Exotic ethnic dining in Beijing

Beijing is where the world and her dining companions meet, and good chefs from all over the country congregate. Right now, the flavors are fresh, and the menu is blooming ... literally. Ye Jun tells us more.

Flowers, and the best herbs and vegetables in season: What better way to celebrate summer than to enjoy the freshest harvest? And you really don't have to travel far for it. Rainbow, a fine-dining restaurant at the Crown Plaza Sun Palace Beijing, offers a new menu with a range of seasonal flowers and vegetables from Yunnan province that will be available until the end of June.

The names may sound exotic but they are all healthy, natural vegetables. Ginseng leaf, wild pearl vegetable, taro flower and golden sparrow blossoms are all edible and enjoyed in their native Yunnan.

An attractive appetizer is the little shot glasses of five "golden flowers", with the name indicating both ingredients and a reference to a classic film made in 1959 about courtship and romance among the Bai people in Dali, Yunnan. Young ladies of the Bai ethnic group are affectionately known as "golden flowers".

The five blossoms used in the appetizer are jasmine, pomegranate buds, tender cordyceps mushrooms, birchleaf pear flowers and blossoms from the kuci flower. The flowers are lightly poached, lightly seasoned and presented in attractive little portions. Some are seasoned with marinated flowering chives, a common Yunnan flavoring.

Yet another flower, the golden sparrow blossoms, so named because the tiny blooms look like delicate little birds, is added to egg and cooked in an omelet, a lightly perfumed dish with the flowers barely discernible. But, eaten with a meat sauce made with pork, it is nonetheless delicious.

Cheese is another popular food with ethnic groups in Yunnan, according to Huang Xianhong, cuisine chef of Rainbow.

The Bai people make rushan, a soft goat cheese that is wound around poles and left to dry. The sheets are then grilled over a charcoal stove and toasted before they are served, sometimes sprinkled with sugar.

At Rainbow, the cheese fans are served with a sweet rose jam.