For decades, most of the world was familiar mainly with Cantonese cuisine, and thought of it as Chinese cuisine. In reality, though, China is an enormous country that encompasses nearly every kind of climate imaginable. The amazing sort of foods, spices and climates have led to several distinct sorts of Chinese cuisine. Szechwan cuisine, originating during a steamy, sub-tropical climate, includes smoked, pickled and spiced foods, also as foods spiced with an important hand for both preservation and flavor.
While the Szechwan pepper, a fruit that grows within the Chongging province, has always been utilized in Szechwan cooking, most agree that it wasnt until Columbus brought the chili back from his travels. Besides the flavors that sear the mouth, Szechwan cooking uses an interplay of flavors to make the complete impact of a dish. Hot and Sour Soup, as an example , when prepared properly is neither exclusively hot, nor ultimately sour. Prepared with sorrel, lemongrass, tofu and other spices, its first impression is that the heady, rich scent of roast meat and sour lemon. That aroma is belied at the first touch on the tongue the soup is salty first, though not intensely so. The subtle blending of flavors melds, changing in the mouth to mildly sour the sorrel and lemongrass making themselves known. It is not until the mouthful of soup has been swallowed that the hearth sets in because the chili oil finally seeps into the taste buds.
This is not unusual for Szechwan cooking. The first mouthful of Kung Pao chicken seldom brings tears to your eyes. It is only as you chew and swallow and take yet one more bite that truth heat of the dish begins to say itself. Double Cooked Spicy Pork seems almost bland initially , with the flavors blending subtly within the background until the extreme fire of the chili oil during which the pork is fried suddenly flames in your mouth.
Theres more than fire to Szechwan cuisine though. Smoked meats are common, and therefore the smoking often makes use of bizarre materials and flavors. Szechwan Tea-Smoked Duck is a delicacy that combines the flavors of citrus and ginger and garlic, juxtaposing them with a long, slow cooking over a fire laced with oolong and green tea leaves. The result's a succulent meat that melts within the mouth and leaves behind a touch of gingered orange.
One tradition of Szechwan cuisine that's becoming more common within the Western world is that the Szechwan Hot Pot. Similar to a fondue, a Hot Pot is more an event than a meal. Chunks and slices of raw meat, seafood and vegetables are offered to diners at a table that holds a Hot Pot a pot of chili oil over a flame. Each diner selects their food and dips it in the chili oil until it is cooked. Often, hosts will also offer a pot of simple broth for those guests who prefer a more bland meal, or cant tolerate the spiciness of food fried in chili oil.
Savory, rich and spicy, Szechwan cuisine is cuisine supported intensity intensely hot, intensely sour, and intensely delicious.
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