Are These the World’s Best Ham Sandwiches?

WildChina > Mei's Advice > Are These the World’s Best Ham Sandwiches?

To a young Zhang Mei, the nutty aroma of sizzling ham always signaled a good meal. The salty, cured meat wasn’t a luxury her family could often afford but she was in luck because her hometown of Dali, Yunnan was the only place in the world that produced it. Or so Mei thought when she left for graduate school in the U.S.

Ham sandwiches

Years later, after travelling the world, founding award-winning travel company WildChina, and tasting hams of every variety, Mei began to see her humble roots through very different eyes. She saw the beauty of the region, its people, and its cuisine and felt an urgent need to share the stories of her childhood with others.

Mei’s Penguin published book, Travels Through Dali: with a leg of ham is a beautifully illustrated chronicle of her return to Yunnan in search of her favorite salt cured ham. At each stop along her journey, Mei’s hosts share with her their story, their traditions and a recipe for their own favorite ham dish. The result is a travelogue like no other – filled with photos, stories and cuisine that will transport you to Yunnan.

This recipe from the book for Chef Qian’s Ham Sandwiches will get your taste buds tingling for adventure and it might just make you question your own idea of what makes a good ham.

recipe (1)

Mei’s passion for travel, food and her native Dali are best seen in person. If you happen to live in Chengdu, you’re in luck. This Friday at the Chengdu Bookworm you have the opportunity to meet Mei in person, get your copy of the book signed and ask all of your burning questions – about everything from the art of curing ham to planning the perfect trip to Dali.

UPCOMING BOOK TALK

Meet the Author

The Chengdu Bookworm

Friday March 31 | 7.30pm

Admission 50RMB (Includes a glass of house wine, beer or a soft drink)

Want to follow in Zhang Mei’s footsteps and retrace her route through the savory villages around Dali? You’ll find artisans cultivating salt and butchers curing ham in the traditional style. You’ll even get to pull a chair up to the dinner table where local chefs serve regional delicacies like Chef Qian’s Ham Sandwiches. Let’s get started planning your Travels through Dali: with a leg of ham tour.

We are using cookies to give you the best experience. You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in privacy settings.
AcceptPrivacy Settings

  • We use cookies to make your experience of our website better.

We use cookies to make your experience of our website better.

A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyze web traffic or let you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.

We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyze data about web page traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.

Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.

You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. However, this may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.

Detailed information about the use of cookies on this website is available by clicking on more information.