Dai flavor in Yunnan praised by Myanmar ambassador

“Today, I came here to have a thin soya-flour porridge, and it tastes good!” said U Myo Thant Pe, Myanmar Ambassador to China. The ambassador, as well as the Myanmar diplomats in Kunming, is a regular customer of the Bailingyuan restaurant in Panlong district of central Yunnan’s Kunming, and the canteen features the Dai ethnic flavor.

The Dai ethnic group live in the border areas between north Myanmar’s Shan state and west Yunnan’s Dehong prefecture. And the thin soya-flour porridge is a traditional Dai snack favored by residents from either side.

“My husband, majoring the Burmese language, has worked in Myanmar for over ten years. Since he knows something about the Myanmar cuisine, we would have special recommendations whenever our Myanmar customers come over.” Li Yongling, the restaurant owner, said.

Li explained that the Dai dishes are mostly sour ones and specials in her restaurant include deep-cooked sour greens, cured sour bamboo shoots, cured sour fish and more. “The Dai folks believe sour dishes make diners cool-minded. Good for eyesight and digestion, they can help ward off the summer heat and relieve inner inflammations.

Unlike common Dai canteens that sell the cold dishes of lemon, fish and bitter ingredients, the Bailingyuan restaurant created the unique dishes of waxberry and pomegranate to achieve sustained growth.

In making the dishes, the lemon juice of traditional Dai dipping sauces is replaced by the waxberry or pomegranate juice. With other cut seasonings, the sauces turn beef, rice noodles and others into delicacies.

Li added that the chieftain fish and the purple-rice congee are also favored by diners. The steamed fish is coupled with homemade sauce and its earthy smell is rid of by exclusive skills. “Besides purple rice, the 8-ingredient congee also contains green beans, sticky rice, red beans and others. Its aroma comes from the prolonged heating with a mild fire.”

Reporting by Chen Canxia, Shen Yan and U Ba Oo (Yunnan Daily); Trans-editing by Wang Shixue