It is a traditional signature dish in Jinan. Jinan borders on the Yellow River in the north where the carps are fleshy and delicious with golden scales and red tails and is a signature dish in banquets. It is recorded in General Records of the Prefecture of Jinan that “carps in the Yellow River and crabs of Nanyang are both perfect raw materials”. It is said that “Sweet-and-Sour Carp” originated from the town of Luokou, a strategic post where the hotels made this dish using live carps and later spreaded to Jinan. The cooking techniques are perfected: to fry the carp in oil and then spread sweet-sour juice made of Luokou vinegar on the fish. It is crisp and fragrant and became a famous dish soon afterwards. The most popular one was that of the Huiquan Restaurant where customers could choose carps from pools in the yard and then cooked into dishes as soon as possible.

Features:
    It is deep red in color, crisp outside and tender inside, appetizing and delicious with sour-sweet taste.

    This dish is a representative of the Confucian Dishes which were used for official occasions. The dishes were meticulously prepared, the seasonings excellently adjusted, the serving plates were carefully chosen and made with all well-known cooking skills. Of all the cooking skills mostly used are: roast, stir fry, simmer and braise. The distinctive taste is light and delicate, fresh and tender, soft and fragrant and yet the natural flavor is not overpowered. The famous “Three Meats Soup” is especially important in attaining the fresh, fragrant, pure taste of Confucian Dishes.

Features:
    It tastes fresh and tender; the soup is creamy and milk white.

    Shandong Cuisine strives for pure flavor, prefers gentle and delicate taste and is well-known for freshness, tenderness, crispness and sweet smell. It pays much attention to the seasoning of clear soup and milk soup. The former is light and fresh; the latter is creamy and mellow. Swallow Nest in Clear Soup is one of the representatives.

Features:
    The swallow nest is snowy white; the pigeon's eggs are like willow leaves; the soup is sparkling, crystal-clear and mellow.

    It is a traditional famous dish in Shandong of a long history. It is said that this dish can be traced back to the middle of the Qing Dynasty. To please the local prominent officials and local gentry, Pork tripe and chicken's gizzard was sliced artfully by Jinan's chefs,and then quick-fried them in boiling oil. In this way, the tripe and gizzard which normally require boiling time now be ready for eat quickly. This dish tasted crisp and tender, fresh and refreshing and therefore it got popular in Jinan as “Quick-fried Double Slices”. Later, customers praised it crisp and tender so the name was changed into “Stir-fried Double Rolls”. Till the middle and the end of the Qing Dynasty, this dish was picked up by people in Beijing, then to the northeast of China, Jiangsu, etc... It thus became a well-known Shandong dish both at home and abroad.

Features:
    crisp, tender and refreshness.

    It is a local signature dish of the Jiaodong area in Shandong. The Shandong Peninsula is endowed with a long coastline with abundance of seafood delicacy choices, one of which being prawns. As is recorded in Sea Delicacies written by Hao Yixing, the Bohai Sea “abounds in largequantities of prawns which measure more than one chi and as big as children's arms. Fishermen net them and dry them up in the sun, marinate and sell them as prawns”. Prawns travel between the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea during the spring and autumn every year. They win fame both at home and abroad for their thick flesh, their freshness, their beautiful color and their good nutrition. Analysis shows that per 100g of prawns contains 20.6 g of protein, 0.7 g of fat, 35 g of calcium , 150mg of phosphorous and other nutrients like Vitamin A,etc... “Prawns Braised in Bro wn Sauce” has always been the most popular specialty dish in Shandong for its bright color and superb taste.

Features:
    It is vividly red in color and the meat is tender and fresh.