Unique sour soup flavor of Guizhou

The cuisine of Guizhou, known as Qian Cuisine, is one of China's eight famous cuisines. It is called Qian Cuisine because Qian is the Chinese short name for Guizhou province. Guizhou Cuisine is spicy like Sichuan Cuisine, but that is where the similarities end. The cuisine in Guizhou is sour and spicy, making it unique amongst China's cuisine styles. There is an ancient local saying which states "Without eating a sour dish for three days, people will stagger with weak legs". The locals love their Guizhou Cuisine and cannot bear to go even a day without eating it. This gives a fairly good idea of their love for their local cuisine.

The people in Guizhou have an appetite for sour food, and pickled vegetables are seen everywhere. The extra sour pickled vegetables can stimulate appetite and digestion, especially relieving heat in the body during the hot summer months. The sour flavor from the pickles comes from natural fermentation instead of by adding vinegar, and the pickles can instantly elevate the flavor of soups, stir-fries and stews.

Suantang, or sour soup, is an integral part of Guizhou cuisine, and it's a culinary tradition of the Miao ethnic minority. It can be divided into two categories, the red sour soup and the white sour soup, and within each category there are also different varieties made with different ingredients.

White sour soup is made with either rice or flour. To make baisuan with rice, boil the rice in water and pour out the rice soup after it starts boiling for a few minutes. The remaining rice can be then made into congee or rice. When the rice soup cools to room temperature, pour it into a clay pickle pot and add some original white sour soup as a starter to kick off fermentation. It takes two to three days to make the white sour soup on hot days and longer when it's a colder season. The sour soup can be used for quite some time and can be refilled with fresh rice soup as time goes by to maintain the "inventory."

The red sour soup, on the other hand, can be made with different ingredients. A classic hongsuan recipe is to use tomatoes for the flavor and color, together with tender ginger, garlic, red chilis, salt, glutinous rice flour and baijiu (white liquor).

After thoroughly rinsing the tomatoes and drying the surface, cut and pound the ginger, garlic and red chilis into a mash and mix in the salt, glutinous rice flour and baijiu to create a paste. Then smash the tomatoes and mix in the paste, seal in a clean, dry pickle jar and sprinkle some baijiu on top. The red sour soup will be ready in a month.

Kaili red sour soup is especially famous and popular, highlighting an intensely vibrant red color and strong spicy and sour flavors.

A classic dish is the Guizhou-style sour soup fish, which was featured in the third season of documentary "A Bite of China."  Sour soup fish is a staple dish in Miao culture that originates from Kaili. The soup broth is made of pickled cabbage and pickled chillies to give it a hot sour tang, along with ginger, wild tomatoes, shallots, pepper and a few other vegetables. The liberal use of an unusual Chinese spice known as huajiao, which is made from the berries of the Chinese prickly ash tree, gives the broth a unique flavour that would be unfamiliar to a non-Chinese palate. After the broth is bubbling and the aroma of the soup fills the air, the sweet, clear white flesh of the river fish is added. The river fish used in this dish is always locally sourced and tastes incredibly fresh.