Humans have sought out delicious flavors for many years. Sometimes, we find that storing and combining certain ingredients can create succulent surprises, such as zha.
This food represents the art of storage and change, wisdom inherited from ancestors from more than two millennia ago, and it has become deeply integrated into the lives of people of Yunnan.
It is one of the oldest fermented products in China. In Yunnan province, people are still preparing zha in the most traditional ways. The ingredients can be vegetables or meat, whatever you have on hand, and most forms of zha existing today can be traced back to their former counterparts in ancient texts.
The second season of Flavorful Origins, another masterpiece by Chinese food documentary director Chen Xiaoqing, the creator of A Bite of China, is now online at Tencent.com.
The season, consisting of 10 episodes, will shine a spotlight on Southwest China's Yunnan province, a region blessed with abundant sunlight, fresh produce and exotic spices.