Jinghong Restaurants

Periodic migrations from Sichuan, Jiangsu, and Guangdong Provinces influenced the flavor of the food in Jinghong. Many dishes are hot and spicy.

Xuanwei huotui is a strongly flavored, country-cured ham dish. People in Yunnan enjoy dairy products, especially a mild white cheese that is eaten fried or steamed with ham or vegetables. When paired with tender, emerald-green horse beans, it's especially good.

Yunnan Province is surrounded by mountains and rivers, and a large variety of mushrooms grow in the area. There are dozens of varieties with such colorful names as "chicken-taste" (jizong) and "sheep-stomach mushroom" (yangduzi).

For vegetable lovers, Yunnan is an enjoyable place with bamboo shoots, tender young pea-sprouts, Chinese broccoli, green garlic shoots and many kinds of beans and vegetables.

Qiguo is a round, squat ceramic steam pot, with a lid and an internal spout, or chimney, which allows steam to enter but not to escape. Chicken cooked in this kind of vessel is delicious.

Crossing-Bridge Rice Noodles or (Guoqiao mixian) is one of the most popular dishes in Yunnan Province. The story about this famous dish says that in ancient times a scholar isolated himself on an island in a lake to prepare for the imperial examinations. His wife had to bring meals to him every day. However, she was dismayed that she had to carry the meal across a long bridge and when she arrived, the soup was cold. She found that she could keep the soup boiling hot by putting a layer of insulating fat on top of the noodles that prevented the soup from cooling. In the end, the scholar passed the exam with the help of his wife and Crossing-Bridge Rice Noodles became a famous dish.