What do Chinese eat for Breakfast? Top 10 Local Favorites

China is a diverse, multi-ethnic country with all sorts of cuisines available at local food streets and luxurious restaurants alike. If you are wondering what Chinese people eat for breakfast, you have come to the right place. Here you will get to know everything about a typical Chinese breakfast and the types of food eaten in China. Make sure you read our food safety tips for China before trying any dish.

1. Soybean Milk and Deep-Fried Dough Sticks

This breakfast set typically goes together, the two components are among the most common breakfast combinations in China. Some locals prefer fried dough sticks with rice congee. Soybean milk is made with a mixer, and you can have it freshly mixed or boiled in disposable cups at most breakfast stalls. Dough sticks are long, brown, deeply fried sticks of dough. You can eat them as they are or dip them in soy milk, which tastes better.

2. Steamed Buns with Meat, Soup, or Nothing

Chinese people eat steamed buns with any meal, but they are particularly common at breakfast. There is a nearly endless variety of flavours, both salty and sweet. Salty buns are filled with ground pork, eggplant, eggs, and vegetables like chives. Sweet buns are filled with bean paste, cream custard, sesame seeds, and sugar. They are very suitable for takeaway, and most stores and street stalls sell them individually. Two steamed buns are considered enough for breakfast.

3. Tofu Pudding

Tofu pudding is a well-liked Chinese snack made with extremely soft curd, or tofu, that comes from raw beans. It is loved across both northern and southern China. Flavours vary from one region to another: in the north, locals prefer salty tofu pudding with soy or salt, or with meat; in the south, people prefer the sweet version with ginger and sugar syrup.

4. Wheat Noodles

In northern China, wheat is more widely eaten than anywhere else in the country, so a bowl of hot, flavoursome wheat noodles is a standard breakfast dish. In Wuhan, hot and dry wheat noodles are eaten at breakfast by virtually everybody. The dish is made by sautéing boiled noodles, drying them, then scalding them quickly and adding spicy condiments. Lanzhou hand-pulled noodles are another well-liked food in China.

5. Rice Noodles

Rice noodles are a good alternative if you are allergic to gluten. They are made from rice, and although they look like wheat noodles, the taste is different. Rice noodles are usually eaten in the south, particularly Guangxi and Yunnan provinces. Guilin rice noodles are a famous, affordable meal. Locals eat the dish not only for breakfast but also for lunch or dinner.

6. Steamed Glutinous Rice

Rice dumplings are made from hot steamed rice wrapped in bamboo leaves. They are sold at street stalls and have a range of tasty fillings, from the sweet flavour of red bean paste, egg yolk, and lotus seeds to the salty flavour of fatty pork and chestnuts. They are particularly consumed as a festival food, you will find people eating these throughout the Dragon Boat Festival.

7. Rice Porridge or Congee

Congee is perhaps the most common mainstay of the Chinese breakfast. It is a mildly flavoured rice dish boiled for an extended period with plenty of water to soften the rice. To add seasoning, it is typically served with different toppings that vary from region to region, such as preserved vegetables, fermented tofu pudding, peanuts, eggs, and meat. It is often made with red beans, coix seeds, peanuts, and black rice.

8. Wontons and Dumplings

Wontons and dumplings are a similar kind of food, made of a square or round wrapper (a dough skin of flour and water) and fillings. Wontons are either stewed in an aromatic, watery broth, steamed in a bamboo steamer, or pan-fried. Sometimes wontons are served with noodles to make wonton noodles. They come with a huge variety of fillings, like ground pork, shrimp, fish, mushrooms, and other vegetables. The stuffing in dumplings is similar, and the cooking process is much the same.

9. Pancakes with Eggs

These are quickly cooked, thin pancakes or crepes generally stuffed with savoury or spicy ingredients. They can be spotted at any famous food street in China and are known as a favourite “breakfast on the run.” The pancakes are typically wrapped around a fried crisp dough slice and topped with fried egg, finely cut mustard pickles, scallions, coriander, and a spicy sauce.

10. Morning Tea and Dim Sum

Drinking morning tea is an ancient tradition in the Chinese breakfast. It is not a full meal but is well known for the traditional values and customs attached to it. The dishes enjoyed with morning tea are known as dim sum and are typically served in a little bowl or basket. Tea is an important component of a standard Chinese breakfast, with flavours including jasmine and chrysanthemum to choose from.

Breakfast dishes in China differ from region to region, but Chinese people typically eat soy milk and deep-fried dough sticks, steamed buns, tofu pudding, wheat noodles, or rice noodles in the morning. Those are some of the most traditional, popular, and noted Chinese breakfast foods.

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