Colorful and spicy Chinese Miao cuisine
The Miao are an ethnic minority, and admiring the glistening silver jewelry the women wear from head to toe, you may think they are rich. But the Miao lead a hard and simple life in remote mountainous areas of southern and southwestern China. Food on a table doesn't look luxurious even in their holidays and big ceremonies. However the Miao have some unique food that you can't find anywhere else in China.
Colorful glutinous rice
Glutinous rice is the staple food of Miao culture. During holidays a unique colorful rice is prepared for guests. The rice has five different colors: red, yellow, blue, white, and black. The juices of different plants give the rice beautiful colors. It looks beautiful, and tastes deliciously sweet.
The single girls send their lovers the sweet, colorful glutinous rice as a gift. They can place a few different things in the rice basket to tell how they feel about the men. If the man finds a bamboo hook inside, then he knows he will have to buy an umbrella for the girl as a present. A tree branch implies they have no future. A piece of a toon sprout tells they can marry soon. When they get married, the bride and groom will eat glutinous rice paste with the picture of dragon, phoenix, and baby on it.
Oil-tea
A very common Miao beverage is “oil-tea.”Some people have it as their everyday drink. Salt, ginger, and oil are put together with the tea leaves and then fried in a wok. Then add water, and boil them together. With a wooden mallet, the tea leaves are beaten into particles and then everything is boiled for one more moment. The tea is then filtered and mixed together with corn, beans, peanuts, or glutinous rice, and then some spring onions, garlic, and peppers can be added.
After all this, a cup of rich, deep, and mellow oil-tea is ready.
Together with oil-tea, a chopstick is always supplied. If you don't want tea anymore, then just lay the chopstick onto your bowl. If not, you will be continually given tea!
Sour soup
A special sour soup is served all year round. It's made of fermented rice, steamed radishes, and cabbage. The Miao like to cook meat, chicken or fish with this sour soup to make the dishes tasting a bit sour and more delicious.
Spicy flavoring
In ancient times, it was very difficult for the Miao to get salt, so they used hot peppers to add flavor to their dishes and developed a taste for very spicy food. Today, minced and fried chili peppers are the main spices added into Miao dishes.
There are many ways to cook chili peppers. They can be fried or baked, then mixed together with ginger, garlic, wine or soy sauce to achieve different tastes. You can keep the flavoring for long time if you put it into a jar.
Chicken and duck
The Miao like chicken and duck meat, and especially chicken or duck’s heart. The innards are almost always reserved for the elderly and special guests to show respect.
Wine
Wine has a long history among the Miao. Almost every Miao family can make wine at home.
A sweet wine made of glutinous rice and special fruit tastes good and helps digest food. If you visit a Miao village, the local people will entertain you with a whole set of wine service. From the road to their village gate, there are twelve different sites used for this service. You will be a great man if you can drink up all 12 bowls of wine! But no need to be upset if you can't. Use your lips to softly touch the bowl, and with a polite "Dou She Mo," which means "Thank you" in the Miao!” then you can go.
Visit the Miao villages during their holidays, and you can enjoy their exciting singing and dancing performances, along with their fascinating embroidery and silver ornaments like the unique silver earrings. Of course, plenty of wine is served too!
