Exotic ethnic dining in Beijing (2)

Another dairy product from Yunnan is the "milk bean curd" from the Yi ethnic group, a fresh-cut cheese made from yak milk.

Zhang Jinya, owner of Batiao Yihao, is himself a Bai ethnic. He offers many Bai dishes, including the famous spicy, sour boiled fish, which uses grass carp, and vinegar made with green plum.

You can also enjoy the stinky tofu from Dali, as well as the special algae, green melon, and a very tender potato.

"Besides a preference for spicy and sour food, the Bai people like Dali draft beer, rushan, preserved pork and dried pork liver," says Zhang. "In contrast, Dai food is more similar to the styles of Thailand and Myanmar, and uses citrus, lemongrass, herbs and spices."

"Kunming has also absorbed food styles from neighboring Guizhou, Sichuan, and other regional styles in Yunnan."

Tasty preserved pork can also be found at Jingse Liangshan, a Yi specialty restaurant. Liangshan is a Yi autonomous prefecture in Sichuan province, near the Yunnan border.

This is where you can sample the famous tiny, golden yellow cordyceps fungus, delicious hand-shredded beef served inside fresh bell peppers, and zhe'ergen, or houttuynia, a herb that is an acquired taste but very popular because it dispels excessive heat and expels toxic elements from the body.

Chef Huang Xianhong, a cuisine master from Kunming, says Yunnan has 25 ethnic groups, all with their own culinary preferences.

"Yi and Naxi ethnic groups prefer to eat goat. Tibetans like yak better.

"Lijiang's Naxi and Dali's Bai ethnic groups like to eat fish because they have lakes around them, and they prefer sour and spicy flavors," he says.

"The Hui ethnic group in the northeast of Yunnan, on the other hand, like to eat chicken and beef."

In the south, the Dai are known for their pineapple rice, or rice cooked in bamboo tubes. They also like grilling mushrooms wrapped in banana leaves, barbecued beef and pork.

These barbecued meat and barbecued bananas are available at Rainbow Village, a more casual Yunnan eatery also located at the Crown Plaza Sun Palace Beijing.