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Sichuan cuisine

regional Chinese cuisines

 

Famous
Sichuan cuisine
specialties


Camphor Wood Smoked Duck

A whole duck is marinated in a mixture of rice wine, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns and tangerine peel, then smoked over coals sprinkled with camphor wood shavings and tea leaves.


Hot and Sour Soup

Chicken broth spiced with vinegar and pepper and stocked with shreds of pork, bean curd, tiger lily buds, and cloud ears (a dried tree fungus).


Twice-Cooked Pork

The meat is simmered, sliced, then stir-fried with vegetables and a spicy bean-based condiment.


More
Sichuan cuisine
tips & insights


Recent world fame

Although fifty years ago few people outside of China were familiar with Sichuan's hot and spicy cuisine, today it has devoted fans around the world.


Geography

The region's culinary core is an isolated triangular fertile plain enclosed by three massive mountain ranges. This topography helps produce a hot and humid climate that is conducive to the area's most characteristic seasoning, tongue scorching chilies.


Chilies

They were not introduced into the region until a few hundred years ago, when chilies were brought over from their New World habitat.


Not everything is hot

The people prefer the dishes on the table to have degrees of hotness varying from mild to fiery.


Banquets

The use of chilies is drastically reduced or eliminated in the dishes served at banquets.


Pseudo Sichuan cooking

Many non-Chinese Sichuan restaurant-goers (especially in America) relish the monotonous everything-as-hot-as-possible approach.

Making one dish hotter than another is not a measure of a chef's talent. All it takes is the addition of extra chili, a feat that could be performed by a trained monkey.

Epicures judge a Sichuan chef by the subtly complex overtones of his sauces and whether they complement the other ingredients in his dishes.

Cantonese

Mandarin

Shanghai

Hunan + Yunnan

Jangzu + Shandong

Tibetan + Fukien

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©2012 HQP - Hillman Quality Publications / hillmanwonders.com

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