Mountains of Guizhou

April dinners are coming.

This time, I’ll be cooking food from Guizhou (贵州), a mountainous province in southwest China, bordering Yunnan, Sichuan, and Guangxi.

Guizhou is one of those places that doesn’t get talked about as much, but the food is incredibly special. The flavors are bold but not heavy, lots of sour, spice, and fermentation. It’s a very lively, layered cuisine that feels deeply connected to the land.

It’s also the home of Lao Gan Ma (老干妈), one of the most iconic women in Chinese food culture. She built her chili sauce business from nothing, and now it’s something people all over the world know. I’ve always found her story really inspiring—there’s a quiet strength and resilience in what she created.

Guizhou is also home to many ethnic minority groups, especially the Miao (苗族), also known as Hmong people in the U.S. Their cooking is closely tied to nature…