The return of truffle season in Europe stirs up a buying frenzy every autumn, but halfway around the world the Chinese too have a long history of feasting on a prized fungi. Yunnan is China’s top mushroom-producing province, accounting for 70% of the country’s harvest. The province’s cool climate, mountainous terrain and vegetation cover provide rich ground for wild mushrooms, which are prized in traditional Chinese medicine for their high protein and low fat content, medical benefits, and aphrodisiac qualities.
Just as tasty grilled, stir-fried, stewed in soup or cooked in myriad other ways, the mushrooms’ earthy flavour and texture make them a staple in eateries, from street-side hotpot stands and vegetarian cafes to fine-dining restaurants.
Out of three thousand varieties of edible mushroom in the world, more than eight hundred types grow in abundance in Yunnan, including several premium varieties highly sought after by chefs around the world.
Morel mushrooms, a staple in classic French cuisine and known for their intense flavour and sponge-like texture, appear in the rainy months of April to late May and August to September, while porcini, the best known mushroom in Western cuisine, sprout in three varieties, white, black and yellow, between May and October. The Chinese sometimes refer to this harvest as “delicious beef liver” (美味牛肝).
Matsutake mushrooms are frequent sightings in the higher altitude forests in the Shangri-La region near Lijiang, and they are widely favoured by Japanese chefs and gourmands. A third of Japan’s annual consumption of matsutake is from Yunnan, and can fetch up to $560 per kilogramme.
Yunnan truffles have also caught the attention of the Western culinary world. They can cost just a tenth of the price of their European and Australian counterparts, and are usually lighter in flavour and aroma.
Beyond the popular varieties, Yunnan is home to rare mushrooms found only in the region, such as the cauliflower mushrooms that grow in the pine forests in June and July. Thin-stemmed “chicken leg” mushrooms are another unusual crop; termite mushrooms grow on ant mounds; and bamboo pith mushrooms are distinguished by the delicate sponge skirts that encircle them.
For the fearless home cook, Mushuihua Market in the provincial capital of Kunming is the biggest wild mushroom market in Yunnan, and the best place to stock your pantry.
Otherwise, small restaurants crop up during mushroom season along Guan Xing Road, the city’s main mushroom hotpot district, offering a variety of broths made with secret recipes.
Among the group, Lao Zi Hao Wild Mushroom Restaurant (99-101 Guanxing Lu, Kunming; Tel: +86 871-3550899) is a popular venue. Patrons select the mushrooms they want out of glass chillers, and are charged according to the variety, weight and rarity of their selection.
When traveling to Yunnan, trying local dishes is a must to experience the rich flavors and culinary diversity of the region. Here are some must-try Yunnan recipes that you should explore:
Ingredients:
Method:
Ingredients:
Method:
Ingredients:
Method:
Ingredients:
Method:
Ingredients:
Method:
These dishes represent just a glimpse of the diverse and flavorful cuisine that Yunnan has to offer. Each dish reflects the region’s unique ingredients, cooking techniques, and cultural influences, making them essential culinary experiences for any traveler visiting Yunnan.
Chongcao (Caterpillar Fungus) Steamed Chicken (虫草炖鸡)
This dish is well-known throughout Yunnan, Tibet, and Qinghai. It is cherished for its unique flavor and medicinal benefits. Here’s how it’s prepared:
Chongcao Steamed Chicken combines culinary delight with traditional medicinal values, making it a beloved dish in the regions where it is prepared.
Sanqi (Panax pseudoginseng) Steamed Chicken (三七炖鸡)
Unit:
Exported by:
Product of:
Ingredients:
Functions:
Introduction:
Potential Benefits:
Traditional Chinese Medicine Patterns:
Directions:
Tianma (天麻), also known as Gastrodia Elata, is a type of medicinal herb used in traditional Chinese medicine. It’s often incorporated into various dishes for its supposed health benefits, especially in Yunnan cuisine. One notable dish featuring Tianma is Tianma Steamed Chicken ((天麻炖鸡)), which combines the delicate flavors of chicken with the herbal essence of Tianma. Here’s a general outline of how this dish is typically prepared:
Tianma lends a subtle, earthy flavor to the chicken, complementing its natural taste without overpowering it. The gentle steaming process allows the herbal essence of Tianma to infuse into the chicken meat, creating a dish that is both nutritious and flavorful.
In traditional Chinese medicine, Tianma is believed to have various health benefits, such as promoting blood circulation, relieving headaches, and improving overall vitality. When combined with chicken, it creates a dish that not only tastes good but is also considered beneficial for health.
Tianma Steamed Chicken is a traditional delicacy in Yunnan cuisine, appreciated for its simplicity, herbal infusion, and wholesome taste.
Crisp Stuffed Bun in Yunnan or Posubao(破酥包)
Zhé’ěrgēn (Chinese: 折耳根) is the edible rhizome of Houttuynia cordata (Yuxingcao, 鱼腥草 ‘fish smelling leaf’) with a fresh, spicy, peppery flavour that is used in southwestern Chinese cuisine, i.e. that of Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnanand western Guangxi. Typically the leaves are eaten in Sichuan and the root in Guizhou. Zhé’ěrgēn fried with cured ‘la rou’ (a dried meat resembling ‘Chinese bacon’) is one of the staple dishes of Guizhou.
Notable uses include:
The leaves are also a little peppery and are frequently consumed in the region.
Shiping Tofu in Yunnan(石屏豆腐)
Tofu made in Shiping town 石屏县城 in south Yunnan is something special, famous throughout China’s southwest. We get lots of it fresh here in Kunming, but I’ve also had the privilege of enjoying it at its source, in the green mountains of Honghe Prefecture 红河州,not far from ancient Jianshui 建水 and scenic Yuanyang 元阳。They say the difference is mainly in the water, and verbal battles are still fought about which deep well has the sweetest tofu-making nectar; but since it has been around over 400 years, it’s not surprising that supernatural claims also exist, the main one having to do with a fiery dragon and three wise tribal kings or chiefs.
Here’s what it looks like in the market.
The difference in appearance of these two forms gives a clue as to how it is usually cooked and served. The kind in sheets, upper left, can be steamed, boiled, roasted or pan-fried. The small packets, upper right, are usually slowly toasted on a grate over coals. Both provide a serious taste treat for visitors to Yunnan and residents alike.
The kind I bought this morning at my neighborhood wet market was the kind that comes in sheets, I bought one piece and it cost 3.5 Yuan about half a dollar (US.) It comes in two styles: a drier one, called 老豆腐,which is what I got today, and a very moist and somewhat fragile one that is mainly used for making a delicious snack called 包奖豆腐, in which the tofu is lightly sauteed on a sheet pan and served with a spicy sauce. This latter has a runny center. I love it dearly and will prepare it for you another day.
I cut my single piece crosswise in half, and then in half again, so you could see the edge. The sheet is about 2 and a half centimeters thick. It can be cooked up as a snack 小吃 or as a side dish for a meal. In Jianshui, where I have enjoyed it often, it is frequently sold in street stalls that just grill it to order for you over coals and serve it beside a dish of dipping sauce. These places usually also sell roast duck and beer, sometimes noodle soup.
It’s not at all uncommon to sit down near dusk on one of the low stools around the fire mainly to give your feet a rest, still a bit too early to properly consider supper, and just munch few pieces of tofu kind of as a warm-up. But after a beer or two you decide those crispy, lean roast ducks hanging overhead on hooks really do look great, so why not. Then someone suggests a bowl of rice noodles in savory broth 米线, and before you know it, the clock is striking midnight and you walk home to your hotel in the company of three or four new friends. I speak from first-hand experience; it’s the Jianshui magic. You have been warned.
Back now in my Kunming kitchen, lets chop the extra ingredients 配料 before dealing with the tofu. If you like things really hot, use the tiny red peppers, bird’s eye chilies 小米辣椒。If you prefer a mild to moderate approach, use the larger ones and remove most of the seeds. Also mince some ginger and a clove of garlic.
Set out some Haixian Jiang 海鲜酱 (aka Hoisin) and about a teaspoon of sesame seeds, toasted 黑 or plain 白。
Reserve 备用 the cut up garlic 蒜, pepper 红椒, and ginger 酱。 Cut the tofu into bite sized rectangles or squares, put them into a preheated flat-bottom skillet 平底锅 with a little oil. The one I’m using here is non-stick, and works well for this application since only medium temperatures are required.
When the first side starts to brown 金黄,turn the tofu and cook the other side the same way, never letting the skillet get too hot. You do not want it to burn or get dried out and tough.
When side two is also golden, take the tofu out. Saute the pepper, ginger, and garlic in a little oil, then add two or three large tablespoons of Haixian Jiang diluted half and half with water.
After a minute or so of stirring this sauce mixture, add back the cooked tofu and gently flip it over a few times with your spatula to coat it well with these complimentary flavors. Plate it up and sprinkle on the sesame seeds.
You now either have a very nice snack or you have part of a meal. I think it goes real well with a bowl of soup and a cucumber salad 拍黄瓜。Those three things together do the job for me just fine on a summer evening. And I even usually have room for a piece of fruit afterwards.
Source from: https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/54450-getting-the-most-from-shiping-tofu-%E9%A6%99%E7%85%8E%E7%9F%B3%E5%B1%8F%E8%B1%86%E8%85%90/
Yunnan is rich in mineral resources with immense reserves. Of the 140 kinds of minerals mined throughout the world, 112 kinds may be found in Yunnan. Lead, zinc, tin, phosphorus and copper are five minerals with the largest reserves in the province, while the reserves of lead, zinc and tin are the largest in China. Mining in Yunnan has been going on for many centuries.
The copper reserves in Yunnan rank third among China’s provinces, copper mines operating in 42 counties of 13 prefectures throughout the province. The isotopic examination of 91 bronze articles unearthed from the Fuhao Tomb, dating back to the Shang Dynasty (11th-16th century BC) how that some of the materials were made at the Jinsha Factory located in today’s Yongshan County. Because of the rich reserves of copper in Yunnan, the ancient Dian Kingdom was famous for its “bronze civilization.” Isotopic examinations of the bronze ware discovered in Shizhai Hill prove that the raw material for the ancient articles unearthed came from within Yunnan. Archeological discoveries of many ancient tombs located in Yunnan have shown that bronze articles for daily use were already common in this area some 2,000 years ago. Articles unearthed range from kettles, bowls, plates, tables, wine bottles, barrels, hatchets, bronze pillows to whole sets of tools for spinning and weaving, farming and fishing, and many weapons. Dongchuan, located in northeast Yunnan, is called the “capital of copper”. It is one of China’s largest sources of copper.
The so-called “capital of tin” is Gejiu, capital of the Honghe Hani and Yi Ethnic Minorities Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan. The largest tin mine in China was opened here. Its annual output accounts for 60 per cent of China’s total tin requirements. Extraction of tin in the province dates back to ancient times. Archeologists have discovered a number of ancient tombs containing relics of tin articles. These relics show us that Gejiu tin processors employed the smelting technique in as long ago as the Han Dynasty. The local smeltery developed into an industry during the Ming and Qing dynasties. By 1883, a state-run company had been established to manage the production and marketing of tin products. In 1909, the Gejiu Tin Company imported some extremely expensive, and more advanced production equipment from France, including washing and sorting machines, smelting equipment, laboratory test equipment, cable transporting systems and power production equipment. In 1938 tin production in Gejiu reached its peak. In that year the total labor force numbered over 100,000 and the annual output of refined tin products reached 900 tons. As a result, China’s tin output at that time was fourth in the world’s tin producing countries.
The development of railways, post, telecommunication and other facilities in Yunnan began with the boom of the tin industry. The first railway linking Yunnan with Vietnam was built at that time.
Rubing (Chinese: 乳饼; pinyin: rǔbǐng) is a firm, acid-set, non-melting, fresh goat milk farmer cheese made in the Yunnan Provinceof China by people of the Bai and Sani (recognized as a branch of the Yi in China) minorities. Its Bai name is youdbap, meaning “goat’s milk”.
Rubing is made by mixing heated goat’s milk and a souring agent, traditionally a mixture called năiténg (奶藤; lit. ‘milk cane’) made from a cultivated vine. Commonly known as Chineese.
Rubing is most often steamed with local ham or salt beef, or sometimes served pan fried with salt and chilli. It may also be stir fried with vegetables (typically a mix of broccoli and carrot), in a similar manner to how mainland Chinese rural cuisine tends to stir-fry harder forms of tofu.photo Rarely it is pan fried and served with alternative flavourings such as málà powder.
Rubing is roughly similar to paneer and queso blanco, but with the aroma of fresh goat’s milk.
Kunming Airlines, based in Kunming Changshui International Airport, will operate flights within Yunnan province as well as routes connecting Kunming and other cities, and gradually launch flights between Kunming and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries.
Country | City | Airport | Flights | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|
Baoshan | Baoshan Yunrui Airport | |||
Changchun | Changchun Longjia International Airport | |||
Changsha | Changsha Huanghua International Airport | |||
Chengdu | Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport | |||
Chongqing | Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport | |||
Diqing | Diqing Shangri-La Airport | |||
Guangzhou | Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport | |||
Hangzhou | Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport | |||
Harbin | Harbin Taiping International Airport | |||
Huizhou | Huizhou Pingtan Airport | |||
Jinan | Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport | |||
Kunming | Kunming Changshui International Airport | |||
Kunming | Kunming Wujiaba International Airport | |||
Lijiang | Lijiang Sanyi International Airport | |||
Lincang | Lincang Airport | |||
Mangshi | Dehong Mangshi Airport | |||
Nanjing | Nanjing Lukou International Airport | |||
Nantong | Nantong Xingdong Airport | |||
Pu’er | Pu’er Simao Airport | |||
Shanghai | Shanghai Pudong International Airport | |||
Shenzhen | Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport | |||
Shijiazhuang | Shijiazhuang Zhengding International Airport | |||
Taiyuan | Taiyuan Wusu International Airport | |||
Taizhou | Taizhou Luqiao Airport | |||
Tengchong | Tengchong Tuofeng Airport | |||
Xiamen | Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport | |||
Xi’an | Xi’an Xianyang International Airport | |||
Xishuangbanna | Xishuangbanna Gasa Airport | |||
Yuncheng | Yuncheng Guangong Airport | |||
Zhaotong | Zhaotong Airport | |||
Zhengzhou | Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport | |||
Zunyi | Zunyi Maotai Airport | |||
Bangkok | Suvarnabhumi Airport | |||
Hat Yai | Hat Yai International Airport | |||
Pattaya | U-Tapao International Airport | |||
Phuket | Phuket International Airport |
The return of truffle season in Europe stirs up a buying frenzy every autumn, but halfway around the world the Chinese too have a long history of feasting on...
When traveling to Yunnan, trying local dishes is a must to experience the rich flavors and culinary diversity of the region. Here are some must-try Yunnan recipes that you...
Chongcao (Caterpillar Fungus) Steamed Chicken (虫草炖鸡) This dish is well-known throughout Yunnan, Tibet, and Qinghai. It is cherished for its unique flavor and medicinal benefits. Here’s how it’s prepared:...
Sanqi (Panax pseudoginseng) Steamed Chicken (三七炖鸡) Unit: 40 grams per bottle Exported by: Yunnan Medicines & Health Products Import & Export Co. Product of: China Ingredients: Panax pseudoginseng Functions:...
Tianma (天麻), also known as Gastrodia Elata, is a type of medicinal herb used in traditional Chinese medicine. It’s often incorporated into various dishes for its supposed health benefits,...
Crisp Stuffed Bun in Yunnan or Posubao(破酥包)...
Zhé’ěrgēn (Chinese: 折耳根) is the edible rhizome of Houttuynia cordata (Yuxingcao, 鱼腥草 ‘fish smelling leaf’) with a fresh, spicy, peppery flavour that is used in southwestern Chinese cuisine, i.e. that of Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnanand wes...
Shiping Tofu in Yunnan(石屏豆腐) Tofu made in Shiping town 石屏县城 in south Yunnan is something special, famous throughout China’s southwest. We get lots of it fresh here in Kunming,...
Introduction to Dali Milk Fan Appearance and Texture: Dali Milk Fan is shaped like a fan, with a milky white or light yellow color. It has a crispy texture...
Yunnan is rich in mineral resources with immense reserves. Of the 140 kinds of minerals mined throughout the world, 112 kinds may be found in Yunnan. Lead, zinc, tin,...
Rubing (乳饼) Rubing (Chinese: 乳饼; pinyin: rǔbǐng) is a firm, acid-set, non-melting, fresh goat milk farmer cheese made in the Yunnan Provinceof China by people of the Bai and Sani (recognized as a branch of the Yi in China) minorities. Its B ...
Kunming Airlines, based in Kunming Changshui International Airport, will operate flights within Yunnan province as well as routes connecting Kunming and other cities, and gradually launch flights between Kunming and ASEAN (Association...
Address: Building 4, Yifuyuan, Hehong Road, Xishan District, Kunming, Yunnan, China
Wechat/QQ: 270384698
Office Call: 86-18812220370
Email: Trip@YasoTrip.com
Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/YasoTrip
Tel/WhatsApp: +8618088243690
Trip@YasoTrip.com
Daily: 9:00 am - 6:00 pm
Copyright © 2008 Yaso Trip. All rights reserved
Address: Building 4, Yifuyuan, Hehong Road, Xishan District, Kunming, Yunnan, China
Wechat/QQ: 270384698
Office Call: 86-18812220370
Email: Trip@YasoTrip.com
Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/YasoTrip
Tel/WhatsApp: +8618088243690
Trip@YasoTrip.com