Look Who it Was Random video

Leshan Beef Soup (& Learning Chinese) // Chengdu: City of Gastronomy 40

4,498 views · Published 24 May 2018 · 18:03 · Indexed 30 October 2026

Channel: Itchy Feet · 2018 · Travel & Events

Watch on YouTube

Over a bowl of Leshan beef soup, I'm interviewing friend and expat, Kevin who has been learning Chinese for the past 4 years.  We're discussing tips and strategies on how to learn Chinese. Kevin's Mandarin is excellent and he's happy to share the procedure he took to learn the language.

Leshan Beef Soup, or Qiao jiao niu rou is a Sichuan beef soup, but unlike a lot of Sichuan food it doesn't contain the mala - the spicy numbing combination that's prevalent in the province's cuisine. The bone based broth is flavorful and tastes more like something you'd have in the west. It contains celery and notes of cumin. The beef in this particular version was very tender and meaty. Traditionally, the dish includes beef offal - maybe stomach, liver, tongue, heart, etc. The dish was created by a doctor in the 1930s in the Sichuan town Leshan. He witnessed some wealthy people dumping their off-cuts in the river, so he scooped them out and cooked them in the traditional Chinese medicine concoction that he was working on to help the many sick poor people at that time. Serving up cheap bowls of this soup, he was able to boost the health of many in the area. His small shop became popular, and people would stand at a large table to eat the dish. Many of them would put one leg up on the cross beam of the table. This is how the soup got its nickname. Qiao jiao (翘脚) means to sit with your leg up. 

WHERE TO GET QIAO JIAO BEEF SOUP IN CHENGDU
The dish in Chinese is 翘脚牛肉 (Qiào jiǎo niúròu), but that's sort of a nickname and the restaurants might not have that exact wording on their menu. It's not that popular in Chengdu, but restaurants that specialize in Leshan food should have it. 

Try this place close to downtown:
乐山胖哥跷脚牛肉 (Yàoshān pàng gē qiāo jiǎo niúròu) - Leshan Fat Brother Stomped Beef
ADDRESS:  东风路北一巷新1号附11号 
MAP: https://ditu.amap.com/place/B0FFFAC1Y6
They only do large shared pots, so this place only works if you're not a solo diner. 
The dish is likely listed on the menu as: 全牛汤锅 (Quán niú tāngguō) which means all beef soup pot.
The small pot is good for 2 people. It's 58 RMB. 
You can say 小锅 (Xiǎo guō) to order it or zhong guo for medium (78 RMB), da guo for large (108 RMB).
You can also order extra things to put in the hotpot:
萝卜 - radish - 5 RMB
莲白 - cabbage - 5 RMB
藕片 - lotus root - 5 RMB
粉丝 - glass vermicelli - 5 RMB
牛鞭 - bull's penis - 18 RMB
Be brave!!

Other dishes: 火爆牛舌 - stir fried beef tongue - 28 RMB
牛脑花 - cow brain - 15RMB

In this series, I am eating my way through a deck of cards. I bought a deck of food themed playing cards that feature a different Sichuan dish on every card. Every week I'll shuffle the deck and pick one random card to hunt down and sample. Chengdu was the first Asian city to be named a UNESCO City of Gastronomy. It's full of incredible food - a lot of which you probably don't know about.

Subscribe below to follow along. Better yet, after subscribing hit the bell icon to get notified whenever I post a new video.

The weekly video will be posted every Thursday at 3PM EST until all 54 cards have been tried.

👤 ABOUT ME
I live in China and am constantly exploring and traveling the country and other parts of Asia. Subscribe to my channel to watch more adventures... and to learn a bit about food, cultures, and more. 

🎥 MORE CHENGDU CITY OF GASTRONOMY
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKDIXWmwq80g81wV15r-xczVRRD5rrqhN

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
🖥 Subscribe: http://bit.ly/2e8BCZv
💻 Website: http://itchyfeetonthecheap.com/
📧 Email: [email protected]
🖼 Instagram: http://instagram.com/itchyfeetonthecheap
🗨 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/itchyfeetonthecheap
🗯 Twitter: https://twitter.com/itchyfeetcheap
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

🎵 MUSIC
© 2017 - SKYBLEW ›› www.facebook.com/SkyBlewMusic 
›› soundcloud.com/skyblewmusic 
© 2017 - PABZZZ ›› soundcloud.com/pabzzz 
›› www.facebook.com/PabzzzFR

More from this channel