Truffle with chicken: A natural delicacy

Located in Jiangchuan District, central Yunnan’s Yuxi City, the Yuxibai village houses dense vegetation, pines in particular. Thanks to its unique climate, soil and forests, the village produces the truffle, a round type of fungus good to eat. Using local ingredients to the fullest, villagers run restaurants of special dishes near the home. Jin Hong is one of them.

On clear days, Jin would explore in the mountains for truffles. “The fungus grows where pines abound. I used to come across truffles in my childhood when I was a sheep herder. But later I could hardly find them with a special intention.” While chatting with us, Jin Hong kept digging and saw a black truffle tip. He took it out with care, removed the surface dust and ate it raw immediately.

As an experienced truffle eater, Jin said the truffle hides itself underground, and it has the soil aroma. In eating it raw, one can taste the original flavor of truffles, but running water and a brush are needed to clean up soil on the surface. More often, it is cooked or stewed with other ingredients. “The truffle gets tastier when stewed with chicken, and the riper ones are more fragrant,” said Jin. “Truffle with chicken makes an aromatic dish good for the elderly and children, and it is especially nourishing in winter.”

In making the dish, Jin Hong said, the chicken is first cut into dices for cooking. When it is 80 percent cooked, put the cut truffle slices into the stewing pot. At the soup’s re-boiling, this dish is ready. Jin doesn’t add extra spices so that the original flavor can be kept. Certain seasoning may mar their freshness and aroma. According to Jin, the necessary spices include ginger slices, Amomum tsao-ko at the beginning and a small amount of salt in the end. 

The kitchen is permeated with the unique aroma of truffle slices, and coupled with the fresh chicken dices, the dish stirs the diner’s taste bud. Matching a 5kg rooster with several truffle balls, Jin allows a delicacy to come into being, with its refreshing soup impressing diners a lot.

Since his restaurant was opened in 2017, Jin said, his ambition is to let the Yuxi truffle known to more visitors, who are privileged to taste the delicacy from Mother Nature. 

Reporting by Li Dan; Trans-editing by Wang Shixue