Ming Zhang was born in Sichuan and lives in Sichuan in the rest of her life. She has one child in middle school and another in elementary. As a housewife, she is taking care of all the food served in the family thus very familiar to the culture and food in Sichuan.
How would you describe the climate in Sichuan?
The climate in Sichuan is very different from place to place. I was living in Kongding city back in the 2000s, that was a big city located in the west of Sichuan. We had a lot of daylight time there, almost 15 hours every day during summer because of the high altitude. Thanks to the high altitude, the hottest temperature in summer is only a little more than 20 degrees and in the winter, it never falls under zero. After I had my first child, I moved to the Chengdu city for better education. Chengdu is the biggest city in Sichuan, located in the east of the province, which is in “Sichuan basin”. Due to the basin, the climate here is very different from what I used to live at. One thing I noticed at the very beginning is the sunlight time is much lower here in the basin than before. We have a lot of raining here in the summer and the humidity is always high due to the terrain. The highest temperature is more than 30 degrees here and the lowest temperature is the same as before.
What about geography?
I’m no expert on geography. But I do know Sichuan is where two Continental plates meet so earthquakes happen very often. This is also why Sichuan has lots of very different terrains. The west part of Sichuan consists of a lot of very tall mountains and the east part of Sichuan is located in a massive basin called “Sichuan basin”. Also, The Yangtze River flows through the province, providing us with electricity and water.
How do climate and geography affect food availability in Sichuan?
The most common crop in Sichuan is rice, you can see them everywhere. My father was a farmer so I know a bit about agriculture. Growing rice needs a lot of water and warm weather and we got them from the Yangtze River and the unique climate in the basin. Another common food here is wheat, which needs a lot of sunlight to grow well. So most of the wheat is planted in the west part of the province where have longer sunlight time due to high altitude. Another food we plant but not eat a lot is sugarcane. It grows like bamboo but it’s solid inside and it’s very sweet. Sugarcane needs a high humidity environment to make it taste sweet. Most of the sugarcanes are used to produce red sugars. See, this is why I like Sichuan, We got a variety of climates here, no matter what weather a plant needs, it will find it here.
Do people live in Sichuan have religions?
No, Most people here don’t have any religions, but if I had to say one, some of my friends are Buddhism.
How does Buddhism impact the way they prepare, serve and eat their food?
The most obvious thing is that, they don’t eat meat, they think it’s evil to kill any living things. So every time a Buddhism friend or family come to my house to eat, I had to prepare special vegan dishes for them. To get those nutritions they lost by not eating meat, they eat a lot of Mushrooms & soy products, for example, tofu instead. Most of them love to give their food a beautiful name to show their respect to the food, but the name also causes confusions because you can’t tell the ingredients from the name. For example, they call vegan sausage “Agate roll”.
What are the most common herbs and spices you use?
That will definitely be Chili peppers and Sichuan peppers. They created a delicious “málà” flavour which all of us love and help us to fix the health problem coming from living in a high humidity environment for a long time. We add peppers to almost every dishes. There’s an idiom to describe us: no chilli no fun. Other than those two, I always add Star anise and Cinnamon when I’m cooking meat and fish. Star anise makes the meat taste nicer and Cinnamon adds a wonderful smelling to the whole dish. But remember, you can’t put them too much, or they will have negative effects.
Can you give some example of herbs and spices used in dishes?
Sure. I just made braised pork this afternoon, I used Star anise and Cinnamon as I said before, I also added a bit of Chenpi to make the meat less greasy. Some other examples will be Koushuiji, where Chili peppers and Sichuan peppers are used; and Shuizhuroupian, where Chili peppers and Sichuan peppers are used.
How many meals do you eat per day? What time do you eat them?
Typically, I eat breakfast at 7 am-8 am, eat launch around noon and eat dinner at 6 pm.
What do you usually eat for breakfast?
We have a lot to choose from. Here are some examples I can think of: noodles with minced meat, Leek or meat Dumplings, mantou and congee. Children don’t like mantous or congees very much mainly because they don’t have any taste, you need to eat them with Zha cai. These breakfasts are very easy to buy and they are usually very cheap, preparing them is also very easy.
What about the launch and dinner?
In weekdays children are in the school so I usually eat foods lasted from last night. But on weekends, we eat outside. For dinner, this is when my family eat together after a full day of hard work. It’s a culture to prepare more meat or fish for the dinner because this is repetitive of wealth. Last night we ate mapo doufu, which was very good and my children liked it very much and Dongpo Pig Knuckle. For today’s dinner, I prepared braised pork, I hope my family will like it.
Can you tell me some specific food that is served on special occasions?
Sure, we have the spring festival, the biggest festival of the whole year, indicates the starting of a new year. In the Spring festival, we eat Rice Cakes and Spring Rolls. The pronunciation of Rice Cake in Chinese is the same as “year higher”, which has a meaning of “this year better than next year”. People eat spring rolls because after they are fried, they look like gold bars. Eating String rolls meaning you will have more money this year. Another special occasion is the Dragon Boat Festival, a festival for remembering a famous poet Quyuan. In that festival, we eat Zongzis.
Is there any food Influenced by colonization or immigration?
I don’t think so. Sichuan is located in the very centre of China and has been a part of China since the source of China, it has never been colonized. Also, there is very few immigration from other countries because we don’t have the best education or the best welfare or stuff like that.
Question | Response |
Climate & geographical characteristics, how does it impact food availability | - Four seasons are distinctive - A lot of rains - Warm - High humidity - Lot of mountains - wheat: need long sun light time - sugarcane: need warm weather & high humidity & sun light - rice: need a lot of water - corn: need warm weather |
How religion impact how people prepare, serve and eat their food | - People love to give their food a beautiful name - No meat - Mushrooms & soy products |
Popular herbs & spices, why they are popular, where are they used in | - Star anise - Cinnamon - Chili peppers - Sichuan pepper |
Daily eating patterns (time, number, content) | - Breakfast: 7am-8am: noodles with minced meat; Leek or meat Dumplings; mantou or congee with Zha cai |
Specific food served on special occasions | - Spring festival: rice cake & spring festival - Dragon Boat festival: Zongzi |
How has colonisation & immigration influenced the food | No |
Climate
Season | Temperature |
Spring | 10-22 |
Summer | 22+ |
Autumn | 10-22 |
Winter | 10- |
Sichuan has heavy rain fails in summer.
Eastern Sichuan: - In the Sichuan basin - humid subtropical climate - long & hot summer - short & dry winter - low sunlight time | Western Sichuan: - A part of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau - One of the mountains there reaches 7556 m - Lower temperature - More sun light time
|
Buddhisms don’t or only occasionally eat meat, so they eat a lot of mushrooms % soy products to get nutrients they needed. They love to give their cuisine a beautiful name, eg:
- Enhances the flavor of meat.
- Used in meat cuisines that have heavy taste
- Created a “málà” flavor (“numb-spiciness”)
- Good for health when you live in a high humidity environment.
| Time |
| Relationship |
Breakfast | 7am-8am | - noodles with minced meat - Leek or meat Dumplings - mantou or congee with Zha cai | - Physical needs: people need a lite meal to start the day, not giving digestive system too much load. - Economics: These food are extremely cheep, everyone can afford them. - Geography: SiChuan produces a lot of wheat, which is the ingredients for noodles, mantou and congee. |
Launch | 12pm | - Twiced-cooked pork - Liangfen | - Senses: 12pm is the hottest time of all day, people need to eat some cold food to make themselves comfortable. - Culture: The people in SiChuan have a tradition of eating Twice-cooked pork every 1st and 15th of lunar months. |
Dinner | 6pm | - Mapo doufu | Culture: In Sichuan, people think eating good in dinner is a represent of wealth. Senses: Dongpo meat is made with thin-skinned tender meat and famous wine, so the color is bright and red, the taste is strong, the crunchy and shape is not broken, the glutinous but not greasy, its unique "men xiang" is the biggest feature . |
Spring Rolls: Symbolism, fried spring rolls look like gold bars.
Zongzi: Psychological, zongzi was used to throw in to the lake to remember Quyuan.
•.1 chicken, around 2 pound
•.4 ginger slices
•.2 green onions
•.1 tablespoon cooking wine
•.Peanuts, toasted and crushed
•.White sesame seeds, toasted
•.2 slices of ginger
•.2 star anise
•.1 teaspoon cumin
•.2 bay leaves
•.2 tablespoons chili flakes
•.1.5 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorn , or powder
•.1.5 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
•.1 tablespoon sesame seeds
•.4-6 tablespoons Sichuan style chili oil
•.2 tablespoons black vinegar
•.1 tablespoon sesame oil
•.2 tablespoon cooking wine
•.1/2 teaspoon sugar
•.pinch of salt
•.1 tablespoon light soy sauce
•.2 garlic cloves , smashed
•.1/2 tablespoon minced green onion
•.Minced coriander
Sichuan combined chili oil
1.In a small bowl, mix chili powder, Sichuan peppercorn, five spice powder and sesame seeds.
2.In a pan, add bay leaves, cumin, ginger slices and star anise, pour in around 1 cup of oil and heat until hot over slowest fire (if the spices are overheated, they become bitter). Discard all the spices and leave the oil only.
3.Pour the hot oil directly to the powder mixture in the small bowl. You will smell the strong aroma during the process. Set the Szechuan combined chili oil aside. I highly recommend you making the chili oil in the previous day so there are sometime for the spices mix together. Or if you do not have pepper flakes, check this post introducing how to make chili oil from whole chili peppers.
Prepare the chicken
1.Clean the chicken and remove feet and head. In a large pot, add chicken, green onion and 3-4 slices of ginger and cooking wine. Then pour enough water to cover the chicken. Bring the content to a boiling with medium fire and continue cooking for around 8 minutes (see note 1 for the adjusting of the time needed). Turn off the fire, cover the lid and let the chicken stay for around 20 minutes.
2.In a large bowl, prepare enough iced water. Transfer the chicken out and soak it with iced water. Turn over several times during the process until the chicken is completely cooled down. Cut into chunks and lay in the serving bowl.
3.Mix around 4 to 6 tablespoons of chili oil with other ingredients to prepare the sauce.
4.Toast peanuts and white sesame in pan until aroma and then crush with a rolling pin or crusher.
5.Pour the sauce over the chicken, garnish with toasted peanuts and white sesame seeds and enjoy!
•.450 g silken tofu ,I am using Szechuan tender lushui tofu
•.100 g minced meat-beef or pork
•.1/2 tbsp. sesame oil
•.1+1/2 tbsp. Doubanjiang ,roughly chopped
•.1/2 tbsp. fermented black beans ,also known as dou-chi and fermented soya beans, roughly chopped
•.1 tbsp. pepper flakes or powder ,optional
•.1/2 tsp. salt
•.1/2 tbsp. Sichuan pepper for making fresh ground powder
•.1 tbsp. light soy sauce
•.water or broth for braising ,I use 400ml this time
•.2 tbsp. cooking oil
•.2 scallion whites, finely chopped
•.4 garlic greens or scallion greens, finely chopped
•.2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
•.5 ginger slices, finely minced (around 1 teaspoon)
•.1 tsp. Sugar, optional for reducing the spiciness
•.2 and 1/2 tablespoon water
•.1 tablespoon cornstarch
•.steamed rice for serving
1.dd a small pinch of salt and sesame oil to minced beef. Mix well and set aside.
2.Mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 and 1/2 tablespoons of water in a small bowl to make water starch.
3.Cut tofu into square cubes (around 2cms). Bring a large amount of water to a boil and then add a pinch of salt. Slide the tofu in and cook for 1 minute. Move out and drain.
4.Get a wok and heat up around 2 tablespoons of oil, fry the minced meat until crispy. Transfer out beef out and leave the oil in.
5.Fry doubanjiang for 1 minute over slow fire and then add garlic, scallion white, ginger and fermented black beans to cook for 30 seconds until aroma. Then mix pepper flakes in.
6.Add water to the seasonings and bring to boil over high fire. Gently slide the tofu cubes. Add light soy sauce and beef.Slow the heat after boiling and then simmer for 6-8 minutes. Then add chopped garlic greens.
7.Stir the water starch and then pour half of the mixture to the simmering pot. Wait for around 30 seconds and then pour the other half. You can slightly taste the tofu and add pinch of salt if not salty enough. By the way, if you feel it is too spicy, add some sugar can milder the taste. But be carefully as the broth is very hot at this point.
8.Transfer out when almost all the seasonings stick to tofu cubes. Sprinkle Szechuan peppercorn powder (to taste)and chopped garlic greens if using.
9.Serve immediately with steamed rice.
•.300 g pork belly
•.1 green onion
•.4-5 Sichuan peppercorn , optional
•.1 small bunch garlic sprout , 3-4 ones, end removed and cut into pieces
•.2 long red chili peppers
•.1 teaspoon cooking oil
•.1 inch scallion stalk , cut into small pieces
•.1/2 thumb ginger , sliced
•.2 garlic cloves , sliced
•.1 tablespoon broad bean paste: doubanjiang
•.2 teaspoon dou-chi: fermented black beans
•.1 teaspoons light soy sauce
1.Place pork belly in a large pot with enough cold water to cover. Add 1 green onion and 4-5 Sichuan peppercorn seeds. Bring to boil and simmer for 30 minutes. If you are cooking a larger amount, cut the pork belly into sections around 15 cm long (keeping note 1) Transfer out and set aside to cool down.
2.Smash the head of garlic sprouts and then cut the head part and leaves into 1.5 inch sections. Remove the seeds of red pepper and cut into pieces too.
3.Heat up around 1 teaspoon of oil in wok (not too much, otherwise the dish might be over greasy), fry the pork belly for around 1-2 minutes (Note 2)until they begin to loose oil and slightly brown.
4.Move the pork slices out and leave oil only, fry ginger, garlic and scallion until aroma. Place doubanjiang and dou-chi, fry for another half minute. Return pork slices and give a big stir fry to combine well.
5.Add red pepper, fry for another half minutes. Lastly, place garlic spouts and light soy sauce. Combine well and transfer out immediately.
6.Serve with steamed rice.
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