Spicy and Delicious Chengdu

I fell in love with Chengdu in just 3 days. I really want to go back. It wasn’t the well restored areas of town, or the culture of the Sichuanese people oozing from every corner, and it wasn’t even the adorable and huggable panda cubs, it was hands down the food that will bring me back.

Chengdu is the largest city in the Sichuan Province (population around 8 million), but it has the heart and soul of a much smaller town. The character of Chengdu is what I had hoped to experience during the rest of our China trip.

Sichuan is known for one thing abroad, spicy food (they were also the unfortunate victims of a major earthquake last year). But make no mistake, food from Chengdu is not like anything you’ll experience in Vancouver. It was this uniqueness that simply blew me away. Chilis are loaded in mounds on pretty much any type of food you can find. But instead of it being overpowering, the flavor is rich and soul warming. It is also, consequently, very difficult to handle without a large bottle of beer at the ready. This is thankfully something that is never too far away as there are ‘beer girls’ dressed up in plastic Tsingtao outfits in even the nicest of restaurants. Weird, but handy.

Just some of the amazing food we sampled included:

Mapo doufu: The best tofu dish ever. It’s made with minced pork, a spicy chili - bean based sauce, and sichuan peppercorns. I had this at least 3 times in 4 days. It was that good!

Hotpot: This ain’t your run of the mill, garden variety, dump food in steaming broth, hotpot. This brings it to a whole new level (granted I have never been to the best hotpot restaurants in Vancouver, but I’ll just assume this is better for now). They first ask you if you want a spicy or a non-spicy broth. You can’t say ‘non-spicy’ in Chengdu, that would be sacrilegious! But it’s also dangerous saying spicy in Sichuan. Next, the delicious meats and veggies come out to dump in the pot to cook (especially good are the gelatinous noodles). Each piece comes out minutes later with enough spice and heat to kill a large hamster. It is so painful, yet so delicious, that it’s an incredible and perplexing feeling. Luckily Jen and I can handle hot food, but the table of foreigners next to us were almost in tears. It was hilarious. The best hot pot in Chengdu is rumored to be served on the street, but we didn’t get around to trying it outside.

Sichuan Peppercorns: Not so much a dish, but an ingredient. These little guys not only add an interesting flavor to each dish (including the two above), but they also provide a numbing sensation when you bite into them. All of a sudden your lips will be numb and suddenly the heat will seem a little more manageable. When we were at hotpot, I bit into far too many at one time to try and kill the heat and my mouth was numb and tingly for at least 15 minutes. I must find these when I return to Vancouver.

Street Food!: The highlight of our Chengdu food experience was the awesome food stalls littered around the city streets. Just some of the things we had were dirt cheap steamed buns, pita pockets overflowing with juicy meat and pickled vegetables, cumin rubbed meat skewers, freshly squeezed juice, baked custard tarts, pineapple on a stick, hard sugar coated strawberries, chewy donut balls, and of course bubble milk tea! You absolutely do not need to go into a restaurant while in Chengdu to be a happy camper. Most items are less than a dollar, and most are absolutely amazing. They are all worth a try and the worst that can happen is that you’re out a buck! (I guess you could get a horrible case of food poisoning too... but that didn’t happen to us). Buying your food directly from a vendor that specializes in just one dish is always a good idea. They genuinely have pride in what they are making, they have been perfecting it for years, and are aiming to please. What’s more, it gives a face and story to the food that can’t help but enhance the experience. Even the raisins sold on a cart outside of our guest house tasted that much sweeter.

Just writing about this makes me want to go back and have everything they have to offer. Thankfully South East Asia has just as many markets ready to tantalize, and titillate our taste buds.