Food in Yangshuo

Ingredients

• 1 piece of pork belly, about 200g
• 1 small cinnamon stick, about 5cm long
• 1 star anise
• 6-8 cloves
• 4 cloves garlic
• 4 shallots
• 1 small pieces rock sugar, 10g

Seasoning

• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon cooking wine

Method

• Wash, clean and trim the pork belly then marinate it with the seasoning, cinnamon stick, star anise, cloves, garlic and shallot for at least 2 hours or overnight.
• Preheat a small claypot with some 1 tablespoon of oil and sauté 3 cloves of garlic and rock sugar to fragrant then add in pork belly and the marinade juice and sauté on medium heat for 1 minute then turn it over.
• Add in 1 - 2 tablespoons of water and let it simmer on very low heat for 30 - 45 minutes, check occasionally to see with if the sauce dried out before the meat is tender, add in extra tablespoons of water and continue to simmer.
• When done, dish up and cut into serving size and serve together with steam plain bun and lettuce.

Kou Rou, another special food in Yangshuo

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Stuffed snails with pork

Ingredients

• 8 kg snails, cleaned
• 100 gm minced pork
• Wood ear fungus, soaked to soften and fine chopped
• 1 tablespoon shallot, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon garlic, fine chopped
• 1 teaspoon ginger, fine chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• lemongrass, or 12 ginger leaves

Method

• Boil snails for 5 minutes then shell, cleaned and mince.
• Reserve shells.
• Mix minced snails with minced pork, wood ear fungus, shallot, garlic, ginger, salt, pepper and sugar.
• Insert a small length of lemon grass or a ginger leaf into snail shells.
• Stuff meat mixture into shells and steam for 10 minutes over high heat.

There's much more food in Yangshuo. West Street has plenty of restaurants serving almost anything you can imagine. However, for special Chinese dishes, I would recommend Malcolm's China Cafe and William's Cloud 9. Here you can taste a little of the real China which is preserved in these two little cozy cafes. For a little more western style, try almost any of the other cafes. And remember, food in Yangshuo is more then toast, eggs, apple crumble and pizzas.

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Beijing Duck (Peking duck)

Probably the most famous of all Chinese dishes, though not necessarily the best, Beijing duck (Peking duck) is certainly an excellent dish. One could say the dish is China's national dish. It's a dish which dates back several hundreds of years. In Yangshuo too, you can get some really good Beijing duck (Cloud 9 does a good one)

Ducks are bred specially for the dish, which after 65 days are slaughtered and seasoned before it is roasted in a closed oven or a hung oven. The meat is often eaten with pancakes, spring onions and hoisin sauce. A variant of the dish known as crispy aromatic duck has been created by the Chinese community in the United Kingdom. The two most notable restaurants in Beijing which serve this delicacy are Quanjude and Bianyifang, two centuries old establishments which have become household names.

But how to make it at home?

Ingredients

• 1 (4 pound) whole duck, dressed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 orange, sliced in rounds
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
• 5 green onions
• 1/2 cup plum jam
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
• 1/4 cup finely chopped chutney

Method

• Rinse the duck inside and out, and pat dry. Cut off tail and discard. In a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, white pepper and cloves. Sprinkle one teaspoon of the mixture into the cavity of the duck. Stir one tablespoon of the soy sauce into the remaining spice mixture and rub evenly over the entire outside of the bird. Cut one of the green onions in half and tuck inside the cavity. Cover and refrigerate the bird for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
• Place duck breast side up on a rack in a big enough wok or pot and steam for an hour adding a little more water, if necessary, as it evaporates. Lift duck with two large spoons, and drain juices and green onion.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place duck breast side up in a roasting pan and prick skin all over using a fork.
• Roast for 30 minutes in the preheated oven. While the duck is roasting, mix together the remaining 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and honey. After 30 minutes, brush the honey mixture onto the duck and return it to the oven. Turn the heat up to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Roast for 5 minutes, or until the skin is richly browned. Do not allow the skin to char.
• 5. Prepare the duck sauce by mixing the plum jam with the sugar, vinegar and chutney in a small serving bowl. Chop remaining green onions and place them into a separate bowl. Place whole duck onto a serving platter and garnish with orange slices and fresh parsley. Use plum sauce and onions for dipping.

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