🍽️ Xiaoyao Spicy Soup

Peppery thick soup with gluten balls.

Xiaoyao Spicy Soup is the signature breakfast of Xiaoyao Town in Zhoukou, Henan, widely called the king of Central Plains breakfasts. Built on a beef- or mutton-bone broth, it holds chunks of wheat gluten, daylily blossoms, wood ear, peanuts, glass noodles and diced beef, spiced with pepper and chili and thickened with starch into a porridge-like consistency that coats the spoon. The broth is brown-red, fragrant with pepper; the first sip is savory, then a warm peppery heat spreads down to the stomach, while the gluten bits, soaked through, offer a chewy bite. Henan locals start the morning with a bowl, often dipping fried dough sticks or pan-fried buns into it—bright, warming and filling. Xiaoyao and Beiwudu are the two great schools of this soup, the most soulful breakfast symbol of the Central Plains.