Why dishes from China’s Yunnan province can taste so much like Thai food
Spicy, aromatic dishes are hallmarks of both Yunnan and Thailand, whose shared ancestry makes them the equivalent of culinary cousins
At a Yunnan restaurant, you might expect a feast of mushrooms or a warm bowl of chewy noodles. However, some dishes carry the unmistakable, citrusy perfume of lemongrass, lime and galangal, which combine into the very familiar scent of the classic Thai tom yum soup.
This is no coincidence. It is an echo of a shared ancestry, one that makes Thailand and the highlands of Yunnan the equivalent of culinary cousins.
Yunnan’s culinary diversity comes from the Chinese province being home to 25 of the 55 ethnic minority groups recognised by the government, each with distinct cultures and cuisines.
Among them are the Bai people of Dali city, situated in the southwestern part of Yunnan province, not far from the borders with Myanmar and Laos.
To explore the food of Dali is to discover what one might call the “mountain version” of Thai cuisine. That fragrant trio of galangal, lemongrass and lime is as vital to the broths, marinades and salads of Dali as it is to those in Chiang Mai or Phuket. It creates an immediate, sensory bridge between the two cultures.