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Every kitchen on the shelf, where it cooks.
4 places in Sichuan — touch one for what it's known for.
Sichuan province, south-western China · its own page
Sichuan
Bold and layered: the numbing tingle of Sichuan pepper with the heat of chilli — málà — alongside some two dozen named flavour combinations.
Where it comes from
Sichuan pepper, the husk of a prickly ash berry, has been used here for thousands of years. Chillies only arrived from the Americas around the seventeenth century, and the pairing of the two — numbing and hot, málà — became the province's signature.
But Sichuan cooks will tell you it's about more than heat: the cuisine names over twenty compound flavours, from 'fish-fragrant' (with no fish) to 'strange-flavour'. Chengdu was named a UNESCO City of Gastronomy in 2010, the first in Asia.
Where in it
- ChengduThe provincial capital, with its teahouses and snack streets: home cooking like mapo tofu and twice-cooked pork, and xiǎochī — small eats — sold by the bowl.Mapo tofuKung pao chickenTwice-cooked porkFish-fragrant aubergineDry-fried green beansDan dan noodlesChilli oil wontons
- ChongqingA steep river city on the Yangtze, its own municipality since 1997, whose cooking is hotter and blunter than Chengdu's: hotpot above all, and chicken buried in chillies.Chongqing hotpotChongqing chicken with chillies
- ZigongAn old salt-well town with a salt merchants' cooking of its own, yánbāng cài, known for its heat — and for water-boiled beef.Water-boiled beef
- LeshanWhere three rivers meet beneath the great stone Buddha, and a snack town of its own: bobo chicken on skewers in chilli oil, and beef soups.Bobo chicken
How it cooks
- Málà
- Numbing Sichuan pepper and chilli heat together, each making the other feel stronger.
- Fish-fragrant (yúxiāng)
- Pickled chilli, garlic, ginger and spring onion, balanced sweet and sour — the way fish was seasoned.
- Dry-frying (gānbiān)
- Frying slowly until the ingredient dries and wrinkles — green beans, beef.
- Chilli oil
- Hot oil poured over ground chilli and spices, left to steep.
Always in the kitchen
Cook from it
Tonight, with what's good in October
Its classics
SichuanMapo tofuSoft tofu in a fiery, glossy sauce of doubanjiang, fermented black beans, minced beef and ground Sichuan pepper.No one here has made it yet
SichuanKung pao chickenDiced chicken stir-fried with dried chillies, Sichuan pepper and peanuts in a glossy sweet-sour sauce.No one here has made it yet
SichuanDan dan noodlesNoodles under a spoonful of crisp minced pork and preserved greens, in a sauce of chilli oil, sesame and Sichuan pepper.No one here has made it yetSichuanFish-fragrant aubergineAubergine fried soft, then braised in a sweet, sour, hot sauce of pickled chilli, garlic, ginger and spring onion — with no fish at all.No one here has made it yet
SichuanTwice-cooked porkPork belly simmered whole, sliced thin, then stir-fried until the edges curl, with chilli bean paste and green garlic or leeks.No one here has made it yetSichuanDry-fried green beansGreen beans fried until blistered and wrinkled, then tossed with a little minced pork, preserved mustard greens, chilli and Sichuan pepper.No one here has made it yetSichuanChilli oil wontonsSilky pork wontons, folded small, in a pool of red chilli oil, soy, black vinegar and garlic.No one here has made it yetSichuanChongqing hotpotA pot of beef-tallow broth thick with chilli, Sichuan pepper and chilli bean paste, kept boiling at the table for cooking raw meats, offal and vegetables.No one here has made it yetSichuanChongqing chicken with chilliesSmall pieces of chicken fried crisp, then tossed in the wok with a heap of dried chillies and Sichuan pepper — you hunt for the chicken.No one here has made it yetSichuanWater-boiled beefTender slices of beef poached in a chilli-bean broth over a bed of greens, then heaped with dried chilli and Sichuan pepper and doused in smoking oil.No one here has made it yetSichuanBobo chickenCold poached chicken and other morsels on bamboo skewers, steeped in a bowl of red chilli oil with Sichuan pepper, and paid for by the stick.No one here has made it yet
SichuanKung pao chickenDiced chicken stir-fried with dried chillies, Sichuan pepper and peanuts in a glossy sweet-sour sauce.No one here has made it yetSichuanDan dan noodlesNoodles under a spoonful of crisp minced pork and preserved greens, in a sauce of chilli oil, sesame and Sichuan pepper.No one here has made it yetSichuanFish-fragrant aubergineAubergine fried soft, then braised in a sweet, sour, hot sauce of pickled chilli, garlic, ginger and spring onion — with no fish at all.No one here has made it yetSichuanTwice-cooked porkPork belly simmered whole, sliced thin, then stir-fried until the edges curl, with chilli bean paste and green garlic or leeks.No one here has made it yetSichuanDry-fried green beansGreen beans fried until blistered and wrinkled, then tossed with a little minced pork, preserved mustard greens, chilli and Sichuan pepper.No one here has made it yetSichuanChilli oil wontonsSilky pork wontons, folded small, in a pool of red chilli oil, soy, black vinegar and garlic.No one here has made it yetSichuanChongqing hotpotA pot of beef-tallow broth thick with chilli, Sichuan pepper and chilli bean paste, kept boiling at the table for cooking raw meats, offal and vegetables.No one here has made it yetSichuanChongqing chicken with chilliesSmall pieces of chicken fried crisp, then tossed in the wok with a heap of dried chillies and Sichuan pepper — you hunt for the chicken.No one here has made it yetSichuanWater-boiled beefTender slices of beef poached in a chilli-bean broth over a bed of greens, then heaped with dried chilli and Sichuan pepper and doused in smoking oil.No one here has made it yetSichuanBobo chickenCold poached chicken and other morsels on bamboo skewers, steeped in a bowl of red chilli oil with Sichuan pepper, and paid for by the stick.No one here has made it yetHow it got here
1600s · from The AmericasChilliesChillies reached inland China around the seventeenth century. In Sichuan they met the native Sichuan pepper, and the pairing — numbing and hot, málà — became the province's signature.Mapo tofu →
Cooked here
No one here has cooked Sichuan yet.