Who says Sichuan cuisine is only about spicy hotpot?! Chengdu, Leshan, Western Sichuan, and Zigong Foodie Tours
Preface
Sichuan, a land of mountains, hills, and vast plains, has created a land of abundance. The prosperous Jinguan City, a refuge from several wars, has welcomed the diverse perspectives of the Central Plains.
The complex composition of the people naturally forms the complex seasoning of Sichuan cuisine; and in western Sichuan, the flow of the outside world has not profoundly affected the original ecology here. The mushrooms that appear once a year and the yaks running on the plateau have become the most simple feedback from nature.
What's more, there are people from Zigong who love rabbit heads, people from Leshan who love snacks, people from Xichang who love barbecue, people from Luzhou who love fresh fish...all of them have different understandings of food.
The local dialect, "Eat in China, the flavor is in Sichuan," fully reflects the Sichuanese's appreciation for Sichuan cuisine. The rich resources of the Chengdu Plain, stretching thousands of miles into the air, have also been transformed into a series of famous dishes that have spread throughout China.
As one of the four major cuisines, Sichuan cuisine may have the most "signature dishes", with hundreds of dishes and different flavors. The use of spicy and numbing spices makes this unique taste distinct from other foods.
Even on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the lack of air pressure at high altitudes makes it impossible to perfectly replicate many delicacies, but the spicy Sichuan flavor cannot be stopped; when studying and working in a foreign country, there may not be suitable seasonings, but bean paste can dissolve the strong homesickness of the wanderers.
Sichuan cuisine is often associated with spicy flavors, but only those who have experienced it will discover the secret of Sichuan cuisine: its meticulous pursuit of ingredients and a constant refinement of taste. Freshness is another ultimate pursuit. The ingredients' origin, freshness, and cooking time are meticulously considered, right down to the specific county, color, and minute.
Sichuan cuisine
In the authentic Sichuan cuisine, as soon as you enter Sichuan, you will be surrounded by hundreds of Sichuan dishes from four major regions. With the launch of the second season of "Flavorful Origins", flavors appear before us in different forms.
The mountains and rivers remain unchanged, their flavors unchanging. Tourist foodies explore not only delicious food but also the stories of small towns that complement it, the dreams of life. To borrow a line from the documentary "A Flavor of China": "The fisherman's dream is to stand on the platform and become a dart hunter, igniting my own little universe, as if the entire sea surface belongs to me." It turns out that wonderful food is the product of dreams.
Chengdu's signature dishes: From small eateries to the spicy flavors of century-old restaurants
Snack lovers in Leshan: Waijiao beef, sweet-skinned duck, and the famous Bobo chicken in Sichuan.
Specialty dish - Western Sichuan: Fresh mountain delicacies from the plateau, flavored with plateau yak and lamb
Flavor Cafe-Zigong: Well-seasoned salty dishes and meticulously cooked rabbit meat
Tips:
ps: There are three main schools of Sichuan cuisine: Shanghebang, Xiahebang and Xiaohebang. Xiaohebang is represented by Zigong cuisine, Xiahebang is represented by Chongqing cuisine, and Shanghebang is mainly represented by Leshan and Chengdu cuisine.
1. Hot Chengdu
In addition to special regional delicacies, you can basically eat all the classic Sichuan dishes in Chengdu.
The use of hot chili oil and Pixian fermented bean paste embodies the essence of Sichuan cuisine. Dandan noodles and wontons are the hallmarks of Sichuan noodle shops. Here begins a luxurious foodie feast.
Chengdu: The Evolution of a Gourmet City
How can you find a paradise for foodies? Chengdu is impeccable.
In 2010, Chengdu was awarded the title of "City of Gastronomy" by UNESCO. Chengdu's cuisine has continued to evolve along with the city, incorporating hundreds of flavors, transcending different cultural attractions, and gradually growing and developing.
The secret of Chengdu's food paradise lies in its convergence: exotic vegetables from the Middle East on the Silk Road, mysterious spices from the West on the Maritime Silk Road, and authentic dishes from the Central Plains dynasties; court dishes from exiled nobles, vegetarian meals from wandering monks, and creative dishes from literati; the elegant taste of Confucianism, the light soups of Taoism, and the rich and fresh cuisine of the market. No matter which aspect of society, they all have a place in Chengdu's cuisine. Perhaps only the confluence of thousands of rivers has formed Chengdu, a city with hundreds of flavors and thousands of dishes. So let's take a look at what specific foods there are.
Tips:
Recommended gourmet souvenirs: Sichuan sausage, Guanghan silk-wrapped rabbit, Dengying shredded beef, and rice candy (Chuanpu brand). It is recommended to purchase them at large supermarkets.
Sichuan hotpot
Sichuan hotpot seems to be the golden signboard of the hotpot world. Hotpot restaurants in the fierce competition try every possible means to improve their taste and become giant players that cannot be avoided in food evaluations. There is Xiaoyu Hotpot mentioned in "A Bite of China", and there is also Haidilao, a chain restaurant that has taken a different approach by relying on service.
This delicacy, born from everyday life, has been churning out its own legendary story since the Qing Dynasty. Sitting casually by the pot, waiting for the steaming steam and bubbling broth to boil, savoring the flavors of life as you savor the array of dishes.
Tips:
Tips: Hot pot emphasizes the importance of cooking meat first and vegetables second, simmering different ingredients in the pot to enhance their flavors. Sichuan hot pot goes beyond the typical meats, exploring a wide range of flavors. Crisp duck throat and intestines, tender duck blood and pig brain, pre-processed bamboo shoots, and various soy products are all stunning additions to Sichuan hot pot.
Twice-cooked pork
The most popular Sichuan dish among home-cooked meals is none other than twice-cooked pork. Twice-cooked pork is the first step to test the basic skills of Sichuan chefs, and is even the price benchmark for meat dishes in Sichuan restaurants.
This is a pork dish that's rich but not greasy, with a bright red color. Twice-cooked pork is a second cooking step, adding even more flavor. Twice-cooked pork is also a delicious accompaniment to rice, offering a simple yet satisfying meal.
Fuqi Feipian
Fuqi Feipian is also an exquisite Sichuan dish. It uses ox skin, ox heart, ox tongue, ox tripe and beef as the main ingredients, which are braised and then sliced.
The dish is then topped with chili oil, Sichuan peppercorns, and other ingredients to make a red oil. The dish is then carefully stir-fried until it becomes spicy, fresh, and fragrant, making it a favorite among Sichuanese. Because it was created by a couple, it's called "Fuqi Feipian" and is one of Sichuan's top ten classic dishes.
Sichuan Dandan Noodles
Dandan noodles are a traditional Sichuan noodle snack. Unlike ramen and other noodle dishes, they are made by rolling flour into noodles and then tossing them with stir-fried minced meat. The noodles are thin and delicate, and the gravy is rich and flavorful.
Dandan noodles are a must-have food when tasting Sichuan cuisine. In the environment where rice dominates Sichuan, Dandan noodles have successfully replaced rice noodles and become the leader of noodles.
Long Chao Shou
In addition to noodles, wontons are also a well-known Sichuan specialty food. At that time, several shop assistants on Chunxi Road discussed jointly opening a wonton shop. When they named the shop, they used the homophonic pronunciation of the word "nong" (strong) and also took the meaning of dragon and phoenix, so they named it Long Shao Shou.
Long Shao Shou, with its thin skin, tender filling and delicious soup, was born. Delicious, authentic and cost-effective, Long Shao Shou has become a favorite of Sichuan people for light meals.
Chen Mapo Tofu
During the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, the tofu cooked by Chen was crystal clear and had ample ingredients. Soon, this protein-rich tofu spread to the public, and people flocked to it. The spicy, fresh, chewy, and crispy tofu with a variety of flavors and beef cubes became a star product that everyone rushed to buy once it was launched, and it has been popular for a long time.
Chen had some pockmarks on her face, so in order to distinguish the uniqueness of the tofu, people with a curious mind called this dish Mapo Tofu, and it has been passed down to this day.
Tips:
Snacks that can be found in Chengdu
1. Various small sweets, representative works: three big cannons, sweet noodles, egg cake
2. Various small ice brews, representative works: fermented glutinous rice, jelly
3. Various small braised dishes, representative: braised rabbit head
2. Exquisite Leshan
Leshan is the only Sichuan city to hold the distinction of being a culinary powerhouse, surpassing even Chengdu. Even Chengdu natives choose to visit Leshan for a gourmet weekend. Leshan's cuisine is unique, relying on its ingredients (Leshan Qingshen chicken) to dominate the snack scene.
Shanghe Gang: The Fireworks Life of Leshan
The Shanghebang's signature dishes are Chengdu and Leshan, delicacies from the vast plains. High-speed rail has opened up Chengdu's daily social circle, including two renowned Buddhist sites: Leshan and Emei. Chengdu's discerning gourmands travel thousands of miles to savor the vibrant life of Leshan—the snacks.
For Leshan, the 71-meter-high cliff-carved Maitreya Buddha sits majestically overlooking the river, solemn and majestic. According to legend, it is protected by a fire unicorn. But for diners, there is more to this amazing place.
While Leshan snacks like Bobo Chicken and Qiaojiao Beef may not be exceptionally delicious, the added value of the relaxed, relaxed atmosphere of Leshan life is immeasurable. Each Leshan dish embodies the essence of local life. A subtle spicy flavor permeates the palate, and in the streets and alleys, the spicy flavor permeates the palate, creating a leisurely afternoon.
Bobo Chicken
The original Bobo Chicken got its name because it was placed in a clay pot. The current Leshan Bobo Chicken is like Sichuan's oden, with boneless chicken as the main ingredient, and fish balls, lotus roots, green vegetables and various auxiliary dishes, which gradually enrich the taste in the spicy sauce.
Beef with Crossed Legs
Those who don't know the meaning might wonder which part of the beef is "qiaojiao" (a type of beef with a raised foot). Actually, it's because tourists often put one foot on the crossbeam of a table to enjoy this delicacy.
A delicious and fragrant broth made with a large collection of beef offal, various parts of beef, with Piper longum, Angelica dahurica, Sannai, star anise, fragrant bark, vanilla, fennel, tsaoko, amomum villosum, white cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, etc. A special delicacy made with dozens of spices
Leshan sweet-skin duck
Sweet-skin duck has the characteristics of crispy and slightly sweet skin and tender meat. It is like a home-cooked cold dish and is also used as a cooked food souvenir in Leshan.
In Leshan, people call sweet-skin duck "braised duck." It's also known as "tribute duck." The reason sweet-skin duck is considered Leshan's best is because the unique brine used in Leshan creates a rosy, delicious flavor.
Green Pepper Chicken
The flavor of Sichuan peppercorns spreads throughout China, its unforgettable numbness and herbal fragrance blending into the nose. Chicken, in turn, becomes the perfect vehicle for the sauce, creating a subtle fragrance that complements the astringent, numb, and lightly spicy flavors, creating a vibrant and satisfying blend.
3. Bold Western Sichuan
Unlike the food in other parts of Sichuan, the food in western Sichuan is like the rivers rushing through the Hengduan Mountains, original, fresh and full of impact.
Wild mushrooms and matsutake mushrooms are stewed in a pot with yaks or pigs that keep running. The vibrant vitality is the high-profile statement of western Sichuan cuisine.
Western Sichuan: Yaks Running on the Tip of Your Tongue
With its sea of snow and vibrant forests, some say a journey to western Sichuan is a pilgrimage, a journey into a secret paradise. However, due to limited access and the dizziness of the altitude, many people overlook the unique and mouth-watering cuisine of this region.
Yaks in western Sichuan are a vital source of food and a major asset for local ethnic minorities. The transhumance of cattle and sheep and the birth of calves are both important events for Tibetans. This tradition has long been ingrained in the landscape of western Sichuan, and the yaks galloping through the mountain valleys are the magnificent landscapes of their lives.
Fresh and tender plateau meat is valuable, but for an ordinary family, it is impossible to eat a whole piece of meat in one meal. Therefore, a unique drying and pickling method is used to achieve a unique taste.
But how could a rushing yak succumb to a tiny jar or drying board? The taste of pickled meat could never be tamed, and Tibetans finally discovered the secret to unlocking it. Western Sichuan's even more precious product was about to emerge: mountain delicacies.
Delicacies from land and sea are used to describe ingredients that are difficult to obtain. They are expensive because they are difficult to preserve when leaving their environment or because they are rare.
But in western Sichuan cuisine, the abundant greenery of the mountains is a powerful tool for brightening soups and awakening plateau yaks. Wild bracken clears heat and detoxifies, strengthening the body; walnut blossoms soothe the heart and nourish the brain, calming asthma and moistening the intestines; and various mountain mushrooms, such as matsutake, are a rare delicacy since ancient times. Savoring western Sichuan is like savoring the most pristine flavors of the mountains and rivers.
Yak Hotpot
The soul of yak hotpot is yak. The growth cycle of yaks in the western Sichuan plateau is much longer than that of cattle in the plains. In addition, the unpolluted grasslands and the mineral nourishment of the western Sichuan soil make the yak meat more tender.
Another theory is that plateau yaks, fed with precious natural Chinese herbs year-round, have tender meat that strengthens the body. Another key element of yak hotpot is the unique aromas released by various mountain delicacies in the hotpot, ushering in a new era of plateau cuisine.
bacon/cured meat
Besides yaks, the village piglets are also a staple here. Preparation of bacon begins after the Beginning of Autumn. The meat is coated with various spices, compacted to a firm, chewy consistency, and then dried in the wind. Another method involves cutting the meat into strips, compacting them with green salt and glutinous rice, and then leaving them for a quarter to make the cured meat.
Dishes made with the special flavors of pickled meat and bacon are the signature dishes of the ethnic minorities here. A small fragrant pig can be transformed into a hundred flavors of dishes, which is the true delicacy of the plateau.
4. Luxurious Zigong
Zigong Salty Cuisine is a luxurious style of Sichuan cuisine, inheriting the spicy and numbing characteristics of Sichuan cuisine but featuring a richer flavor and meticulously selected ingredients. Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, merchants and travelers have brought wealth to the area, and during the Ming and Qing dynasties, Zigong's prosperity grew even greater. This gradually led to the development of a prosperous society and the creation of the unique flavors of Salty Cuisine.
Xiao Hebang: The Dreams of Zigong People in the Salt Well
The Xiao He Gang's salty dishes are renowned for their exquisite and luxurious cuisine, often requiring hundreds of duck tongues and frog claws to create a single dish. For the wealthy Yan Gang, this seems to be their daily routine. And the source of their extravagant consumption is Zigong salt.
The Fuxi River, running through the city, was the golden waterway for the Zigong salt trade. The east and west banks of the river were the "Ziliujing District" and the "Gongjing District." A constant stream of salt arrived from both banks, and the salt workers, in between loading and unloading, prepared delicious dishes. Gradually, the riverbanks became densely populated, restaurants flourished, and annual lantern festivals, with neon lights illuminating the riverbank, illuminated the entire river. Zigong gradually became ablaze with color.
The Shenjing Salt, featured prominently in "A Bite of China 2," appeared in 1835. Composed of over a kilometer of well salt and intricately crafted wooden structures, it marked the beginning of prosperity. The ingenuity and hard work of the Zigong people transformed the region and brought prosperity to the area. Even today, the century-old craft of mining salt using overhead cranes can be seen.
Passing through the gate made of black gold, the increasingly affluent life of Zigong people has moved from the riverside to the courtyard. The working cattle and rabbits in the fields have not changed, but the original flavor has begun to be processed more delicately. The dream of social and economic development has given the Zigong people's table a unique flavor.
Boiled beef
Yanbang cuisine is extremely refined, and boiled beef is a signature dish. Using retired draft cattle from the Zigong Salt Fields, the dish is boiled in chili peppers and peppercorns. Through continuous experimentation and refinement, this renowned dish, suitable for all seasons, has been created.
rabbit
Zigong's cold rabbit meat is brightly colored, spicy, and has a hint of sweetness, making it a rare snack. "No rabbit can escape Zigong," reflects the Zigong people's love for rabbits.
A guide to eating spicy food
Although most Sichuan cuisine requires chili peppers and red oil, Sichuan cuisine still leaves a glimmer of hope for people who are not used to chili peppers.
The complex flavoring methods of garlic, steaming, and sweet and sour cooking have also produced many classic dishes. Boiled cabbage, Dongpo pork elbow, camphor tea duck, tofu pudding, and sweet braised pork are all delicious dishes that can be devoured without any hesitation.
Conclusion
After eating all over Sichuan, I found that authentic Sichuan cuisine is not dominated by the overwhelming amount of chili peppers, but by the complex aromas composed of different seasonings. It is like a bottle of high-end perfume, which highlights the deliciousness of the main ingredients and sublimates the fresh taste.
In addition to the delicacies mentioned above, Sichuan also has abundant river fish, seasonal vegetables, and wild vegetables all over the mountains. It’s time to pack your bags and take a food tour in Sichuan.
