The Yao people who live in the mountainous areas have cold food habits and the production of food, all of which are considered to be easy to carry and store, so the staple food, the side food and the rice dumplings are their favorite foods. During labor, the Yaos all have a picnic on the spot, and everyone gets together and takes out the dishes they bring to eat together, while the staple food eats the food they carry.
Commonly eaten vegetables include various melons, beans, greens, radishes, peppers, as well as bamboo shoots, shiitake mushrooms, fungus, bracken, toon, yellow flowers and so on. The Yao region is also rich in a variety of fruits. Vegetables are often made into dried vegetables or pickled vegetables. Some Yao people in Yunnan like to make vegetables very light, basically boiled with salt and white water. Some are directly boiled in white water, dipped in dipping water prepared with salt and peppers to maintain the original taste of various vegetables; Meat is also often processed into bacon. The Yao cooking meat in Guangxi is generally dried and boiled, seasoned with salt, and less condiments; Meat, on the other hand, is made into a very rich dish, fresh meat or bacon, first fried and browned, and then cooked.
The Yao people love to eat pickled foods. "Bird's Su" is a famous food with a unique flavor of the Yao people, which is marinated with bird meat. The captured birds are washed, dried, mixed with rice noodles and salt, placed in a small tile altar, sealed with banana leaves, and eaten after a few days. The Yao family often uses "bird sushi" to entertain distinguished guests. Sometimes, pigs, cattle, lamb, etc. are also marinated in this way.
The Yao people also like to eat insect pupae, often eating pine pupae, kudzu pupae, wild bee pupae, bee pupae and so on. The Yao people also like to use the characteristics of the mountain areas to process and make cane sugar, sweet potato sugar, bee candy and so on. Most of the Yao people like to drink alcohol, generally home with rice, corn, sweet potatoes and other self-brewed, often drink 2 or 3 times a day. The Yunnan Yao people like to use mash to brew water and drink wine, and when they go out, they often use bamboo tubes to hold water when drinking.
The Yaos also like to use sencha such as cinnamon and mountain ginger, believing that this tea has the effect of refreshing and clearing fatigue. The Yao people in many areas like to play oil tea, not only eating and drinking themselves every day, but also using oil tea to entertain guests. During the Qingming Festival, every household must make dyed flowers and rice to eat.
The banquet guests have the so-called "Yao family three gifts" of "toasting tea bath and receiving wind wine"; The "bowl of wine skewer meat" for vips of the whole village; "Offering freshness" of mountain treasures and wild game; The "Dragon Intestine Seat" that receives the wind with the famous "Water Dragon Intestine" and so on. In addition, there are "door-to-door hanging red wine" to mediate civil disputes, and "fried beans and boiled eggs" that announce the severance of diplomatic relations. Among them, many food customs are quite interesting, such as a marriage proposal with a bag of meat and two gourd rice wine, and the woman agrees to accept the meat and does not agree to pierce the gourd; Choosing a son-in-law often has the act of "burying eggs", and decides to choose according to its changes; The girl marries and gives burnt soybeans to her neighbors; The divorce ceremony is "broken bamboo tube", both parties to the divorce each carry a barrel of wine, exchange drinks after cutting the broken bamboo tube and then break up with each other.
The Yao people who worship panned and forbade eating dog meat and turtle meat; The Yao people who worship Milodha abstain from eating sow and eagle meat; Most Yao people abstain from eating pork and snake meat; The woman abstained from eating lard for the first few days after childbirth; Dogs, cats, snakes, and frogs are not used in worship; After hunting the beast, it must first be sacrificed to the mountain god before it can be divided and eaten.
In the evening of the Chinese New Year's Eve Hua Basket Yao must first give a piece of meat and a ball of rice to the dog to eat, called the sacrificial dog, and then the family can eat. They believe that the grain species was brought by the dog, and the sacrifice of the dog was a pre-prayer for the abundance of grain. Festive dishes should be colorful, in addition to chicken, there are also river fresh and hunted mountain fowl game and tofu.