Wa-style chicken congee

Wa-style chicken congee

　　Wa-style chicken congee is a specialty dish from Gengma County in Lincang City, Yunnan Province. To make it, tender black-bone chicken is chopped and cooked together with newly harvested rice in a pot. Then, seasonings such as fennel leaves, green chili peppers, spicy ingredients, Wa coriander, scallions, garlic, cumin, and mint are added and simmered briefly. The dish has a vibrant color and a soft, savory, and aromatic taste, making it truly unique.

　　Anyone who has visited Wa communities or lived among the Wa people is familiar with “Modnia Bu Rao” — chicken congee. It is a crystallization of the collective wisdom of the Wa people, a beloved food cherished by all, and a delicious dish used to welcome and entertain guests. “Modnia Bu Rao” has its own historical context and social foundation for its emergence and development.

　　Before the founding of the People’s Republic of China, life in the Awa Mountains was marked by low productivity and primitive slash-and-burn farming methods, with harsh living conditions. For survival, people mainly ate porridge made from various plants mixed with small amounts of grain, taking turns to consume it. Wa congee emerged and developed within this impoverished social environment. Unity, harmony, straightforwardness, and hospitality have always been cherished moral values among the Wa people. Whenever a family built a new house, sowed grain seeds, or encountered joyous or sorrowful occasions, the entire village would come to help. On such occasions, the host would, according to their means, slaughter a pig or an ox, cook chicken congee, pork congee, or beef congee, and warmly entertain guests with homemade rice wine.

　　There are many varieties of chicken congee, including rice congee, corn congee, and more. With social progress and the continuous improvement of living standards, chicken congee remains widely popular among the Wa people. Whenever the opportunity and conditions allow, it can be enjoyed. Whether during festivals, when sowing grain, transplanting rice seedlings, harvesting crops, celebrating weddings, holding funerals, receiving relatives and friends, or building new homes, it is an indispensable delicacy.