Typical Yunnan dishes at family reunion dinner

Before Chinese New Year's Eve, Yunnan people usually buy pork belly to make crispy pork. The pork belly is sliced, coated with a mixture of eggs, flour, and a small amount of powdered peppercorns, and then slowly fried over low heat until the skin turns golden brown. Leftover crispy pork can be stewed with various vegetables after the day, creating an absolutely delicious stewed dish!

Yunnan is famous for three types of ham: Xuanwei ham, the Nuodeng ham of the Bai people, and the Laowo ham from the Nujiang region. These hams served on table are of great fragrance. Taking a bone-in ham with a moderate amount of fat and stewing it in a pot with radishes will create an attractive dish.

As round stuff usually symbolizes the reunion of the family in China, meatballs are usually served on the table, too. These balls are usually made by minced meat with other ingredients.

According to different preference, there may be tofu balls or lotus root balls. Tofu balls are usually boiled in soup, while lotus root balls are fried. These small balls of crispy wrapper and soft inside, are not greasy and are delicious whether hot or cold because of the fresh lotus root.

In Yunnan, there is a custom among the older generation. That is to make fermented glutinous rice during the festival. The dessert also known as sweet rice wine, is mainly made from glutinous rice and has a sweet and mellow flavor. It is loved by many Yunnan locals.

Source: Yunnan Observer; trans-editing by Wang Yunya