Life> Travel

Table for Two? Sichuan Cuisine

By Jodie S. (chinatraveldepot.com)
Updated: 2011-06-23 16:03

China, is known for having a verity of historical and remarkable sights but their food options are filled with just as much excitement as you would have hiking the Great Wall. If you are thinking about coming to China to accomplish your goal of one day hiking the Great Wall or perhaps spending a day in the Forbidden City.

You must try their many incredible dishes as well. After browsing through these China Tours, you can see what flights are available on Air China and plan the trip of a life time. During my trip to Beijing, I came across Sichuan Cuisine I noticed lots of people enjoying its bountiful menu.

Sichuan food if often described as being hot, sour, sweet, and salty. Essentially, these flavors came about in the last 100 years, and initially were popular only in the lower strata of society. Hot pepper, an important flavoring in Sichuan cuisine, was introduced into China only 200 to 300 years ago. Throughout the period of the Three Kingdoms, the kingdom of Shu was located in Sichuan. Historical research states, the people in Shu liked sweet food. During the Jin Dynasty, they preferred to eat spicy food; however, spicy food at that time was not “spicy” with pepper but was made with ginger, mustard, chives, or onions. Dating back some 200 years ago, there were no hot dishes in Sichuan cuisine, and few were cooked with pungent and hot flavorings. In the beginning the dish flavorings were very mild, unlike the popular dishes of today, such as pockmarked lady’s bean curd.

Since ancient times Sichuan has been known as the land of plenty. Although Sichuan does not have seafood, it produces an array of domestic animals, poultry, and freshwater fish and crayfish. Sichuan cuisine is well known for cooking fish. As a unique style of food, Sichuan cuisine was already famous 800 years ago. This was during the Southern Song Dynasty when Sichuan restaurants were opened in Lin’an, now called Hangzhou, its capital city.

Famous for its many flavors, Sichuan dishes has its own unique taste. This is because their flavorings and seasonings are produced in Sichuan Province. Some of their seasonings include, soy sauce from Zhongba, cooking vinegar from Baoning, special vinegar from Sanhui, fermented soy beans from Tongchuan, hot pickled mustard tubers from Fuling, chili sauce from Chongqing, broad bean sauce from Pixian, and the salt from Zigong.

Here are some ways to create your dishes of choice, for dry stewing which is very similar to stewing in the Beijing cuisine. The use of primary soup or extract in the dish must be condensed over a low fire before the thick broad bean sauce or hot red peppers are added. When the dish is ready, it looks oily and shiny and tastes scrumptious crisp and soft. Some foods that are cooked this way are dry stewed fish and dry stewed bamboo shoots.

This delicious menu offers so much and would add to the trip of a life time. When visiting China, it means experiencing China to its entirety, being apart of their celebrations and embracing their culture. Having what the locals eat, drink, and participate in their events to see what is going on in China and at what times check out China Tours and see what adventures you will be embarking on next.