Moving with the Miao

[liuzhou]

Yesterday, I crept out my self-imposed exile from the world to make a special trip into the wilds of Guangxi to visit a somewhat strange site.

The Chinese government has introduced a scheme to move some of the ethnic minority people out of their poverty-ridden villages in the mountains and relocate them in new villages in areas with a better infrastructure. They are also given training in marketable skills so that they can increase their income. Actually, for many, to get an income for the first time. They are mostly subsistence farmers.

Anyway, it all sounds wonderful, but I'm not so sure. It smacks of "social engineering" to me. But I don't know. Anyway a small group of us were invited to visit one such new village which is a new home to a number of Miao ethnic minority families.

And, of course, we got fed! Here is lunch. I can't remember what every dish was, but will make my best efforts.

 

These were strange. Shrimp in a passion fruit jelly. The passion fruit was excellent, but totally overpowered the shrimp.

 

Beef with Black Fungus

 

Clam and Mustard Green Soup

 

Pork Vermicelli Something

 

Mixed Vegetables and Fungus

 

Beef with Chillies

 

Scorched Rice 鍋巴 - guō bā with a Spicy Pork Sauce. The best dish I ate.

 

Green Beans with Chillies

 

Pork with Chillies

 

Meat with Taro - not sure what meat. I don't particularly like taro, so skipped this dish.

 

Looked like leather or stained wood, but was soy braised sweet potato. Rather good.

 

Rice Paddy Fish with peppers. One of my favourites.

 

Food. Sorry, missed this one.

 

I guess this is self explanatory.

 

Bamboo Shoots

 

dinner to come

 

Edited December 5, 2020 by liuzhou (log)

[liuzhou]

Four and a half hours after that epic lunch, it was decided it was dinner time.

 

This was a spicy soup based on a pork stock, but oddly tasted very much like the Thai tom yum soup. Utterly delicious.

 

Kou Rou (扣肉 - kòu ròu). Steamed pork belly and taro slices.

 

Chicken in Chillies

 

Shrimp with "Japanese" Tofu

 

Pork

 

White Cut Chicken (poached organic chicken)

 

Dip for chicken - made from the bird's blood and various herbs and spices.

 

Turbot

 

Steamed loofah with garlic and chilli

 

Mixed Pickled Vegetables

 

Water Spinach

 

Pumpkin Cakes

 

Safe to say I didn't go to bed hungry last night!

More on the Miao people here.

 

[KennethT]

Some of those dishes (like pork with chili) look similar to what I get at Hunan places here. Are they as spicy as they look? Looks more like chili with pork than vice versa.

[heidih]

Interesting. The blood dip reminds me of a dip which of course I can not recall. Were these dishes to "impress" you? The relocated folks did not partake? I think your instincts are on the page. Thank you for the window into something different. 

[liuzhou]

1 hour ago, KennethT said:

Some of those dishes (like pork with chili) look similar to what I get at Hunan places here. Are they as spicy as they look? Looks more like chili with pork than vice versa.

 

Yes, their food is very similar to that of Hunan and Guizhou, both of which share borders with Guangxi not far from where I was and both of which also have substantial Miao populations. The dishes are as spicy as they look, or even more so.

Edited December 5, 2020 by liuzhou (log)

[liuzhou]

29 minutes ago, heidih said:

Interesting. The blood dip reminds me of a dip which of course I can not recall. Were these dishes to "impress" you? The relocated folks did not partake? I think your instincts are on the page. Thank you for the window into something different. 

 

They were not to impress me or anyone else. Each meal was in local restaurants and everything we ate was a standard menu item. There were also locals eating.

[heidih]

So affordable to the relocated folks?

[liuzhou]

10 minutes ago, heidih said:

So affordable to the relocated folks?

 

Perhaps. Though they don't really have an eating out culture. Subsistence farmers rarely do! But who else can the restaurants be for? The area sees very few tourists, either domestic or foreign.

However, the younger generations have mainly moved away to the big cities to make your consumer goods and are sending money back. Things are changing slowly.

 

[chefmd]

@liuzhou  amazing spread!  Do you know of English language scorched rice and soy braised sweet potatoes recipe? Those look like something that I want to try cooking.

[liuzhou]

25 minutes ago, chefmd said:

@liuzhou  amazing spread!  Do you know of English language scorched rice and soy braised sweet potatoes recipe? Those look like something that I want to try cooking.

 

They were two separate dishes.

 

I certainly know of scorched rice in English and so does Wikipedia. There are many recipes on Google - search for "guo ba". That said, as the Wiki article notes, few people make it at home now. I can buy in any market or supermarket. I don't know if it is available in Asian markets where you are.

 

I had never come across the soy braised sweet potatoes before, so can't help there. I did find one Chinese language recipe online, but it wasn't what I ate. Sorry.

 

Edited December 5, 2020 by liuzhou (log)

[chefmd]

@liuzhouthank you.  I will check out local stores for guo  ba.  I have sweet potatoes and soy sauce so I asked about that recipe as well

Edited December 5, 2020 by chefmd (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

On 12/5/2020 at 5:54 AM, chefmd said:

soy braised sweet potatoes recipe?

I know that I am coming in late to the game, but I just saw this yesterday and I do have a sweet potato and soy recipe. However it is Japanese. Rather than put it here, I put it in the recipe topic. You might want to take a look at it and see if it is anything that you could use.

 

Edited February 20, 2021 by Tropicalsenior
Punctuation (log)