Zhumadian Hulatang Peppery Soup 驻马店胡辣汤
Zhumadian Hulatang Peppery Soup is featured among the local specialties of Henan.
Zhumadian Hulatang Peppery Soup (驻马店胡辣汤) is part of the breakfast culture of Yicheng (驿城). In a 2019 essay for Zhumadian News (驻马店网), Liu Yunlai (刘运来) describes a local range of bowls united by pepper but differing in ingredients, proportions and seasoning.
What goes into the local bowls
Liu lists beef, lamb or chicken among the meats, alongside wheat gluten, kelp, vermicelli, thin tofu, peanuts and preserved mustard stem. Depending on the season and the maker’s regional background, additions include soybeans, wood-ear mushrooms, daylily buds, spinach and radish strips. Salt, oil, vinegar, ginger and scallion round out the seasoning.
A breakfast district grows
Liu traces the growth of the city’s breakfast trade to the late 1970s, when stalls gathered around the Gaojuezi (高橛子) area on southern Fuqiang Road (富强路). Majia (马家) and Li Laopo (李老婆) were representative soup sellers. Nearby stalls made scallion pancakes, beef-filled parcels, pan-fried buns and other breads.
From the 1990s, soup shops spread west and north, with makers including Cao Yunhong (曹运洪), Lao San (老三) and Heji (何记).
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and fact-checked against them on 2026-09-27. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.
Image credits & notes (1)
- A common version of Zhumadian Hulatang Peppery Soup · 驻马店胡辣汤常见做法参考照片。Photo: Windmemories · CC BY-SA 4.0Resized for the web; the photo itself has not been edited.
