Huainan beef soup is a signature dish from Huainan, Anhui Province. In 2017, the craft of making Huainan Beef Soup was included in the fifth batch of provincial intangible cultural heritage representative items.

Walking through the streets and alleys of Huainan, you can spot bronze-colored cauldrons simmering beef soup everywhere. Vendors use fresh Jianghuai yellow cattle bones as the base, adding beef tallow and more than a dozen spices such as dried chili. After simmering for hours, the broth turns a rich, milky white.

The master cooks prepare ingredients such as bean curd sheets, sweet potato noodles, and chopped cilantro, warming them through before placing them in a bowl. A few slices of beef are added, and a bowl of beef soup that is salty, savory, spicy, and shimmering with droplets of oil is ready to serve. Paired with a freshly baked, crisp sesame flatbread, this steaming bowl of beef soup marks the start of a Huainan morning. There's nothing like a hot bowl of soup to warm and fill you, delivering deep, satisfying flavor.