Yangshuo cuisine is known for its snacks and the use of spices, especially chili. Yangshuo food generally is categorized as four parts: local snacks, specialties, rural food and local western food.

The below are some famous Yangshuo snacks, food and cuisine.

Yangshuo Beer Fish  

Yangshuo Beer Fish is Yangshuo's most famous dish. It is made from fresh caught Li River carp. The fresh fish is fried in a wok along with beer, hot and green peppers, garlic, onions, celery, tomatoes, soy, and sugar. Visitors are amazed at how delicious the fish's skin is and how fresh and tender the meat is. Eating Yangshuo's beer fish will be an unforgettable culinary experience.

Yangshuo's famous West Street has many restaurants serving this delicious dish. The Tao's Authentic Beer Fish and The Older Sister of Peng's Beer Fish come highly recommended.

Lipu Kourou

This dish is made using the taros from Lipu, streaky pork and other spices. Fry the taros and streaky pork in the oil separately and place them alternately in a bowl, then braise them together. After both the taros and pork are cooked, reverse the bowls and leave them lying on a plate. In Chinese, Kou just means 'reverse' or 'upside down', hence the name of the dish. The dish always has a golden color and tastes fluffy and tender but not greasy.

Steamed Sliced Pork with Taro

Steamed Sliced Pork with Taro is a famous traditional dish of Guilin, and reputed as a ‘Famous Food in China’. It is cooked with taro, streaky pork, mashed garlic, five spice powder, cooking wine and coriander. The taro and streaky pork is first fried, and then steamed to create the special flavor.

Fried Field Snail

The Fried Field Snail is also worth eating. It has a peculiar cooking method and tastes fresh and palatable. Before cooking, the field snails will be put into clean water to remove sand and grit, then stir-fried with cooking oil, salt, ginger and cooking wine, and finally boiled together with perilla leaf, chili and pork bones. Recommended places to eat this dish are West Street, Guihua Road Food Street and the stalls in night markets.

Guilin Rice Noodles

Guilin Rice Noodles are well-known in China, with a unique flavor and smooth taste. Guilin Rice Noodles can be divided into three kinds, noodles with stewed meats, noodles with soup, and noodles with horse meat. If you don’t like chili, you should tell the chef in advance!

Niang Dishes

"Niang" is a Chinese name in Pinyin, expresses using unique cooking method of combining various ingredients for stuffing (usually consisting of meat or egg) into a type of carrier (made of vegetables or bean products), then braising, boiling or frying them together. There are quite a lot varieties of Niang dishes, among which the most delicious is the Tianluo Niang. Select some paddy field snails shell and put the meat into the shells together with other seasonings such as ginger, mint and pork. Finally stir-fry them together. This dish smells savory and unique tastes.

Yangshuo Stick Rakes

Glutinous rice is widely used to make many snacks in Yangshuo. Baba, is the Chinese name for Stick rakes, is the most special one that can be made by steaming, boiling or frying other ingredients together such as sesame, broomcorn, chestnut and brown sugar. Water Steamed Leaves Baba, Fried Yinzi Baba and Sugar Soup Boiled Tangyuan Baba are really worth tasting.

Fenli

This snack is usually available around the Spring Festival (one of the national festivals of China). Rice is ground into thick liquid and made in the form of short cylinders that are then steamed and dried in the sun. The cylinders are finally cut into strips and fried with preserved hams, cauliflowers and some garlic.

Liangfen (local agar-agar jelly)

This is a kind of transparent crystal made of rice. When you eat it, you should firstly place it in pieces in a bowl and then pour some brown sugar syrup and vinegar on it. It tastes quite cool and refreshing.