Small World Foods

The Miao are an ethnic minority, and admiring the glistening silver jewelry the women wear from head to toe, you may think they are rich. But the Miao lead quite a tough life in secluded mountainous areas of southern and southwestern China. Even during holidays and weddings, food displayed on a table doesn't look very sumptuous. But the Miao have some special dishes that are different from those in most areas of China.

Colorful glutinous rice

Glutinous rice is the staple food of Miao culture. During holidays they prepare a unique colorful rice for their guests. There are five distinct colors in the rice: blue, red, white, black, and yellow. The juices of different plants give the rice beautiful colors. The beautiful colors attract you to have a big bite of the sweet rice.

The single girls send their lovers the sweet, colorful glutinous rice as a gift. Some special things can be put in the rice basket to tell how they like the men. A bamboo hook tells the man to get an umbrella for the girl as a present. The branch of a tree means their relationship is broken. A toon sprout means they can marry soon. The couple will eat glutinous rice paste with the painting of baby, dragon, and phoenix on it, when they get married.

Oil-tea

A very common Miao beverage is “oil-tea.”Some Miao people like sipping it every day. The tea leaves are mixed together with oil, salt, and ginger, then cooked in a wok. Then add water, and boil them together. The tea leaves are pounded into smaller pieces with a mallet and the concoction is allowed to boil for a few more minutes. After the tea is filtered and blended together with peanuts, beans, corn, or glutinous rice, some garlic and peppers can be put.

Now a big cup of deep and rich tea is prepared for you to enjoy.

Together with oil-tea, a chopstick is always supplied. If you don't want any more tea, just put the chopstick onto your bowl. Otherwise, you will be served tea non-stop!

Sour soup

A special sour soup is served all year round. It is made of fermented rice, steamed cabbage and other vegetables. To cook chicken, fish or meat, the Miao like to use this sour soup to give their dishes a unique sour flavor.

Spicy flavoring

In ancient times, it was very difficult for the Miao to get salt, so they used hot peppers to add flavor to their dishes and developed a taste for very spicy food. Nowadays fried and chopped chili peppers are the principle flavoring put into Maio cuisine.

There are many ways to cook chili peppers. After baked or fried, they can be blended together with ginger, garlic, or wine to have distinct flavor. You can store the flavoring in a jar for quite a long time.

Chicken and duck

The Miao like chicken and duck meat, and especially chicken or duck’s heart. The viscera are usually kept for the guests and elder people to show respect.

Wine

Wine has a long history among the Miao. Nearly each Miao family can make wine at home.

A wine made of glutinous rice and a unique fruit tastes a bit sweet, and helps you digest food. If you visit a Miao village, the local people will entertain you with a whole set of wine service. As many as twelve places from the road to their village gate are designated as the sites for this service. You will be a great man if you can drink up all 12 bowls of wine! Don't feel uneasy if you can't. Softly touch the bowl with your lips, and say politely " Dou She Mo," which is " Thank you" in the Miao language!”then you will have no problem to pass.

Visit the Miao villages during their holidays, and you can enjoy their exciting singing and dancing performances, along with their fascinating embroidery and silver ornaments like the unique silver earrings. And sure, lots of wine is served too!

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