Beijing Noodles and Dumplings: Zhajiangmian, Jiaozi and Guotie

Wait in a Dongcheng hutong around midday and you will hear the rhythmic thwack of wheat dough hitting a wooden board and the call of waiters shouting noodle orders across courtyard dining rooms. Located in China's northern winter-wheat belt, Beijing treats boiled dumplings, potstickers and hand-pulled noodles not as side snacks, but as ceremonial centrepieces for family reunions, winter solstice feasts and everyday lunches.

Old Beijing Zhajiangmian (Fried Sauce Noodles)

The capital's signature noodle bowl is Lao Beijing Zhajiangmian, a dish of deceptive simplicity that comes to the table in three parts: a bowl of thick, chewy hand-pulled wheat noodles (ask for guoshui, rinsed in cool water for extra springiness in summer, or guotiaor, served piping hot from the pot in winter); a small porcelain dish of dark, glossy zhajiang made by slow-simmering diced pork belly in a blend of dry yellow-soybean paste (ganhuangjiang) and sweet fermented flour paste until the oil separates; and up to eight tiny porcelain dishes of fresh vegetable garnishes (caima).

Waiters sweep the julienned cucumber, pink heart-of-radish strips, blanched yellow soybeans, bean sprouts, celery and garlic shoots into your bowl with a dramatic clatter of porcelain, then spoon the hot pork-bean sauce over the top. Mix everything thoroughly before your first bite, and ask for a complimentary mug of warm, cloudy noodle cooking water (miantang) at the end, following the northern proverb Yuan tang hua yuan shi (the original broth digests the original food). Look for Michelin Bib Gourmand favourite Fangzhuanchang No. 69 Zhajiangmian near Nanluoguxiang or Haiwanju.

Boiled Jiaozi, crispy Guotie and emerald Laba Garlic

When ordering northern boiled dumplings (shuijiao) or cast-iron pan-fried potstickers (guotie, left open at both ends so the juices caramelise into a lacy golden crust), look beyond standard cabbage-and-pork to try two unmistakably Beijing fillings:

• Pork and fresh fennel fronds (zhurou huixiang): fragrant green fennel herb grows abundantly around the capital and pairs wonderfully with rich minced pork.
• Three Delicacies (sanxian): a savoury vegetarian or seafood blend of scrambled egg, chopped shrimp or sea cucumber, Chinese chives (jiucai) and wood-ear mushrooms.

On every dumpling table sits a jar of dark Shanxi aged vinegar alongside cloves of bright emerald-green Laba Garlic (labasuan), garlic pickled in rice vinegar during the twelfth lunar month until natural enzymes turn the cloves jade green and mild.