Taste of Yunnan

One of the most appetizing lunch we had in Yunnan was the wild mushroom steamboat just before our roadtrip to Dali. A large pot is placed in the middle of the table with gas stove underneath. Once we arrived, we were served the herbal chicken soup from the center pot as appetizer. Our local guide added 'tian chi' powder (I haven't figure out the English version of it) to our soup, a kind of herb found widely in Yunnan, traditionally used to promote blood circulation. Of course, the true modus operandi is to encourage folks to buy the herbs but well, we didn't mind.

Once the stock in the pot is near boiling point, the wild mushrooms were placed into the pot to cook. Due to its climate and rich resources, Yunnan is the largest wild mushroom harvest in China. Over 300 varieties of wild mushroom is found in Yunnan, we sampled over 10 varieties in this sitting - some familiar yet some not.