Yunnan is the most biologically varied province in China, with climates that run from Tibetan pasture to tropical rainforest within a few hundred kilometres, and its food reflects the geography and the twenty-odd ethnic groups who live in it. There is no single Yunnan cuisine; there is a set of regional traditions, and a cooking class is a good way to understand how several of them work without spending a month travelling.
What you cook
The dish most classes start with is the province's famous noodle bowl, where a bowl of very hot chicken stock is brought to the table with the noodles and the raw ingredients arranged separately, and everything is added in a set order so that the heat of the broth cooks them. It is as much technique as recipe, and it teaches the point of the local obsession with the temperature and clarity of stock. From there classes move into the strengths of the province: cured ham sliced thin and used as a seasoning rather than a main ingredient, wild mushrooms cooked carefully and simply, freshwater fish from the lakes, and the steamed-pot preparation in which a pot inside a pot produces a clear broth with almost no water added.
The southern tradition
Classes in Xishuangbanna and the tropical south work with a different palette: lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaf, coriander, mint, sour bamboo, and a heavy use of grilled and steamed fish and chicken, with chillies used fresh rather than as a paste. Dai food is closer to the cooking of northern Thailand and Laos than to anything in the rest of China, and the flavours are sharp, sour and herbal. If your itinerary goes south, a separate class in the tropics is worth doing, since the ingredients cannot be substituted at home.
Practical notes
Classes are run in Kunming and Dali mostly, usually in a market-and-kitchen format: shopping for ingredients first, then cooking four or five dishes, then eating them. Half-day and full-day options exist, prices are moderate, and most are taught in English for groups. Book a day or two ahead in high season. The wild mushroom season runs from roughly June to September, when classes work with fresh ceps, chanterelles and morels; out of season they use dried mushrooms, which is a different exercise but still worth doing.
