Yunnan 云南 (滇菜)/Guizhou 贵州/ Dai Minority 傣族 Print E-mail

Bamboo cooked riceYunnan (also Dian cai 滇菜) and Guizhou cuisines, and the cuisines of the ethnic minorities of these provinces, reflect their proximity to South East Asia.  They use abundant quantities of fresh herbs and fish sauce as key aromatic ingredients.  Yunnan and Guizhou dishes are still spicy and sometimes sharply so, and, like Thai food, are balanced with the tartness of lime.  Wild mushrooms and wild vegetables, ferns and grasses (and tree bark and lichen if these can be considered vegetables) from the mountains are also commonly found.  As in Southeast Asian cooking, banana leaves are also used to wrap ingredients such as fish or mushrooms for grilling and bamboo is used as a container both for local wine and to steam flavorful rice.


Representative dishes

Yunnan grilled fish

 

 

烤鱼 柠檬 - kao yu ning meng:  signature Yunnan style grilled/roasted fish with spicy lemony dipping sauce

 

  

   

  
Yunnan mushrooms

 

蘑菇，茶树香菇，野菇 - mo gu, cha shu xiang gu, ye gu: varieties of mushrooms

 

 

 

 

 
Yunnan tree lichenYunnan shu pi - tree bark
 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 树皮 - shu pi:  tree bark/tree lichen salad (above)
pineapple rice - buo luo fan
 
 

菠萝饭 - bo luo fan:  pineapple rice (sometimes using sticky rice or red rice)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
jue cai salad - wild fern salad
 
 
蕨菜 - jue cai:  wild fern (various preparations:  spicy sour salad; sauteed with Yunnan bacon)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Da Gui's suan tang yu - sour fish soup

 

酸汤鱼 - suan tang yu: sour fish soup

 

 

 

cold dish - spicy sour fern starch noodles
 
 
酸辣蕨根粉/米线 - suan la jue geng fen/mi xian:  spicy and sour fern starch noodles/rice noodles
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
basi - toffee coated apple fritters
 
 
炸水果球 - zha shu guo qiu:  fruit fritters (apple, bananas)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Where to find it (and other recommended dishes)?

Da Gui  大贵

chao tang yuan - salty sweet glutinous rice balls
 
 
炒汤圆 - chao tang yuan: fried salty sweet glutinous rice dumplings with black sesame filling; a brilliant twist on traditional tang yuan, which is traditionally boiled in a syrupy broth and served as a dessert
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
suan tang yu - sour fish soup
 
 
酸汤鱼 - suan tang yu: sour fish soup; Da Gui uses a soup base that is very aromatic, light and sour without being acidic
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
feng wo cake - 'charcoal honeycomb' cake
 
 
蜂窝煤蛋糕 - feng wo mei dan gao: honeycomb charcoal cake--an ode to the compressed coal cylinders still used throughout Beijing's hutong neighborhoods for heating and cooking

 

 

 

 
Dali  大理

Set menu only
Dali spreadDali spread

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Middle 8  中八楼

Yunnan salad at Middle 8

 

布依野菜 - bu yi ye cai sa la: various Yunnan edible wild herbs salad

 

 

 

 

 
hei san duo
 
 
黑三剁 - hei san duo:  salty and saucy combo of diced pork and crunchy preserved vegetables
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Middle 8 - spicy sour beef noodles
 
 
瓦罐牛肉米线 - wa guan niu rou mi xian:  spicy sour vermicelli in claypot with beef
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
spicy mushroom and octopus saute
 
 
 
头人蟹味菇 - tou ren xie wei gu: spicy mushroom and octopus saute (not sure why the name says xie/crab, maybe a translation mistake); our latest visit back in July 2008 found the colorful addition of peas and corn in this dish - not an unpleasant development, but most likely a move to manage the rising cost of the central ingredients
 
 
 
 
 
 
tang li hua - birch leaf pear tree flower
 
 
凉拌棠梨花 - jing ban tang li hua:  interesting birchleaf pear tree flower, sauted with garlic (very seasonal, common in Vietnam)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
玉鬼鸡 - yu gui ji:  salad of chicken, lemon pieces, chili and greens


Golden Peacock  金孔雀 

菠萝饭 - bo luo fan:  fragrant rice cooked in a pineapple (photo above)
蕨菜 - jue cai: mountain vegetable with various preparations (photo above)
tu dou qiu - potato balls
 
 
土豆球 - tu dou qiu:  fried potato balls with spicy sauce
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
shredded black chicken salad
bananas fritters