Many Beijing diners know Yunnan cuisine for the exotic ingredients it uses like the deep-fried bamboo worms, or the rather fishy yuxing cao, a pungent herb eaten often in the southern parts of the province.

But Yunnan cuisine has come into its own more and more as gourmets discover the pleasures of the many mushrooms from its mountains, including Matsutake, termite mushroom, chanterelles, boletus, and even the black truffle, all in season from July to October.

Yunnan is home to China's largest fresh flower market, and besides cut flowers, it is known for its edible blossoms, mainly roses and jasmine. There is also a vast variety of other edible flowers, including honeysuckle used in omelets or banana buds, which can be made into a salad.

With current food trends pointing towards the natural and the organic, Yunnan restaurants in Beijing are enjoying a peak in popularity, with their menus full of healthy, natural foods.

Many of the dishes reflect the ethnic influence of the minority tribes. Rushan, literally milk fan, is a deep fried milk curd sheet that is very typical of the Bai minority. Mushrooms wrapped in banana leaf originates from the Dai people in Xishuangbanna.

Other offerings reflect the cultural heritage of Yunnan. Over the Bridge noodles, guoqiao mixian, is a very theatrical dish that is assembled at table with a flourish.

Little platters of thinly sliced raw chicken, pork and fish, mushrooms, herbs and vegetables are placed on the table. A boiling hot bowl of chicken broth is brought in to be poured over the rice noodles. The contents of the assorted platters are quickly tipped in as well. Often, a tiny raw quail's egg is broken into the soup.

Another popular chicken dish is the steamed chicken in a special funneled clay pot, qiguoji. Chopped chicken is placed directly into the pot and the whole container steamed, covered tightly. The resulting chicken broth is a natural essence distilled from all that goodness.

Being genuinely Yunnan is now the new calling card. Whereas they have tempered the heat, and the ingredients in the past to suit local taste buds, Yunnan restaurants now realize that authentic flavors sell better. Sophisticated travelers enjoy their culinary adventures, and when they return home, a leisurely meat at a Yunnan restaurant brings back the happy memories.

You can contact the writer at yejun@chinadaily.com.cn.

China Daily

(China Daily 10/06/2011 page9)