Kunming Cuisine
Kunming people relish a little spice,but not as much as you might find in Sichuan or Guizhou dishes. This attitude is so right for Kunming dishes,where the local food is based on local products including the wild mushrooms and herbs.The method of cooking is often roasting,pickling and steaming.
The unmissable dishes we recommended are Over the Bridge Rice Noodles, Steam Potted Chicken,Flower Banquet and Wild Mushroom.Kunming people are gourmands,so it is easy for tourists to find delicious food in the city.
Over The Bridge Rice Noodles（过桥米线）
Over The Bridge Rice Noodles is a typical local dish in Yunnan that can only be found in certain parts of the province.The dish is prepared in three stages:
The meat pieces,which might be pork,chicken,fish (typically the local specialty,carp) and seafood (typically squid,from the sea),are placed in a large pot,to which is added a sufficient quantity of chicken broth and some heavy oil. The meat pieces might include cooked (eventually leftovers) or raw meats,or a mix of the two,just as one typically mixes as many of the kinds of meat cuts as one has available (this dish is a great way to make use of leftovers,which surely also helps to explain its popularity).After the meat has cooked until tender,vegetables are added and the dish is allowed to simmer a few minutes longer,then rice noodles are added and the dish is allowed to simmer a little longer,or just until the noodles are cooked al dente.Bon appetite!
Steamed Potted Chicken（陶罐蒸鸡）
The secret of this famous local dish is the unique design of the Kunming's clay pot:the pot has a shape of water chestnut with a hollow central tube that is the same height of the pot.After chopped chickens,ginger,salt,and other ingredients are added in, this pot has to be put in a larger pot with boiling water.Then the steam will come out from the central tube to warm the soup in the first pot.In this way,the chicken can be cooked very tender without damaging its original flavor.
Er Kuai (饵块)
Er Kuai is made of high quality rice that is cooked, then pressed into a special form. When cooled, the resulting "cake" of cooked rice retains the shape of the form into which it has been pressed. But this is only the first step in preparing "rice cake".Thereafter the rice "cake" is either boiled, roasted, or quick-fried in oil. Er Kuai is a very popular native Yunnan dish,where it forms an indispensable part of every feast during the Lunar New Year celebrations.A favorite Er Kuai preparation method is to gently roast the cake over a charcoal fire.Roasted Er Kuai is served with marmalade,jam,or fruit compot. Served in this manner,roasted Er Kuai is as common to the Yunnan breakfast table as is the croissant served with marmalade to the continental European breakfast table
Smoked smelly bean curd（臭豆腐）
The bean curd is smelly, but not as smelly as those sold in Guangzhou (the capital of Guangdong Province). People usually roast the bean curd over charcoal fire,put some dry or wet spices on the surface.The price is 0.15 yuan for a piece of the roasted bean curd. And you will not stop until you finish 30 or 40 pieces because they are so delicious.A bowl of cool pawpaw water or a bowl of cool rice shrimp (mi liang xia,a kind of local food made of glutinous rice and shaped like small shrimps) is also good after eating so many spicy roasted bean curd.
