Kunming-Style Fried Potato

Chips, French fries or fried potato, all sound like western food. But in Yunnan, almost everywhere you go, you will encounter fried potato with different shapes and tastes. Some of them are in long stripe shape while some of them come in cubes, or even slices. But the methods of frying the potato seem just the same. When the potato become golden in the oil, they are served with sauces and green vegetables such as chopped coriander, spring onion and the stems of cordate houttuynia.

In Yunnan, potato is being called “洋芋” (Yangyu), so fried potato is Zha Yangyu. A simple, cheap and delicious snack (main course sometime) is well received in Yunnan. And in Kunming, a narrow lane has got its name as “Yangyuxiang”, meaning the Lane of potato, has several small local snack bars serving golden crispy Kunming style fried potato. They have sweet and salty sauce, along with a mix of sweet and salty sauce. So next time when you have fried potato in Kunming, bear in mind that it doesn’t always come with Ketchup but a great variety of local sauces.