Recipes To Share

The Miao ethnic group live in the mountainous areas of southwestern China. They boast a series of local artwork, including excellent batik, embroidery, brocade, and silver jewels, all of which attracts tourists to visit their hometown. If you want to travel there, remember to taste their unique baked food.” Some places even have handmade silver jewels for sale!

In a Miao restaurant, you will first be offered an apron, which is used to protect clothes from being stained by the oil from food. It’s actually a DIY service, because you will have to bake every food by yourself. Around a big pan on your table, there are lots of different food for you to select, like fish, chicken, leek, cucumber, pumpkin, and some unnamed wild vegetables from mountain. Here’s how to enjoy your meal: bake some raw food in the pan, and when it is ready, dip it in a plate with spicy sauce of pepper, garlic, and spring onion. You will surely like this ethnic flavor! Eat this with buckwheat cake and rice glue ball, Miao’s staple food, drink the special ginger tea, and you will have a most amazing dinning experience!

With a long history, baking food is quite popular in the Miao area. One small town with several local tribes has 500 restaurants which serve this food. A terrine-style vessel was ever used to bake food. Big as a straw hat, the vessel has a projecting central part and a furrow along the side to contain oil. The central part will first be wiped with oil before food is put onto it. While charcoal burns under the vessel, you can smell the sweet fragrance in the air.

How does baking food start in Miao area, here is a story. About 400 years ago, Chinese government sent army to the Miao areas to suppress the rebellion. To escape chaos caused by the war, the local people had to ran to the forest and made a living on hunting and gathering. They got the preys and wild vegetables in the forest, and baked them with oil on tiles. Surprisingly enough, this baked food wasn’t bad at all. Since then, this baked food started to be popular in the Miao area, and loved by the tourists who traveled there.

In the first Chinese Gastrology Festival held in 2003, their baked food won a gold medal.

While traveling in Miao area, you can enjoy this wonderful food, and unique silver jewels as well. That’s really great!

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