🍽️ Fried Tripe

Quick-boiled tripe dipped in sesame sauce.

Fried Tripe is a traditional Beijing halal snack that has endured for a century on the capital's streets. It uses fresh beef and lamb tripe, divided by cut into beef omasum, beef manyplies and lamb tripe, each needing different timing. The method is a test of skill: cut tripe is dipped in rolling boiling water for just seconds to over ten seconds until done, lifted immediately—any longer and it turns rubbery. The result is crisp, tender and springy, with no gaminess. It must be eaten dipped in a sesame-sauce dressing: thinned sesame paste with fermented bean curd, chive flower, chili oil and cilantro, savory and rich. Old Beijingers pair it with a sesame cake and a small glass of baijiu, ideal for winter warmth. From market streets to halal banquets, it is the classic way Beijing enjoys the crisp, pure taste of offal.