Ethnic eats

Time Out eats its way through some of the different ethnic cuisines on offer in the capital...

From the Southeast Asian-influenced food of the Dai living along the borders of Laos and Myanmar, to the hot and spicy cuisine of the Miao in Guizhou and the more Han-like dishes of the Zhuang in Guangxi – the ethnic food craze is continuing to expand rapidly through Beijing's already dynamic dining scene.

There are dozens of ethnic groups living in southwest China, each with completely different backgrounds and culture, as well as a diverse array of ingredients and cooking styles. As a result, it is difficult to classify this area's cuisine. Nonetheless, the flavours of the minorities living in the region can be generalised as spicy or sour and sweet, although the degree of sourness and spiciness varies from place to place.

Southwest China's relatively unspoiled moist and damp forests grow an abundance of unique vegetables, such as qingwa pi (frog skin), songjian (pine needles), xianren zang (cactus), lihao (similar to baby asparagus), yuxing cao (a skinny straw like vegetable), qingtai (green moss). These conditions are also perfect for wild mushrooms, including niugan jun, jizong jun and yang duzi – known in the West as morels these mushrooms are prized for their unusual taste and texture.

Insects such as fengyong (bee pupae), caochong (straw worm) and mazha (locust), which may send some of us running from the dining table, are part of the menu in many minority areas.

The Dai people of southern Yunnan make liberal use of mint leaves, lemon grass and lime juice, not surprising as this group lives along the borders of Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, whose peoples also use banana leaves and bamboo as natural vessels for baking their food. They are also known for their glutinous rice – their main staple – that is baked in a strip of bamboo or in a hollowed-out pineapple.

The Miao people also cook their rice in bamboo tubes but, unlike the Dai, they prefer regular rice. The Miao cuisine is known to be sour and spicy, and every Miao kitchen is stocked with a sour liquid called suantang, a fermented rice liquid, or beancurd liquid, as well as cherry tomatoes.

Buyi people like to steam their rice, and sour pickled vegetables and sour liquid are a must in almost every meal; fermented black bean is the obligatory Hani condiment.

Mixian, ersi and erkuai, rice-based noodles, and baba, steamed glutinous rice cake, are the staple foods of the Naxi and Bai people in Lijiang and Dali. Baba comes in two flavours, a sweet type filled with brown sugar, sesame seeds, and a salty one filled with scallion, diced ham, and a little lard. The Yi's baba is made from buckwheat flour, while the Hani people make theirs with corn flour.

The Zhuang are closer to the Han in their dietary habits, enjoying rice and many of the same dishes that the Han people prepare, including mustard greens, cabbage, rape, celery, spinach and pea sprouts.

One thing in common with all these minorities is that they each have their own unique alcoholic beverage, either made from rice, glutinous rice, sorghum, barley or whatever the local environment provides.

Restaurateurs in Beijing who have opened ethnic restaurants are often passionate about the region and cuisine. Li Gang, a Han who owns In and Out, is infatuated with Lijiang, and Dong Chengwen, the owner of Sifang Jie, who hails from Xishuangbanna, speaks animatedly with customers about the varied cuisine of his native region. Liu Bao, the Dai owner of the Golden Peacock, who resents the fact that ethnic culture is being exploited for economic gain, came to Beijing to teach at the Minorities University and opened her Dai restaurant 15 years ago, also with a goal of bringing the best of the region to the capital.

Ethnic eateries

Baoqin Daiwei Restaurant 4 Minzu Daxue Bei Lu, Weigongcun, Haidian district (tel 6848 3189). Open 11am-2pm, 5pm-9.30pm daily. Meal for two 120RMB. 宝琴傣味餐馆 海淀区魏公村民族大学北路4号(韦伯豪家园对面)
The Baoqin Daiwei Restaurant, only a few doors away from the Golden Peacock, has a similar menu as its neighbour, except the pineapple rice at Baoqin is slightly sweeter. There is always a long line.

Golden Peacock 16 Minzu Daxue Bei Lu, Weigongcun, Haidian district (tel 6893 2030). Open 11am-9.30pm daily. Meal for two 120RMB. 金孔雀傣味餐馆 海淀区魏公村民族大学北路16号(韦伯豪家园对面)
Golden Peacock does not compete with some of the other ethnic restaurants in terms of decor, but it's authentic and inexpensive Dai food explains why this restaurant is always packed. The savory potato balls, mixed vegetable salad and glass noodles, sour and spicy rice noodles, pineapple rice, deep-fried spareribs, fish in lemongrass and the meat cooked in a bamboo tube are all prepared in an old and experienced kitchen hands, and are excellent. And with the generous portions, you won't leave here still feeling hungry.

Jun Qin Hua 88 Meishuguan Houjie, Dongcheng district (tel 6404 7600). Open 10:30am-11pm daily. Meal for two 80RMB. 君琴花餐厅 东城区美术馆后街88 号
Jun Qin Hua is a small and simple restaurant serving the savory dishes of Guizhou, and specializing in the Miao cuisine of Kaili. Mi doufu and juanfen, two types appetisers, are rice noodles doused in a sour and spicy dressing. Highly recommended is the Guizhou-style lazi ji, bite-sized pieces of chicken smothered in cloves of garlic and crushed chillies, totally different from the Chongqing standard of the same name. Zaola tudou pian, stir-fried potatoes cooked with zaola, a type of crushed chilies popular in Guizhou, is one of the best dishes on the menu here. Suantang yu, or sour soup fish is delicious and tastes identical to the sour soup served in Kaili, the home-town of the Miao people. Save some room for some delicious huangba, sticky rice with brown sugar, or babao xiao mizha, Guizhou glutinous millet steamed with dates and lotus seeds.

Mingji Shifu Building 1, Jiging Li (in an alley west of the Gongti 100 bowling alley), Chaoyang district (tel 6551 0806). Open 11am-11pm daily. Meal for two 120RMB. 明记食府 朝阳区吉庆里1号楼
This restaurant, tucked down an alley off Gongti Xi Lu, is decorated with bright orange tablecloths, colourful paper umbrellas and lanterns and does a good job of delivering all the basics in a bright, clean environment. The glass windowed kitchen allows you full disclosure of how your food is being cooked as well as giving one a reassuring feeling. The guoqiao mixian, or 'crossing the bridge noodles,' and qiguo ji, steamed chicken soup, are done well. The noodles are cooked to the right texture – al dente- and the ingredients, including raw shrimp, ham, chicken and vegetables, are thrown into a giant steaming bowl of soup and cooked at the table right in front of you.

No Name1 Dajinsi Hutong, Houhai, Xicheng district (tel 6618 6061). Open 10.30am-1am daily. Meal for two 150RMB. No Name 西城区 后海大金丝胡同1号
Situated in the very quiet Da Jinsi Hutong just a few blocks from Silver Ingot Bridge, the stylish No Name has found a quiet refuge from the neon chaos that has overtaken the Houhai area. The ethnic flavors are a bit toned down here and may appeal to diners who find the powerful herbs and ingredients of southwest China too strong for their palates – this is a safe place for people with mild taste buds. The char-grilled bean-curd in banana leaves and the beef in banana leaves are both recommended. Rice cooked in a brass pot with bits of potatoes and Yunnan ham is also worth sampling. The restaurant is spacious, funky, and it has a pleasant roof-top dining area.

Sifang Jie A16 Warehouse Complex, 22 Dongsi Shitiao, Dongcheng district (tel 6409 6403). Open 10am-2pm, 5pm-9.30pm daily. Meal for two 150RMB. 四方街 东城区东四十条22号南新仓古仓群A16
Named after an old town in Lijiang, Sifang Jie gathers the ethnic specialties of southwestern Yunnan. The owner, Dong Chengwen, who left his native Xishuangbanna to come to study in Beijing, never returned. He decided to transport all the best of Yunnan's wilderness to Beijing – a big selection of mushrooms, flowers, and vegetables – many only grown in his home province. Qiguo ji, the trademark dish of Yunnan, is prepared in the traditional way, which requires three hours of cooking time. Also try sautéed beef fillet in lime, and stir-fried Shiping beancurd, a type of beancurd made without any coagulent.

South Silk Road Third Floor, Building D, Soho New Town, 88 Jianguo Lu, Chaoyang district (tel 6615 5515). Open 11am-2.30pm, 5pm-10pm daily. Meal for two 200RMB. 茶马古道 朝阳区建国路88号Soho现代城 D 座三层
South Silk Road, located in a contemporary loft-like space with a glass floor, stainless steel and floor-to-ceiling windows, made ethnic eating chic. Sausages with cayenne pepper and Sichuan peppercorn is one of the unique dishes here, and the rest of the menu offers pretty standard Yunnan fare, including Dai-style inflated beef skin, fried goat cheese, the ubiquitous cross-the-bridge noodles, niugan mushrooms and crispy potatoes.

Three Guizhou Men Second Floor, 8 Gongti Xi Lu, Chaoyang district (tel 6551 8517). Open 24 hours daily. Meal for two around 150RMB. 三个贵州人 朝阳区工体西路8号 Three Guizhou Men first opened in an alley behind the Jianguo Hotel a couple of years ago, instantly making Guizhou cuisine popular among expats. The newest location, near the Workers' Stadium, which is in nicer digs, is their fifth branch. The food served here is a fusion of the different regions of Guizhou, 'but with less oil', says Mo, one of the three Guizhou artists who own the chain. The dishes are one notch less spicy than what is typically offered in his home province. 'Beef on fire', pieces of cooked beef placed over chives on a grid that sits on a burning bed of coals, seems to be the most commonly ordered dish by expats, while sour fish soup is the favourite of Chinese diners.

Xie Jiao Xiang Shop 1&2, 10 Xingguang Dadao, Chaoyang district (tel 5876 8897). Open 9am-11pm daily. Meal for two 100RMB. 斜角巷 朝阳区富力城星光大道10号 1—2商铺
This restaurant serves Yunnan tusi cai, or the dishes of the lords of Yunnan, in a modest environment without any minority costume gimmicks. Bai tie-dyed table cloths are the only sign of its ethnicity. A must order dish here is the intensely spicy beef loaded with fresh mint leaves, and red bean soup with sour pickled vegetables, two dishes that are not normally available at ethnic restaurants.

Yun Teng Hotel Restaurant Building 7, Huashi Beili, Dongqu, Chongwen district (tel 6711 3322 ext. 7105). Open 11am-2.30pm, 5pm-10pm daily. Meal for two 150RMB. 云腾宾馆 崇文区东区花市北里7号搂
The restaurant, known for its very authentic Yunnan cuisine, is located on the premises of the Yunnan regional government office in Beijing. Atmosphere is never a concern of the government-run restaurants, but they do take their food seriously. All the typical Yunnan dishes are offered, such as qiguo ji, chicken soup, crossing-the-bridge noodles, mint salad, fried sheets of goat cheese curled around a dollop of red bean paste, and an array of mushroom dishes. Many fresh vegetables are flown in, or brought in by train, according to the season.

Eileen Wen Mooney