The Muslim Quarter in Xi’an is where good local food is to be found. Get away from the crowds to try the authentic fare

You will never see this dish in any travel book or on any website, but this is real local food,” says Hu Ruixi, who founded Lost Plate tours in Xi’an in China’s Shaanxi Province. Confronted with a bowl of grey, steamed, spiced meat (beef, apparently) and fat, this somehow doesn’t surprise me. Making a sandwich overstuffed with this, and alternating bites with raw garlic, it embodies some of the key elements of Xi’an food – and is more appetising than it looks.

Mark Andrews has written about everything from Japanese houses to heli hikes on New Zealand glaciers, test drives of Chinese cars to bar and restaurant reviews. He currently specialises in travel articles and reviews of Chinese cars plus articles about the Chinese auto industry.