Food in Yunnan, as
everywhere in China, is as varied as the local ingredients.
Yunnan's diverse environment, from mountains in the
west to subtropical forests in the south inspires an
extremely palatable, although strange range of dishes.
True to Chinese style, the thousands of varieties of
plants and animals are well represented in cooking.
Cross-the-bridge noodles (Guoqiao Mixian) are prepared
at the table by adding raw ingredients into a hot
broth. The ingredients in the soup are seemingly
unlimited, except by what your palate can handle.
These include an assortment of meats, mushrooms,
tofu (also available in many varieties, including
dry tofu, tofu strips, and tofu skin to name a few),
eggs, cheese, potatoes, pumpkins, melons and green
vegetables. The story of the soup is famous-a woman
preparing food for her scholar-husband realized that
if she put a thin layer of oil on top of the broth
and carried the raw ingredients separately, the hot
broth would cook the food once she arrived at her
husband's study-providing him a hot meal. |