Food
Below are some food photos from my collection which show some of the food I’ve seen or consumed. Most are local with the last three having been taken in Yunnan.
This one came from the canteen. It consists of a fungus, zucchini/cucumber, a slither of carrot and what passes for a large amount of chicken in these parts. I like it apart from the over salting. Despite its appearance I’ve taken to the fungus and even bought some to include in my occasional cooking.
This a noodle and vegetable dish from a nearby street stall. It was delicious the first time I ate it. The second time the flavouring was different and while edible was a disappointment.
A roast sweet potato from a street vendor. It was very tasty.
This is not a good photo but it gives an idea of where the potatoes are cooked. There are many such small vehicles with hot plates upon which the potatoes sit and cook. Potatoes are sold by weight.
These are my favourite kebabs cooking on a hotplate on a bicycle. After cooking they were brushed with a bean paste and dusted with several different spices. Sometimes people buy them stuffed inside a flat bun which is also warmed on the hotplate. Other kinds of kebabs including meat, tofu and squid are also available. The Muslim style kebabs are cooked over hot coals and are available at other stalls and restaurants. They are dusted with spices and very yummy too.
These quail egg kebabs were dusted with spices and tasted delicious. I’ve only ever seen them twice in China.
Drawing in sugar. It was melted over a small heat and the molten liquid drawn into various shapes designed to appeal to potential customers. A completed one is hanging near the makers head. This stall was set up near a kindergarten at close of day. It is a common folk art seen in many tourist areas.
This woman was pouring a prepared mixture into a greased pan over a gas stove. Some of the previous batch of tiny star shaped ?cakes are visible in the bottom right of the photo.
A footpath stall selling spices.
These people were working in a small village near Dali in Yunnan. They put the dough through the extruder and then folded it up again.
The dough was then rolled out into long strips using the machine in the background and hung on bamboo poles to dry. There was no visual evidence to show the next steps.
An eggplant dish in a restaurant in Dali, Yunnan. I returned and ordered the same dish the following night. Despite them having a menu with words, pictures and listed prices I was charged less on the second occasion. Perhaps it was a frequent diners discount. One of the young men I met at Lake Lugo, and with whom I dined one night, said our meal was discounted because we ate at a restaurant where he had eaten previously. I never ate eggplant before going to China but I had quite a bit of it in Yunnan and enjoyed it. Sichuan is the province known for its spicy food but in Yunnan chilis were sold in large quantities from large bags and appeared in copious amounts in prepared food.
