Szechuan cuisine
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Szechuan cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, or Szechwan cuisine (Chinese: 四川菜; pinyin: Sìchuān cài or Chinese: 川菜; pinyin: chuān cài) 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.[1] 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.[1] UNESCO declared Chengdu to be a city of gastronomy in 2011, due to the sophistication of its cooking.[2]
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History [edit]
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."[3] 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,[who?] 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.[3]
Preparations [edit]
Szechuan cuisine often contains food preserved through pickling, salting, and drying and is generally spicy due to heavy application of chili oil. The Sichuan pepper (Chinese: 花椒; pinyin: huājiāo; literally "flower pepper") is commonly used. Sichuan pepper has an intensely fragrant, citrus-like flavour and produces a "tingly-numbing" (Chinese: 麻; pinyin: má) sensation in the mouth. Also common are garlic, chili peppers, ginger, star anise and other spicy herbs, plants and spices. Broad bean chili paste (simplified Chinese: 豆瓣酱; traditional Chinese: 豆瓣醬; pinyin: dòubànjiàng) is also a staple seasoning in Szechuan cuisine. The region's cuisine has also been the source of several prominent sauces widely used in Chinese cuisine in general today, including yuxiang (魚香), mala (麻辣), and guaiwei (怪味).
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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 prevalence of oxen in the region.[4] Stir-fried beef is often cooked until chewy, while steamed beef is sometimes coated with rice flour to produce a very rich gravy. Szechuan cuisine also utilises various bovine and porcine organs as ingredients such as intestine, arteries, the head, tongue, skin, and liver in addition to other commonly utilised portions of the meat.
Notable dishes [edit]
Some Szechuan dishes include Kung Pao chicken[1] 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.
| English | Traditional Chinese | Simplified Chinese | Pinyin | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kung Pao chicken | 宮保雞丁 | 宫保鸡丁 | gōngbǎo jīdīng | |
| Tea smoked duck | 樟茶鴨 | 樟茶鸭 | zhāngchá yā | |
| Twice cooked pork | 回鍋肉 | 回锅肉 | huíguōròu | |
| Mapo Tofu | 麻婆豆腐 | 麻婆豆腐 | mápó dòufǔ | |
| Sichuan hotpot | 四川火鍋 | 四川火锅 | Sìchuān huǒguō | |
| Fuqi feipian | 夫妻肺片 | 夫妻肺片 | fūqī fèipiàn | Cold beef tripe |
| Spicy deep-fried chicken | 辣子雞 | 辣子鸡 | làzǐjī | |
| Water cooked dishes | 水煮 | 水煮 | shuǐzhǔ | |
| Dan dan noodles | 擔擔麵 | 担担面 | dàndàn miàn | |
| Bon bon chicken | 棒棒雞 | 棒棒鸡 | bàngbàng jī |
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ a b c Marshall Cavendish Corporation (2007). World and Its Peoples: Eastern and Southern Asia. Marshall Cavendish. p. 126.
- ^ UNESCO (2011). "Chengdu: UNESCO City of Gastronomy". UNESCO. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
- ^ a b 傅培梅 (2005). Mei Pei Featured Dishes (CH: 培梅名菜精選: 川浙菜專輯). 橘子文化事業有限公司. p. 9.
- ^ Tropp, Barbara (1982). The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking. New York: Hearst Books. p. 183. ISBN 0-688-14611-2.
Further reading [edit]
- Fuchsia Dunlop. Land of Plenty : A Treasury of Authentic Sichuan Cooking. New York: W.W. Norton, 2003. ISBN 0393051773.
- Jung-Feng Chiang, Ellen Schrecker and John E. Schrecker. Mrs. Chiang's Szechwan Cookbook : Szechwan Home Cooking. New York: Harper & Row, 1987. ISBN 006015828X.
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