Sichuan Food

The food in Sichuan is famously good, as a matter of fact it is a big part of the reason we came to south west (rather than east) China. There are all sorts of chillies and other spice drivers (like the Sichuan peppercorn) that we had never heard of. Also, the Sichuan dishes are really good at balance. Sweet, salt, sour, bitter, and umami are well blended and make you eat more even if your mouth is tingling, your nose is running, and you are sweaty, red and full. Good times.

Something that I didn't realize about Sichuan food (and Chinese food in general) is just how oily it is. For instance, we had hot pot last night, which is a lot like fondue. With hot pot you put your raw ingredients into boiling flavored oil to cook, after it is cooked the food is dunked in a bowl of sesame oil for cooling and added flavor. It is amazingly good, but we are not used to eating so much oil. I read that oil shows up so prevalently because it saves cooking fuel to get oil hot and then cook in it. It's reusable to boot. I am told that this is why it is normally to have almost any vegetable served absolutely swimming.

Closing out the food topic... the street food in China has been awesome. Almost anywhere you go you can grab a roasted sweet potato (eaten like an apple) or corn on the cob. Either one will cost you about 50 cents. For a little more  you can grab seasoned meat on a stick or some soups and noodles if you have time to sit and eat. It's almost like your running a marathon, you don't even really have to slow down to refuel as your seeing the sites.

That's all for now.
-Jim