I wrote this piece of stuff is written for outsiders to see, not for Kunming people to see. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do that, but I'm sure I'll be able to do it," he said! In fact, it is better to say that it is written for me to see. I've been away from Kunming for forty years, and I've never been able to forget Kunming cuisine.
Kunming cuisine is characterized. Kunming cuisine - Yunnan cuisine does not belong to the eight major Chinese cuisines. Many people think that Kunming cuisine is close to Sichuan cuisine, but in fact it is not the same. Sichuan cuisine is characterized by numbness and spiciness. Most Sichuan dishes have to put Pixian bean petals, pickled chili peppers, and put a large number of peppercorns, - it has to be Sichuan peppercorns. People in many provinces in China love spicy food, such as Hunan and Jiangxi, but there are not many places that love peppercorns as much as Sichuan people do. In Chongqing, there are many small noodle shops with three big words "Ma, Hot and Spicy" painted in black on the white walls of the facade, which can be seen from a distance. Kunming cuisine is not as spicy and numb as Sichuan cuisine. Roughly, Sichuan cuisine is more thick and strong, while the Kunming cuisine is relatively light and pure and. Sichuan cuisine is complicated with seasonings, while Kunming cuisine is more flavorful. Compare the strange flavor chicken and steam pot chicken, you will know the difference between the two.
Steamboat Chicken
The Chinese are very good at eating chicken. Guangdong's salt chicken, Sichuan's strange flavor chicken, Changshu's flower chicken, Shandong's fried eight pieces, Hunan's Dong'an chicken, Dezhou's steak chicken ...... If the country's various practices of chicken to a Grand Prix, which kind of chicken should take the gold medal? I thought it should be Kunming's steamboat chicken.
What kind of person came up with this very unique way of eating? At a guess, there has to be a steamboat before there can be steamboat chicken. Steamboats are best made in Jianshui. Nowadays, steamboat can be made anywhere in the country that produces pottery, such as Yixing in Jiangsu province. However, I feel that the chicken steamed in the steamboat made elsewhere is not as flavorful as the chicken made in the Jianshui steamboat. This may be my bias. Steamboat both out in Jianshui, then, Kunming's steamer chicken may also be from Jianshui, right?
Originally, there is a shop specializing in steamboat chicken on the west side of Justice Road near Jinbi Road. I don't know if this one has a store number, but there is a plaque hanging at the entrance with four big words: "Cultivate righteousness". Therefore, we call this restaurant "Cultivate righteousness". In the past, when Kunming people said: "Today we cultivate righteousness", those who heard it understood that they were going to eat chicken in a steamer. The chicken of "cultivating righteousness" was especially tender and tried and true. There is no other time when I have eaten it and said, "Today's chicken is not good enough." To maintain the quality forever, it is said that the chickens they use are all Wuding fat chickens. Chickens are thin or meaty, fat or tasteless. Only Wuding chicken is extremely fat and flavorful. After uncovering: the soup is as clear as water, while the chicken aroma.
I have heard that the "cultivation of righteousness" is no longer available. Steamboat chicken sold in Kunming restaurants is no longer the same flavor as it was back then, because it is not Wuding chicken that is used, but any kind of chicken.
Restoring the "cultivation of righteousness" and using Wuding chicken again should not be difficult, right?
Kunming's white chicken is also excellent. Yuxi Street wonton stalls on the copper pot resting on a fine iron grate, above all put two or three fat white cooked chicken. If you want, you can cut a small plate. Kunming people call white chicken "cold chicken". We often go to eat, drink a little wine, because it is sitting on a bench to eat, one of the students for the practice of a name, called "sitting lost (food) good (cool) opportunity (chicken). The chicken sold on Yuxi Street is said to be Yuxi chicken.
There used to be a restaurant at the junction of South Huashan Road and Wucheng Road called "Yingshichun" that made excellent fried chicken. Large pieces of chicken were deep-fried and piled high on a 12-inch plate. The chicken was served with peppercorn salt. Twenty-something young man, seven or eight people, people get three or five pieces, in a moment the bottom of the porcelain plate carry. So eat chicken, a fast life.
Kunming old chicken miscellaneous sales, sat on the waist round food box, the street call for sale. Chicken gizzard and chicken liver are gimlet threaded into a string, such as Beijing's sugar gourd. Chicken intestines coiled tightly as a vegetarian chicken, buy when spinning slices. Chewy, very flavorful, and very cheap, for tea and wine. It is estimated that such snacks in Kunming has not. Have talked with the old Kunming, all like Meng Yuan Lao "Tokyo Dreaming Records" recorded also.
Ham
Yunnan Xuanwei ham and Zhejiang Jinhua ham, difficult to distinguish. Jinhua ham is known to many people, there are many grades. The more famous is the "snow boat Jiang leg". More advanced, smoked with bamboo leaves, called "bamboo leaf legs". Xuanwei ham does not seem to have so much to say, just generally called ham. Ham out of Xuanwei, it is said that Xuanwei home curing, and centralized sales in Kunming. Justice Road, east side of the original plaque there is a ham Zhuang, in addition to selling the whole, zero cut of ham, but also sell ham bone, ham oil. Shanghai sells Jinhua ham south store sometimes sells "ham feet and claws", single sale of ham oil, but I have not heard of. Ham bone soup, ham oil stewed tofu, I think it must be very delicious.
Ham as a flavorful ingredient when more, eaten alone, seems to be only one way to eat, steamed and sliced. Once upon a time there is honey-roasted ham, I do not know if it is delicious. Jinhua ham according to parts of the oil head, waist, waist, - and then the following is the foot claw. Kunming people eat ham especially heavy calf to the elbow stick part, called "money slice leg", because cut for the round, in the center is fine meat, surrounded by fat, with a circle of thin skin. There is a local restaurant outside the west gate, not big, very untidy, but a lot of food, money sliced leg is a must. This is because it is the favorite dish of the horse-drivers - the main customers of this restaurant are the horse pot-heads. As soon as the horse pothead brothers entered the door, other dishes have not been asked for, first called: "Cut a plate of money slice legs!"
A Kunming dish, which is not based on ham, but which cannot be made without it, is "pot-stickers". This is the famous dish of Dongyue Lou. It is to two slices of fish (fish must be killed alive, fish slices must be spinning batch), sandwiched between a piece of fat with thin ham, in a flat pan, to the fire branded, without adding any other ingredients. It's a very tender and flavorful dish that can't be named.
Dong Yue Lou in Gu Guo Road, is an authentic old Kunming restaurant. In addition to the pot stickers, there are also chicken legs in sauce, which is also excellent. I've heard that Dongyuelou is no longer available.
Kunming Jixingxiang ham moon cake is very good. This year's Mid-Autumn Festival, Beijing shipped a number of, buy a taste, the taste is like the year.
Beef
I have never eaten such good beef in Kunming in my life.
The special thing about the beef halls in Kunming is that they sell only beef as it is -- with rice and wine on the side, and no other dishes. There are three such beef houses, as far as I know. One was on Fengshu Street, outside the Great West Gate, and we often went there because it was close to the Southwest Associated University. I "learned" to eat beef from this place. One is in Xiaodongmen. The largest is Ma's Beef House outside the small west gate. Upstairs and downstairs, dozens of tables. Beef is sold in different categories. The most common are soup slices and cold slices. White beef is thinly sliced and poured with hot broth for soup slices. Cold slices are also thinly sliced, but neatly arranged on a plate and dipped in sweet soy sauce (sweet soy sauce is unique to Kunming). Both the soup and cold slices are extremely soft and fluffy, but not crumbly. I heard that the meat of the slices of soup and cold slices of meat is steamed on one side of the cow, I don't believe it: where is such a big steamer, such a big pot? But the sliced beef is indeed very large chunks. When the beef is this crispy and soft, the fire has to be very strong. I was told that it has to be steamed (or boiled?). I was told that it has to be steamed (or boiled?) for a whole night. The next step is to "braise" it. The "braised" is not the braised beef that is cooked with soy sauce elsewhere, but also in broth, although the beef was probably dyed with red, so the meat is rouge red. "Braised" is cut into small pieces. This does not use the "good" meat from the cow, such as breast meat and leg meat, with some "sinewy head and brain", and soup, compared with the cold slice, it is a different flavor. There are also several special parts of the cow, also sold separately. But there are alternative aliases, not "will" eat people do not understand, do not know what it is. Such as tripe called "collar liver"; cattle tongue called "teasing green". Many places sell tongue are taboo "tongue" word, because "tongue" and "eclipse" homophone. Wuxi Lu draft recommended selling pig tongue called "earn head". Guangdong restaurants call the cow tongue "cow" in fact, this is "cow Lee", just add a meat moon side, to show that this is meat. This is the opposite of the meaning of "eclipsed" and use it, for good luck. I have never heard of calling the tongue "taoqing" anywhere else. If you think about it for a moment, it makes sense. When a cow eats grass, it uses its tongue to lift the grass into its mouth. It's a very graphic nickname, but it's a bit confusing. Beef restaurants also sell beef tendons. I once went to a beef restaurant with a female classmate, and she asked me, "What is this?" I couldn't really answer. I've eaten ox tendon quite a few times in Kunming, just because it's tasty, not for aphrodisiac purposes. "Collared Liver", "Teasing Green" and "Big Tendon" are all served with soup. Beef House does not sell stir-fried dishes. The main reason for going to a beef restaurant is actually to drink the soup, - the soup is good.
The cows used in Kunming Beef House are calves, and the old and wasted cows are not used.
Eating a beef house is not much money, cheaper than the average small restaurant, but also delicious, affordable.
Majia Beef Museum often have people to an enameled tea tray to sell small dishes, head, pickled garlic, pickled ginger, bad chili ...... have seven or eight kinds. Two or three cents can buy a small plate, extremely appetizing.
Ma family beef store do not know if there is still? If not, it would be a shame.
Kunming also has beef jianba, which is beef cut into long strips and marinated to dry. Small restaurants have fried beef dry bar sold. This thing is said to be eaten raw. Horse pot head on the road, always bring cattle dry bar, cut into thin slices with a knife, wine and rice are suitable.
Steamed vegetables
Kunming still eat steamed vegetables. The original justice road there is a. Steamed chicken, steamed bones, steamed meat. Steamed chicken, steamed bones, steamed meat, are placed in less than half a foot in diameter in a small steamer steamed. Small cages stacked on top of each other, dozens of cages for a stack, a large steamer steaming several stacks. The steamed vegetables are all crispy, and the steamed chicken can even chew the bones. Steamed vegetables have a liner. Steamed vegetables elsewhere lined with sweet potatoes, taro, carrots, Kunming steamed vegetables lined with soap nuts. Soapberry nuts I know. Our girls there embroidery, commonly used small porcelain plate steamed dozens of soap nuts, used to "light" velvet, take its smooth, and increase the luster. I did not think that this thing can eat, and delicious. Look also good, Yingjie jade. So many steamed vegetables, how many soap nuts must be used, how many soap nuts to peel out so many nuts? Yuxi Street, there is a family also sells steamed vegetables. Among the steamed vegetables sold by this family is a color rang small melon: a small pumpkin, scooped out the flesh, stuffed with meat and steamed, very chic. Many places have rang vegetables, rang winter melon, rang eggplant, all of which are stuffed with meat and steamed. rang is not known how to write it, and it is not found in most dictionaries. Or it can be written as "酿", which is not correct in both sound and meaning. We have made rang zucchini since we arrived in Beijing, but it did not taste like Yuxi Street's. I think this is because it is the same as many other steamed zucchini dishes. Probably this one because it is and many other steamed vegetables placed together steamed, chicken, bone, meat steam into the steam cages of zucchini, so zucchini meat in the melon aroma, and wrapped in the meat of the melon with fresh flavor. The only thing I can say is that I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do this.
The fungus
A friend to Kunming meeting, I told him to Kunming must eat fungus. He lived in an old friend's house, and ate all the mushrooms. Back to Beijing to see me, said: "really good!"
Chicken soil from the king of the fungus. Yongdao Street, there is a special chicken from the museum. This also sells bitter vegetable soup, which is boiled in a big pot, very cheap and delicious. Foreigners say Kunming has three strange: the girl called old lady, mustard called bitter vegetable. Listen to the Kunming people say bitter vegetables is not mustard, not a kind of.
The month before there has been living in Kunming's old classmates to, said chicken soil from out in Fumin. Once they had a meeting, from Fumin pulled a car of chickens to eat a lot of fun. Chicken everywhere, Fumin may be out more.
The green head mushroom, porcini mushrooms, dried mushrooms, chanterelles, I have written in other articles, do not repeat. Kunming mushrooms should always be eaten fresh. Chicken from the soil can be made into oil chicken from the soil, dry paste fungus can be dried into dry, can be far, however, the flavor is reduced.
Milk fan, milk cake
Milk fan is dried milk skin, milk cake that milk tofu. I rather suspect that this dairy product was introduced to Yunnan by Mongol soldiers during the Yuan Dynasty. However, the Mongolian dairy products are only used to accompany the milk tea, Yunnan as a dish. These two can only be "eaten for fun", do not eat.
Scrambled Eggs
Scrambled Eggs are available all over the world. Kunming's scrambled eggs special bubble. One upside down, two upside down out of the pot, moving the pot does not move the shovel. When it's hot, it's fresh and fragrant, and it's appetizing.
Tomato scrambled eggs, tomatoes fried to break the raw, still fragrant, not weak, eggs into large pieces, not hair dead. Tomatoes and eggs mixed, the color is still clear, unlike the northern tomatoes scrambled eggs, fried "a mess".
Imaging spring snowflake eggs, is to egg white, warm cooked lard on a small fire, stirring constantly, lard and egg white into the oil and egg mingling. Tender as a fish brain, white and shiny. Entry that has been to the throat, teeth and tongue are too late to identify what flavor, is really a masterpiece. There are also osmanthus eggs, which are made from egg yolks in the same way. Snowflake eggs, osmanthus eggs are sprinkled with a layer of lean ham, but not too much, more will cover the egg flavor. This way of making eggs has not been seen elsewhere. I have used this method in Beijing to make a dish for guests, bragging that "this is the practice of Kunming". Guests tasted, even said "good! Not bad!" And publicized everywhere. In fact, I made neither snowflake eggs, nor osmanthus eggs, simply a bit like Shandong's "fake crab"!
Steamed vegetables
Yuan Zicai "with the garden food list" pointed out that: fried vegetables must use meat oil, fried meat dishes when the use of vegetarian oil, very reasonable. Kunming fried vegetables with lard. Kunming greens fried good, because: fresh vegetables, oil, fire, careful use of soy sauce, when the pot is generally not cooking water or cooking water is very little, do not cover the pot (restaurant fried greens more than not cover the pot), or cover the pot for a very short period of time. This fried out of the vegetables do not lose the taste of vegetables, and does not change color, as if from the garden picked out the same.
Cauliflower Kunming called coconut cauliflower. Beijing fried cauliflower first blanched with water, then fried. This is not as good as simply adding water to cook into a creamy cauliflower soup. Kunming fried coconut cauliflower are raw fried, crisp and not stalks, dry and clean. If you add ham, especially good.
Steamed buns are only available in Kunming. Every year when Beijing tender corn on the market, I bought some back to pick out the corn kernels plus lean meat fried to eat. There are relatives and friends to come, feel very strange: "corn can do dishes?" After tasting two chopsticks, they all said "delicious". Stir-fried corn is simple to make and has been popularized in a small area of Beijing. An alumnus of the Southwest United University invited some old classmates to his home for a get-together, with a special announcement: "Today, we have a Kunming dish!" When it was served, it was fried bao gu. The bao gu was both old, with too much meat, lots of soy sauce, and a lot of water added to coo! I told him, "You can piss off the Kunming people with fried bao gu like this."
Before we left Kunming, Zhu Dexi and I ate a plate of stir-fried spinach with meat in a restaurant, which was screaming at the time and is still not forgotten. Spinach is extremely tender (Beijingers love to eat spinach that grows like a small tree, really inexplicable), the oil is very large, the fire is very even, the flavor is very fresh. Stir-fry spinach with as few spatulas as possible. If you turn the pan frequently, the spinach will turn black and have an astringent flavor.
Black mustard - leek flower - eggplant vinegar
Kunming said the black big head of vegetables for black mustard. Yuan Zicai thought the big head of cabbage preferred meat fried, very right. The first time I saw this, I had to go back to the house to get the money to pay for it. We sometimes a few people in Kunming restaurant to eat, a look at the dish is not enough, quickly add a dish of black mustard fried meat. One of this dish comes quickly; the second is extremely rice, and eaten.
Leek flower out of Qujing. Name leek flower, in fact, the main material is cut very fine drying radish. This is China's savory dishes in the "God". This flavor of small dishes is not much cost, but the price is quite expensive, think because pickling is very labor intensive. Kunming people also have their own pickled leek flower. This leek flower and Beijing eat shabu-shabu as seasoning leek flower is not the same thing, Beijing people do not misunderstand.
Eggplant vinegar is eggplant julienne, air-dried, sealed jar, fermented. I doubt this belongs to the ancient mince. Minced, Guo Moruo thought it might be pickles. "Shuowen Jiezi" "mince" word under the note: "vinegar vegetables," I think it may be the eggplant vinegar class of things. China to vinegar as the name of the small dishes are also available elsewhere, Hunan has "vinegar hot pepper". In the ancient books, all the characters from you have something to do with wine. Eggplant vinegar and vinegar spices are liquefied, eat with wine flavor.