Szechuan cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, or Szechwan cuisine is a style of Chinese cuisine originating from Sichuan province in southwestern China.
| | It has bold flavours, particularly the pungency and spiciness resulting from liberal use of garlic and chili peppers, as well as the unique flavour of the Sichuan pepper. Peanuts, sesame paste, and ginger are also prominent ingredients in Szechuan cooking. Although the official pinyin romanisation now is Sichuan, the cuisine is still often spelled Szechuan or Szechwan in North America. There are many local variations of Szechuan cuisine within Sichuan province and the Chongqing municipality, which was part of Sichuan until 1997. |
The four regional sub-styles include Chongqing, Chengdu, Zigong, and Buddhist vegetarian style.UNESCO declared Chengdu to be a city of gastronomy in 2011, due to the sophistication of its cooking.
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Background
| Sichuan is colloquially known as the "heavenly country" due to its abundance of food and natural resources. One ancient Chinese account declared that the "people of Sichuan uphold good flavour, and they are fond of hot and spicy taste. "Most Szechuan dishes are spicy, although a typical meal includes non-spicy dishes to cool the palate. According to at least one Chinese culinary writer, Szechuan cuisine is composed of seven basic flavours: sour, pungent, hot, sweet, bitter, aromatic, and salty. | |
Szechuan food is divided into five different types: sumptuous banquet, ordinary banquet, popularised food, household-style food, and food snacks. Szechuan cuisine has changed little over the years, and milder versions of Sichuan dishes remain a staple of American Chinese cuisine.
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Foods
Some Szechuan dishes include Kung Pao chicken and twice cooked pork. Although many dishes live up to their spicy reputation, there are a large percentage of recipes that use little or no hot spices at all, including dishes such as tea smoked duck.
Delicious dishes menu:
| | Stir-fried Tofu with Minced Beef in Spicy Bean Sauce A real feast of tender bean curd, minced beef, pepper and bean sauce. It is said that it was made by a pock-marked but ingenious woman, thus the name Ma Po Tofu (pock-marked woman's bean curd). |
| | Gong Bao Ji Ding In Chinese it is called Gong Bao Ji Ding. This is a tender chicken dish, tender as the meat is quickly fried. Flavored with peanuts, this is tasty and very popular. |
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Lung Pieces by Couple A quite popular in Chengdu. It got the name because the dish was ever sold be a couple. Today it remains the original savor, tender meat, tingling and spicy. |
Written by Nicolas Yang
