Sichuanese Cuisine: Food and Culture
The Sichuan Basin is a land of “fish and rice”, or as the Chinese puts it, "Heaven on Earth". It is naturally home to a rich and varied cuisine. The Sichuanese cuisine is well known for its spiciness and use of a diverse range of native ingredients. The province’s geographical proximity to Southeast Asia meant an exposure to the hot and spicy cuisines of this region, for example, Thai, Burmese and Indian cuisines, and hence one sees in the Sichuanese food the liberal use of chilli, pepper and other tropical spices. The main reason for this is summarised in May Holdsworth’s Odyssey Illustrated Guide to Sichuan(*): “Local people attribute the development of their cuisine to the weather in Sichuan. They say that chilli- and pepper-flavoured food stimulates sweating, which cools them down in the hot summer, while in the damp cold winter, it produces the opposite effect of warmth and comfort.”
However, what caught visitors who thought they knew what’s Sichuanese cuisine unaware is that quality known as “ma” - the feeling of numbness in the mouth. The addition of Sichuan peppercorn, known as “huajiao”, in numerous dishes create a most sudden numbing sensation in one’s mouth. The diner who’s unaware of this might for moments thought that one’s mouth have evaporated. Tasty and appealing Sichuanese cuisine might be, this quality is certainly not one easily appreciated by outsiders. And this is why Sichuanese restaurants outside the province usually dispense with ma. One either loves it or hates it, though it can be an acquired taste. In fact, as my clients say, some outsiders have come to like it so much that they can have more ma that the native Sichuanese. So visitors beware... Ask the cook not to cook your dish too ma lest it spoils your tastebuds.
Some of popular dishes are listed here:
· Mapo Tofu - “Pocked Face Grandmother Bean Curd”. This is bean curd cooked with minced pork and served in hot chilli and pepper.
· Huiguo Rou - “Twice-Cooked Pork”. Thinly sliced pork boiled first and then stir-fried, with green onion scattered at the end.
· Liang Fen - Cold Noodles. These are white rice noodles served cold with a hot, spicy and ma sauce. Especially great in summer.
· Xiangla Nu Chow Mian - "Hot and Spicy Beef Noodle". Yellow noodles and sliced beef stir-fried with hot and spicy sauce. Real sensational !
· Mala Huoguo - “Ma and Hot Hotpot”. Meat and ingredients of every kind thrown into red hot soup. First eaten by the boatmen of the Changjiang in Chongqing area and then spread westwards to the rest of Sichuan. Now, a very popular dish in China.
*: Heaven on Earth, by Tan Swee Cheng of Singapore.
Copyright (c) 2008 Sichuanese Cuisine Corporation; All rights reserved.