The special geographical location and long history and culture have created Huili's unique food culture. Huili also won the reputation of "Little Chengdu" because of its variety of snacks and famous dishes.
Huili's food is of Sichuan flavor and Yunnan flavor. The use of many ingredients is similar to that of Yunnan, which is separated by a river, but different from that of neighboring Yunnan. Huili people used Sichuan cuisine as seasoning to cook Yunnan's special ingredients, improved all kinds of food passed down from a foreign land, and blended the cooking skills of the Han nationality with the eating customs of ethnic minorities, forming a unique eating style. Huili is rich in Jianchang black goat, which is an excellent variety protected by national geographical indications. It has no smell and its meat quality is particularly delicate and delicious. According to the county records, scalded mutton hot pot with Huili black goat as the main raw material has a tradition and history of more than 3 years. Up to now, Huili people still regard eating mutton in the seventh half of the lunar calendar and the winter solstice as a traditional custom.
When people eat mutton in Huili, they pay attention to eating the head and hoof in the water. The head of the sheep is big and thin, the eyes of the sheep are soft and juicy, the belly of the sheep is crisp and refreshing, and the intestines of the sheep are full of oil, from the head of the sheep to the tail of the sheep, as if eating a whole sheep. Huili's real signature snack is mutton powder all over the streets. Huili mutton powder fully combines the characteristics of Sichuan spicy and delicious flavor with the original and bold style of local ethnic minorities in cooking methods and seasoning use.
Huili's mutton is famous, and the rice flour used is also special. It is thicker than the ordinary rice noodles in Kunming, and it is much rougher and more heroic than the common water-borne fine powder in Chengdu and Xichang. Some people think it is a little rough and thick, and it is not easy to taste, but mutton powder has to be scalded with this coarse powder to have a unique flavor. The meat is fat and thick, the soup is wide and full of materials, white as jade, soft and firm. A little less graceful and delicate petty bourgeoisie sentiment in the bustling city, and a little more rugged persistence and enthusiasm in the ancient city of Shan Ye. There is a unique beauty of primitiveness and wildness.
Mutton powder is the first choice for breakfast for many people. Its eating method is totally self-service. It covers up its fierce and murderous look with rich and colorful seasonings, and the three spicy flavors of sea pepper, watercress and millet are rudely superimposed. Then, ginger rice, chopped green onion and coriander are spread all over the sea bowl, showing its unruly personality in a lawless way. Baitkuai is a kind of rice-based convenience food originated in Yunnan, which is cheap and good, and can be eaten in a variety of ways. After the introduction of Bait Kuai in Ming Dynasty, it has been continuously developed and improved by combining the cooking styles of North and South for a long time, and its cooking method has greatly exceeded the simple limitations of monotonous roasting and boiling in the country of origin.
The bait is delicious, glutinous, soft and sweet, and can be mixed with all kinds of flavors. It can be eaten in a variety of ways. The most famous way is the famous chicken fire wire bait. Snow-white bait shreds are boiled in a delicate copper hot pot, the cock chicken is finely shredded by hand, and the best lean ham meat is also shredded, and then a few green vegetables are scalded, including red and white, and a beautiful bowl of tips.
whether the shredded chicken is authentic or not, the trick lies in this last spoonful of broth. Look at its color: white and red, taste its taste: strong but not greasy. There is ham, chicken, bone marrow, and that deep and thick, indescribable smell. Copper hot pot is one of the "three treasures" in Huili. Since ancient times, Huili people have used copper pots and bronzes to cook dishes. The dishes cooked in copper pots have a special fragrance and are very delicious.
Huili folk custom likes to cook copper chafing dish in winter and spring, and its eating method is similar to that of Lianguo in Sichuan cuisine. It is mainly stewed with miscellaneous vegetables, which is characterized by delicious soup, soft rakes, noisy hot air and rich nutrition. Copper chafing dish uses charcoal as fuel, pork ribs, lamb ribs, beef, beef offal, chickens and ducks are stewed with soup, and seasoned with pepper, ginger and onion knots. When the soup is thick and the meat is rotten, the seasonal vegetables are boiled, and diners sit around and share the food. The operation is simple, convenient and convenient. The flavor dish used is made of home-made watercress, Chili oil, chopped green onion, millet spicy and garlic paste, which has a strong taste. You can also add fresh vegetables and scalds while eating, and the more stewed the soup, the fresher it will be. The utensils for making iron harrows are shaped like old charcoal irons. Small dark copper pots are placed on the surface of the continuous charcoal stove. The stall owner skillfully turns the iron pans in the pots with small iron brazing until the two sides are slightly browned. This kind of food must be eaten while it is hot. The sweet and sour fermented rice slurry is combined with the creamy taste of eggs. After biting, it is soft and fragrant, and with a faint burnt taste, it makes you full of heat, enough to resist the chill in the morning.
Thin bean powder and camellia oleifera are traditional foods in Huili, and their light taste is especially suitable for the elderly and children. The thin bean powder is made of local excellent peas and slowly fried with slow fire, then finely ground into powder and filtered. When eating, it is evenly stirred and boiled with clear water. Camellia oleifera is prepared by breaking white rice into fine powder, adding water into a pot and stirring it into a thin paste, then heating it and cooking it slowly. When the rice paste is cooked and sticks to a spoon, it can be taken out of the pot and put into a bowl.
The camellia oleifera and the thin bean powder are boiled slowly with low fire, and the golden rice paste is filled with porcelain bowls. Grab a crispy prickly heat, scoop a few teaspoons of pepper oil, sesame oil and ginger juice, and present a large bowl with a sharp tip. Stir gently with a spoon until it is soft and thick, and the tip of your tongue is slightly spicy. It is a customary curtain call for Huili people to treat guests at midnight snack to chew the tube bones in the west street near the Bell and Drum Tower. Chengdu people pioneered the mother's hoof flower, but Huili people found another way and introduced the stewed tube bone. A large bowl of pig bones simmered with a small fire looks like the soup is greasy and the marrow is thick, the bones are crisp and fluffy, the steam is booming, and the crystal is moist. In the bony feeling like a silver hook and iron painting, there is a creamy charm with round beads, smooth teeth and red lips.
after thousands of years of continuous absorption, change, inheritance and innovation, Huili's food culture has gradually spread to the surrounding areas, affecting the taste and cooking skills of southern Sichuan and northern Yunnan.