Xunxian Eight-Bowl Banquet 浚县八大碗
Xunxian Eight-Bowl Banquet is featured among the local specialties of Henan.
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Xunxian Eight-Bowl Banquet (浚县八大碗) is the traditional set of four meat and four vegetable bowls served in Xunxian (浚县), a county of Hebi (鹤壁) in Henan, at weddings, funerals and meals for honoured guests.
The eight bowls
The four meat bowls are mainly pork, using selected pork shank and hind-leg meat: pork with fermented bean curd (腐乳肉), small crisp pork pieces (小酥肉), bowl-steamed pork turned out onto the plate (扣肉) and square-cut pork (方肉). The four vegetable bowls are based on pizha (皮渣), a local starch cake, kelp, vermicelli and tofu.
The Xunxian County People's Government describes the traditional set as economical and simple to make, and says it once brought together eight cooking techniques: pa-braising (扒), covered braising (焖), cooking in soy paste (酱), braising with sauce (烧), stewing (炖), stir-frying (炒), steaming (蒸) and cooking with a thickened sauce (熘).
Where it comes from
Generations of cooks refined the bowls, and by the Republican era (1912 to 1949) the dishes in the set had largely settled into a fixed menu with a local reputation. The county government repeats a story that during the Qianlong reign of the Qing the eight bowls counted among the "lower eight treasures" (下八珍) of the Manchu-Han imperial feast (满汉全席). It also cites a work on Manchu bannermen's rites, the Manzu Qiren Jili Kao (满族旗人祭礼考), which records rich families serving eight bowls at New Year, festivals, celebrations, welcomes, send-offs and weddings.
In the county's account, the Xunxian eight bowls keep a Manchu taste adapted to Han eating habits. At family weddings and funerals, or when entertaining honoured guests, they are indispensable. The set can now be had outside Xunxian too, including in Xinxiang (新乡), and has moved into hotels and everyday life as a banquet for receiving guests.
More dishes to compare
Explore related local specialties and compare their names, preparation notes and ordering guidance.
Luoyang water banquet 洛阳水席 →
Another fixed Henan banquet of many bowls; Luoyang's is built around soupy dishes, while the Xunxian set is four pork and four vegetable bowls.
Questions before you order
What is in the Xunxian Eight-Bowl Banquet?
Four pork bowls (pork with fermented bean curd, small crisp pork pieces, bowl-steamed pork and square-cut pork) and four vegetable bowls based on pizha starch cake, kelp, vermicelli and tofu.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and fact-checked against them on 2026-09-24. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.