Yunnan is known for a variety of dairy products, including Dali rushan: thinly sliced cheese that can be fried, grilled or dipped in honey.

A local wild berry features in nanpie, which refers t different types of flavorful pastes made from mashed vegetables or fish.

Sa is a culinary tradition that pairs cold meat or raw vegetables with a versatile sauce that is often mixed with pig blood curd.

Derived from the fruits of the Chinese lacquer tree, qiyou is an oil used to cook eggs, congee, pork stew, roast chicken and even bee larvae.

Found in local moon cake fillings, Xuanwei cured ham can be thinly sliced, steamed, cooked with egg, stewed or served as cold cuts.

Salted and partially dried, the sow thistle can be pickled and stir-fried with pork to lend a sour, crunchy flavour, or added to white radish stew.

Wrapped in leaves with a sticky rice or spiced fish, the Musa basjoo – a banana found in Yunnan – can make for a sweet snack or savoury dish.

Besides being an appetite stimulant, tart fruits like lemon and sour papaya can be added to shredded chicken, carp or a sauce for dousing live shrimp.

The er, a flattened rice flour cake, can be backed into a sticky snack, sliced and stir-fried with vegetables or julienned into noodle-like strands.

Zha, an old custom, is an assortment of dried fermented vegetables or fish served as side dishes, made with ancient methods of food preservation.

In Jiayuguan city, mutton tallow envelops lamb skewers with layers of flavor. In the Ganjia pastures, herders cook lamb with tripe using hot stones.

Baked, steamed or stir-fried, the root of the lily plant is sweet and aromatic. Its flower also serves as a salad ingredient or a noodle topping.

From Linxia to the Hexi Corridor, sheep offal can be found sizzling on hot plates, stuffed into casings and wrapped in caul fat.

In Wuwei County, watermelon farmers enjoy flaxseed rolls as a dry staple food. Flaxseed oil also infuses pastries like Yongdeng mooncake with aroma.

Grown in the Longdong plateaus, buckwheat can be made into jelly noodles, pancake batter and Tianshui guagua, a savory breakfast dish.

A slow-cooked beef broth is the soul of the hand-pulled Lanzhou beef noodle, a go-to dish for discerning eaters searching for a taste of home.

Baked, air-dried or sliced into strips, the absorbent wheat gluten can be added to soups and meaty stews, making it a perfect flavor reservoir.

Found in mullet roe and hot pot, souherb is a white soupy ingredient made by fermenting vegetables like endive, celery, carrot or cabbage.

From Lanzhou to Wuwei, epicures put a different spin on niang pi, a glutenous cold noodle dish that often comes with sesame, cucumber and chili oil.

Dingxi boasts more than 30 varieties of potato, eaten sliced, mashed or made in the form of noodles cooked with pork or spicy sauces.