Spicy Chicken with Erkuai 饵块
One would be spoiled for choice when going out for food here at Lijiang Ancient Town. There is an innumerable amount of restaurants to choose from, from local Yunnan specialties, regional Chinese food and also western food for the unadventurous. I always make it a point to eat local whenever I am in a different place. In the case of Yunnan, I can’t say I’m familiar with the food here as I only have Crossing the Bridge Noodle as far as I can remember. I wanted to go for an early lunch since I need to go elsewhere. Fortunately, my new hostel is located near a few popular restaurants. I ended up choosing the amusingly named Delicious Restaurant 民食香.
Having Lunch at Lijiang Ancient Town 丽江古城
There were a few similar looking restaurants along this row but this seemed to have more people at that time, I would probably try the other one next time. I was only one person eating so I only got one shot here. I orded from spicy chicken with erkuai 饵块. The spicy chicken was cooked in the Sichuan style, which was probably why I ordered it since I love Sichuan cuisine. However, something uniquely Yunnan was added to the mix. Erkuai is basically rice cakes cut into small bite sized portions. They were deep fried together with the chicken to great effect. The erkuai is a bit chewy and it provided great contrasts to the crispy spicy chicken. I don’t know about this being a true Yunnan dish but this was my best meal so far.
The restaurant itself wasn’t anything special. The floor was a little sticky though as if they don’t have enough time to clean. The ceiling was the special feature, since it is decorated but numerous messages from hopefully satisfied customers. I was very pleased with my meal and how I finally had one which I really liked. Hopefully I will go on a roll on good food from now on.
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