Editor's note: As interest in Yunnan cuisine increases around China and the rest of the world, GoKunming contributor Guo Duomi will occasionally offer recipes for traditional Yunnan and Chinese dishes. If there is a certain dish you would like to see a recipe for, please send us your ideas via our contact form.

Eggplant cooked in red sauce – Hongshao qiezi (红烧茄子)
Eggplant or aubergine is a staple in not only Yunnan cuisine but Chinese cuisine around the country. Similarly, soy sauce-based hongshao dishes are available all over China.

Two types of eggplant can be found at produce markets around China. The first is the plump, dark purple vegetable well known in the West, the second is a longer, thinner version with striking bright purple skin. The bright purple variant is more prevalent but it may be substituted with the other as taste does not differ between the two.

Ingredients
2 medium eggplants
5 sprigs of spring onion
2 small green Chinese capsicums*
5-10g ginger
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp black pepper
Oil for frying
* Using zhoupi lajiao (皱皮辣椒) – a slightly spicy wrinkly-skinned variety of capsicum – is recommended for this dish. If zhoupi lajiao is unavailable, you can substitute with a standard green or red capsicum.

Method
Slice off the top and then slice the eggplants into strips around 3 centimetres long. Wash and chop up the spring onion into two centimetre lengths and chop the capsicum into small pieces. Wash the ginger thoroughly and slice thinly, leaving the skin on. Peel the garlic and slice it thinly.

Heat 3 – 4 tablespoons of oil in a wok on high heat and add the eggplant. Stir thoroughly until the eggplant has taken up all of the oil, then fry for around five minutes, shifting the eggplant around occasionally but giving it time to cook without being disturbed.

Ultimately you want your eggplant to be browned on the outside and reasonably mushy, you will find it gives back a lot of the oil to the pan when ready.

Once cooked remove the eggplant to a plate, leaving the oil in the wok.

Lower the heat slightly and add the spring onion, capsicum, garlic and ginger to the wok. Stir fry them together for around a minute and then return the eggplant to the wok.

Add in the salt, pepper and soy sauce and stir to mix thoroughly. Transfer to a plate and serve.

Happy Eating!

Editor's note: As interest in Yunnan cuisine increases around China and the rest of the world, GoKunming contributor Guo Duomi will occasionally offer recipes for traditional Yunnan and Chinese dishes. If there is a certain dish you would like to see a recipe for, please send us your ideas via our contact form.

Stir-fried lily bulb and celery – Xiqin chao baihe (西芹炒百合)
The waterlily is a well known ornamental flower. In Yunnan you can purchase dried lily flowers for use in cooking or to make tea and the gigantic lily leaf is also used to make tea. Not to be outdone the lily bulb also makes its way into local recipes, producing crunchy little 'ears' which are similar in nutritional quality to the potato.

Ingredients
2 lily bulbs
1 small carrot
1 stalk celery
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp cornflour
Oil for frying

Method
Break up the lily bulbs into numerous small 'ears'. Clean these with water and, using a small knife, cut away the outer edge to clean away most of the brown colouration. Wash well and then boil in a pot of salted water for 4 minutes, remove and drain.

In the meantime slice up the carrot and celery into small pieces and mix the cornflour with 2 tablespoons of water to form a paste.

Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a wok on high heat and add the carrot and celery. Fry for around 30 seconds before adding the lily bulbs and salt. Stir fry for around 2 minutes and then add the cornflour/water mixture.

Mix thoroughly, then remove from the heat and transfer to a plate to serve.

Happy eating!

Editor's note: As interest in Yunnan cuisine increases around China and the rest of the world, GoKunming contributor Guo Duomi will occasionally offer recipes for traditional Yunnan dishes. If there is a certain dish you would like to see a recipe for, please send us your ideas via our contact form.

Stir-fried porcini mushrooms - Chao Niuganjun (炒牛肝菌)

May is here, which in Yunnan means the beginning of wild mushroom season! Every year from May to September, a cornucopia of wild mushroom varieties is available in markets and restaurants throughout the province.

Kunming locals will begrudgingly accept the cultivated variety – which they derisively call 'artificial mushrooms' (人工菌) - during most of the year, but come mushroom season they flock to markets and restaurants for fresh mushrooms including the pine mushroom aka songrong aka matsutake (松茸), the chicken palm mushroom aka jizong (鸡棕) and the porcino mushroom, known in China as the 'ox liver mushroom' (牛肝菌). Today we will cook the fragrant and meaty porcino.

First, a brief but important word of warning: if not prepared properly, cooking fresh porcini carries the risk of severe stomach pain and/or mild to intense hallucinations of little people, snakes, etc. When preparing this delicious mushroom, always remember these important rules:

1. Use your sharpest knife to slice the porcini as thinly and evenly as possible.
2. Use more oil to cook the porcini than you would use for frying other veggies.
3. Cook the porcini thoroughly, coming just shy of starting to burn them.
4. If you refrigerate your leftover cooked porcini, make sure to reheat thoroughly before eating the second time – DO NOT eat cold or partially reheated!!!

Ingredients
300g porcini*
1 small capsicum**
5 cloves garlic
2 tsp salt
Oil for frying
*It is unlikely that you will be able to obtain fresh porcini unless you are in Yunnan during mushroom season. It is possible throughout China to obtain dried porcini which will be safe to reconstitute and cook.
** Using zhoupi lajiao (皱皮辣椒) – a slightly spicy wrinkly-skinned variety of capsicum – is recommended for this dish. It is widely available throughout China. If you can't find this type of capsicum, substitute with your favorite variety.

Method
Wash and soak the mushrooms in water for 5 – 10 minutes. Thinly slice the garlic and chop the capsicum into small pieces.

Slice the mushroom caps and stems thinly and evenly. For larger mushrooms the stems can be removed and sliced lengthwise, separately from the caps. The yellow flesh of the porcino acquires an alarming blue hue shortly after making contact with fresh air: this is normal.

Heat several tablespoons of oil in a wok. Add the garlic and fry for about 30 seconds before adding the mushrooms and capsicum. Add the salt and stir fry, turning constantly, for around five minutes – your aim being to boil off most of the natural moisture coming out of the mushrooms.

Transfer to a bowl or plate and serve alongside your other dishes.

Happy Eating!

Editor's note: As interest in Yunnan cuisine increases around China and the rest of the world, GoKunming contributor Guo Duomi will occasionally offer recipes for traditional Yunnan dishes. If there is a certain dish you would like to see a recipe for, please send us your ideas via our contact form.

Pumpkin and Potato Soup - nangua yangyu tang (南瓜洋芋汤)
Soup in Yunnan, as in most of China, is a part of almost every meal. It is not eaten as an entrée - it comes along with or after the other dishes. Diners are not provided with a separate bowl to take their soup and sometimes will not even be given a spoon! This necessitates a graceful slurping of one's soup directly from the bowl – fun for those of us who yearn for the simple days when we finished the milk in our breakfast cereal bowl in like fashion.

Ingredients
1 medium sized pumpkin*
4 small potatoes
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp oil

*Pumpkins in Yunnan are not the big orange fellows that often run by that name in the West but are smaller and more squashlike. If you are in an area where Yunnanese/Chinese pumpkin is unavailable butternut and acorn squashes are acceptable substitutes.

Method
Peel the potatoes and chop them into bite sized chunks. Remove the stem from the pumpkin and chop it into pieces which are slightly larger than the potatoes. The image below shows the potatoes post peel but pre chop.

Boil the potatoes and squash in a covered pot containing 1.5-2 litres of water for 30 minutes. Uncover and add the salt and oil. Serve alongside the other dishes with your meal. If you want to get particularly local in your eating habits then ladle some soup into your bowl when it is full of rice – a surprisingly enjoyable eating experience.

Guo's tip – Some meat or vegetable stock can be used to provide more flavour to the soup, this could be from other dishes you are cooking or stock powder. Also rather than adding fresh oil to the soup you can add oil which has been used to cook other dishes and is no longer needed. Be sparing in adding more flavour however as this is not a dish designed to be served on its own. Soup served at the Yunnan table is light and clear in order to complement the strong flavours of the other dishes.

Happy Eating!

Editor's note: As interest in Yunnan cuisine increases around China and the rest of the world, GoKunming contributor Guo Duomi will occasionally offer recipes for traditional Yunnan dishes. If there is a certain dish you would like to see a recipe for, please send us your ideas via our contact form.

Golden sands corn – jinsha yumi (金沙玉米)
Corn is widely grown throughout Yunnan, so much so that it's almost impossible to make a trip to the province without coming across a house festooned with drying ears. Golden sands corn is a specialty dish found in Yunnan which sees the corn prepared in a most unorthodox and tasty way.

Ingredients
300g of corn kernels
2 sprigs of spring onion
3 salted egg yolks*
2 tbsp of Chinese yellow wine**
100g corn starch
Oil for frying

* Salted eggs are ordinarily duck eggs which have been preserved by soaking in brine. They are readily available in markets and supermarkets throughout China and from Chinese grocers in the West.

** There are numerous types of Chinese yellow wine (huangjiu, 黄酒) which can be used in cooking. You should use a dry wine without further additives such as Shaoxing wine (绍兴黄酒).

Method
Put the salted egg yolks in a bowl, place them in a steamer and steam for 10 minutes. When the yolks are cooked add in the rice wine and mix with a spoon to form a paste.

In the meantime chop the spring onion into 1cm lengths, discarding the white bulb (Guo's tip – if you place the spring onion bulbs in a glass of water or replant them in soil they will produce a never ending supply of green stalk which can be harvested fresh whenever you need it). Wash the corn and drain (if you are using canned corn simply drain the can) then mix the still-wet corn with the cornflour until well coated. Discard any remaining cornflour.

Heat 4-5 tablespoons of oil in a wok on high heat and add the corn, fry for about 4 minutes until golden brown. Remove the corn from the wok, leaving behind a tablespoon or so of oil (if there is no oil left you will need to add more). Add the spring onions to the wok and fry for about 30 seconds, add the salted egg yolk paste and fry for a further 30 seconds. Return the corn to the wok and mix all ingredients thoroughly. Remove from heat and transfer to a plate to serve.

Happy Eating!

Image: 51fxb.com

Editor's note: As interest in Yunnan cuisine increases around China and the rest of the world, GoKunming contributor Guo Duomi will occasionally offer recipes for traditional Yunnan dishes. If there is a certain dish you would like to see a recipe for, please send us your ideas via our contact form.

Lotus root with preserved vegetables - yancai oupian (腌菜藕片)
The lotus root is a common ingredient in many Chinese cuisines, being much more abundant than it is in Western countries. In Yunnan during the warmer months it is often eaten cold in a soy and vinegar marinade. During winter this recipe featuring preserved vegetables (yancai - 腌菜) makes a nice accompanying dish.

Ingredients
1 large lotus root
½ cup of mixed preserved vegetables*
2 dried chillies
1 tsp salt
Oil for frying
* Preserved vegetables are available in infinite variety in China and from Asian groceries worldwide. Those typically available in Yunnan will contain some chilli and a variant like that pictured is recommended for use in this recipe.

Method
Peel the lotus root and slice it thinly. Add about two tablespoons of oil to a wok on high heat, break up the chillies by hand and fry for about thirty seconds.

Add the lotus roots and the salt and stir fry for around 1 minute. Add about ½ a cup of water to the wok and stir fry for a further minute. Add the preserved vegetables and cook for around 45 seconds until well heated through. Transfer to a plate and serve.

Happy Eating!

Editor's note: As interest in Yunnan cuisine increases around China and the rest of the world, GoKunming contributor Guo Duomi will occasionally offer recipes for traditional Yunnan dishes. If there is a certain dish you would like to see a recipe for, please send us your ideas via our contact form.

Across the bridge noodles - Guoqiao mixian (过桥米线)

Yunnan's most famous dish is definitely across the bridge noodles. The story behind the rice noodle dish basically goes that a scholar retired to an island in Mengzi to study for the imperial exams. His wife would bring him lunch every day by crossing a bridge but by the time she got there his food would be cold. She discovered that keeping a layer of oil on top of a bowl of soup would keep the broth hot enough for him to cook the ingredients when she arrived.

The dish, just like the story, has numerous variations but the basic elements remain the same. Many restaurants in Kunming will offer you the dish at different price levels, the more you pay the more (and more expensive) ingredients you get.

Ingredients
A few small slices of:
Chicken breast
Ham (Xuanwei ham can be used)
Squid
Tofu skin*
20g peanuts
2 quail eggs
1 small bok choy
2 stalks of spring onion
Small bunch of coriander
50g Chinese mushrooms
200g fresh rice noodles**
Large pot of chicken stock

* Tofu skin is usually available for purchase as dried sheets which need to reconstitute in water prior to use.

** Thick round rice noodles are traditionally used in this recipe. If using dried rice noodles they will need to be pre-cooked before making the dish.

Method
Wash and chop up the bok choy and slice the Chinese mushrooms. Chop up the green sections of the spring onion into long lengths, discarding the bulb, and chop up the coriander. Place each of the ingredients on a separate small dish, including cracking the quail eggs into a dish.

Fill a large bowl to about ¾ full with the Chicken stock – if it is not an oily stock you can add a little extra oil to ensure you have a good film on the surface.

Cart the bowl of soup plus other ingredients across a bridge to a small island or from the kitchen to your dining table.

The dish is then 'cooked' at the table – in Yunnan restaurants a waiter or waitress may do this for you. The meat is placed in the pot first, followed by the eggs, mushrooms and noodles. This should all be cooked through within a few minutes. Finally the peanuts, green onion and coriander are added as a garnish.

Happy eating!

Editor's note: As interest in Yunnan cuisine increases around China and the rest of the world, GoKunming contributor Guo Duomi will occasionally offer recipes for traditional Yunnan dishes. If there is a certain dish you would like to see a recipe for, please send us your ideas via our contact form.

Yunnan ham with Capsicum - Huotui chao qingjiao (火腿炒青椒)
Yunnan is home to what is arguably China's tastiest ham, the best and most famous of which comes from the town of Xuanwei (宣威). It is often served cold in slices or for a real Yunnan double up it can be placed between two slices of rubing (Yunnan goat cheese) and fried. In this recipe the capsicum is used to offset the pungency of the ham.

Ingredients
400g of Yunnan Ham*
1 medium red capsicum (bell pepper)
1 medium green capsicum
Oil for frying
*If you can't obtain the Yunnan variety you may substitute with a good quality cured ham.

Method
Slice up the ham into pieces around 2 by 4 centimetres, for an authentic dish be sure to include the substantial layers of fat which form part of the ham. Slice the capsicums into small pieces.

Heat around 2 tablespoons of oil in your wok and add the ham. Stir fry for around 3 minutes then add the capsicum. Stir fry for a further 2 or so minutes until the capsicum is cooked. Remove from the heat and drain any residual oil from the wok. This oil can be used for cooking other dishes or flavouring a soup.

Transfer your dish to a plate or bowl to serve.

Happy Eating!