[InKunming--Yunnan] On October 28, Dian cuisine tasting party, the first activity of “Unveiling Yunnan” made a huge success at a minority-themed restaurant (老脸西南民俗菜馆). Ten foreigners gathered together and enjoyed a good time. They learned how to make Yunnan cuisine, played interactive games, tried Yunnan delicacies. To some extent, they had a wonderful journey to know more about Yunnan food and culture.

The activity is like an intercultural event where people from different countries can have meal together and communicate thoughts about various diet culture.

Having a nice mood, ten foreigners came to the restaurant early. When they knew that they could learn to cook a Yunnan dish, Kraskouskaya Aliaksandra from Belarus, Djenat Dada and Marie from France took an initiative to try.

Following chef into kitchen, "What's that? We never see it before." Djenat Dada and Marie looked at the stuff and asked. “It is Jew's ear, and we don’t have it in our country. I wasn't used to it at first, but now I like it very much,” Kraskouskaya Aliaksandra explained.

“We are going to make Dai style Jew’s ear today. It is quiet simple.” the chef introduced, we are supposed to squeeze a little lemon juice in it. Looking at the chef, the three girls took the lemon squeezer and operated it. “Next, we should add some pepper, garlic, coriander, salt and so on. Then mix them together.” listened to the chef, they finished making their first Yunnan cuisine.

On the other side, a beautiful Wa nationality girl was baking tofu. Chieck Omar Greou from Mali, Maysasittiroj Ariyaporn from Thailand and Iksanova Anastasia from Russia came to bake tofu together.

They took tofu on the barbecue rack like the Wa girl did. The Wa girl said, “we need to turn over the tofu every few minutes, and when the tofu is golden in color, it is baked done well.”

While others were learning to make Yunnan food, Saiyang Sengmoua from Laos had already worn a chef's hat and mask into the back kitchen to cook the Laotian homemade dish: steamed lemon fish.

Originally, Saiyang Sengmoua made a plan to cook a Laotian dish for friends all over the world during the preparatory stage. “Yunnan cuisine is very similar to Laotian cuisine. We often cook steamed fish with lemon, but Yunnan people seldom do it.” he said.

After entering the kitchen, a chef had prepared the ingredients for him in advance. He put the fish on the plate, squeezed lemon juice out of the lemon clip and poured it on the fish, sprinkled a little salt. Then he chopped chili and cut cucumber into slices. He sprinkled the chili on the fish, then put a few slices of lemon on the top and sent them to the steamer. 20 minutes later, steamed lemon fish was done well.

Here come the questions? How does the steamed fish with lemon taste like? Is Dai style Jew’s ear made by three foreign girls delicious? What do foreigners know about the ingredients of Yunnan cuisine? To figure out all the answers, Guess What was held. In this section, two people could be a group. And each group sent a representative wearing an eyepatch to guess what the dish he or she taste is.

Li Zhengchao from Myanmar, put a piece of cucumber in his partner Chieck’s mouth. Chieck gave the answer “冬瓜” (winter gourd). When he was told that he was wrong, he was pretty puzzled. Is it not cucumber?" After the staff explained, he realized that he mixed the Chinese name of cucumber.

In the next round, Chieck put a chili in Li Zhengchao’s mouth because he was sure that Li Zhengchao could get the right answer and it went on as he expected.

Xuanwei ham, Cold Juanfen Rice Rolls,fried insects,Modern BaBa, Stir-fried beef with pickled sour bamboo shoots...At noon, the restaurant was full of the fragrance of Yunnan cuisine. Foreigners exchanged ideas and thoughts about food culture when enjoyed the Dian cuisine. 

Pickled natto with pine needles (水豆豉拌松针)is not as well known as fried potatoes in Yunnan, and even some locals have never heard of it. So as Li Zhengchao, who has lived in Yunnan for six years. He asked what the dish is when he saw it. Knowing that it is also a Yunnan specialty, he gently picked up a mouthful and put it into his mouth, chewing,"Well, not bad."

When fried insects came to table. Foreigners looked at those golden grasshoppers carefully. When they knew it is a distinctive dish in Yunnan, they picked up one and ate it. Kraskouskaya Aliaksandra said,“I was scared at first, but it tasted good.” Saiyang Sengmoua introduced that it tasted the same as the fried insects in Laos.

"I like fried potatoes very much. It's crispy." Maysasittiroj Ariyaporn said that in Thailand, potatoes are usually boiled or made into French fries. “There is insect cuisine in my country, but I have never tried. Today I ate Yunnan insects, especially crispy."

Djenat Dada and Marie came to Yunnan for the first time, because they had only been here for two months, and they could not use chopsticks very well. However, they insisted on eating with chopsticks, which reflects the saying, do in Rome as Rome does.

Marie took a small bite of Erkuai with her chopsticks and said, “amazing! It really smells like roses.” She was also into Modern Baba (a kind of Yunnan bread) which is soft and tasty, similar to French bread. 

Speaking of the differences between Yunnan cuisine and French cuisine, Marie talked a lot, “people in Yunnan prefer rice and veggies very much. They like to put chili in dishes.” Although she is not good at spicy food, she loves Stir-fried beef with pickled sour bamboo shoots very much, “This beef is different from the one in our country, but it tasted good. ” She said.

During the dinner, Chieck shared a word he had learned “老嘴老脸”. He spoke these four words in Kunming dialect and explained, “it means friends.” In his eyes, this activity is like an intercultural event. Friends from different countries gathered to communicate with each other. He has been in Yunnan for two years and he thinks Yunnan is a great place to learn ethnic minority characteristics and Chinese behavior.

Unlike Djenat Dada and Marie, Li Zhengchao eats lots of Yunnan food and he thinks there is no much difference between Yunnan dish and Myanmar cuisine.”

He eats Yunnan cuisine all over the streets and alleys, but still feels that Yunnan cuisine has endless charm, not much different from Burmese cuisine. He said: "I like Yunnan very much, because there are many ethnic minorities, various food is great, the weather is nice and people are very hospitable." On that day, he posted a moment in Wechat: I am very happy to meet you all. It is one of the most special experiences in 6 years.

Walk out of the restaurant, hear the sound of Bottle Gourd Silk, all the friends were still talking about Yunnan food and the culture behind it.

Click here to view Chinese report.

(Editors: Rachel, Christine)