Xuzhou's food culture is northern in character — bolder, more robust, and heavier than the refined Huaiyang cooking of southern Jiangsu. The signature dish is diguo ji (地锅鸡), chicken braised with dried chillies in an earthenware pot, served with a ring of dough rounds propped against the pot's rim to soak up the sauce. Sha tang (杀汤), a thick peppery eel-and-chicken soup, is the traditional breakfast on Ma Shi Jie and its surrounding lanes.