What’s for dinner tonight? Oh the choices one has to make! Howard and I are still at the picture book stage – look and point. What you see in the menu is not necessarily what you get! But we’ve also had some interesting choices made for us by our Chinese friends, and for the most part they are actually quite delicious, although sometimes somewhat exotic for our western palates!

Food in southwest China seems to revolve around chillies and rice noodles,but there is in fact a great deal of variety in local cooking styles.. Characteristic tastes are spicy and sour with pungent constructed flavours favoured over natural ones. Rice is a staple, either boiled or served as rice noodles.

Perhaps I should begin by talking about Yunnan’s most famous dish – Across the Bridge Noodles. The most common explication of its origins is the following story: A scholar was studying for his imperial exams. Every day his wife would cross a bridge to bring him lunch. She would fill a large earthen pot with broth covered with a layer of oil which kept the broth hot enough to cook the other ingredients she had brought when she got there. The additions traditionally include a raw egg, various kinds of meat including chicken, pork, squid, tofu, various vegetables and the ubiquitous rice noodles. The dish, just like the story, has numerous variations, but the basic elements remain the same. We have enjoyed this dish a few times now, and it’s good but somewhat bland.

Yak stew –  yak meat combined with peppers is a good main with vegetables and rice. Not really very different from beef.

Yak Stew

Snake – this was definitely a look and point mistake! The veggies around it looked quite good, but I lost my appetite when I saw the familiar patterned snake skin.The meat was totally black with some gristle – ugh!

Snake

Silk worms and dragonflies –  we felt we had to be adventurous and try these at a street vendor’s stand in Lijiang. They were barbecued, and actually the dragonflies were not too bad – the silk worms should just be used for what they do best – make silk!

Chicken feet (and heads)  – the feet are especially popular and sold as snacks as well. This is something I try to avoid, especially the black chicken feet! Why do they look so awful? But then it occurs to me that pigtails are a delicacy in Waterloo County! All depends on what you’re used to! 

Duck –  duck is considered a sign of fertility, hence its popularity! The complete roasted duck is brought to the table, including the head, but the body is cut up in odd little  bits. The skin is very crisp, but very fatty! Recently we have had some barbecued duck which is much better.

Duck tongue – yes we ate duck tongue! Every part of an animal is consumed, and I mean everything! We rather enjoyed this delicacy, somewhat tough but crispy with good flavour!

Duck tongue (above) is fairly tasty. Why does one never think of ducks having tongues – just beaks?? The curly stuff you see is the tendons conecting the tongue to the throat. The tongue is actually quite long, and somewhat rubbery!!

Fish – fish dishes seem to be a staple at most meals, and they are always beautifully served, complete with head and tail, usually in some rich, gooey sauce. The problem with fish is eating it with chopsticks, which, by the way, we are getting much better at! Pulling at the fish skin with chopsticks and trying to avoid all the fishbones is sometimes just not worth the effort. What I wouldn’t give for a beautiful salmon steak right now!

Pork is the default meat in the southwest, and invariable comprises a major part of every menu. We have especially enjoyed the ribs, beautifully served, and very meaty. The snout and feet, however, don’t do much for me!  Ground pork and onions were used in a dish we especially enjoyed called baba, a flour patty baked on a little sidewalk grill. Stuffing can be sweet or savory. Delicious snack!

Ribs

Pig snouts and chicken feet!

Pedicure needed!

Fried goat cheese – Exceptionally delicious! Often served with vegetables.

Vegetables – I can’t begin to name the varieties, although bok choy, broccoli and green beans are commonly served. They are always good, and never over-cooked!

Sidewalk food vendors are everywhere! Popular snacks are grilled yams, corn on the cob, strange looking sausages akin to wieners, deep fried potato wedges, and many skewers of chicken or tofu that are grilled right there on the street. I sometimes wonder about that meat – those chicken skewers sit out there all day in the heat!

In restaurants rice noodles in various forms, hot or cold (both in temperature and taste) remain favourites. Soup is mostly served at the end of a meal, because it is usually fairly bland, and cleanses the palate after all the hot stuff! Many dishes are in the form of some kind of stir fry, and ground hot peppers and garlic are used more or less indiscriminately in everything!  Mint, parsley, cilantro and basil are also widely used, and often deepfried, so that you get crispy herbs mixed in with  the chilli peppers and vegetables. Occasionally I tire of “hot” food, but I have a feeling I’m also really going to miss some of this food when we’re back in Canada.

Diners here don’t linger over dinner – they eat and run! I, on the other hand, prefer to linger over dinner with a glass of wine. Mind you, we never have wine with Chinese food – it just doesn’t seem to work. It’s either tea or beer or both!

Now for a digression from the “food column” to tell you a little bit about last week. For me it was fun going to symphony rehearsals, watching Howard work his buns off and loving every minute of it! Mind you, it paid off in spades. The concert came off very well, and was extremely well received by players, management and the audience. It was great to have Philippe Rheault here from Chongqing – he’s Canada’s new Consul General stationed there, making him responsible for all of southwest China. Made some great new friends in the process as well. I have a feeling we’ll be back here!! If you want to know more about the concert, check out Howard’s blog at: www.howarddyck.com.

Howard and Sun Jingya – the fabulous pianist!

Last week was especially eventful, who knows what this week will bring! Six weeks from yesterday we’re home!

Miss you all, and can’t wait to see you!

Maggie

ps As I’ve been writing this, I have been listening to “Gotterdamerung” from Aix en Provence – a performance with Berlin Philharmonic, Simon Rattle conducting, and our own Ben singing Siegfried! The singing will be much longer than this blog!!