The snacks of Zhangye have a long history, the varieties of which are too numerous to enumerate. Because Zhangye is rich inwheat, the snacks are mainly pasta. The names of the snacks are varied. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, thetraditional special snacks are mainly Saozi mian ( noodle soup with diced potato,tofu,carrot,meat )，Niurouxiaofan(special diced noodle and beef soup),stewed marinatedpork, Yougao(sweet and oily cake), Liangfeng(bean jelly), Cuo Yu mian (fish-shapednoodles), ramen noodles, Niangpizi (starch noodles), bean curd jelly, etc.,which are inexpensive and of high-quality, suitable for both young and old,famous inside and outside the province.

Saozi Mian (starching noodle soup with shreds of tofu)

Saozi Mian is the most popular breakfast inZhangye. The feature of Saozi Mian is thin, bright and fine. The soup made of chicken is better, and the soup from beef, pork spareribs is also good. Add pepper and ginger powder into the soup to rise up the taste, and then add the right amount of water starch, so that the soup may achieve a certain color and concentration, finally add tofu slice. The soup is done.The soup looks bright and transparent after blending, and its color is attractive. Then add some boiled noodles into the soup. The SaoZi Mian is done.

Niu Rou Xiao Fan (noodle soup with little diced beef and tofu )

It gets the name because it is made with small ingredients, such as small noodles, small slices of meat, small tofu,small diced vegetables. The ingredients are locally produced red beans, flour and beef (mutton and pork are also available). After the red beans are cooked,mix the diced noodles into the red beans. When the noodles are completely cooked, draw the cooked meat with starch into the pot. After the dishes isstired and mixed thoroughly, it means being done.

Lu Rou Chao Pao (Fried cracker-shapednoodles with stewed marinated meat)

Chao Pao is a local characteristic of the pastain Zhangye. It is cooked by the way of Stir-fry.The name is got from the shape of noodles which look like crackers . Cracker is read Pao Zhang in Chinese. The cooking way is firstly stretch the noodles into round noodles as thick as chopsticks, then cut them into short segments like crackers, then boil them in boiling water and take them out of boiling water. In the end stir- fry them with vegetables and add marinated pork. Then the delicious noodles are done.

Xi Bei Da Cai (Famous dish in norhthwest )

This famous dish is mainly made of pork and liver and lung from sheep and pigs. Firstly chop the livers and lungs of the pigs and sheep into small pieces, add the chopped shallots and garlic in and stir to mix thoroughly, add seasoning, salt, and mix wheat flour into it to knead it into a dough, and then rub it into many round strips, then fried the strips. At the moment it is called roll liver. Then cut the rolled liver into round slices, put it in the bowl, then add seasoning, onion and garlic again, put the big slice of meat on it , then add broth and steam it. Put all on another large plate, and pour the egg sauce on this dish . Then the dish is done.

Yu Er Feng (fish shaped starch)

This dish is a snack made from fine broad bean starch. It is a kind of authentic flavor snacks.Especially in summer this snack can be easily met in the streets and alleys of Zhangye.

Its shape looks like a small fish, the color is white and red, with the addition of seasoning and side dishes, like a small fish swimming in the bowl. So it got the name of fish shaped starch. It tastes cool and smooth, which not only assuage the hunger but also quench the thirst.

Lamian noodles(hand-pulled noodles)

Zhangye lamian has a long history and is easy to make. The size of noodles can be thick or thin, round or flat, soft and smooth,with unique local characteristics. With fine wheat flour as raw material, lamian noodles are repeatedly kneaded into the dough by adding appropriate concentration of salt water according to the quality of flour. Then cut the dough into many little doughes and rub the small doughes into strips,which look like the shape of sausage . Then smear the small doughes with a little oil and put in containers to loosen up, commonly known as "fermenting noodles". After appropriate time of fermentation around 40 minutes to 1 hour, take out the noodles, hold one end by each hand, and pull outwards at the same time with uniform force. In this way, fold and pull repeatedly to form long noodles that meet the requirements of the eater. Then drop the long noodles into boilingwater, and take the hot noodles out of boiling water. If you do not like the hot noodles ,you may cool it a little bit with cool water . Then mix with some fried vegetables or sauce ,it will be a nice flavor.

The production of lamian (ramen) isseemingly simple, but actually is of a lot of technology to show. The key is to master the proportion of salt, noodles, water, noodles and to master the pulling strength and boil noodles by proper time, so as to make a good ramen.

Cuo Yu Zi Mian (rubbing fish-shapednoodles)

It is another popular dish in Zhangye,which mainly serve lunch and dinner. Firstly it need proper fermentation of the same way like Lamian. Then rub the fermented noodle strips into many small fish-shaped noodles and drop them in to boiling water. In the end take the fish–shaped noodles out and mix with some boiled or fried vegetables. The dish is done.