup-Bao Double Crisp. These are often considered rare delicacies for high-end banquets.
Excellence in Seafood
The preparation of seafood, from premium treasures like sea cucumber, shark fin, bird’s nest, and shellfish to smaller marine delicacies such as fish, crabs, shrimp, and clams, is an area where Shandong chefs excel. Through their refined techniques, these ingredients are transformed into dishes that are both fresh and flavorful.
Emphasis on Dining Etiquette
Rooted in the straightforward and hospitable character of Shandong people, dining culture is generous and abundant, with hearty portions and emphasis on quality. Influenced by Confucian thought on ritual dining, Shandong cuisine stresses presentation and etiquette. Formal banquets often feature themed feasts such as the “Ten Perfections Banquet,” “Grand Banquet,” “Shark Fin Banquet,” “Abalone and Shark Fin Banquet,” “Sea Cucumber Banquet,” “Bird’s Nest and Shark Fin Banquet,” and the “Four-by-Four Banquet,” all showcasing the elegance and grandeur of Shandong cuisine.
*Shandong Cuisine: Quick-Fried Fish Fillets in Sauce
*Shandong Cuisine: Braised Prawns in Oil Sauce
Major Styles🍽
Jinan Cuisine
Jinan cuisine forms the core of Shandong cuisine and has great influence throughout the province. It is especially renowned for its soups, as reflected in the saying: “For opera singers it’s the tone, for chefs it’s the soup.” Both clear soups and milky soups are described in Qimin Yaoshu. Jinan cooking emphasizes techniques such as quick-frying (bao), stir-frying, braising, deep-frying, roasting, and poaching.
The style is practical and hearty, with a rich, robust, yet fragrant and tender character. Since the Qing dynasty, Shandong cuisine has been divided into the “Fushan school” and the “Jinan school.” Within Jinan cuisine itself, there are further branches such as the “Lixia style,” the “Zibo–Weifang style,” and the “Tai’an vegetarian style.”
Jiaodong Cuisine
Archaeological discoveries at the Baishi Village site in Yantai show that as early as six to seven thousand years ago, ancient settlers had already lived and thrived along the coast of Jiaodong. With its excellent natural conditions, fishing has been a long-standing tradition in the region. The 1,300-kilometer coastline of Jiaodong abounds with premium seafood such as sea cucumbers, scallops, abalone, conch, prawns, and perch, which determined its seafood-centered culinary character.
In historical periods when global maritime trade flourished and Chinese coastal ports such as Yantai and Qingdao opened to foreign exchange, Jiaodong cuisine absorbed and adapted many external culinary techniques, further shaping its development. The Jiaodong style emerged during the Ming and Qing dynasties, reaching its peak in the late Qing. Distinguished by unique ingredients and skilled craftsmanship, it is known for dishes that are fresh, crisp, and delicate, highlighting the natural flavors of the original broth. Its main cooking techniques include deep-frying, quick-frying, stir-frying, sautéing, steaming, pan-frying, and braising.
Kong Family Cuisine
The Kong family, descendants of Confucius, represent China’s oldest and largest hereditary clan, honored and ennobled by successive dynasties for over two thousand years. In daily life, the Kong family adhered to Confucius’ maxim, “Food should not be coarse, and preparation should not be careless,” pursuing refinement and luxury in their meals. Because the household often hosted emperors’ visits and received officials for Confucian ceremonies, banquets were frequent and elaborate.
Over the centuries, master chefs of the Kong household enriched and perfected these culinary traditions, elevating them into an art of remarkable sophistication. With its creative variety and distinct local flavor, Kong Family Cuisine became a unique style of “mansion cuisine,” occupying a prestigious place within Shandong cuisine and Chinese culinary culture as a whole.
Southwestern Shandong Cuisine
The cuisines of southern and southwestern Shandong, covering areas such as Linyi, Jining, Zaozhuang, and Heze, trace back to the ancient State of Lu. Local people are known for their respect for etiquette and their refined approach to food. Famous specialties include Linyi’s Eight-Treasure Fermented Beans, Linyi Soup Gruel, Shanxian Lamb Soup, Jining’s Clay Pot Pork, and Zaozhuang Spicy Chicken. Representative dishes of the region include Steamed Mandarin Fish, Braised Softshell Turtle, Milky Soup Crucian Carp, and Oil-Poured Silver Carp.
*Shandong Cuisine: Four Joy Meatballs
*Shandong Cuisine: Imperial Tofu