liuzhou

藏菜 (zàng cài) / Tibetan: བོད་ཀྱི་ཟས་མཆོག, Tibetan (西藏) Cuisine Part One Cue the Mississippi Sheiks’ Sitting on Top of the World and sit back. 藏菜 (zàng cài), Tibetan cuisine is one of the least well known, even within China. Internet information is sparse and often inaccurate. There are very few Tibetan restaurants outside Tibet itself. There are a few in Beijing, of which again few are authentically Tibetan. There are no Tibetan restaurants in this province, so far as I can determine. So, I have little experience of the cuisine, although some years ago, I did go to one of the better Tibetan restaurants in Beijing. I know it was authentic as I was taken there by a Tibetan I knew and trusted. Tibet, བོད་ལྗོངས། in Tibetan, 西藏 (xī zàng) in Chinese, is overall the highest inhabited place in the world, with an average elevation of 4,500 meters/ 14,750 ft above sea level. The capital Lhasa, Tibetan: ལྷ་ས, Chinese 拉萨 (lā sà) sits at 3,650 m / 12,000 ft. It borders India, Nepal and Bhutan to the south and south-west. It also borders Yunnan, Sichuan, and Gansu to the west, and to the north are Qinghai Province and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Its population is around only four million, but another three million ethnic Tibetans live in neighbouring provinces of China as well as in other countries, especially in India. The elevation is boosted by the Himalayas on its southern side. Tibetan: ཇོ་མོ་གླང་མ། (Qomolangma), which Chinese borrowed as 珠穆朗玛 (zhū mù lǎng mǎ), is what the west calls Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak at around 8,850 metres / 29,000 feet and so named by Colonel Sir George Everest (1790-1866), British Surveyor-General of India (1830-1843) who, being an entitled imperialist moron, sensibly decided to name it after himself. The peak lies on the border of Tibet and Nepal. In Nepalese, it is सगरमाथा। (Sagarmatha). Qomolangma I have never been to Tibet. Two reasons. a) It difficult to go. Despite having a residence permit supposedly covering all of China, I still require a separate permit to enter Tibet. This can only obtained by travel agents in certain cities; none where I live. Even those permits can be suspended any moment depending on the political whim of the paranoid communists. Local holidays and anniversaries are a prime target. b) All travellers there are troubled to some degree by altitude sickness. My idea of an enjoyable vacation does not include gasping for air with every breath. However, I have seen Tibet (and Everest). Many years ago, when I was much younger and fitter, I did visit Nepal and India and saw them from there. At that time, all of China was closed. Being so high the land is mainly grasslands and mountains, cool to very cold. Little grows there, so the people, despite their strong Buddhist culture, depend very heavily on meat and dairy products. Many Tibetan Buddhists are not vegetarian as so many people presume; the Dalai Lama states in his autobiography that he eats meat. However, there are rules about what meat they can eat. Only hoofed animals are allowed. Small animals are prohibited as they are seen as wasteful. A rabbit doesn’t feed many people. Vegetables, until very recently were rare. Main proteins are yak, cattle, sheep, deer, antelopes and gazelles. Fish is extremely rarely eaten. Yak predominates; it is eaten raw, cooked in many ways, dried and as sausages. Yak - image 51miz.com Tibetan Yak Sausages Yak butter is ubiquitous and is used to make ཇ་མར, yak butter tea, a bit of an acquired taste. It's sweet and gamey at the same time, with a creamy milk flavour following it. Yak yogurt is thick and pleasant, thanks to its high fat content. Tibetan Butter Tea Their main grain is barley which does grow in these extreme conditions. A roasted barley flour known as རྩམ་པ tsampa in Tibetan, 糌粑 (zān bā) in Chinese is ground into flour which is made into bread cakes and buns, eaten as a breakfast cereal, mixed with yak butter and tea to make a kind of meatball and also made into beer and a type of barley wine called chang. Tsampa Mushrooms do grow there, as everywhere. The most important mushrooms economically are caterpillar fungus, Cordysep sinensis and matsutake, tricholoma matsutake, which are harvested from the wild. The locals rarely ear them. Too valuable. Most are exported to Japan where they fetch high prices. Cordycep sinensis Tibet has not only influenced its neighbours, but the traffic is two way. Indian curries are found, especially in Lhasa. There is also Nepalese spilt-pea pancakes and several noodle dishes from China. Next time, I’ll look at some specific dishes. Note all images are mine or public domain, unless stated otherwise.

Sorry, but now I'm confused. I've never encountered pineapple cakes in China. That, of course, doesn't mean they don't exist. 99% of buns are steamed not baked. I'm not sure what taro globes are and can only find one reference on-line although it does mention Taiwan. Mooncakes are baked, yes. But almost always by companies who make nothing else. There is one right next to my home. Restaurants buy them in from them. Mochi is Japanese, not Chinese. I'd really like to help, but I seriously doubt you're going to find any Chinese language books covering baking. It's a rarely used technique in China.

I know it's hard in the restaurant business and many are struggling. Some desperately seek gimmicks to set themselves apart from the competition. Few work for long. I've seen many here come and go. Here in China, a recent fashion has arisen for this bizarre type of service. Instead of plating the food, the server brings a whole wok full of food and tips it into the centre of the table, which is covered in paper. Seafood is the most common I've seen. These screen grab images are from Douyin, the heavily censored version of Tik-Tok used in China. I have the videos but can't post them at the moment. More censorship. Dig in! I'm sure there are others!

Yes/. Mostly by error, from what I've seen.

Yes, the red in my meal was chilli peppers. There was no potato though. It was a delivery meal, so I didn't cook it and I can't remember what that white piece at approx 7 o'clock in my picture was. If you forced me to guess, I'd say it was a clove of garlic. Good excuse to order it again, just to check! I find The Woks of Life website a very unreliable source of information.

If you eat Chinese style, you can have both together! It is very unusual to just have one dish for dinner. Never seen @Shelby's dish in China. though. Unfortunately.

鱼香肉丝 (yú xiāng ròu sī), Fish Fragrant Pork Shreds. There is no fish in it at all; instead it uses ingredients and flavours usually associated with Sichuan fish cookery. Ginger, garlic, onion, chillies, doubanjiang. It is salty, sweet, sour, and spicy. Served with rice.

新菜 (xīn cài) - Xinjiang (新疆) Cuisine 新疆维吾尔自治区 (xīn jiāng wéi wú ěr zì zhì qū), Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is China’s westernmost region, bordering within China on Qinghai, Gansu and Tibet to its south-east and internationally bordering Mongolia to the north-east, a tiny part of Russia to the north, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India to the west. Its capital is Ürümqi (Chinese: 乌鲁木齐 - wū lǔ mù qí). It is China’s largest administrative region. Its autonomous region status is by virtue of its large population of Uygur (also spelled Uighur), Chinese: 维吾尔 (wéi wú ěr), Muslim ethnic minority people. Its real autonomy is virtually zero. The Uygur are a Turkic people and their language and culture is much closer to Turkish than to Chinese. Their food is strongly influenced by Turkic cuisine, too and especially by its immediate neighbours, especially the ‘-stans’. Xinjiang, literally means ‘new border’ and has been part of China since 1884 during the Qing dynasty. Its historic name is East Turkistan, although that name has been denied them by the communist regime. It remains a troubled region. There are tensions between the ethnic minorities and the many Han Chinese immigrants, especially in recent years. But I’m not getting into the politics here. Its food, despite being far from what most people consider to be Chinese cuisine, is very popular across China, today. Xinjiang was a major part of the Silk Road linking China to the west and that brought spices and techniques from the west, but it also absorbed influences from its eastern neighbours in China while still retaining its own unique identity. Although ‘regular’ Chinese food is widely available there now, I intend to focus more on the native ethnic minorities’ cuisine For religious regions, they do not eat pork; instead lamb/mutton is their main protein, supplemented by beef, horse and chicken. Much of the food is halal. Saltwater fish is far, far away, so what fish etc there is is mostly freshwater. Whereas the Chinese use chopsticks for most of their eating, in Xinjiang it’s hands. The Xinjiang food most widely found around China is certainly 羊肉串 (yáng ròu chuàn), or in Beijing dialect 羊肉串儿 (yáng ròu chuàn ér), exactly the same thing. These are fatty lamb cubes on sticks, grilled over charcoal and spiced with Xinjiang’s favourite spice, cumin and chilli along with other spices. All over Xinjiang and in every city I’ve visited in China, night markets have the Xinjiang kebab people, mostly street food but also available in many restaurants. And they are damned delicious. Cubes of fat, ideally from the sheep’s tail, are interspersed with lean lamb; the fat renders flavouring the meat. Sold by the stick in the streets. I ate them nearly evening in Xi’an, outside North-West University. Excellent beer food. I must have eaten thousands of them in the year I lived there. I still eat them here, around 3,000 km/1,864 miles from Xinjiang. Lamb Skewers Another lamb favourite is 孜然羊肉 (zī rán yáng ròu), Cumin lamb, a simple dish of fried lamb flavoured with whole toasted cumin seeds, chilli peppers, and coriander leaf/cilantro. It is similar to the kebabs above, but stir fried rather than grilled and is flavoured with soy sauce and Shaoxing wine. Cumin Lamb Also popular is 羊肉抓饭 (yáng ròu zhuā fàn). In Uygur language, this is known as polo and is a form of pilaf or pilao and is rice flavoured with cumin, onions, carrots and lamb. In some versions it is sweetened with raisins. The Chinese name means ‘hand-grasped mutton rice’, referring to it traditionally being eaten using the hands. It is usually served as a lunch dish. Polo Before leaving lamb behind, I should mention that a good Xinjiang snack food is 烤包子 (kǎo bāo zi). These are bao buns containing lamb but instead of being steamed in the usual Chinese manner, are fried or grilled. Roasted Bao Buns The most famous Xinjiang chicken dish has been mentioned here several times in the past. 大盘鸡 (dà pán jī), literally ‘big plate chicken’. Many of visitors assume that they are eating some ancient, traditional Muslim dish but they are wrong. The most widely accepted story of its origin is that the dish was invented in the north Xinjiang county of Shawan (沙湾县 - shā wān xiàn) in the early 1990s by an immigrant named Li Shilin from Sichuan who was trying to recreate his home town flavours, but using locally available chicken and potatoes. The inclusion of Sichuan peppercorns in nearly all recipes supports this theory as Sichuan peppercorns are not otherwise part of Xinjiang cuisine. I remember being introduced to it in Xi'an in 1997, when it was described as a 'new dish'. The dish caught on in its birthplace, then spread out along what was the Silk Road to Xi'an, then all over China. Some say it was aided in this by its popularity with long distance truck drivers. Warning: When they ‘big’, they mean BIG. A normal serving is easily enough for four to five hungry people and, if they get through that, they will be served extra noodles to ‘soak up the juices’. Most restaurants offer a smaller version, which is what a friend and I normally share. It, too is more than enough. Big Plate Chicken Alternatively, instead of the noodles, some restaurants serve Xinjiang’s famous bread - 馕 (náng). Linguistically related to naan bread, this usually circular bread made from a fermeted dough, is often flavoured with, you guessed, cumin and chilli and there is a saying "One can go without eating meat for three days, but can't live one day without nang". Nang Bread Xinjiang is also famous for its fruit, especially 哈密瓜 (hā mì guā), Hami melon, a sweet type of large musk melon. These are ‘exported’ all over China and are highly prized. Dried fruits, especially raisins are sold on the streets of many Chinese cities by travelling vendors. This man turned up here every summer until he retired and sent his son instead. Xinjiang Raisin Seller and his dried grapes Hami Melons Also, sold on the street from carts or tricycles is 新疆切糕 (xīn jiāng qiē gāo), a type of cake made from nuts, glutinous rice, dried fruit and melon seeds. I always buy this when I see it. The main nuts used are walnuts and peanuts (technically not a nut). Here, I can only give a brief introduction but I hope it gives an idea of the very different foods and flavours from this part of China. Why it wasn’t included in the list of eight cuisines I started from, I have no idea. It is one of the best and enjoyed everywhere. Next? Another very different Chinese cuisine.

新疆羊肉抓饭 (xīn jiāng yáng ròu zhuā fàn), Xinjiang Polo (Lamb over Fried Rice) and 新疆羊肉串 (xīn jiāng yáng ròu chuàn), Xinjiang Lamb Kebabs, flavoured with cumin and chilli. With a side of mixed vegetables and some mutton offal soup (not pictured)

In addition to forbidding the killing of dead animals, the sentence also goes on to separately list animals not "properly slaughtered" being forbidden. I know what they mean, but that's not what they wrote. https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-is-halal-food-2355726

According to The Spruce Eats, Muslims are forbidden to eat "animals that were dead prior to slaughtering". Do they not know 'what slaughter' means? So if you want halal food, don't kill dead animals! Even better, don't read The Spruce Eats.

Well. that's a novel idea. Someone who wants Asian cuisine wants it to be from Asia. Who'd a thunk⁈

川菜 (chuān cài) - Sichuan 四川 (sì chuān) Cuisine Part Two I have no intention (or ability) to outshine Fuchsia Dunlop or anyone else, but I would like to make some observations on a few Sichuan dishes I know and love. I am fairly certain that the most eaten Sichuan dish is what is usually referred to as Kung-po or Kung-pao chicken. In China, including Sichuan it is 宫保鸡丁 (gōng bǎo jī dīng), Gong Bao (pronounced ‘bow’ as in what you should do to the king, (baʊ) in IPA) Ji (as in Gee!, the expression of surprise (dʒiː)) Ding. It literally means ‘palace guardian chicken cubes’ and is said to be named after one 丁宝桢 (dīng bǎo zhēn), Ding Baozhen who was tutor to the emperor’s children, a job that carried the honorary title of ‘palace guardian’. This happened far away in Shandong and Tutor Ding was from Guizhou province, although he did move to Sichuan in 1876. The dish is certainly Sichuanese (and supposedly Ding’s favourite) but most versions in the west are noticeably sweeter than in Sichuan. The peanuts are sometimes replaced by cashews in western restaurants but this is not traditional, although I have seen them replaced by carrot in Sichuan – again not traditional. Gong Bao Chicken Gongbao Chicken with Carrots instead of Peanuts The other popular dish internationally is 麻婆豆腐 (má pó dòu fǔ). Known in the west as Mapo Tofu, it is often made using pork outside China, but traditionally is a beef and tofu dish. Vegetarian versions are called 麻辣豆腐 (má là dòu fu). Those who complain that tofu is bland and boring haven’t eaten mapo tofu.. The unrestrained use of chilli, doubanjiang and Sichuan peppercorns permeates the mouth melting tofu. Mapo Tofu Other classic dishes using a Sichuanese technique are called 回锅 (huí guō) which literally means ‘back to the pan’ but is usually translated as ‘twice cooked’ or ‘double cooked’. By far the most common is 回锅肉 (huí guō ròu), Twice Cooked Pork. The technique is believed to date back to the Song dynasty, (960–1279), but the dish would have been very different then; chillies were still 500 years away from arriving in Sichuan. Doubanjiang contains chillies, so it wasn’t available either. Today, chunks of fatty pork belly are first simmered in water for around 30 minutes with garlic, garlic shoots, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, green onions and Shaoxing wine, then left to cool before being thinly sliced. It is then stir-fried with more garlic, ginger, green onion, green chilli, doubanjiang, fermented back beans, soy sauce and a touch of sugar. Twice-Cooked Pork Belly 鱼香 (yú xiāng) is another Sichuan technique of note. Literally if means ‘fish fragrant’, but contains no fish. Rather fish fragrant dishes are made using ingredients and flavours more commonly used in cooking fish. It employs a seasoning that typically contains garlic, scallions, ginger, sugar, salt and chilli. 鱼香肉片 (yú xiāng ròu piān), fish fragrant pork slices and 鱼香茄子 (yú xiāng qié zi), fish flavour eggplant are the most common dishes using this technique. Fish Fragrant Pork 水煮 (shuǐ zhū) is yet another Sichuan technique. It literally means ‘water boiled‘, but is much more than that. Some websites claim it is ‘boiling in oil’ – total nonsense. The two favourite dishes to use the technique are 水煮鱼 (shuǐ zhǔ yú) and 水猪牛 (shuǐ zhū niú). The relevant proteins are boiled in chicken stock, flavoured with chilli, Sichuan peppercorns, chilli oil and doubanjiang along with vegetables (especially bean sprouts in the fish version). The ’boiling in oil’ myth arises from the dish having hot oil poured over it immediately before serving, resulting in a sizzling sound when it is presented to the table. Fuchsia Dunlop calls the fish version ‘Boiled Fish in a Seething Sea of Chillies’ and the beef version ‘Boiled Beef Slices in a Fiery Sauce’. Her book (see below for link) has recipes for both. 'Water Boiled' Beef My favourite Sichuan dish is not actually from Sichuan, but Chongqing next door. However, it was part of Sichuan until 1997 when it was made a Municipality of its own, coming under the direct control of Beijing. It remains however inextricably linked to Sichuan cuisine. The dish is 辣子鸡 (là zi jī), chilli chicken. Fuchsia Dunlop refers to it as 'Chongqing chicken with chillies'. This formidable looking dish uses 50 grams or more of chillies to 500 grams of chicken meat, preferably dark meat from the legs, but sometimes breast. The chillies are not to be eaten, but it is fun digging out the cubes of meat hiding in the mountain of chillies which have imparted their flavour to the dish. This is a dish I often make at home. Laziji 兔子 (tù zi), rabbit is incredibly popular in Sichuan. 70% of China’s rabbits end up in Sichuan stomachs and have to be supplemented by imported rabbits, mainly from France. I have made a version of 辣子鸡 (là zi jī) using rabbit instead of the usual chicken. 辣子兔 (là zi tù), I suppose. It is roasted and also used in many dishes. I ate rabbit noodles in Sichuan a few years ago. But a huge favourite, especially in the capital, Chengdu is 麻辣兔头 (má là tù tóu), hot and numbing rabbit head. This street food is hugely popular and can also be found in restaurants. Roast Rabbit Mala Rabbit Head 夫妻肺片 (fū qī fèi piàn), literally ‘husband and wife lung slices’, despite the name, does not include any lungs. It is a cold dish of sliced beef with sliced heart, tongue, and tripe finished with peanuts, Chinese celery, chilli oil and Sichuan peppercorns. Supposedly invented by Guo Chaohua and his wife in the 1930s, it was originally a Chengdu street food but later made its way to the dining table. 自贡 (zì gòng) Zigong, a city in southern Sichuan has been a major salt producing area for around 2,000 years and is well known as such throughout China. It is also known for having some of Sichuan's spiciest food. 自贡盐煎肉 (zì gòng yán jiān ròu), Zigong Salt Fried Pork is lean pork slices marinated with onion and fresh green chillies, then pan fried with dried red chillies, rice wine, fermented black beans, doubanjiang bean paste, salt and sesame seeds, then finished with red chilli oil. My favourite Sichuan restaurant in Liuzhou is near my old second home in the countryside north of the city. It is a husband and wife operation with the man doing the cooking and the wife handling front of house assisted by young students from the nearby colleges. Lovely couple from a small village in Sichuan. I remember well the day I noticed a strange dish on their menu. 外婆飘香骨 (wài pó piāo xiāng gǔ) translates as ‘Maternal Grandmothers Fluttering Fragrant Bones'! I was baffled, so immediately ordered it, as you do. It was of course pork ribs with chilli and more chilli along with the usual Sichuan peppercorns etc. And absolutely delicious. I ordered it often. Granny's Bones However, probably the favourite Sichuan food in China is 四川火锅 (sì chuān huǒ guō), Sichuan Hotpot , also described as 重庆火锅 (chóng qìng huǒ guō), Chongqing Hotpot. There is some justification in Chongqing claiming to own it. It originated among boatmen on the Yangtze River which does flow past Chongqing, but the concept rapidly spread throughout Sichuan and then the rest of China, then the world. Hotpot dining is very much a communal affair; friends and families gather together round a table containing a large 阴阳 (yīn yáng) pot containing two broths, one spicy, one plainer. They gather or are brought sticks of thinly sliced meats, offal, tofu, mushrooms and vegetables and cook these themselves in the broth of their choice. There is a basic charge for the broth, then the number of empty sticks you have on the table is used to calculate the final bill, over which everyone fights to pay. All great fun. The last time I had it was with friends in Guilin and I could feel the chilli and Sichuan Peppercorns running through my veins for days! Enjoying Hotpot Yin-Yang Pot Things on Sticks The Bill Recipes for most of the dishes I have mentioned can be found in Fuchsia Dunlop's The Food of Sichuan (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). No mention of Granny's bones, though.

川菜 (chuān cài) - Sichuan (四川) Cuisine Part One After Cantonese, this is probably the most famous Chinese cuisine internationally, although until relatively recently, only a handful of its dishes appeared on most American or British Chinese restaurants menus. Mapo Tofu (actually 麻婆豆腐 (má pó dòu fǔ) in Sichuan – ‘tofu’ is the Japanese pronunciation) and Kung-po (or kungpao) Chinese (actually 宫保鸡丁 (gōng bǎo jī dīng) in Sichuan) were and are still the only Sichuan dishes on many menus. These non-Mandarin names can be attributed to the restaurants still being Cantonese. Mapo Tofu However, that is changing. When I left Britain in 1996, there were zero real Sichuanese restaurants anywhere in the country. Bar Shu opened at 28 Frith Street, Soho, London, W1D 5LF in 2006, near but significantly not in the Cantonese enclave that was Chinatown. Tel: (+44) 2072878822. They wanted to distinguish themselves, I guess. Fuchsia Dunlop consulted with the restaurant’s opening and menu. Bar Shu Sichuan Restaurant, London Her book 2019 The Food of Sichuan (eG-friendly Amazon.com link), a revised and expanded version of her original 2001 book, Sichuan Cookery (published as Land of Plenty in 2003 in the USA), is an excellent introduction to the cuisine and the culture behind it. Remember all these three are essentially the same book. Don’t do what one friend did and bought all three, thinking they were different. I suggest the 2019 version. It has even been translated into Chinese and is available here, an extremely rare honour. Much as I recommend the book, I do have one issue with Ms Dunlop, though. In all her books, she gives the Chinese name for ingredients and dishes, but then gives the Pinyin transliteration without the tone marks which are essential for correct meaning and pronunciation in Chinese, making them useless. She also mixes Mandarin and Sichuan dialects without ever saying so. She even gives a few Vietnamese names without the essential diacritics; Vietnamese fish mint, she tells us is diep ca in Vietnamese – no; it’s diếp cá. This may seem pedantic but it’s essential in both languages. Not using them or getting them wrong can often change the meaning. My favourite example is shui jiao. Do you mean boiled jiaozi dumplings (水饺 - shuǐ jiǎo) or go to bed (睡觉 - shuì jiào) or several other possibilities? Sichuanese restaurants had opened in the US slightly earlier, apparently following the publication of two cookbooks: Robert Delf’s 1974 The Good Food of Szechwan (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)* and Ellen Shrecker’s 1974 Mrs Chiang’s Szechwan (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). * Few people in China, including Sichuan knows what Szechwan means; it was never pronounced that way in China. They’ll maybe guess you are speaking German or Polish for some unimaginable reason. Today Sichuan restaurants are to be found in many of the world’s major cities, if not in the suburbs or smaller towns, yet. But it’s Sichuan food in Sichuan this is about. Sichuan is normally all about big, bold, spicy flavours and these are achieved using some ingredients only introduced in the west recently, if at all. The stand out ingredients are, of course, Sichuan peppercorns, chilli and doubajiang, which I’ll take one by one. 花椒 (huā jiāo, literally ‘flower pepper’), Sichuan peppercorns, Zanthoxylum simulans, ain’t necessarily from Sichuan. They are often from neighbouring provinces such as Yunnan and Gansu and can be found in Nepal, but it is in Sichuan they are used most. There are two varieties – red and green. The first are much more common. The second are not unripe red ones, but from a different cultivar of Zanthoxylum. The Japanese sansho (actually 山椒- kona-zanshō), Zanthoxylum piperitum is a closely related cousin. Red Sichuan Peppercorns They are neither flowers or true peppers, but berries of the prickly ash tree. They have a citric and floral taste but their unique feature is that they impart an intense sense of numbness (麻 -má) in the mouth. This is known scientifically as paresthesia and is caused by a compound they contain called hydroxy-alpha-sanshool. The more? fresh the berries, the stronger the sensation. The peppercorns should have had their seeds removed before sale, but a few may linger. They are unpleasant and sand-like. One well known food website which shall remain nameless, recommends using ground peppercorns which I recommend to people who have lost their sense of taste or like musty, stale flavours! They also say they keep for years, to which I say <censored>! I buy them in 50 gram / 1¾ oz bags and can easily tell the difference as I reach the end of the bag a week or two later. They lose potency quickly. Sichuan peppercorn oil is widely used as a condiment. Also known as prickly ash oil, it holds the numbing for longer (but not forever). I occasionally sprinkle some over dishes or into hotpots. The green variety, either 青花椒 (qīng huā jiāo) or 藤椒 (téng jiāo) are green Sichuan peppercorns, referred to in English as rattan vine peppers. These are even more numbing and citric, especially when fresh, the way I usually buy them, though that’s difficult to do outside the immediate area. In fact, they only became available in China recently. When I arrived they were unheard of. Fresh Green Sichuan Peppercorns Dried Green Sichuan Peppercorns For 40 years, Sichuan peppercorns were banned from the US, supposedly due to concerns that they may carry a disease known as canker which attacks citrus trees. There was little, if anything to back up those fears. In 2005, the ban was lifted provided that the berries were heated to 60 ℃ / 140℉ for at least 10 minutes. Unfortunately, despite destroying the non-existent canker, this also negatively affected the flavour and numbing qualities. I understand the ban has now been totally lifted (?), but the Chinese producers didn’t get the e-mail and most still routinely carry on doing what they have been doing for the US market for almost 60 years. In the US, Mala Market carries both varieties (dried only) at a price. The red can be found in most larger supermarkets in the UK, but the green are scarcer. Chinese supermarkets and Chinatowns may have. Mention of Sichuan peppercorns naturally leads me on to 辣椒 (là jiāo), literally ‘hot peppers’, chilli peppers. Again not, not true peppers but the fruit of small trees, They were called peppers by the Spanish and Portuguese invaders as they tasted hot. Introduced from the Americas into China in the 16th or 17th centuries (reports vary, although the first written record is in 1617) by the Portuguese. They didn’t arrive to Sichuan until 1749 and were, even then, not taken up as food for a long time, but were thought of as ornamental plants. China has hundreds of different chilli cultivars but Sichuan prefers 朝天椒 (cháo tiān jiāo, facing heaven chillies) aka 指天椒 (zhǐ tiān jiāo), ‘pointing to heaven chillies’. 七星椒 (qī xīng jiāo), 7 star chillies are also used. Guizhou chillies make a good substitute if you can find them, but Thai bird chillies do not. They are too hot and the flavour will be quite different. But possibly the most widely used chillies are 二荆条 (èr jīng tiáo) chillies, used fresh and dried and used in Sichuan’s favourite sauce below. Most chillies are used dried in Sichuan, although they also employ er jing tao make use of in their pickled form. Fresh Facing Heaven Chiilies Dried Facing Heaven Chillies Dried Erjingtao Chillies - detail.1688.com Together, Sichuan peppercorns and chilli make Sichuan’s near ubiquitous signature flavour, 麻辣 (má là) mala, with 麻 (má) meaning numb and 辣 (là) meaning hot: hot and numbing. The combination is used in literally hundreds, if not thousands of dishes. Despite the reputation, Sichuan does not have China’s hottest food, as explained here. I suppose the reputation arises because Sichuan food is the hottest you are like to find in most restaurants outside China. The third key ingredient is 豆瓣酱 (dòu bàn jiàng, literally ‘bean bits sauce’). This is a thick sauce made from broad beans aka fava beans, which are fermented with 二荆条 (èr jīng tiáo) chillies, salt, wheat flour and water. Known in America as tobanjiang, the sauce is pungent, spicy and salty. Doubanjiang The best is said to come from 郫县 (pí xiàn), a county just outside Sichuan's capital, 成都 (chéng dū) Chengdu. If you want the ‘authentic’ flavour of Sichuan, 郫县豆瓣酱 (pí xiàn dòu bàn jiàng) will be on the label. Beware of anything containing soy beans – these are cheap fakes. Also, the widely distributed Lee Kum Kee version is near universally rejected as being the worst of their numerous products – flat and the wrong flavour. Cantonese (LKK is Cantonese) and Taiwanese doubanjiang are not the same thing. Avoid them if it’s Sichuan you want to taste. The sauce is best fermented in large jars under the sun for up to five years, being stirred frequently, but modern methods have reduced that time considerably. Aficionados still insist on the traditional method. Basically the darker it is, the longer it has been aged and developed flavour. These two brands are highly reputable and available overseas. Dandan Doubanjiang Juancheng Doubanjiang A couple of other ingredients Ms Dunlop briefly mentions but doesn't give much detail on are: 山胡椒 (shān hú jiāo, literally ‘mountain pepper’) or 木姜子 (mù jiāng zǐ, literally ‘tree ginger seeds’) are Litsea seeds, Litsea cubeba (Lour.) Pers.). Not native to Sichuan, they are nevertheless used there, particularly in the south of the province. From Guizhou and western Hunan, the trees are a member of the laurel family and the seeds intensely citric in taste. The seeds are available, both fresh and dried, but most is made into litsea oil, used as a condiment. It is similar in taste to lemongrass. Litsea seeds Litsea Oil If you search for it online you will be directed to dozens of sites proclaiming it the greatest thing ever, but not for food use. The wellness charlatans are leaping all over it when they need a rest from their vagina-scented candles. The other ingredient is 保宁醋 (bǎo nìng cù), Baoning vinegar, as opposed to Zhenjiang (often Chinkiang in America) vinegar, the default choice in the rest of China, Baoning is the one Sichuan prefers. They must be locavores. This local black vinegar dates to the end of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Unlike most Chinese vinegars which are made using rice as the main grain, Baoning uses wheat. It also includes many herbs in the preparation but these are strained out before you buy it. It can be aged from anywhere from 1 to 10 years – the longer the better and more expensive, of course. Baoning Vinegar Now you've got the main ingredients sorted out, it's time to look at some dishes. However, I am going to be busy the next week or two. So the next part of this may be delayed. I worked out this is the 21st cuisine I’ve written about (including sub-categories). Many more to come. Eight cuisines in China? Bah! Humbug!

I just read this in one error-ridden review site. Thanks. That clarifies everything.

That is definitely an American-Chinese technique. In 28 years, I have never seen chicken cooked that way in China.

I'm sorry, but it is well-documented. Physician and naturalist, Jacobus Bontius (Jacob de Bondt, 1598–1631) is recorded as writing it in the last year of his life wen he erroneously stated that the name was from Chile in S. America ‘quasi dicas piper a Chile’. Chili or chilli comes from the native Nahuatl language and was first translitered as chīlli. The Spanish later dropped the double 'l'. English retained it.

Chinese food uses a lot of vegetabes but almost always with meat included, too. Vegetables are stir-fried, often in lard (pig fat). I realise you are not necessarily looking for vegetarian food, though. However you might want to read this article first for background. As to cookbooks as mentioned by @Katie Meadow, I recommend you have a look at Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home Cooking (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) by Fuchsia Dunlop. This covers simple family cooking as actually found in China. My neighbours would recognise every dish. I agree with Katie that a good wok, preferably carbon steel (and definitely not non-stick), is the way to go. If you have a Chinatown or Chinese market nearby, they are usually the best place to buy them. Don't worry so much about high heat - Chinese home cooks manage well with normal domestic stove tops. Good luck! If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

Billy Connolly did a hilarious rant about being in Ireland and seeing Potatoes of the Night on a menu. It's probably on YouTube, but I can't access it at the moment.

and which does he think those are?

”Asian cuisine“ is kind of meaningless. Indian, Russian, Mongolian, Thai, Vietnamese ... . Asia has 48 countries and even more cuisines. Some are vegetable oriented; others are very meat-centric. Which ones are you hoping to emulate?

It looks like 青椒肉片 (qīng jiāo ròu piàn), pork with green chillies, but without tasting it, or a description of the flavours, I can't be sure. Are you sure it's chicken? It doesn't look like chicken. Why do you think the meat isn't fried? It looks fried to me. Most dishes like this are fried. If it has jalapeño peppers, it's probably American-Chinese. Jalapeño peppers are very rarely found in China. Three pepper chicken only has two chilli peppers in it. The third is Sichuan peppercorns, which aren't true peppers. Can you ask somone in the store what it is in English? Or ask them to write it down in Chinese and then show me. This here is 青椒肉片. Looks similar to your dish but without the onions in this one, although it can.

Since I sent a good part of yesterday thinking and writing about Inner Mongolian food for this, I developed a craving. So I ordered this from the local Mongolian roast restaurant for part of dinner. 羊肉风味小肉串 (yáng ròu fēng wèi xiǎo ròu chuàn), Lamb skewers. 山东杂良面饼 (shān dōng zá liáng miàn bǐng), Shandong rough grain wheat pancakes. The lamb is heavily spiced and tender. The pancakes are paper thin and bland. but make a good contrast to the lamb. I'd say more flatbread than pancake, but that's how they describe it. Rest of dinner was a cheese platter with crackers and fruit.

冀菜 (jì cài), Hebei (河北) Cuisine Hebei is south-east of Inner Mongolia, located on the Bohai Gulf of the Yellow Sea. Besides that, it is bordered by Liaoning to the north-east, Shandong to the south-east, Henan to the south, and Shanxi to the west. Hebei means ‘North of the River’, that being the Yellow river. The province almost surrounds the adjacent municipalities, Beijing and Tianjin only being interrupted by the latter being on the coast. That said, Tianjin was the capital of Hebei until being elevated to municipality status in 1911, so Hebei did surround Beijing until then. After bouncing around for a bit, the capital was finally settled in Shijiazhuang. Its location means that it is heavily influenced by Beijing and the cuisine there, to the extent that they might taken to be the same, but that wouldn't be entirely true. Hebei does have some interesting foods of its own. Nevertheless, this will be a shorter read than usual. For many people, especially visitors, its most fascinating culinary attraction is that the people have a penchant for donkey meat. Every foreign visitor goes straight for the 驴肉火烧 (lǘ ròu huǒ shāo), Donkey Burgers. Donkey meat is slow stewed with up to twenty ‘secret’ spices (according to the vendors) and served in a sort of bun, either round (Baoding style) or rectangular (Hefei style). They taste the same. Donkey Burger However, donkey meat (my favourite red meat), is used in many other ways. It is used in noodle dishes, stir-fries, stews, soups etc. Although undoubtedly having originated in Hebei, donkey restaurants can be found everywhere. There are at least ten here in Liuzhou. Donkey with Green Peppers Donkey Noodles Unsurprisingly, Hebei cuisine features a lot of fish and other seafoods. Despite being coastal, they seem to prefer freshwater fish but sea fish are easily found. Common examples include bream, Mandarin fish, eel, turtle, giant salamander, crab, shrimp, clams etc. Freshwater fish from 白洋淀 (bái yáng diàn), Baiyangdian Lake in central Hubei is especially valued for its fish and freshwater ‘seafood’. These are often steamed or simmered gently. Mandarin Fish Popular dishes include steamed bream (without soy sauce as used in most other parts of China), turtle with wax gourd, boiled fish with tangerine pulp. Steamed Bream This unusual pairing of ingredients which seem incompatible is a well-noted feature of Hebei cuisine. 海龟猪脊 (hǎi guī zhū jǐ), turtle with pig’s spine; 炒三丝 (chǎo sān sī) is slivers of pork tenderloin, chicken and pig’s stomach, and 龙凤婚 (lóng fèng hūn), dragon and phoenix marriage is a mixture of eels and chicken. 莲藕排骨汤 (lián ǒu pái gǔ tāng), pork rib and lotus root soup is believed to have originated in Hebei, but is now available everywhere in China, having been burdened with claims of its TCM ability to cure everything but naivety. Pork Ribs and Lotus Root Soup