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Szechuan cuisine, Szechwan cuisine, or Sichuan cuisine (Chinese: 四川菜 or 川菜) is a style of Chinese cuisine originating in Sichuan Province of southwestern China is famed for bold flavors, particularly the spiciness resulting from liberal use of chilis and "numb" or "tingling" flavor (Chinese: 麻) of the Sichuan peppercorn (花椒). Although the region Sichuan is now romanized as Sichuan, the cuisine is still sometimes spelled 'Szechuan' or 'Szechwan' in the West. There are many local variations of Sichuan cuisine within Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality (part of Sichuan until 1997.) The four best known regional sub-styles are Chongqing style, Chengdu style, Zigong style, and Buddhist vegetarian style.
Szechuan cuisine often contains food preserved through pickling, salting, drying and smoking, and is generally spicy. The Sichuan peppercorn is commonly used; it is an indigenous plant producing peppercorns with a fragrant, numbing, almost citrusy flavor. Also common are chili, ginger and other spicy herbs, plants and spices. Broad bean chili paste (simplified Chinese: 豆瓣酱; traditional Chinese: 豆瓣醬 or dòubànjiàng) is also a staple seasoning in Sichuan cuisine. The region's cuisine has also been the originator of several other Chinese spices including yuxiang (魚香) and mala (麻辣).
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.1 Stir-fried beef is often cooked until chewy, while steamed beef is sometimes coated with rice flour to produce a very rich gravy.
Representative dishes
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.
- Tea Smoked Duck (simplified Chinese: 樟茶鸭; traditional Chinese: 樟茶鴨; pinyin: zhāngchá yā)
- Twice Cooked Pork (simplified Chinese: 回锅肉; traditional Chinese: 回鍋肉; pinyin: huíguōròu)
- Mapo dofu (Chinese: 麻婆豆腐; pinyin: mápó dòufǔ)
- Sichuan hotpot (simplified Chinese: 四川火锅; traditional Chinese: 四川火鍋; pinyin: Sìchuān huǒguō)
- Fuqi Feipian (Chinese: 夫妻肺片; pinyin: fūqī fèipiàn)
- Chongqing Spicy Deep-Fried Chicken (simplified Chinese: 重庆辣子鸡; traditional Chinese: 重慶辣子雞; pinyin: Chóngqìng làzǐjī)
- Shuizhu, or literally "Water cooked", dishes (Chinese: 水煮; pinyin: shuǐzhǔ)
- Dan dan noodles and Bon bon chicken
References
- ^ Tropp, Barbara (1982). The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking. New York: Hearst Books, p. 183. ISBN 0-688-14611-2.
See also
- Chinese cuisine
- Hunan cuisine
- Cooking
- List of Chinese Cuisine Names
- NPR story on Szechuan cuisine and a cookbook about the cuisine
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