---
title: '"Over Rice": Yunnan Muslim edition (3 recipes)'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=fVyVq05iuR8'
video_id: 'fVyVq05iuR8'
date: 2026-06-28
duration_sec: 583
---

# "Over Rice": Yunnan Muslim edition (3 recipes)

> Source: ["Over Rice": Yunnan Muslim edition (3 recipes)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=fVyVq05iuR8)

## Summary

This video explores three Halal over-rice dishes from Yunnan, China, created by the Hui Muslim community. It explains the historical context of Hui migration to Yunnan and their adaptation of rice-based cuisine. The recipes include Mala Beef, a mild stinky tofu, and fermented tofu as a simple rice topper.

### Key Points

- **Hui Community in Yunnan** [0:45] — The Hui Muslim community in Yunnan adapted to rice-based cuisine south of the wheat-rice divide, creating unique Halal over-rice dishes.
- **Mala Beef Recipe** [1:35] — Mala Beef uses green Sichuan peppercorn (Qing Huajiao) for the numbing flavor. The beef is marinated, fried, and finished with sizzling chili oil.
- **Yunnan Stinky Tofu** [5:27] — Yunnan stinky tofu is mild and cheesy, made without a strong brine. The recipe substitutes firm tofu with blue cheese to mimic the flavor.
- **Fermented Tofu (Furu) Over Rice** [7:50] — Fermented tofu (furu), especially Laoganma's chili oil tofu, is a simple and traditional over-rice dish in Yunnan, often eaten with blanched chives.

## Transcript

Welcome back to our ongoing "over rice" series, 
and today we are going to show you three Halal  
dishes that are awesome to smother over rice. 
As to *why* there are Chinese halal over rice  
dishes... that is an interesting corner of 
the Chinese culinary map! Some of you might  
have already known that in the northwest of 
the country there are some really good Halal,  
Chinese Muslim, food or Hui people food... with 
famous dishes like Lamian hand-pulled noodles,  
grilled lamb, or all kinds of Mo bread. But 
all of that belongs to the north of China's  
fabled wheat rice divide: and as you can 
see, they are very good at dough making.
But there is one large Hui community living 
south of that divide, and that's where we are  
living today - in Yunnan. How they got to 
the other corner of the country is in its  
own a very fascinating story... the long 
and short of it is that they were first  
sent down as administrators during the 
Mongol Empire and then from that base,  
more ended up coming. And today, while some of 
the best noodles and buns are still coming from  
Hui vendors with their still very robust dough 
technology, rice here also became a mainstay.  
And throughout central Yunnan, you can find 
a ton of these Halal fast food joints where  
people will load up on the rice and top it with 
dishes… and here are some dishes you may find:
The first one today is Mala Beef. Now for this 
Yunnan Mala beef, and all of this in general  
actually, I should say that it's often not very 
clear that where Hui food ends and where central  
Yunnan food in general begins. There's lots 
of crossover, and the Mala Beef is definitely  
a classic for a lot of ethnicities around here. 
It's often made in a larger quantities and kind  
of kept around, and today what we'll be 
making is a pair down one meal variation.
So predictably for mala beef you will need 
some beef. This is 500 gram of beef loin  
that we’ll then thinly slice into 3mm slices. 
And outside of China we think picanha will be  
a great option for this application. You don't 
need to be too obsessive with the thinly slicing  
here... just do the best you can. Something like 
this is perfect. Then we'll toss that into a big  
bowl and then we can marinate. Now for the 
marinade there is one important ingredient:  
the ma in the mala, the Sichuan peppercorn. And in 
Yunnan what's generally used is this green Sichuan  
peppercorn – Qing Huajiao – and that's the powder 
that we'll be using in our marinade. Of course  
we're spoiled, because we can just go to our local 
market and get a bunch of this freshly ground… and  
I assume you probably don't have that option. 
So what I would suggest for you living outside  
of China to use whole Sichuan peppercorn - both 
green and red will be great in this application.  
So first quickly toast them over a medium low 
flame, and after about 2 minutes take those and  
give them a grind. Here we'll need two teaspoons 
for this amount of beef together with two  
teaspoons of red fragrant chili like Gochugaru or 
Kashmiri… and this will be the base of our Mala.
Then we'll also marinate with a half teaspoon 
salt, a quarter teaspoon each chicken bouillon  
powder, white pepper, and dark soy sauce, 
one tablespoon each soy sauce, and dark brown  
sugar. And mix that really well. Then also toss in 
about 10g of dried chilies snipped into sections,  
2 inches of sliced ginger, and the white parts of 
three scallions. Coat that generously with oil,  
about a tablespoon or so, and leave that 
to marinate. So, how long to marinate is  
up to you. We like to marinate in the morning 
and fry it up during dinner time. But you can  
also do this the day before and fry up the 
next day. Or if you want to cut it shorter,  
that's totally okay as well. Uh, I will only 
recommend you at least let it marinate for  
30 minutes. Then after that time, there's 
not much to do but fry it up. Just add a  
half a cup of oil to a hot wok together with an 
optional two star anise and one Caoguo [Tsaoko],  
Chinese black cardamom. Heat it up over a medium 
high flame until the spices are starting to bubble  
around 140 centigrade. Then add in the beef. Then 
just patiently fry that in the oil until the beef  
is starting to dried up again and the oil begins 
to get clear again. About five minutes or so. Then  
take it out and toss it in a mixing bowl. Next, 
sprinkle over two teaspoons toasted sesame seeds  
and a 1/4 teaspoon MSG onto the beef. Then begin 
to reheat that oil up. Once it's hit about 160° C,  
shut off the heat. Dump in two tablespoons of 
chili flakes and then transfer all that hot  
chili oil onto the beef. Then mix well. Toss it 
in a shallow bowl to serve. And mala beef, done.
Now, the next dish brings us to probably THE most 
classic Yunnan over dishes: stinky tofu. Well,  
hold on. Before you click away, you should 
know that the Yunnan quote-unquote “stinky  
tofu” isn't really that stinky at all. So a lot 
of stinky tofu in China is made with a brine  
called Lushui. This brine depends on where you 
are... like in Shaoxing the brine is made with  
fermented amaranth and it can be pretty intense. 
Or in Hunan the brine it's made with fermenting  
douchi black beans and bamboo shoots, etc. 
However, in Yunnan though, the stinky tofu  
is made without a brine and it's very subtle, kind 
of cheesy. It's the perfect gateway stinky tofu.
So, you can try it if you are traveling in 
Yunnan around here, of course. But today we  
obviously need to substitute that. So, what 
we'll do is get 325g of firm tofu and mix it  
with 25g of halal certified blue cheese to get our 
‘stinky tofu’. And trust me, the final result is  
surprisingly close to Yunnan stinky tofu. And 
then we'll mix it with one teaspoon soy sauce,  
1/4 teaspoon each salt, chicken bouillon, 
MSG, and Sichuan Peppercorn powder,  
eighth teaspoon white pepper, plus one teaspoon 
red fragrant chili powder, and 1 tbsp of oil,  
preferably schmaltz or duck fat if you have them 
around. Mash that together, and then this is good  
to cook. So to a small pot, add in enough scallion 
to cover the bottom and toss that over a medium  
flame. Add in a tablespoon of schmaltz or duck fat 
or oil. And once that starts to sizzle, add in the  
tofu mixture together with a 1/4 cup chicken stock 
or water. Cover and let that simmer for 8 minutes.  
Then after that time, in a separate little pot, 
heat up two tablespoons of oil until it just  
starts to smoke. Then using a half tablespoon of 
red fragrant chili, toss that in. Stir and pour it  
over your tofu. This might not look super super 
gorgeous, but I promise it's awesome over rice.
Now, number three, uh, which brings us to 
our last over rice… thing… As a tradition,  
some sort of lazy college dorm style 
stuff from the jar. And in Yunnan,  
that stuff has to be fermented tofu or 
‘lufu’ as they call it here. In Yunnan,  
you can tell that the food might be not so 
good if someone asks “ge you lu fu”... that is,  
asking for some fermented furu to top over 
the rice. Now there are some fantastic quality  
furu here… but when it comes to the Yunnan 
fermented lufu, the closest mass-produced products  
will be Laoganma's chili oil tofu. So just 
take a piece, top it with a bit of blanched and  
seasoned chives – seasoning down here. And that's 
definitely enough to down some rice. So, right,  
those are three very delicious Yunnan Halal over 
rice dishes. There are so many other delicious  
Yunnan over rice things that we can't wait to 
share with you. But in the meantime, recipe’s  
in description box. A big thank you for everyone 
that's supporting us on Patreon. And of course,  
subscribe for more Chinese over-rice videos. Can 
you help me bring dog and beef? All right. And  
maybe a piece of dog food. This is a little bit 
too Zhongkouwei [heavy flavor] for him... Mala Beef...