Dali Food Worth Seeking Out Beyond the Backpacker Cafe Menus

Dali Food Worth Seeking Out Beyond the Backpacker Cafe Menus

You watch a vendor peel a thin white sheet of goat milk curd from a bamboo stick, drop it into hot oil, and a second later hand you a crispy, golden fan dripping with rose sugar syrup. That is rushan. It costs 8 to 12 CNY at any street cart on Renmin Road, and it is the first thing you should eat in Dali. The second is er kuai, a chewy rice cake that locals grill until blistered and then smear with sweet bean paste or stir fry with green vegetables and chili. Skip the banana pancake. This page maps exactly where to find both, then points you past the backpacker coffee toward Bai minority dishes and Muslim quarter stalls that do not appear on English menus.

Rushan and Er Kuai: the Two Snacks You Cannot Skip

Rushan: The Crispy Milk Fan

Rushan is also called milk fan (乳扇, rǔ shàn). Thin sheets of cow's milk curd are stretched, dried on bamboo racks, then either deep fried or grilled. The street version comes folded on a stick, drizzled with rose sugar. You find it on every block of Renmin Road after sunset.

Er Kuai: Charcoal-Grilled Rice Cake

A grilled er kuai is a different matter. Vendors press a flat rice dough disk onto a wire mesh over charcoal, flip it when bubbles appear, then spread a mix of sweet bean paste, crushed peanut, and rose sugar on top. Roll it up and eat it walking. Both cost 5 to 10 CNY. The failure case: if the Renmin Road stalls are closed by 11 pm, walk two blocks north to the intersection of Renmin and Fuxing Road where a night market cart sells er kuai until 2 am.

The Renmin Road Evening Strips: Tourist Trap or Food Find?

What To Eat After Dark

Renmin Road is Dali Old Town's main backpacker corridor, lined with cafes serving 25 to 60 CNY Western breakfasts and 15 to 35 CNY coffees (2024 rates). At dusk the pedestrian strip transforms into a food market. Yes, it is touristy. The hawkers call out in English. You dodge photo studios and souvenir shops. But the food here is real. Vendors grill skewers of chicken hearts, lamb, and tofu for 2 to 5 CNY each.

Xizhou Baba Before It Sells Out

A woman near the south end of Renmin Road makes Xizhou baba every morning from 7 am until she sells out, usually by 10 am. This flatbread from Xizhou town uses wheat flour and lard, baked on a charcoal heated iron pan and finished in a charcoal oven beneath it. Savory filling is minced pork, scallions, and Sichuan pepper. Sweet filling is red bean paste and rose sugar. If you miss her window, the best backup is the Muslim quarter.

Bai Minority Restaurants and the Muslim Quarter

The Muslim Quarter: Halal Hui Cuisine

Huguo Road, called Foreigner Street locally, is where backpackers park for English menus and shared taxi boards. Walk two minutes south to the area around Dali Nancheng Mosque instead. This is the Muslim quarter, Hui Muslim cuisine, entirely halal. The signature dish here is braised beef with mint (薄荷牛肉, bòhe niúròu), a cold plate of tender beef slices and fresh mint leaves dressed in chili oil and vinegar. Price: 28 to 38 CNY. Hand pulled noodles with beef broth cost 12 to 18 CNY. The stall called Ma Ji near the mosque entrance serves both.

Bai Food Outside the Old Town

For Bai minority food, you need to leave the old town. Head to a restaurant on the road toward Erhai Lake, 10 minutes by taxi (15 to 20 CNY). Order two dishes. The first is Dali raw pork (大理生皮, dàlǐ shēng pí): pork skin and meat flash singed over a straw fire, sliced thin, served with a vinegar chili garlic dip. It sounds extreme. Locals have eaten it for centuries. The second is sour and spicy fish (酸辣鱼, suān là yú), made with carp from Erhai Lake and flavored with pickled papaya or vinegar, dried chili, ginger, and green onion. A full meal costs 60 CNY for two people.

Cheese and Street Sweets

Dali has a second cheese beyond rushan. Rubing (乳饼, rǔ bǐng), or milk cake, is a firm fresh goat's milk cheese that vendors pan fry until golden and serve with salt and pepper or sugar. You find it at street stalls near the south gate of Dali Old Town, 5 to 8 CNY per skewer. The texture is squeaky, like halloumi. Do not confuse it with rushan. Rubing is dense and salty, rushan is brittle and sweet.