Szechuan cuisine
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Szechuan cuisine is a style of Chinese cuisine originating in the Sichuan province of western China which has an international reputation for being spicy and flavorful. Although the region Sichuan is now usually romanized as Sichuan, the cuisine that originated there is still usually spelled Szechuan in the West, and pronounced phonetically [ˈsɛʃwɑːn] or [ˈsɛtʃwɑːn] in English. The cuisine is consisted of four styles: Chengdu style, Chongqing style, the Greater (Yangtze) River style, and the Lesser (Jialing) River style.
Some well-known Szechuan dishes include Kung Pao chicken and Twice Cooked Pork. Although many dishes live up to their spicy reputation, often ignored are the large percentage of recipes that use little or no hot spices at all, including dishes such as Tea Smoked Duck.
The chile pepper, a common ingredient in Szechuan cuisine (often used unseeded), was introduced to China from the Americas after European colonization of the Americas had begun. Chile peppers were most likely introduced to Sichuan by migrating Hunanese peasants in the 17-18th century. However, Szechuan cuisine's reputation for being spicy is much older: sichuan pepper, or "numbing pepper" is an indigenous plant (fruit) that produces a fragrant, numbing, almost citrus-y spice, and is still a key ingredient in Szechuan food to this day, and also ginger and spicy herbs were used early on. The reason for this emphasis on spice may derive from the region's warm, humid climate. This climate also necessitates sophisticated food-preservation techniques which include pickling, salting, drying and smoking.
Dòubànjiàng (Simplified Chinese: 豆瓣酱; Traditional Chinese: 豆瓣醬), broad bean chili paste, is a staple seasoning in Sichuan cuisine.
Common preparation techniques in Szechuan cuisine include stir frying, steaming and braising, but a complete list would include more than 20 distinct techniques. Beef is somewhat more common in Szechuan cuisine than it is in other Chinese cuisines, perhaps due to the widespread use of oxen in the region. Stir-fried beef is often cooked until chewy, while steamed beef is sometimes coated with rice flour to produce a rich gravy.
Some common Szechuan dishes include:
- Kung Pao chicken (Simplified Chinese: 宫保鸡丁; Traditional Chinese: 宮保雞丁; Hanyu Pinyin: gōngbǎo jīdīng)
- Tea Smoked Duck (Simplified Chinese: 樟茶鸭; Traditional Chinese: 樟茶鴨; Hanyu Pinyin: zhāngchá yā)
- Twice Cooked Pork (Simplified Chinese: 回锅肉; Traditional Chinese: 回鍋肉; Hanyu Pinyin: huíguōròu)
- Mapo dofu (Chinese: 麻婆豆腐; Hanyu Pinyin: mápó dòufǔ)
- Sichuan hotpot (Simplified Chinese: 四川火锅; Traditional Chinese: 四川火鍋; Hanyu Pinyin: Sìchuān huǒguō)
- Fuqi Feipian (Chinese: 夫妻肺片; Hanyu Pinyin: fūqī fèipiàn)
- Chengdu Chicken (Simplified Chinese: 成都辣子鸡; Traditional Chinese: 成都辣子雞; Hanyu Pinyin: Chéngdū làzǐjī)
- "Water Boiled", or Shuizhu Dishes (Chinese: 水煮; Hanyu Pinyin: shuǐzhǔ)
Iron Chef
The Iron Chef Chinese Chen Kenichi on the Japanese television show Iron Chef specializes in spicy Szechuan cuisine. Chen is the son of Chen Kenmin, who is regarded as the father of Sichuan cuisine in Japan. His special dish, "Prawns in Chilli Sauce", is an adaptation of a dish that his father had introduced to Japan. As a result, Chen is often compared to his father on the series, with some saying that Iron Chef helped the son exceed the skills of the father.
See also
