Friday, June 16, 2006

Yun Nan Cuisine

Yun Nan cuisine is typically lighter and less heavily flavored than normal Chinese food. Rarely do you find tons of salt and soy sauce piled in a dish. We went with Paul to a restaurant where we saw Li Ao. Me, aunt, Paul, and the Lao Ban Niang (wife of the proprietor of the restaurant) all took pictures with him. I think he is a famous writer and political theorist.I equate him with the Taiwanese Zizek. He actually ran for president once, something Zizek also did in Slovenia.
The bright green stuff in the bowl is baby pea soup. They really were that young and that green, one of the more interesting and tasty things I've had this trip.
We call the plate of stuff on the right crack mushrooms because they're soo good, the restaurant must have put crack in them. In reality, they're very very finely julienne-ed mushrooms stirfried until dry and infused with a combination of salty and spicy tastes. They are SO good, even for a mushroom hater like me.
The story behind this "over the bridge" soup is that a wife was innovative while bringing her husband meals back in ancient days. In order to keep the meat and everything hot, she put the soup in a separate pot, with a layer of fat on top as insulation, and then poured the hot soup over the meat and other ingredients upon arrival. It is very tasty and also fun to watch while preparing.

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