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Qiubei is a small county with unique local characteristics. It has a variety of local specialties. There are also some special dishes from other places, and the diet is mainly based on Qiubei spicy food.
A local specialty dish, fried eggs with lotus leaves, has a fragrant taste and can be found in many local restaurants.
Sani lotus leaf porridge is made with 1/3 glutinous rice and 2/3 japonica rice. Wash and chop the fresh lotus leaves, wrap them in gauze and cook them with the porridge. Cover them with a slightly larger lotus leaf. After the porridge is cooked, anneal it and cool it slightly, then mix it with sugar or honey. It has the effect of cooling down and relieving fatigue.
Chicken stewed with black medicinal herbs is made by stewing a slaughtered hen with black medicinal herbs in an earthenware pot. It's delicious when eaten with a local dipping sauce. The dipping sauce includes mint, cilantro, Sichuan peppercorns, chopped green onions, and especially the local Qiubei chili peppers. The chilies are shaved in the pot, then gently blown off the charcoal dust before being ground with a pair of bamboo chopsticks. This "hand-rubbed chili" method is known as "hand-rubbed chili." Its spiciness is so pure and fragrant that you won't want to put down your chopsticks.
Qiubei's native chickens are mostly free-range, resulting in tender, fresh, and flavorful meat. The Zhuang community, predominantly located in towns like Pingzhai and Guanzhai, is also renowned for their sour chicken soup. "Bahang" means "sour vegetables" in the Zhuang language. Dried red greens or wild vegetables are soaked in rice water for several days, creating a red, sour broth. When the chicken is cooked in this broth, the Zhuang's sour bamboo shoots are added, along with spices like tsaoko (cardamom), ba gu (apple tsaoko), galangal (kaempferia), and vanilla. This incredibly delicious, authentic sour chicken soup is truly enticing.
Every summer, locals often serve live shrimp, doused in strong liquor and aged vinegar. Even though the shrimp's whiskers have been trimmed, they can still jump out of the dish, a practice known as "flying all over the table." The practice of intoxicating shrimp with wine and vinegar is said to have been around for centuries. Legend has it that a drunkard once devised a new method: drinking warm wine, then plucked a handful of live shrimp from a basket and tossed them into the wine. The lively shrimp, simmering in the wine, danced for a moment before becoming "drunk," unable to move. Their curled-up bodies gradually turned bright red. As everyone was astonished, the man fished out the shrimp, dipped them in soy sauce and vinegar, and began to eat them. Everyone tasted it and found it delicious. From then on, "drunken shrimp with warm wine" became a local delicacy.
A farmhouse in Puzhehei Village, serving local farm dishes, which tasted good.
Address: Puzhehei Village, Qiubei County, Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan Province
This is a popular local restaurant, and their dishes such as lotus leaf fried eggs and fried pork ribs are delicious.
Address: Xianrendong Village, Qiubei County, Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan Province