Although Yunnan food (云南菜 yúnnán cài) is not listed as one of the eight great Chinese cuisines, it is truly a delicious and unique style of Chinese food. Yunnan food is also known as Dian cuisine (滇菜 diān cài). In case you are unfamiliar with it, Yunnan is a province located in southwestern China. It is the province with largest number of ethnic minorities, making Yunnan food quite varied and hard to define. Out of China’s officially recognized 56 ethnic minorities (少数民族 shǎoshù mínzú), 25 can be found in Yunnan. Due to Yunnan’s location which borders Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar, Yunnan food is heavily influenced by Southeast Asian cuisine, making it very different to more traditional Han Chinese cuisines. You’ll find that there are many flavours used in Yunnan food that aren’t commonly used in Han Chinese food. In keeping with the Southeast Asian influence, Yunnan cuisine has lots of fresh flavours, with lots of citrus and spice and also some sweetness. Here are some of the key flavourings found in Yunnan cuisine: Mint – 薄荷 bòhé Fish smelling mint – 鱼腥草 yú xīng cǎo or 折耳根 zhé ěrgēn Lemongrass – 柠檬草 níngméng cǎo Lemon basil – 柠檬罗勒 níngméng luólè Lime – 青柠 qīng níng Ginger – 生姜 shēngjiāng Qiubei chillies – 丘北辣椒 qiūběi làjiāo Thai chillies – 小米辣 xiǎomǐ là Saw tooth coriander – 刺芫荽 cì yánsuī Spring Onions – 小葱 xiǎocōng Vinegar – 醋 cù Sweet soy sauce – 甜酱油 tián jiàngyóu As well as Yunnan food there are also some speciality Yunnan drinks worth mentioning as well. Pu’er tea 普洱茶 (pǔ’ěr chá): Yunnan is home to pu’er tea, which is a fermented tea, called 黑茶 hēichá in Chinese. Although this translates as “black tea” it isn’t the same as English black tea, that is actually called “red tea” 红茶 hóngchá in Chinese. Pu’er tea is said to have multiple health benefits such as weight loss, lowering cholesterol, lowering blood sugar and many more. Not only will you see Pu’er tea offered as a drink in Yunnan restaurants, but it will also be in many dishes. Yunnan rice wine 云南米酒 (yúnnán mǐjiǔ): Now, you might hear rice wine and imagine this is some kind of strong spirit similar to baijiu (白酒 báijiǔ), however it’s nothing like that. Yunnan rice wine is a very sweet, white drink with quite a low alcohol content, despite the name. It is made from glutinous rice which is used in a lot of Yunnan cooking. |
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