Steamed beef pounded with herbs, from the Wa tribe. [Photos by Zou Hong / China Daily]

Fresh vegetables, sauteed with lemon and herbs: Eatery Dianke Dianlai is cooking up a storm in the capital

Becoming an expert in Yunnan took time. It involved visiting 170 restaurants and sampling foods at more than 100 of them.

All of this legwork and culinary tasting eventually led Zhang Bensheng to open his own Yunnan courtyard restaurant Dianke Dianlai, which is giving perennial favorites - Middle 8th and Dali - new competition.

Located on a quiet alley, in an unassuming courtyard residence decorated in traditional Bai tribe family home colors (gray tiles and white walls), Dianke Dianlai prides itself in fresh ingredients and authentic flavors.

There is no menu. Diners simply choose from 98 yuan or 198 yuan set menus and partake in the chef's whims.

Zhang, a Dali native, is not a restaurateur. He just happens to love food - a lot. The inspiration for opening a restaurant came when he grew disenchanted with his corporate jobs and the "Yunnan" cuisine available in Beijing.

Recalling his old life as a management consultant and employee at a financial firm, Zhang said, "It was an irregular schedule. I often worked late and would watch the cars passing by outside, thinking to myself, 'This is not the life I want.' "

A group of friends enjoy a meal outside at Yunnan restaurant Dianke Dianlai. [Photos by Zou Hong / China Daily]

It wasn't the pressure cooker jobs that got to Zhang. It was that wherever he went, he realized that eating was a very functional activity.

"I realized that at the dining table, everyone is always talking about work. Even when I leave the office, I don't have a comfortable environment to relax in. I wanted to create a place for people to slow down in Beijing."

Zhang named his restaurant using words that sound like "coming and going, bustling about" in Yunnan dialect, and he was very picky about the food he would serve.

"I tried almost all the Yunnan restaurants in Beijing and found few doing justice to my home cuisine. Yunnan food emphasizes fresh ingredients - vegetables picked from the garden then lightly sauted. Many popular Yunnan restaurants in Beijing actually cook Sichuanese style, relying on vinegar, salt and flavorings to concoct the taste."

To ensure authenticity, Dianke Dianlai's ingredients are shipped from Yunnan every other day. Zhang's head chef, who used to work at Dali when it first opened, creates eight new dishes every month, two or three of which get final approval to appear on the table.

The dishes vary on every visit, but a few staples stay constant. The sour soup shrimp - made with imported lemons - is naturally tangy. The mushrooms cooked in banana leaf have a tenderly crunchy texture. The grilled fish - the centerpiece of the basic set menu - carries the nuanced flavor of native herbs cooked over an open fire.

From time to time, Dianke Dianlai serves specialty drinks, such as a red date Goji berry nectar flown in from Yunnan. Each month, the restaurant also features a dish that celebrates one of Yunnan's many tribes. July was Wa tribe month, so diners feasted on steamed beef pounded with herbs until it's thoroughly shredded.

Coming here is always a delight. After a long week, sipping sweet nectar while a Yunnanese staff member smilingly explains dishes with fanciful names like "forget worries grass" is an unbeatable way to unwind.

Yunnan ingredients

Lemon: In real Yunnan cuisine, the sour flavor comes from lemons, not vinegar. Not just any lemon will do. Zhang uses Yunnan lemons and when air shipments aren't available, he buys imported lemons from Beijing markets. He says their taste is well worth the hefty premium (18 yuan per kilo, compared with 5 yuan per kilo for regular lemons).

Lemongrass: This herb is what gives the signature grilled fish its intoxicating flavor. The grass is wrapped around the fish and held in place with bamboo sticks wrapped around. After the grilling, the smoky black herbs are removed, so diners only see the enticing white flesh of tenderly cooked fish.

Flowers: Petals are not just for looking, they're also for eating. Instead of plain white rice, Dianke Dianlai serves tricolored rice, dyed with real flowers. In the future, Zhang also hopes to brew "lemongrass flower tea", which combines the herb with six kinds of flowers and is traditionally served to important guests at Dai tribe weddings.