Szechuan Cuisine

Szechuan (or Sichuan) is a province located in Southwestern China and its capital city is Chengdu. As the major agricultural production base including rice, wheat, sugar canes, sweet potatoes etc., it is historically regarded as the "Province of Abundance". Szecuan also had the largest output of pork in china. Also, it earns a reputation for producing "mouthburners"! When people talking about Szechuan food, the first impression would be "spicy". ALmost for every dish of Szechuan cuisine, Szechuan peppercorn is used. It is a local plant with intensively fragrant and a "tingly-numbing" sensation.Other commonly used ingredients include garlic, chili, ginger etc. The most prominent traits of Szechuanese cuisine are "spicy, hot,fresh and fragrant". Local people love spicy food and if you are traveling there, you should definitely try at least once those "mouthburners".

1. Szechuan Hotpot (四川麻辣锅)

Hotpot is my favorite food,and Szechuan Hotpot is always the best! Basically,hot pot consists of a metal pot at the center of the dinning table. Specially made soup is poured into the pot and then pot is kept simmering. Then, all kinds of ingredients are placed into the pot including vegetables, sliced meat, meat balls, tofu, seafood etc.You can also put noodles,dumplings and rice cakes in the pot. Usually leafy vegetables need only seconds to be ready for eating while meat and dumplings need around minutes. The feature of szechuan hotpot is "tingly-numbing" and is highly recommended in winter!



2. Mapo tofu (麻婆豆腐)

Ma Po means "Pockmarked-Face Lady. The story behind this dish says that the pock-marked old woman was a widow who lived in countryside of Chengdu, Szechuan. By coincidence, it was near a road where traders often passed. Mapo made high-quality and cheap tofu and she had a stand on the street and then become popular and was now a trademark dish of Chengdu. It is a combination of tofu in a spicy chili- and bean-based sauce,and often topped with minced meat, usually pork or beef. Other ingredients such as chestnuts, onions, and other vegetables can also be used. The feel of this dish is often described as seven specific Chinese adjectives: 麻 (numbing), 辣 (spicy hot), 烫 (hot temperature), 鲜 (fresh), 嫩 (tender and soft), 香 (aromatic), and 酥 (flaky). I have made a video teaching you how to make Mapo tofu and it will be posted in next post. If you are interested, please check it out later!




3. Dandan noodles (担担面)

Dandan noodles is a classic dish of Szechuan cuisine. It consists of a spicy sauce containing preserved vegetables, chili oil, Szechuan peppers, pork, and scallions served over noodles.Sesame paste is sometimes added.




4. Twice cooked pork (回锅肉）

The literal meaning of this dish is "meat that has been returned to the pot". The process of cooking Twice Cooked Pork involves boiling belly pork steak chunks in hot water with slices of ginger and salt first, then after being cut into thin slices, the pork is returned to a wok and shallow fried in hot oil. The most common vegetables to accompany the pork in Twice-Cooked Pork are cabbage and peppers.



5. Kung Pao chicken (宫保鸡丁)

Kung Pao chicken is another classic dish in Szechuan cuisine. The dish is named after Ding Baozhen (1820–1886), a late Qing Dynasty official. Born in Guizhou, Ding served as head of Shandong province and later as governor of Sichuan province. His title was called Gōng Bǎo (宮保), or palatial guardian. The name "Kung Pao" chicken is derived from his title. Chicken chunk is typically mixed with a prepared marinade and then chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns are fried to add fragrance to the oil. Shaoxing wine is used to enhance flavor in the marinade. Finally the chicken is stir fried with vegetables and peanuts.



These five dishes are the most typical Szechuan dishesa and they are all spicy. Though not all the Szechuan dished are spicy, spicy ones are more yummy!