Are you looking to experience different types of culinary cultures in Dali city, Yunnan province? This blog post highlights some of the good dishes and snacks you need to try while visiting the city.
Dali, an ancient city with a thousand years of history, is home to various ethnic groups like the Bai people, the Yi people, the Zang people, etc. These groups make this place culturally diverse in cuisine; hence the Dali local food is often referred to as their traditional diet. Travelers can taste different kinds of dishes that are exclusively available in Yunnan, or even only in Dali city.
Read also: Visit Yunnan｜The best 8 things to do in Dali.
If Xiao long boa, Pekin duck, and Sour, spicy soup already sounds boring to you, no worries, this article list up 7 dishes and snacks that you might not have heard of before. Just keep on reading and sample some of these dishes when you visit Dali.
Foods introduced in the following are the ones I have tried. But of course, there are many more I haven’t tried. Yet.
1. Cross-Bridge Rice Noodles 過橋米線
Yunnan Cross-Bridge Rice Noodles is probably “the most” well-known dishes by travelers. You can’t miss it when you travel to Dali.
One kind of rice noodle encourages plenty of ways of making the dish. Nevertheless, each restaurant strives to keep the original taste as authentic as possible. A good Cross-Bridge Rice Noodles dish comes like this:
The love story behind the name “Cross-Bridge Rice Noodles “is quite romantic if you wonder. It is about a married couple who live on different islands, where the wife needs to prepare rice noodles and cross the bridge every day for her husband’s meal. To keep the food warm as she arrives, she prepares the hot noodle soup with a layer of oil on it, and she packs the ingredients separately. You can pair it with different meats and various vegetables, tofu, and quail egg.
It’s easy to find restaurants that serve Cross-Bridge Rice Noodles in Dali city, my husband and I had a good one at MEETRICE (蒙自源) nearby the famous spot – Foreigner Street gate.
Read also: Visit Dali Yunnan｜Top 6 Instagrammable Spots.
We also had a chance to dine at the restaurant in Grand Bay View International Hotel (大理海灣國際酒店), where they gave us a truly authentic taste of Yunnan Cross-Bridge Rice Noodles.
2. Cold Chicken Rice Noodles 涼雞米線
Cold Chicken Rice Noodles sounds like a variation of the Cross-Bridge Rice Noodles, but not quite actually. While you can easily find Cross-Bridge Rice Noodles everywhere in Yunnan, Cold Chicken Rice Noodles are unique to Dali. All the ingredients of this dish make up a sour, spicy, a little sweet, and silky taste. Locals love to have cold noodles when the weather is warm in summer. It is very flavorful.
If you are looking to have Cold Chicken Rice Noodles in the old town, I recommend having it in ZAIHUISHOU (再回首). This restaurant is a time-honored brand owned by a Muslim family, where we also tried another delicious dish called Er Si (餌絲).
3. Er Si 餌絲
When we talk about local delicacy in Dali, we can’t skip Er Si! Er Si is one of the best conventional local Foods made from rice flour. It is so unique that you probably won’t find an authentic version outside of Yunnan province. So make sure to add it to your travel checklist.
Er Si is usually cooked in pork soup, served with some simple spices and meat. But you will find the dish cooked differently at the restaurant ZAIHUISHOU (再回首). As I just mentioned, ZAIHUISHOU is a Muslim family-run restaurant. Therefore, Er Si is cooked in a braised beef soup instead. The bowl of Er Si delightful flavor is so addictive that we miss it badly after returning home.
4. Liang Fen 涼粉
It’s called Liang Fen in Chinese, and it means “cold noodles.” This yellow-ish and the jello-like dish is made of chickpeas or bean starch. It is usually cold and cut into cubes or slices.
Liang fen is often dressed with a sauce made of vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and dried chilies (or chili oil), so it tastes sour and spicy. You can also find the dish topped with some fresh veggies like carrots, chopped nuts, sliced chicken, and parsley. It tastes refreshing and tender.
I recommend Xiao Shian Yuan (橋香園) for your first-time trying this dish. They also sell delicious Cold Chicken Rice Noodles and Chinese buns.
Dairy Fan (Chinese: rǔ shàn) 烤乳扇
This iconic Dali snack —— made from milk and dairy products, which are often presented as a fan’s shape— is one of the typical local food in Dali, and you can easily find them on the roadsides.
The cooking method of Dairy Fan varies. You will find it most commonly be deep-fried, although it can also be steamed, boiled, or roasted. Adding powdered sugar on a fried Dairy Fan allows you to taste the original savor. It tastes sweet and savory, and dairy products also give a sour smell and taste.
Additionally, they have many pastes to smear it on the Dairy Fan. Chocolate, peanut butter, and condensed milk pastes are the most popular flavors among tourists. I’ve learned that the locals like to smear homemade rose jam with the Dairy Fan, so I gave it a try. It was surprisingly good! I would recommend you to try once.
6. Er Kuai 燒餌快
A must-try at Dali old town, Er Kuai is a rice-based grilled snack. It is generally filled with sugar or a spicy-sweet sauce. However, you can also find Er Kuai with a filling of meat, parsley, and peanut powder. Er Kuai is very crispy from the outside and very sticky and chewy when you eat it.
The best Er Kuai we had in Dali was with a filling of a fried breadstick, parsley, peanut powder, and homemade chili sauce. So every ingredient in it completes the dainty titbit. We couldn’t resist having it twice a day.
Annie’s warm reminder: These vendors that sell local snacks on the roadsides do not take cash or coins. You would need to have WeChat Pay or Ali Pay set on your phone before you approach to purchase one.
7. Xi Zhou Ba Ba 喜洲粑粑
Love the Chinese style pancakes? Ba ba is a savory snack food that is very similar to the Taiwanese scallion pancakes. But instead of deep fat frying the dough in oil, they instead pan-fry it. It looks a little thicker like a bread.
Xi Zhou Ba ba is known from Xi Zhou village in Dali city, that is how it got its name. It is made from wheat flour, which is often rolled to a round shape, and sprinkled with spring onions, mincemeat (or sliced ham), salt, and pepper. I recommend planning a day to visit Xi Zhou and grab a piece or two on the trip.
Having good food and learn to eat like a local is making the trips more exciting. I hope this article gives some ideas about what to eat in Dali and where to have the best authentic local dishes and snacks. If you plan to visit Dali or Yunnan someday in the future, give it time to immerse yourself in the culinary tradition.
