The Dongxiang people live on wheat, highland barley, corn, legume and potatoes. The forbidden food is the same as other Muslim's. "La Haha" (hand-pulled noodles), fried-fragrance, chicken and lamb eaten with hands are their famous dishes. The lamb eaten with hands there is fresh but has no smell of mutton, fleshy but not greasy. It is carefully concocted, with a special flavor, and can be called a unique in the Northeast.

The eating of chicken by the Dongxiang people is particular. They divided the chicken into 13 parts of different classes, among which the chicken tail is considered to be dignified. When the relatives and friends gather together, they will distribute the parts of the chicken according to the seniority in the family. And the chicken tail will be given to the most respected and oldest one or the honored guest.

 
The Dongxiang people love drinking tea, and usually treat the guests with the Three-fragrance Tea. They put tealeaves, candy, and longans or Chinese date, raisin and preserved sweetened apricot into the tea-bowl, so that the color of the tea is bright and lustrous, and the flavor is fragrant and sweet. It is also called "three batteries".