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5 places in Yunnan — touch one for what it's known for.
Yunnan province, south-western China · its own page

Yunnan

Also Dian, Diān cài, Yunnanese
One of Chinese cooking's regional kitchens · all 13 side by side

A kitchen of many peoples, from the edge of the Tibetan plateau down to the tropics: rice noodles and cured ham, wild mushrooms and fresh cheese, and the sour, herb-bright cooking of the Dai.

Where it comes from

Yunnan runs from snow mountains in the north-west to rainforest on the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, and more of China's recognised peoples live here than in any other province — some twenty-five besides the Han. The Bai around Dali, the Naxi of Lijiang, the Yi of the mountains and the Dai of Xishuangbanna each cook in their own way, so there's less one Yunnan cuisine than many, sharing a market.

For centuries the Tea Horse Road carried bricks of Pu'er tea by mule and horse through Dali and Lijiang towards Tibet, and hams, cheeses and pickles that kept well on the road belong to that world. Then there are the mushrooms: in the summer rains the hill forests give up dozens of wild kinds, from matsutake to porcini, and the whole province turns to eating them — cooked long and with care, as some are harmful underdone.

Where in it

  1. KunmingThe 'city of eternal spring' and the province's capital, where the whole of Yunnan comes to market: steam-pot chicken, rice cakes, and mushroom hotpot in the rainy season.Steam-pot chickenErkuaiWild mushroom hotpot
  2. MengziAn old trading town in the south-east, which most often claims crossing-the-bridge noodles — and the story of the scholar, the lake and the bridge that goes with them.Crossing-the-bridge noodles
  3. ShilinThe Stone Forest country east of Kunming, home to the Sani, a Yi people, and to rubing, the pressed goat's cheese that's fried and eaten across the province.Rubing
  4. XuanweiA cool upland town in the north-east whose dry-cured ham is often named among China's finest, hung through the year in the mountain air.Xuanwei ham
  5. XishuangbannaThe tropical far south on the Mekong, home to the Dai, whose cooking is sour, herby and grilled, closer kin to northern Thailand and Laos than to Kunming.Dai lemongrass grilled fish

How it cooks

Crossing the bridge
Raw, thinly sliced meat and vegetables slipped into scalding broth kept hot under a layer of fat, so they cook in the bowl.
Steam-pot cooking
Meat set in a clay pot with a chimney at its centre, over boiling water: the steam condenses into a clear broth.
Cooking wild mushrooms through
Boiled or fried well and for long enough — the season's mushrooms are never eaten half-done.
Dai grilling
Fish and meat stuffed with chopped herbs, bound with lemongrass or wrapped in banana leaf, and cooked over charcoal.

Always in the kitchen

mǐxiàn (rice noodles)Xuanwei hamrubing (goat's cheese)dried chilliesSichuan pepperfresh mintlemongrasssawtooth corianderdried wild mushroomspickled vegetables (suāncài)fermented tofuPu'er teaedible rose petals

Cook from it

Tonight, with what's good in October

Its classics

YunnanCrossing-the-bridge noodlesA bowl of scalding broth under a layer of fat, with raw sliced meats, quail's egg, vegetables and rice noodles added at the table, in that order.No one here has made it yetYunnanSteam-pot chickenChicken cooked in a clay pot with a chimney at its centre, set over boiling water, so the steam gathers into a pure, clear broth.No one here has made it yetYunnanErkuaiCakes of steamed, pounded rice, sliced and stir-fried with pork and greens, grilled on the street with sauces, or cut into noodles for soup.No one here has made it yetYunnanRubingA firm fresh cheese of goat's milk, pressed into blocks, then sliced and fried or grilled until golden, and eaten with salt and pepper or sugar.No one here has made it yetYunnanWild mushroom hotpotA pot of chicken broth at the table, filled with the rainy season's wild mushrooms — porcini, chanterelles, jizong and more — and simmered well before anyone eats.No one here has made it yetYunnanXuanwei hamA whole leg of pork salted in winter and hung to cure in the cool mountain air for a year or more, eaten steamed, sliced, or cooked into soups, stir-fries and mooncakes.No one here has made it yetYunnanDai lemongrass grilled fishA river fish split open, stuffed with chopped herbs, garlic and chilli, bound up with lemongrass stalks and grilled over charcoal.No one here has made it yet

Cooked here

No one here has cooked Yunnan yet.