Eight Southeast Dishes Not to Be Missed 不可不吃的西南八大美食

重庆：香辣蟹
Chongqing: Fragrant Spicy Crab
集火锅与海鲜于一身，融川菜和粤菜为一体的川菜香辣蟹由成都人创制，成为了时下重庆人的心头好。香而不闷，辣而不燥，鲜而可口。先用油、豆瓣、香料等炒好后上桌，把蟹吃完后，各剩下的作料加上汤，吃了螃蟹肉才开涮，过罢螃蟹瘾，再过一把火锅瘾。
Integrating hot pot and seafood, combining Sichuan cuisine and Guangdong cuisine styles, the Sichuan dish Fragrant Spicy Crab created by the people of Chengdu has been very popular with Chongqing people. It is fragrant but not too rich, spicy but not dry, and tasty while delicious. It is served after being fried with oil, broad bean paste and spices. After the crab is eaten up, some soup can be poured into the remaining seasoning and then you can boil other dishes in the soup. After enjoying the delicious crab, you can also enjoy the wonderful hot pot.

成都：泡椒墨鱼仔
Chengdu: Baby Cuttlefish with Pickled Pepper
一个作者是这样写川味海鲜的：自从海鲜变节从了川菜以后，它仿佛焕发了它的第二春！铁例之一便是泡椒墨鱼仔。
A writer describes Sichuan style seafood by saying that since seafood came to Sichuan, it has gained a new kind of life! One of the best examples is the Baby Cuttlefish with Pickled Pepper.
这菜全靠四川的泡海椒（子弹椒），要选色泽鲜红、体大肉厚的海椒，泡的也需恰到好处。成菜红白分明，赏心悦目！泡椒的味全在墨鱼仔里面，还带点回甜的味道。
This dish fully depends on the Sichuan pickled chili pepper (bullet pepper). The chili pepper must be bright red, large and full, and it shall be just pickled enough. The red and white colors of the finished dish are very pleasing to the eyes! The taste of pickled chili pepper is infused in the baby cuttlefish and there is a sweet aftertaste.

贵阳：酸汤鱼
Guiyang: Fish in Sour Soup
据说酸汤鱼是用西红柿，还有当地发酵的米汤等等做出来的。当地人有“三天不吃酸，走路打拜拜”的习惯，所以可以想象这个酸字如何了得！如果只能在贵阳吃一顿饭，酸汤鱼一定是首选。
Fish in Sour Soup’s major ingredients are tomato and locally fermented rice soup, amongst other things. Sour dishes are so popular in Guiyang, that it is said if people in the region go without a sour dish for three days, they will not be able to walk straight. This saying shows how important sour dishes are there! If there is only one dish in Guiyang to eat, it must be the Fish in Sour Soup.

丽江：牦牛火锅
Lijiang: Yak Hot Pot
到丽江往往让人忽略了它的美食——因为有太多的景致。其实单单牦牛火锅，就足以让你彻底爱上丽江的。牦牛生活在无污染的高原，食草而生、肉质细嫩，是藏家的最爱。除了牦牛火锅，汉族人现在还没有其它途径一品牦牛肉的鲜美。
In Lijang, it is said that people always forget the delicious food due to the beautiful scenery. In fact, the Yak Hot Pot alone can make you love Lijiang from the bottom of your heart. The yaks live on the pollution-free plateau and feed on grass. Their tender meat is the Tibetan’s favorite. Except the Yak Hot Pot, there is no other approach for Han people to enjoy the delicious taste of yak meat.

腾冲：大救驾
Tengchong: Rescuing the Emperor (Fried Rice-flour Slices)
所谓大救驾即炒饵块，这典故无非是说清初吴三桂率清军打昆明，明朝永历皇帝的小朝廷一路奔逃至腾冲，饥饿难忍时，当地人炒了一盘饵块送上。皇帝就连赞：“炒饵块救了朕的大驾。”炒饵块由此改名。腾冲产的饵块细糯、色白、有筋，切成菱形片，加鲜猪肉片、火腿片、酸菜、葱段、菠菜段、番茄盯糟辣子、鸡蛋等炒香，又加入少量肉汤焖软，再用酱料调味，最后还配一碗酸汤，就上了桌。今天在以旅游为支柱产业的云南，有典故有渊源的菜自然热的快，而米食配酸汤爽口、开胃又益于消化，“大救驾”成为了当地一道热门菜。
The so-called “Rescuing the Emperor” is just the fried rice-flour slices. The name originates from an ancient story that Wu Sangui led Manchu troops to attack Kunming in the early Qing Dynasty. The small royal court of Emperor Yong Li of the Ming Dynasty ran away to Tengchong. When they were starving, the local people fried rice-flour slices and presented the dish to the emperor. The emperor praised profusely that, “The fried rice-flour slices saved me.” From then on, the name of Fried Rice-flour Slices was changed into Rescuing the Emperor. Tengchong rice-flour slices are delicate in taste, white in color and rhombus in shape. Fry the rhombus-shaped slices with fresh pork slices, sliced ham, fermented cabbage, chopped scallions, chopped spinach, diced tomato in hot pepper and egg, etc. to make the dish delicious. Then add a little meat soup to simmer them soft. Next, add sauce to season the dish before serving it with a bowl of sour soup. Today, tourism is Yunnan’s pillar industry, and the dish with its ancient origin has quickly become popular. In addition, rice-flour slices with sour soup are tasty and refreshing, and can stimulate the appetite while being good for digestion. The “Rescuing the Emperor” has become a popular dish in Yunnan.

昆明：汽锅鸡
Kunming: Steam Pot Chicken
早在清代乾隆年间，汽锅鸡就流行在滇南一带。相传是监安府（今建水县）福德居厨师杨沥发明的吃法。那年皇帝巡视监安，知府为取悦天子，发出布告征求佳肴，选中的赏银50两。杨沥家贫，老母病重，为得重赏，他综合了当地吃火锅和蒸馒头的方法，创造了汽锅，又不顾生命危险，爬上燕子洞顶采来燕窝，想做一道燕窝汽锅鸡应征。不料汽锅被盗，杨沥被问欺君之罪，要杀头。幸而皇帝问明真相，免杨沥一死，并把福德居改名为“杨沥汽锅鸡”。从此汽锅鸡名声大振，成滇中名菜。那时汽锅鸡的做法很简单，但味道很醇正。
As far back as the period of the Qianlong Emperor in the Qing Dynasty, Steam Pot Chicken was popular in the south Yunnan. According to legend, it is a dish created by Yang Li, a cook in Defuju Restaurant in Jian’an Prefecture (now Jianshui County). In that year, the Emperor made an inspection tour to Jian’an Prefecture. To please the Emperor, the magistrate proclaimed that he would collect the most delicious dishes and the seleced dishes could win 50 taels of silver. Yang Li was poor and his mother was ill. In order to get the generous award, he integrated the local methods of cooking hot pot and steaming buns and created the steam pot. In addition, regardless of risking his own life, he climbed to the height of swallows to get a bird's nest for the purpose of cooking a steam pot chicken with bird's nest. Unexpectedly, the steam pot was stolen and Yang Li was accused of deceiving his majesty and sentenced to death. Fortunately, when the Emperor inquired about the facts, he absolved Yang Li from the death penalty and changed the Fudeju into “Yang Li’s Steam Pot Chicken”. Since then, the Steam Pot Chicken has gained considerable fame, becoming a famous Yunnan dish. At that time, the cooking method of the Steam Pot Chicken was very simple but its taste was mellow and pure.

拉萨：生牛肉酱
Lhasa, Raw Beef Paste
藏药历来就很有些神秘色彩，拉萨招待贵宾必有的生牛肉酱就是几种可入味的藏药与捣碎的新鲜生牛肉最奇妙的混合。猩红血性的颜色，兴烈冲鼻的口味，吃下肚更是暖洋洋热烘烘的一团。
The traditional Tibetan medicine is always a little mysterious. The Raw Beef Paste that is used by Lhasa people to entertain honored guests is a mixture of several traditional Tibetan medicines which can make dishes tasty and the fresh mashed raw beef. Its scarlet color and intense and strong taste make people feel warm and comfortable.

大理：翠梅酸辣鱼
Dali: Hot and Sour Fish with Green Plum
在大理守着洱海吃鱼，可谓得天独厚。雪山融雪汇成了洱海之水，如此水质又滋养了分外鲜嫩的洱海鱼。当乘鲜采摘的酸梅翠色犹在，一道以青梅入味，以辣椒为主料的“翠梅酸辣鱼”就新鲜出炉了。果酸调和了鱼腥，更好的保持了鱼肉的口感和营养，与西餐烹鱼流行加柠檬片的做法倒有异曲同工之妙。
In Dali, eating fish beside the Erhai Lake enjoys exceptional advantages. The waters of the Erhai Lake are created by the melted snow from snowy mountains. Such high quality water nurtures extremely fresh and tender Erhai Lake fish. The bright green of the green plums remains even when cooked in this dish and is complemented by fresh chili pepper. The fruit acid mediates fish smell and maintains the flavor and nutrition of fish well. The different popular approach of the western style fish cooked with lemon slices is equally satisfactory.