Recipes To Share

The Miao are an ethnic minority, and admiring the glistening silver jewelry the women wear from head to toe, you may think they are rich. But their life is quite hard and simple because of the tough living conditions in mountainous areas of southern and southwestern China. Even during holidays and big ceremonies, food on a table doesn't seem to be sumptuous at all. However the Miao have some unique food that you can't find anywhere else in China.

Colorful glutinous rice

Glutinous rice is the staple food of Miao culture. They cook a unique and colorful rice to feed their friends during holidays. There are five distinct colors in the rice: blue, red, white, black, and yellow. The colors are from juices of varied plants. It looks alluring, and tastes sweet and delicious.

The single women usually give colorful glutinous rice to their lovers as a present. Various things can be placed in the rice basket to tell if the women like the men or not. A bamboo hook tells the man to get an umbrella for the girl as a present. A tree branch means their relationship is finished. A toon sprout means they can marry soon. A glutinous rice paste with the pattern of dragon, phoenix, and baby will be prepared for the bride and groom when they get married.

Oil-tea

A very common Miao beverage is “oil-tea.” Some people drink it every day. Tea leaves are fried in a pan with ginger, salt, and oil. Then put into some water, and boil them together. The tea leaves are beaten into pieces with a mallet and the concoction is then boiled for a while longer. The tea is then sieved and blended together with sticky rice, corn, or beans, and then some garlic, and peppers will be added.

Finally a cup of rich and deep tea is ready.

A chopstick is usually provided together with oil-tea. If you don't want tea anymore, then just lay the chopstick onto your bowl. If not, tea will be given to you endlessly!

Sour soup

A special sour soup is served all year round. The soup is made of different steamed vegetables and fermented rice. People like to use this sour soup to cook fish, chicken or meat, and it gives their dishes a special sour flavor.

Spicy flavoring

In ancient times, it was very difficult for the Miao to get salt, so they used hot peppers to add flavor to their dishes and developed a taste for very spicy food. Today the Miao use the minced and fried chili peppers as important flavoring for their dishes.

Lots of ways can be used to prepare chili peppers. They can be fried or baked, then mixed together with ginger, garlic, wine or soy sauce to achieve different tastes. You can keep the flavoring for long time if you put it into a jar.

Chicken and duck

The Miao like chicken and duck meat, and especially chicken or duck’s heart. The innards are always saved for the guests and elder to express respect.

Wine

Wine has a long history among the Miao. Almost every Miao family can make wine at home.

A unique fruit and glutinous rice can be used to make a sweet wine which tastes good and helps digestion. If you visit a Miao village, the local people will entertain you with a whole set of wine service. It will be set in twelve different places from the road to their village gate. You will be named as a hero if you can drink up all 12 bowls of wine! If you can't, don't worry. Just touch the bowl with your lips gently, and politely say “Dou She Mo,” which in the Miao language means “Thank you!” then you can pass.

Visit the Miao villages during their holidays, and you can enjoy their exciting singing and dancing performances, along with their fascinating embroidery and silver ornaments like the unique silver earrings. And sure, you can taste various kinds of wine as well!

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