Shenzhen is one of the most populous cities in China. Culture is mixed from many different regions, making the cuisine here very diverse and rich. So, what to eat in Shenzhen? Let’s check out our suggested 11+ best food in Shenzhen, must eat in Shenzhen which including best Shenzhen street food and famous food in Shenzhen as follows!
- Where to eat in Shenzhen? — 9 best restaurants in Shenzhen
- What to eat in Xinjiang? Enjoy 9 best Xinjiang street food
- Guide to Shenzhen nightlife — Top 5 things & what to do in Shenzhen at night
- Where to shop in Shenzhen? — 5 top shopping malls & best shopping places in Shenzhen
- Top places to visit in Shenzhen — 23+ must-see & best places to visit in Shenzhen
Now, let’s take a look at the Shenzhen delicacy below!
Chow Mein fried noodles (# must eat in shenzhen)
This is an indispensable dish in Chinese cuisine. Chow Mein Stir-Fried Noodles are also called crispy Chinese fried noodles. The main ingredients of Chinese noodles are quite diverse and can be from rice, wheat flour or mung bean starch… When preparing, Chinese people often add salt powder to make the noodles more flavorful.
The noodles will be more savory when delicately combined with meat, onions, carrots and some vegetables. You can easily see a Chow Mein noodle shop everywhere from sidewalk eateries to luxury restaurants. Although quite greasy, the food is really delicious and addictive.
Plain chicken
Few people know that Shenzhen has a breed of meat-eating chicken that is extremely firm and sweet. Although the meat is firm, it is not tough like old chicken, and is not as friable as industrial chicken. Thanks to the specialness found only in the chicken breed in Shenzhen, even a seemingly simple dish can become a specialty. The chicken is boiled and timed so that the skin does not fall apart, and the meat juice remains intact in the chicken, moist and succulent. Next, cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces, arrange it like a complete chicken, and serve with the famous sauce made from soy sauce, salt, vegetable oil, chili and ginger.
Different from boiled chicken elsewhere, chicken in Shenzhen is very firm and sweet. To boiling an authentic Shenzhen chicken is not simple, you have to measure the time so that the chicken meat does not fall apart and must be soft and succulent. After being cooked, the chicken is cut very carefully and arranged in the shape of a complete chicken. This dish is served with a sauce made from soy sauce, salt, vegetable oil, chili and ginger.
Winter melon Bowl with Assorted ingredients (steamed stuff water melon soup)
A uniquely delicious dish that you should experience in Shenzhen is the stewed winter melon bowl with other ingredients, also known as Winter melon Bowl with Assorted ingredients.
This dish is unique because the squash is cut and trimmed into a bowl shape, then all the intestines are cut out, pork, mushrooms, chicken soup, and seasonings are put into the cut out bowl and stewed for 30 minutes. You will be impressed with this unique, flavorful hot dish when you come to Shenzhen.
First, cut, grate and shape the winter melon like a bowl. Then put it it with pork, mushrooms, chicken soup, and ham into this winter melon bowl. Cover the “bowl” and stew for half an hour. This dish not only has a unique shape but also retains the hotness of the dish, giving diners unforgettable flavors. Looking at this dish is both beautiful and makes you curious to enjoy it, right?
Dim Sum (# best food in shenzhen)
For Chinese people, Dim Sum is like a “national” dish, a dish that you have been familiar with since you were a child. Dim Sum in Shenzhen is even more special because Dim Sum here is made seasonally, each season has its own type of Dim Sum. The soft, transparent shell covers the filling, which is smooth, rich and sweet. Some famous Dim Sum types in Shenzhen include: Shrimp Dumpling, Shumai, Lo Mai Gai (Steamed Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf),…
Kung Pao Chicken (# famous food in shenzhen)
Among the list of famous specialties of Shenzhen, it is impossible not to mention Kung Pao Chicken. This dish is famous for its characteristic spicy and fatty taste, because it is cooked with chili and peanuts. Kung Pao chicken dish has an irresistible aroma when it is still hot. When served on a plate, it looks very attractive with many eye-catching colors. But above all, the rich flavor in each carefully marinated meat, along with the signature tongue-tingling spicy sauce, is the plus point of the dish.
Not only does it have a “seductive” aroma, the dish is also decorated with beautiful colors, each piece of meat is sweet and rich due to being carefully marinated, anyone who tries it once will surely remember it for the rest of their lives, truly delectable.
Now, due to customer demand as well as more variety in dishes, in addition to chicken, some restaurants have added variations to this dish with pork, beef or seafood, however Kung Chicken Pao is still most loved by tourists.
Sweet and sour pork (# shenzhen street food)
This dish is distinctly Vietnamese yet it is a famous specialty in Shenzhen, and a familiar dish of Chinese people. The taste will definitely be different from Vietnamese food, “challenge” your taste buds with this new dish when traveling to Shenzhen.
Not only is it delicious, but the dish is also meticulously decorated… it looks extremely eye-catching. The main ingredients are pork and egg whites, fried thoroughly with pineapple and fresh bell peppers. Rich sweet tomato sauce is prepared from tomatoes, vinegar, starch, a little wine, salt, sugar and coriander.
Sweet and sour pork is not only delicious, but the way it is cooked, prepared, presented… is also extremely eye-catching. The main ingredients of this dish are very familiar and simple, including pork, egg whites, thoroughly fried with pineapple, and fresh bell peppers. The rich sweet and sour sauce is made from tomatoes, vinegar, starch, a little wine, salt, sugar and coriander. The finished sweet and sour pork dish has an attractive bright orange color and a delicious sweet and sour flavor that diners cannot refuse.
After completion, Sweet and Sour Pork has an eye-catching orange color, both sour and sweet, making many diners “infatuated”.
Dry hot pot (# what to eat in shenzhen)
It is a hot pot dish but is not cooked in broth but stir-fried until the sauce thickens, making it very unique and delicious. Shenzhen people often will use rabbit, duck, or chicken meat to cook dry hot pot. The sauce is used to dip vegetables or mixed with vermicelli or egg noodles and is delicious.
This is a quite special dish that often uses duck, chicken, and rabbit meat called hot pot, but it is not submerged in water like regular hot pot dishes but is stir-fried until the sauce thickens. This sauce is used for dipping vegetables, very delicious.
Mapo tofu
This is a dish with a long Chinese tradition and originates from Sichuan province. However, when it comes to Shenzhen, it is prepared in a more novel way, with a few additional typical spices to help people remember it longer. A perfect combination of the fatty taste of tofu, plus the strong taste of satay as well as the light fragrance of sesame oil, makes this Shenzhen dish popular with tourists and captivates even the most demanding diners.
Over 100 years of history, Mapo Tofu deserves to be the most “delicious and famous” dish of the Chinese people. Although originating from Sichuan province, MaPo Tofu in Shenzhen is also extremely “attract” diners.
The famous tofu dish has quite simple ingredients, including only young tofu and minced meat cooked with typical Chinese spices. A perfect blend between the soft fatty taste of tofu, the spicy taste of satay and the aroma of sesame oil gives this dish a signature dish in Chinese cuisine. If you have the opportunity to travel to China and explore Shenzhen, don’t forget to take the time to enjoy the super famous delicious dish Mapo Tofu for more interesting experiences.
Portugese Egg tart
Although it’s just a street food, Portuguese egg tarts are listed as a must-try delicious dish in Shenzhen. The egg tart is shaped like a flat bowl, biting into the crispy puff pastry crust, touching the skillfully made egg filling, soft and smooth like jelly, melting into the mouth is completely different from other egg tarts. The egg tarts here are extremely fragrant, fatty, and the crispy taste is extremely round, not too dry, so this is definitely a “must try” dish in Shenzhen. In addition to the traditional egg flavor, diners can order blueberry flavor, mango flavor,…
Lamb skewers
This dish in Chinese roughly translates to lamb grilled on a grill. Actually, the process of watching the chef prepare has contributed to making the dish several times more delicious in the eyes of visitors. Lamb is seasoned with different spices, quite strong compared to the taste of Vietnamese and some other countries, but the way they grill the meat makes the dish extremely delicious. During the processing process, the sellers also sing and dance to the music to attract diners.
Seafood BBQ
Another street food that attracts tourists when coming to Shenzhen is seafood BBQ. Fresh seafood is displayed on the shelves. After diners choose their dishes, they will have them grilled or prepared or simply heated up.
Roasted Goose of Gongming town
The whole roasted goose in Gongminh town, Shenzhen is a dish not to be missed. The townspeople have raised geese for generations, using them as food, so rest assured that they have the most delicious way to prepare geese. The goose is marinated with granulated sugar, salt, wine, fermented bean milk, garlic, fermented soybeans, soy sauce and honey for 40 minutes to 1 hour then baked in the oven. Thanks to that, the goose’s skin is always shiny, smooth and a beautiful cockroach brown color. The cut goose meat is still steaming hot with the special aroma of the marinated ingredients, making it delicious and irresistible.
Shajing Oyster
Among all types of oysters, oysters from Shajing town are still the best, one of the specialties in Shenzhen. Fishermen raise oysters using natural bricks exploited in the oyster area, ensuring fresh, large and delicious oysters, especially without sand. Shajing’s oysters are greasy and rich in protein, so they are nicknamed “sea milk” among Shenzhen people.
The oysters here are raised naturally by fishermen. When harvested, Shajing’s oysters are nutritious, fatty and rich in protein, so they are known as “sea milk” for the people of Shenzhen. You can grilled, steamed oysters… all are extremely delicious.
Wonton
Shenzhen wontons are delicious and full of flavor because they are made from minced meat, seafood and laksa leaves, then wrapped in a flour shell. Then it is put into a steamer until it turns white, has a strong aroma and the filling inside can be seen, meaning it is cooked. Enjoying the delicious taste of the cake with the rich, delicious spices that cannot be compared anywhere else will make you remember it forever.
Wontons are a famous dish typical of China, especially Shenzhen wontons. This is a dish that will not disappoint you when you enjoy it because it has a rich taste because it is made from ingredients. minced meat, seafood and vegetables, the shell is made from flour. After steaming, the wontons are clear white so you can see the filling inside, often served with a special sauce
Having a quite special flavor, wontons are made from minced meat, seafood and laksa leaves, carefully wrapped in flour shells, carefully shaped into a square triangle, almost like Italian Tortellini. The wonton is steamed until cooked and has a characteristic aroma, and the filling can be seen inside. In addition, crispy fried royal jelly is also extremely delicious and unique.
Some best day tours, trips, activities and transfer services, tickets in, from and to Shenzhen you can refer to
- Tangzaki. Tangquan Life TENZ (Futian Port Store)
- [Shenzhen’s largest ski resort] Karoo Ice and Snow World
- [Limited time offer] Shenzhen Wildlife Park Tickets
- Tickets for Shenzhen Mission Hills Ocean World
- Lollypet Cute Pet Paradise (the cute pets come from Shenzhen Wildlife Park)
- Window of the World Ticket in Guangdong
- Happy Harbor Ferris Wheel
- Shenzhen – Hong Kong Ferry Ticket
- Glass Hammer Brewing Co. in Shenzhen, Guangdong
- Private One Way City Transfers between Shenzhen and Surrounding Areas
- Shenzhen Shekou – Macau Ferry Ticket
Read more Shenzhen travel guide here and China guide here.