- [Daniel] Why don't we take a look
at just some of the most essential flavorings and seasonings
in Sichuan cooking that we have laid out right here
before we jump into the recipes.
- One of the amazing things about Sichuanese cooking
is that you have this dazzling variety of flavors,
and really, you have a quite concise library of seasonings.
So you have the basics,
which it shares with other Chinese cuisines.
So vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame paste,
ginger, garlic, and scallions.
But then you have these particular Sichuanese seasonings
which we've got, some of them, before us.
So the first, of course, are obvious, chilies.
So here we have some dried chilies.
There are lots of different kinds, but in general
the Sichuanese favor dried chilies
that are not overpoweringly hot,
but have a lovely aromatic quality.
So you can use them in frightening quantities
without blowing your head off.
(laughing)
You can use lots of different variety of chilies,
but don't go for those deadly hot, little, dried,
Indian or Thai bird's eye type chilies,
because if you use them in Sichuanese quantities,
it will be a bit aggressive.
When you have dried chilies you can toast them very gently,
usually with a tiny bit of oil
until they are what the famous chef, Yu Bo,
described as cockroach color.
(laughs)
They pound them with a big stone mortar,
until you get kind of fairly coarse chili flakes,
and these can be used as a dip,
or as the basis of Sichuanese hongyou,
red oil, or chili oil.
If you want a shortcut, and I have to admit,
this is how I usually do it in London,
you can get these coarse ground Korean chilies,
which have a really good color and they're not too hot.
So these are good for making Sichuanese chili oil.
Here is some chili oil that I made.
And you can see - hongyou, like ruby-red oil.
- [Daniel] Oh yeah, the oil is
stained that beautiful color.
- But aside from dried chilies,
fresh chilies are very fashionable now.
These quite hot ones, xiaomila, the last few years,
which are much hotter. So little red and green chilies.
And they also have pickled chilies,
which are sadly almost impossible to find outside Sichuan.
And they have these long, local kind of chili
called the erjingtiao.
They're pickled in brine, lacto-fermented,
and they are bright scarlet
and they have a very nice fruity quality,
and again they're not too hot.
And these are the chilies used
in that other famous Sichuanese seasoning,
which is doubanjiang, which is chili bean paste.
So, we have three different kinds here.
So this is some that I've brought from Sichuan myself,
which is a very well known local brand,
Juan Cheng doubanjiang.
And these are, this is a Hong Kong brand,
Lee Kum Kee, which is the hongyou doubanjiang.
So that's a red oil chili bean sauce.
You can see there's a layer of oil.
And it's darker.
And this one is kind of less traditional
because it's already been mixed with oil.
And this is another Sichuanese hongyou, the red oil one.
If you're looking out for the Sichuan chili paste,
it is made with broad beans, fava beans, not soybeans.
- Right.
- [Fuschia] So it's fava beans with the erjingtiao chili.
So when the paste is fresh, when they start fermenting it,
it's quite a light red from those bright, fresh chilies.
And then gradually it darkens
till you get this, sort of mahogany color.
And the great thing about this paste is that,
it's never used raw, by the way.
So you start by sizzling it gently in oil.
Not too hot, cause you want coax out
this wonderful red color.
Savory, spicy flavors.
And that's really part of the heart and soul
of Sichuanese cooking.
And that's key to all kinds of famous traditional dishes,
like Mapo Tofu, that great dish.
And Twice-Cooked Pork.
They all rely on this.
And the other great spice, of course,
is Sichuan pepper, huajiao.
In Chinese, "flower pepper."
- How do you say it?
- Huajiao.
- Yes.
So this is one of the most ancient Chinese spices.
And this was used in China, you know, hundreds of years,
thousands of years before the chili.
Sichuan pepper is used to an extent
in spice mixtures all over China by other Chinese cuisines.
But in Sichuan, what they want
is that tingly, numbing sensation.
- And it's got that numbing, it's not quite spicy...
- There's a special word for that sensation in Chinese
and it's ma.
Which means, it's the same word as pins-and-needles
in anesthesia. (laughing)
- What are the hallmarks of a good Sichuan peppercorn?
- When you open the package, an absolutely glorious scent,
a bit citrusy, and something that smells fresh
and lively and delicious.
This is some that I brought back from Sichuan.
- It is like citrusy and floral.
- Yeah, and it shouldn't smell stale and woody.
It should have that lively aroma.
- Almost like a piney quality.
- And the other thing is, that's totally unmistakable,
is that if you put one of these in your mouth,
and you chew it juicily, about two or three times,
and then take it out.
And wait a few seconds.
- It's already starting.
There it comes.
- Yeah?
So in a lot of dishes, you use it whole.
So you just sizzle it gently in oil.
Again, not too hot, you don't burn it.
You want to bring out that aroma, flavor the oil.
So sometimes it's used whole.
It can also be dry roasted in a wok or skillet.
Very gentle heat.
And as you toast it,
this amazing aroma should fill your kitchen.
I mean, it's utterly lovely.
And when it's toasty, then you can grind it.
And you can do it in a pestle and mortar
but much quicker in a spice grinder.
And the finer the better.
And then you get this lovely powder.
And it's used sometimes as a dip for deep-fried things
or spiced meats, cold meats.
You can also sprinkle it on top of some dishes,
like Mapo Tofu is traditionally finished
by a really good sprinkling.
And it's quite hilarious actually
because if I'm cooking it for Western people,
I'd always give a good hit of the tinglyness.
But when I cook to Sichuan people in Sichuan,
they make me put, like,
four times the amount of Sichuan pepper on top.
They really want it.
- So, just from chewing on this one,
three times, several minutes ago.
It's still riding, like I still feel it.
- That's good Sichuan pepper!
But if you get them in your mouth, they are a bit hard.
And so some people prefer to use the ground, roasted,
or this Sichuan pepper oil as well.
So then you don't, you have all the aroma
but you don't have that sort of grittiness
of the whole pepper.
- And this is just like a,
probably some kind of vegetable oil
that's been infused with Sichuan peppercorn flavor?
- Yes.
- And so you kind of drizzle it in, or...
- Yeah, well you can use that particularly in cold dishes.
It's very nice in cold salad-y dishes
if you want a bit of zing.
I do find that it doesn't last very well.
So I recommend buying small bottles
and sort of leave it in a cold place.
- This is quite big, isn't it?
- It is quite, yeah.
- Should we start cooking?
- Let's start cooking.
- We, I mean, I think you're gonna show me how to do it.
(laughing)