Yunnan food (云南菜 yúnnán cài) is truly a delicious and unique style of Chinese food. Yunnan food is also known as Dian cuisine (滇菜 diān cài). First up are some must try vegetarian dishes. Grandma’s mashed potato 老奶洋芋 (lǎo nǎi yángyù): The name comes from the fact this dish is so soft even an old grandma with no teeth would be able to eat it! Exactly what goes into this dish will vary restaurant to restaurant, but in general the dish consists of mashed potato mixed with a combination of chilli, spring onions, garlic and pickled vegetables. Wild Yunnan Mushrooms 云南蘑菇 (yúnnán mógū): Yunnan is famous for its many wild mushrooms, it has over 5,000 varieties with around 800 of them being edible. So it will come as no surprise that at any Yunnan restaurants there will be lots of different mushroom dishes on offer. Pineapple rice 菠萝饭 (bōluó fàn): Steamed glutinous rice is mixed with pineapple chunks to make a delicious sweet side dish. It is traditionally served either inside the pineapple or in two pineapple halves. Minted potato 薄荷洋芋 (bòhé yángyù): For this dish potatoes are fried with mint and sometimes also chillies, to create a super tasty combination. It may sound pretty simple but the flavours are great, you’ll see that mint is used a lot in Yunnan food. Cheese 乳饼 (rǔbǐng) or 乳扇 (rǔshān): one of things that make Yunnan food very different to most other Chinese cuisines is that they have their own cheese. There are two kinds: 乳饼 rǔbǐng which is made made from goat’s milk and 乳扇 rǔshān which is made from cow’s milk. The cheese has quite a similar texture to halloumi, it is normally fried and served with a spice powder and white sugar for dipping the cheese in. Next, lets have a look at some meat and fish dishes. Ghost chicken 鬼鸡 (guǐjī): This dish is normally served cold, and is a bit like a refreshing chicken salad with a spicy punch. Shredded chicken is mixed with lime juice, chillies, garlic, ginger and coriander to create this flavourful dish. Hei san duo 黑三剁 (hēi sān duò): The name for this dish literally translates to “black three minced”, it is a combination of minced pork, peppers and Yunnan pickled vegetables (where the black colour in the name of the dish comes from). Yunnan pickled vegetables (酸腌菜 suān yān cài) are a must in many dishes. Crossing the bridge noodles 过桥米线 (guò qiáo mǐxiàn): This dish often gets compared to the Vietnamese pho. The dish consists of a thick chicken soup, then a variety of separate ingredients such as thinly slices meet, quails eggs, vegetables seasonings etc. are added along with the rice noodles. The dish is served all laid out separately and you add the other ingredients to the soup yourself. Sliced beef with mint leaves 薄荷牛肉 (bòhé niúròu): This is another cold dish or 凉菜 (liángcài) as it is called in Chinese. Thin slices of beef are mixed with mint, spices, vinegar and soy sauce. Sometimes the dish is served with the slices of spiced beef wrapped in mint leaves which is called 薄荷牛肉卷 (bòhé niúròu juàn). Lemon-grass grilled fish 香茅草烤鱼 (xiāng máocǎo kǎoyú): Traditionally a whitefish such as tilapia is used, the fish is stuffed with a combination of herbs and spices such as chillies, ginger, garlic and coriander. The fish is then cooked in a lemongrass leaf in a grill basket. As with a lot of Chinese dishes, the fish is served whole so you’ll need to watch out for bones. This dish is normally served with a spicy and sour dipping sauce as well. |
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