Qiaojiao Beef (EatingBeef with Crossed Legs)

This is another dished favored by people from all ages. The cooked belly, tendons, chitterlings and tongue of cattle are poured into cattle bone soup with in-season vegetables, and served with pepper-made condiment sauce. The beef is steamed with salt, MSG, spice, oil and pepper, and served with chopped green onion and parsley. This dish has some medicinal effect and can be found in many snack bars in the city.

It is said that, in the early 1930s, when life was hard for the people, there lived an old doctor, Doctor Luo, who was good at traditional Chinese medicine. With a hope to save the people, he decocted medicine at the side of the street. His decoction could not only prevent disease and quench thirst, but also treat common illness like cold, stomachache and toothache. One day, he found that the rich people deserted offal of cattle into the river, he felt very wasteful, and so he picked up and cleaned the offal and poured them into his decoction. The soup was so surprisingly tasty that along with its curing effects, it attracted a lot of people to drink. For the popularity, there always lack seats. But people still preferred to come, even just sited with cross-legged on the stage in front of the gate enjoying the delicious soup. That’s why it gained the name as “Qiaojiao” (which means sit with cross-legged ) Beef.

After years and generations of development, Qiaojiao Beef has already become a widely known local snack. As a medicinal dish to tonify people’s organs with animals’ organs, it has greatly enhanced the level of this local dish. The soup of Yang’s Qiaojiao Beef, besides the use of traditional recipe, adopts medicinal dates, dried goji berries and Chinese angelica, along with over 20 herbs, making it more nutrient. Now, the Yang’s Qiaojiao Beef are well developed with five characteristics of savory soup, tender ingredients, body strengthening, beauty maintaining and diversified serving ways.