Culinary Travel: Yunnan Province China

Yunnan has some of the most magical and diverse scenery in all of China. There are endless trekking opportunities in the south’s tropical rainforests, and in the north, snow-capped Tibetan peaks hide dozens of tiny villages and temples rarely visited by tourists.

The fairly flat, productive northeast of the province is home to the attractive capital, Kunming, whose mild climate earned Yunnan its name, meaning literally “south of the Clouds”. A scattering of local sights extends southeast from the city towards the border with Vietnam.

Northwest of Kunming, the Yunnan plateau rises to serrated, snowbound peaks, extending north to Tibet and surrounding the ancient historic towns of Dali and Lijiang. The Far West, laid out along the ghost of old trade routes, has less of specific interest but allows gentle probing along the border with Burma. Yunnan’s deep south comprises a further isolated stretch of the same frontier, which reaches down to the tropical forests and paddy fields of Xishuangbanna, a botanical, zoological and ethnic cornucopia abutting Burma and Laos.

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.

Eggplant Cooked in Red Sauce - Hongshao Qiezi

Ingredients
2 medium eggplants
5 sprigs of green onion
2 small green Chinese capsicums
1/4 to 1/3 ounce of whole fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp black pepper
Oil for frying

Directions
Slice off the top and then slice the eggplants into strips about 1 inch long. Wash and chop the green onion into 3/4 inch 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.

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 green 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. Serve

If you have a taste for culinary travel, let Rawhide Travel and Tours help you plan your next vacation and all of your other reservation needs. Call us at (602) 843-5100 or visit our website: rawhidetravel.com.

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