Sweet or savory, spicy or not

Chilies help the people of Wu-yuan cope with the humidity in their county, yet their most famous dishes are not spicy at all. They have strict rules that dictate which dishes are to be cooked with chilies - and which cannot go near it. This is great news for both visitors who love and abhor spicy food.

A green-colored snack, called Qingming fruit, can be found in every village in Wuyuan, located in the eastern province of Jiangxi.

The food, usually served at breakfast stalls, derives its name from the fact that it was first made during the springtime Qingming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day. Now, it's served all year round.

The snack is prepared by mixing glutinous rice flour with green Asiatic wormwood to make the wrappers, and filling them with stuffing. The savory ones, filled with pork and vegetable, resemble dumplings. The sweet ones, made with sugar, are shaped into small round cakes.

After it is steamed, the Qingming fruit looks like a piece of translucent jade. Besides being tasty, locals say it has medicinal value.

For lunch or dinner, try the mushy tofu and steamed red carp.

The mushy tofu, served with wine, is usually the first main dish to appear on Wuyuan's dining tables. It's made of minced tofu, pork, mushrooms, bamboo shoots and rice flour cooked into a mash.

The carp, on the other hand, is known as one of Wuyuan's four treasures - it is the "red" treasure, alongside the ink stone (black), pear (white) and tea (green).

The fish dish has been a staple of Wuyuan people for 300 years. It looks like a red pouch, so no wonder locals call it "red pouch carp".

To preserve the freshness of the fish, it's usually steamed with very little seasoning. Cooked, the carp appears even redder, and its snow-white flesh melts in the mouth.