Yummy food is indispensable for travelers. In Yao Nationality Township, Yangtian Lake, the unique high mountain environment and the folk customs of Yao nationality have led to a wide variety of dishes on the dining table. Today, we would like to recommend the "Nine Dishes of Yao nationality".

Hehua fish was once a royal tribute. According to Chen County Annals, farmers in the county used to raise fish, mostly carps in rice fields in the Three Kingdoms period. When the rice flowers fell off, the fish ate them, making them plump and tender. In the genealogical records of local people, there are still words about fish farming in rice fields.

Yao Nationality Township, with the highest altitude of 1,400 meters, has been awarded the title of "Hometown of Chenzhou Hehua Fish". Besides, its breeding and cooking techniques are intangible cultural heritage of Beihu District. High mountains and cold water make the fish have delicate meat, soft bones, delicious taste and high proteins. There are five local ways to cook the fish: poached fish with lotus, poached fish with towel gourd, poached fish with taro, poached fish with eggplant and steamed fish with bacon. A single fish can be made into a variety of flavors.

If you want to pickle a good beef jerky, the first step is to choose good cattle. After spring ploughing each year, cattle, sheep and horse graze by the Yangtian lake, living freely for a few months until winter comes. Thus, Yongchun beef jerky is famous for its dense meat, bright color and rich aroma. There are many ways to eat beef jerky, such as frying, drenching, steaming, boiling, and roasting.

Alpine chicken eat natural grains and insects, which leads to the delicate meat and rich flavor. When it comes to cooking, the whole chicken is chopped into pieces and stewed in water. The dish is made with only a little salt and oil, which preserves the freshness of the chicken.

The bacon is made of home-fed pigs. After marinated and hung on the roof beams for two or three months, it turns to be air-dried and is then to be buried in rice for storage. It gives off an unforgettable fragrance for it has been smoked with special spices.

Pig's feet stewed with herbs is known as "the best soup in the world". More than 10 kinds of herbs are boiled with pig's feet so as to make a dark and thick soup, which is fragrant, delicious, fatty but not greasy.

Bitter bamboo shoot is one of the specialties of Yao cuisine. Su Dongpo, a famous Chinese poet, praised it for its sweet taste. Bitter bamboo shoot can not only be used as raw materials for delicacies, but also as medicine. Of course, bitter food is cold in nature and should not be consumed by pregnant women.

Bean curd (Tofu) is made from local beans. It is cut into 2 cm cubes, and then deep-fried with tea oil until the surface turns golden. The stuffing is made of turnip and marbled local pork, which makes it neither too hard nor too soft, nor greasy.

Bazi, which is made of Yongchun rice, is a kind of glutinous rice cake. It can be cooked with wild loach in terraces and has a unique flavor.

At the end of the 12^th lunar month, every family kills a pig. Except for the New Year's treats, the rest of the meat is cut into small cubes of 10 centimeters, and cooked with spices over high heat until it is half cooked. The meat, which is dipped with glutinous rice wine, is fried in hot lard until the surface turns golden, and then sealed up and left for other important banquets of the year.