China Food Road - Sichuan

Our next stop in the "China Food Road" project is Sichuan.

Sichuan, the land of plenty, is a region of fertile plains fed by the Yangtze River and its tributaries. It is famous for its hot cuisine and the great variety of cooking styles. As the old saying goes: “One hundred dishes and one hundred flavours”. The main ingredients in Sichuanese cuisine are: whole chilli peppers (gan lajiao), which provide the spicy flavour (la); and Sichuan peppercorns (huajiao), a type of citrus berries that provide the ‘numbing’ flavour (ma). The presence of chillies and peppers awakens and stimulates the palate to enjoy other tastes.

Sichuan peppercorns in the wild

About Chillies, Peppers and different tastes

The further South you go in China, the spicier the food gets – according to traditional Chinese medicine, spicy food helps release the humidity in your body, it is particularly good in winter, when humidity is bad for the bones. Chillies, with their blood-red, vibrant colour and hot spiciness, are not indigenous to China. They were brought to Asia from South America by the Portuguese. The dusky-pink Sichuan pepper is the dried berry of a prickly ash tree. It has a fresh, citrus scent and it is the dominant spice in many dishes of this region. The Sichuan peppercorn is not related to the Western black and white pepper - it is hot and pungent, leaving a numbing sensation in the mouth. The combination of whole chilli, Sichuan peppers and ginger adds additional layers of heat. 

“Sichuan pepper makes your lips dance and tingle”. 

Fuchsia Dunlop

Other ingredients characteristic of this cuisine include: red oil (chilli oil), sesame oil, various bean pastes (very salty paste made from fermented broad beans) and vinegars; as well as nuts and sesame seeds. The Sichuanese have different classifications of tastes: hot and spicy, hot and sour (cuan la) such as in the fish soup, and a hot and numb (ma la), such as in the tofu dish ma po dofu, with its fiery sauce.

We visited Chuan Ban Restaurant, in the Sichuan Province government office in Beijing, reputedly the best Sichuanese restaurant in town. It was hard to find, the main entrance does not face the road and I can't read Chinese characters, but after asking many people, and with the help of Feian’s GPS/google map apps we managed. When we got there we met up with the rest of the group: Zara, Tony, Katherine and our expert, Grace, who was wonderful at ordering the food. She had done her research and deserved also a merit point for ordering in her home dialect.

The Menu

Bean curd sliced á la Julienne 豆腐丝  dou fu si - with a balanced sour, nutty dressing

Celery and lilly 西芹百合  xi qin bai he – celery stalks in a fresh sauce with beautiful, delicate, dainty lilly flowers (not pictured)

Pork’s lungs 夫妻肺片 fu qi fei pian, also known as ‘husband and wife’

Mushrooms in a pot干锅双菌 gan guo shuang jun a wide array of different types of mushrooms, served in a hot wok with a burner

Spicy Toufu 麻婆豆腐 ma po dou fu - one of Sichuan's most famous dishes

Spicy fish in red oil 水煮鱼  shui zhu yu - dead or alive? our chosen fish cooked to perfection, white meat, tender, boneless and tasty.

beancurd sliced á la Julienne with vinegar and sesame seeds

Husband and Wife - sliced pork's lungs (or was it tongue?)

sliced pork's lungs - a closer look

scrumptious pot with mushrooms

Dead or alive? Fish in oil with chillies

At one point, the waiter came round with a big bucket full of water so we could choose the fresh fish. Fresh indeed, still leaping in the water!

The ‘Husband and Wife’ dish: Legend has it that in the city of Chengdu during the 1920s and 1930s, a couple opened a small restaurant serving sliced ox lungs. The cold dish was so delicious and balanced in flavour and spices that it soon became famously known as ‘husband and wife’. The dish has now been adapted and it includes other cuts as well as lungs – in my opinion the meat they served us was sliced tongue and it was very delicious indeed.

Excellent food and service, I am not surprised this restaurant is considered the best venue for Sichuan food in Beijing.

Inside the restaurant, a busy kitchen and polite staff

The Adventurous Ones

Sichuan Provincial Government Office Restaurant - Chuanban

5 Gongyuan Toutiao, Jianguomennei Dajie,

Chaoyang District, Tel 6512 2277 ext. 6101

If you would like to read more about my adventures in Sichuan, go to:

Fifty Shades of Sichuan (here)

Panda love (here)

Children of Chengdu (here)

Chongqing, megacity of contrasts (here)