Cangyuan Wa Chicken Rice Porridge 沧源佤族鸡肉烂饭

Cangyuan Wa Chicken Rice Porridge (沧源佤族鸡肉烂饭) is a dish of the Wa (佤族) people of Cangyuan Wa Autonomous County (沧源佤族自治县) in Lincang (临沧), Yunnan, in which rice and chicken are cooked down together. A Yunnan Daily report calls it the soul food of Lincang, with a consistency somewhere between cooked rice and congee.

How it is made

The chicken is torn by hand into shreds and slow-simmered in the pot with the rice, fennel (茴香), bird's-eye chillies (小米辣), Sichuan pepper (花椒) and other seasonings until the grains have soaked up the broth. The rice ends up soft but still has some bite.

Flavour and texture

The same Yunnan Daily report describes the first mouthful as sticky, then fragrant, then hot and finally savoury, with the flavours arriving one after another.

Where it comes from

Cangyuan is described by Xinhua as the county with the largest Wa population in China. Esong (俄松), a former village Party secretary of Mangku Village (芒库村) in Banhong Township (班洪乡), told Xinhua in 2024 that people once ate the dish only when entertaining guests: rice and chicken were stewed together so that everyone could taste a little meat. The making technique of Wa chicken rice porridge is now a representative item of Yunnan's provincial intangible cultural heritage, and Esong called it a dish that visitors always order.