Very Delicious Steam Pot Chicken 汽锅鸡
The Dali Ancient Town is a delightful version of Lijiang Ancient Town. Although Lijiang seemed to be prettier, Dali itself has its own points, bigger doesn’t mean better. The regular layout of its streets makes navigating the streets here a breeze, though part of the fun in exploring Lijiang is precisely because you get lost there. Anyway, it was time for some dinner. One thing I’m still trying to get used to here is that the sun sets quite early in the day. This is the effect of Yunnan being set further west Beijing.
Some Appetizers Before Dinner
Tonight, I decided to try one of Yunnan’s famous dishes, the Steam Pot Chicken or qi guo ji 汽锅鸡. This is basically chicken soup but the exotic ingredients used in Yunnan make qi guo ji a unique treat. Part of the uniqueness of this dish is the pot itself. It has a hole in the middle or rather a chimney. The pot itself is put in a steamer the steam shoots through the chimney and ultimately condenses inside the pot and on the chicken. As you can expect, this is a very time consuming process but the resulting soup is probably the most delicious chicken soup I have ever tasted. There is a mix of different Yunnanese herbs whose names I no longer know. This I can say, you can forget about having crossing the bridge noodles in Yunnan, but do not miss this delightful soup. Great for cold nights.
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