Xiaoquan Guozhi Beef 孝泉果汁牛肉

Xiaoquan Guozhi Beef (孝泉果汁牛肉) is a numbing, spicy Hui Muslim beef snack from Xiaoquan (孝泉), a town in Jingyang District (旌阳区) of Deyang (德阳). The Jingyang District government calls it a well-known local Hui speciality with a long history, eaten with drinks, with meals, with tea or on its own as a snack.

Where it comes from

The name puzzles first-time visitors, because "guozhi" (果汁) means fruit juice and the beef hardly tastes of fruit juice. The district government gives two explanations. One is that the beef carries a fruity note. The other is that the dish was first called sauce-coated beef (裹汁牛肉); the complicated character guo (裹, to wrap or coat) was replaced in circulation by the same-sounding guo (果, fruit), and the new spelling stuck. The older name describes the method: a thick sauce is poured over the beef. In 2006 Deyang listed the Xiaoquan guozhi beef making technique as municipal intangible cultural heritage.

How it is made

Makers follow halal food rules and use only lean meat from healthy cattle. The beef goes through several inherited steps and is seasoned with a spice blend made from dozens of Chinese medicinal ingredients.

Flavour and texture

The district government describes it as numbing, spicy, fragrant and crisp, fine-textured, with a long aftertaste. Its taste is part of Deyang childhoods, and local people still reach for a bag of it as a snack in idle moments.