Ziyang Steamed Basin Stew 紫阳蒸盆子
Ziyang Steamed Basin Stew is featured among the local specialties of Shaanxi.
Ziyang Steamed Basin Stew (紫阳蒸盆子) is a traditional banquet dish of Ziyang County (紫阳县) in Ankang (安康), Shaanxi: a free-range chicken, pork trotters, lotus root and a long list of other ingredients steamed together in one basin for hours. The Ankang city government traces it to Hanwang town (汉王镇) in Ziyang and counts it among Ankang's first intangible cultural heritage items; Shaanxi Daily reports that its making technique is on the Shaanxi provincial intangible cultural heritage list.
Where it comes from
The Ankang city government says it began as a mixed dish shared by boatmen on the Han River (汉江) when they rested together, and later became the closing dish of the New Year's Eve reunion dinner. Shaanxi Daily adds two legends: that a cook improvised it overnight in a large black basin for Liu Bang (刘邦) and his army at Hanwangcheng (汉王城) in Ziyang, and that boatmen used their basins as pots on the river. The date it first appeared cannot be traced. The Han River crosses the county from west to east and the Ren River (任河) flows north into it; locals credit Ziyang's soft, selenium-rich water for the dish's taste.
How it is made
The Ankang government lists a whole free-range chicken (a young local hen), pork trotters, lotus root, red and white radish, daylily buds, wood ear mushrooms, shiitake, egg dumplings and soaked cuttlefish, seasoned with star anise, tsaoko, cassia, Sichuan pepper and dried chillies. Ingredients and seasonings go into the basin in stages, and it is steamed over water in a large wok for at least four hours.
Heritage bearer Wang Xiaoyong (王小勇) cuts the lotus root into chunks, blanches the trotters (fresh or cured) and marinates them for about two hours, then steams everything for four to six hours. The basins are cooled and refrigerated, and re-steamed for an hour before serving. He avoids pressure cookers, saying the short cooking time keeps the flavours from blending and changes the colour of the broth.
How it is eaten
Every Ziyang family's New Year's Eve dinner includes the dish, and people serve it to guests who have come from afar. It reaches the table with small side dishes. The broth is clear and fragrant and the trotters soft.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer on 2026-09-24. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.