Yunnan food is the best Chinese food you’ve never heard of.
How this style of Chinese cuisine has not yet reached the masses is beyond me, but I guess it has something to do with the fact that Yunnan is a province tucked away in the southwest corner of China, with a population consisting of and influenced by many traditional Chinese minority tribes. Not exactly mainstream China. Lush with forests, flowing with crystal-blue rivers, and blessed with a wide variety of natural ingredients, Yunnan food has a rich culinary background that makes it among the best cuisines in China.
Despite all this, it isn’t actually all that popular with Chinese people who aren’t from Yunnan. Could it be that the style of Yunnan food is too decidedly… Western? Could its abundant use of animal dairy and earthy, homestyle ingredients like herbs and wild mushrooms be a turnoff to the common Chinese palate?
Whatever the reason, believe me when I say this: Yunnan food is about to take the cosmopolitan Western world by storm, and I’m not the only one who thinks so.
I haven’t met a Westerner in China who disliked Yunnan food, and am (impatiently) waiting for it to grow in popularity overseas. There is no other Chinese cuisine that emphasizes local, fresh ingredients like mushrooms, herbs, pineapple, and cured ham, as well as healthy servings of dairy, things that Westerners such as myself are used to consuming. I am so glad to be able to finally share its utterly unique flavours here to show you why you should be eating Yunnan food too!
Here are FIVE must-try Yunnan food dishes that will compel you to hunt for the nearest Yunnan food restaurant near you (or make you wanna travel to Yunnan, it’s gorgeous):
-
Beef/lamb with mint 薄荷牛肉/羊肉
I know what you’re thinking: meat with mint? Actually, it’s a flavor combination that is found quite commonly in Western and Middle Eastern cuisines (lamb with mint jelly, anyone?) and I was pleasantly surprised to see it featured prominently in Yunnan food restaurants across China.
Tender slices of beef or lamb stir-fried with fresh mint leaves, garlic, and hints of chilli, this dish will satisfy your meat craving and freshen your palette at the same time.
-
Granny’s potato 老奶洋芋
Granny’s potato is a kind of Chinese mashed potato dish (quite possibly the only Chinese mashed potato dish) that is extremely popular in Yunnan and was probably first cooked by somebody’s grandmother, hence the name.
Made with mashed, still slightly chunky potato and flavoured with spring onions, chilis, and a variety of other spices and seasonings, I couldn’t get enough of it the first time I tried it! I felt like I was tasting the best of both worlds: a traditional Western comfort food infused with the earthy, savoury flavours of Chinese cooking. You will not regret trying this dish, I guarantee it.
-
Eggs with jasmine flowers 茉莉花炒鸡蛋
Okay, I know mixing eggs with fresh flowers sounds weird, but hear me out. I too was skeptical until I tried it, and though the taste is slightly odd at first (especially if you’re not used to eating flowers) it definitely grows on you.
The dish is so simple and so cheap: beaten eggs are stir-fried with jasmine flowers until the fragrant scent of the jasmine flowers is infused into the eggs, giving them a flavour you have probably never tasted before in your life. If you ever had plans on introducing fresh flowers into your diet (apparently it’s a thing now), this dish would be a good starting point.
-
Fried goat cheese 乳饼
Yunnan food is, to my knowledge, the only Chinese cuisine that traditionally incorporates cheese into their meals.
Yes, cheese! I remember when I first started exploring China and all its wonderful foods, I had come to the conclusion that people here generally weren’t fond of cheese. However, it appears that the people of Yunnan love it, specifically mild goat cheese produced by Yunnan’s Bai tribe, fried to a golden-brown crisp and dipped in sweet sauce or chili powder. I was skeptical the first time I tried it, but I quickly became a HUGE fan. My mouth is literally watering right now just thinking and writing about this heavenly cheese (good thing I live right by a Yunnan food restaurant!)
Yunnan cheese is special in that it is a non-melting goat cheese with a very mild flavour, similar to halloumi cheese, with the consistency of a firm tofu. This is an absolute must order, but make sure to go earlier in the day as this dish is usually sold out by the evening!
-
Wild Yunnan mushrooms 云南蘑菇
Yunnan food is famous for its mushrooms, as wild mushrooms of every kind grow all across the beautiful Yunnan landscape. Some mushrooms are grown on farms but many are foraged in the wild, thus some species may only be available seasonally.
Mushrooms are typically stir-fried with meat or vegetables, with chefs attempting to bring out their savoury and earthy flavours. You can ask your server which mushrooms are in season and they’ll gladly help you select the best one for you to try.
Bonus: Puer tea 普洱茶
No meal of Yunnan food is complete without the most famous tea from Yunnan: puer tea. From the town of Pu’er, this dark tea has a rich flavour that cuts through the occasional heaviness of Yunnan food. Despite being a dark tea, it is somehow both refreshing without being too overpowering. And you can generally get these teas sold in “tea cakes”, round discs of compressed tea leaves that you then break apart for brewing at your leisure.
Yunnan food was a completely new experience for me the first time I tried it and I’ve loved it ever since. Please, please try Yunnan food when you get the chance, because I guarantee you will be absolutely gobsmacked by its freshness, its exciting new flavours, and its wonderful, heavenly goat cheese.
Happy eating!
Really good Yunnan restaurants in Shenzhen:
大树脚云南菜 – Address：福田区东园路105号 (105 Dongyuan Road, Futian District)
伊甸园云南菜 – Address：福田区梅林路14号 (14 Meilin Road, Futian District)
云海肴云南菜 – various locations:
1. 福田区中航路1号九方购物中心B1 (9 Square Shopping Center, Floor B1, Futian District)
2. 罗湖区人民南路2028号金光华广场F6 (King Glory Plaza, Floor 6, Luohu District)
3. 南山区文心五路33号海岸购物中心F5 (Coastal City, Floor 5, Nanshan District)