Early Kunming Summer: Mint Soup and Mangoes

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It feels like summer here even though it's only May. Sky is blue and the sun is bright from 9 a.m. onward, with a few clouds in the late afternoon and evening. The Summer Equinox doesn’t arrive for another month, but Kunming is already blessed with shorts and tee shirt weather.

 

Time for food that’s light and cool; like mint soup and mangoes.

 

Mint is used a lot here. Every restaurant, humble or fancy, will have it available in several forms for diners whether or not it’s on the menu. One of the most popular ways is mint soup 薄荷鸡蛋汤。It’s so simple that I blush to even call it a recipe. But, nonetheless, I’ll show you how to make it.

 

 

 

A large bunch of fresh mint the size of a basketball cost 2 Yuan at the wet market. A medium pot of soup requires two large handfuls. You only need two main ingredients: Mint and one fresh egg. Wash the mint a couple times in tap water and go through it, picking out any thick stems that don't snap easily. You are left with tender, thin stems and leaves.

 

 

 

Break the egg in a small bowl and stir it with fork or chopsticks.

 

 

 

Boil about a liter of water, add a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of 鸡精. Pour in an approximate teaspoon of sesame oil. When the water comes to a rolling boil, add the mint and stir it well. Cook for a minute or two.

 

Stir in the egg in a thin stream, holding the bowl 10 or 12 inches above the pot and stirring briskly as you pour. The idea is to have the egg disperse in small droplets and thin streaks instead of solidifying into clumps and chunks.

 

   

 

Taste and adjust the seasoning. This is a simple soup and doesn't need a variety of condiments; don't reach for the soy sauce. Serve it up.

 

 

 

You need both a spoon and chopsticks at the table because you will actually eat the mint. Think of it like a serving of tasty green leafy vegetables plus broth.

 

Serve it with a roast duck and steamed rice for a simple meal. TCM maintains that this soup has cooling properties. I usually make enough to put some in the fridge that I can polish off tomorrow. Keeps well like that overnight. If you ate most of the mint today and have mainly clear soup left, add more mint and another egg tomorrow.

 

And what could be better than to finish the meal with a mango? Their season started about a week ago.

 

 

I bought these yesterday. The two yellow ones are ripe, the other two, which have a little green, will be ready tomorrow or the next day. The four of them cost me 8 Yuan.

 

You may already have a favorite mango method, but I'll show you how to do the "hedgehog prep." Cut off the stem end so you can stand the mango upright.

 

   

 

Slice each side straight down. Cut away the central strip that remains. (Just gnaw those small bits when nobody's looking.)

 

   

 

Now you have two real pretty "halves." Score each of them in a criss-cross pattern, going through the flesh, but not through the skin.

 

   

 

Evert these slightly and the flesh opens up nicely. Can eat it just like that with your hands or scoop it off with a spoon.

 

 

 

Presto, you have a light and tasty summer meal. Easy prep, easy clean up.

[onebir]

This reminds me: in Kunming (/Yunnan?) they eat loads of green vegetables that seem to be unique to the area. People told me they (re?)discovered them during Mao's time,  when food was really scarce. So I look forward to further excursions through Kunming's exotic cai

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This reminds me: in Kunming (/Yunnan?) they eat loads of green vegetables that seem to be unique to the area. People told me they (re?)discovered them during Mao's time,  when food was really scarce.

 

I've heard the same thing, @Onebir. There must be a dozen kinds of these wild vegetables in the wet market. Some are slightly bitter, some even have small thorn-like spines. Locals lump them together as 野菜。A good way to try them out is in one or another of Kunming's Dai restaurants 傣味。They seem to always have a good selection. Sometimes they offer them fried with slivered meat 肉丝 and sometimes in a sour and spicy soup. They have a "strangeness factor" right up there with crispy fried insects and grubs.

[onlyone]

Nice article, we will share in KunmingExpats     https://www.facebook.com/KunmingExpats/

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@Onlyone, is there much interest in local cooking and local food on your Kunming website? If so, I have some other similar recipes and food reports which might be suitable. 

[Alex_Hart]

Nice introduction to summer, abcd!

 

I love mint (or drinking it. Mint juleps, yay!), but I've never heard of eating it while still whole and in such a large amount - we usually put it into a sauce of some sort, or shred it and put it over the dish. Might need to try this!

 

Beware the mango cutting debate - people have been killed for less! 

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I love mint (or drinking it. Mint juleps, yay!), but I've never heard of eating it while still whole and in such a large amount - we usually put it into a sauce of some sort, or shred it and put it over the dish.

 

You have hit the nail on the head, @Alex_Hart! We westerners think of mint as a condiment or as a garnish much more than we think of it as an actual green vegetable to be cooked and eaten in significant amounts. This recipe redefines its role.

 

Plus we mainly think of it as something to serve in a "sweet" context, such as with sugar in a minty drink or as topping on ice cream, etc. There are exceptions, of course, such as mint sauce served with lamb.

 

Yunnan Mint Soup is such a radical departure from our western norms that it just isn't what we would usually think of as "reasonable" or "acceptable" food. And that's exactly why I wanted to introduce it here: Because it's a delicious, albeit major, departure from our usual culinary norms. And it's easy to try out at home if one has an adventurous turn of mind. Cheap and quick. Favorable ratio of risk to reward.

 

Economic investment: 2 Yuan for the mint plus 1 Yuan for the egg.

Time investment: 5 minutes for the prep; three minutes for the actual cooking. 5 minutes of clean up.

 

So if you make it and don't like it, just toss it out. No need to shed any tears.

 

Chinese people from other parts of China also perceive eating mint this way as sort of odd. But in Yunnan it is widely accepted and widely loved. We even sometimes put mint in hot pot 火锅 as a vegetable, along with other savory and spicy items.

 

Huizu 回族 restaurants here all seem to offer a signature dish that they call 牙签牛肉。This is made with thin slivers of lean beef speared onto a toothpick along with a generous sprig of mint and then fried crispy.

 

  

 

Daizu 傣族 restaurants serve mint stir fried with garlic, fiery hot small birds' eye chilies and slivered pork 肉丝。Restaurants featuring Zhaotong 昭通 and Qujing 曲靖 cuisine, often offer it with lamb. (Northeast Yunnan.)

 

  

 

Lately (the last year or so) I've been seeing alcohol-free ("virgin") Mojitos offered in upscale local restaurants. Refreshing mix of limes, mint, sugar and club soda, served with a straw. I sometimes make it at home for guests, adding white rum for those who prefer it with the booze. 

 

Mint is more versatile than I ever dreamed before moving to Yunnan. As you and I already know, what most westerners think of as "Chinese food" is really just a fraction of what one actually finds here. And that's especially true in Yunnan, where minority influences are so pervasive and the resulting cuisine is so impressively diverse.

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Beware the mango cutting debate - people have been killed for less!

 

I do sincerely hope no fiery-eyed mango jihadist takes me to task over this. My courage is far from boundless; I will easily recant my heresy to avoid a rude beheading.

[Alex_Hart]

While I have decidedly mixed feelings about "virgin" mojitos (or not so mixed: blasphemy!), I quite agree on the awesomeness of cheap food. Better yet, make it free! My partner and I are borderline(?) criminal in our brazen forays up other people's driveways on the hunt for some wild greens. Last year, we ended up freezing two or three dozen wild mint ice cubes for mojitos and the like. One homeowner caught us in their driveway and happily let us go once we told her that it was wild mint. If we manage to find any this year, we shall be sure to try minty egg soup.

 

And indeed, the ethnic diversity of China is pretty awesome on the palate. I've had lots of Sino-Tibetan food and always found the addition of "mountain herbs" (neither my rather pathetic Chinese nor my non-existent Tibetan are at a level that I could ask what herb that actually refers to) is quite divine. The cumin of 新疆菜 also has a particular attraction to my hungry stomach after the sun sets. 

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Last year, we ended up freezing two or three dozen wild mint ice cubes for mojitos and the like.

 

I never tried that. Sounds like an excellent idea!

 

On rare occasions I can find wild mint at the wet market, but usually not. Most of the mint that's for sale there is cultivated.

 

I have a notion in the back of my mind to try and do a feature on the various flowers that are on sale there as food. Probably a dozen different varieties now. Only problem is that I only know the names of three or four. Some are used with scrambled eggs, others are usually stir fried with meat. One or two are usually made into a soup.

 

Have had very little exposure to Tibetan fare.

[StChris]

I've been using mint quite a lot since noticing a mint plant in my parents garden after moving back home to England, so I thought I'd give this a try. It's pretty good, despite me missing an essential ingredient (the 鸡精 - I substituted pepper). As abcdefg says, it ridiculously cheap and easy to make. It seems pretty healthy too (I've heard that mint is good for the stomach.

 

All I need now is for abcdefg to give us a good duck recipe, then I'll have a small feast on my hands (is there any special way they cook duck in Yunnan?).

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StChris, glad you had a chance to try it. Don't worry, the 鸡精 is not really essential. If I were making this in the US (or in England), I might put in a little bit of chicken bouillon granules. A teaspoon or so would do; it seems to have more concentrated flavor than Chinese 鸡精。

 

All I need now is for abcdefg to give us a good duck recipe, then I'll have a small feast on my hands (is there any special way they cook duck in Yunnan?).

 

Ah, roast duck 烤鸭！Afraid that there I have met my match. It's something that I never attempt at home, since I don't have an oven and can buy a whole fresh duck, still hot from the roasting oven, in the market for the amazing price of only 23 Yuan. They even cut it up and add a small plastic bag of condiments and scallion sections free. Half a bird is 12 Yuan. For comparison, a hamburger combo at KFC or McDonald's here is between 20 and 25 Yuan.

 

Kunming people boast a lot about how our roast duck is actually better than Beijing's. I don't know whether or not that's true, but the local pride is Yiliang roast duck 宜良烤鸭。It comes originally from a town an hour or so to the east, not far from Stone Forest 石林。The bird itself has less fat and is smaller than the birds usually drafted for Beijing roast duck.

 

We also have a style of duck in which the bird has been partially flattened and rubbed with a coating of five key spices before being roasted. I've never seen it elsewhere. Both it and the the "original" style are crispy on the outside and have lots and lots of flavor.

 

We sometimes can get a third kind which is a specialty of Jianshui 建水，to the south in Honghe Prefecture 红河州。All of these are roasted in a large, free-standing stone and clay oven that looks a bit like a beehive. The typical ovens are about 5 or 6 feet tall.

 

People here often make mint soup when having duck, because this way the internal properties are balanced. The duck is seen as producing heat, while the mint is seen as being cooling to the body.

 

Maybe next week I can go back and take some photos to illustrate these fine roast fowl. Glad you asked about them!

[onebir]

Wow TIL: Kunming has duck culture!

 

("the birds usually drafted for Beijing roast duck" - that's one draft worth dodging ;)

[abcdefg]

Haha, Onebir! I don't think any of those birds volunteer.

[onebir]

Well, it might just be like Logan's Duck Run out in those village duck farms...

[StChris]

Ah, no 23 yuan roasted ducks where I am unfortunately. I think I'll try roasted chicken instead.