Generally speaking, Sichuan cuisine originated from ancient Bashu and was formed under the cultural background of Bashu. According to the sequence number of dynasties in China's historical evolution, Sichuan cuisine showed its initial outline after the Spring and Autumn Period and the Enlightenment Period of Qin Dynasty, and in the Han and Jin Dynasties. The Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties witnessed the great development of Sichuan cuisine. In the Song Dynasty, Sichuan cuisine had crossed the Bashu border and entered Tokyo in the Northern Song Dynasty and Lin 'an in the Southern Song Dynasty, which was known to outsiders in Sichuan. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Sichuan cuisine was seasoned with imported peppers, which further developed the seasoning tradition of "respecting taste" and "spicy and delicious" that Bashu had long formed. After the late Qing Dynasty, a system with extremely strong local flavor was gradually formed, which was juxtaposed with Shandong cuisine in the Yellow River basin, Cantonese cuisine in Lingnan area and Huaiyang cuisine in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

Basic characteristics of Sichuan cuisine

Up to now, Sichuan cuisine has three characteristics: wide range of materials, diverse tastes and wide adaptability of dishes, among which it is famous for its diverse tastes and ingenious changes. "Taste in Sichuan" is universally acknowledged.

Sichuan cuisine is famous for its spicy taste. Let's take a look at how Sichuan cuisine makes use of its spicy flavor, and we can compare its advantages with those of other places. When pepper is used together or alone with other spicy materials, there are ten different spicy tastes, such as dry spicy (dried pepper), crisp spicy (spicy shell paste), oily spicy (pepper), aromatic spicy (onion, ginger, garlic), sweet spicy (with onion or onion) and sauce spicy (Pixian douban or Justin douban). Among the 23 flavors commonly used in Sichuan, 13 are related to spicy, such as salty and slightly spicy home-cooked flavor, salty, sweet, spicy and spicy fish flavor, sweet, salty, sour and spicy harmonious strange flavor, red oil flavor, spicy, sour and spicy, spicy, burnt and spicy, dried tangerine peel flavor, prickly ash hemp flavor, salt and pepper flavor, etc.

Cooking method of Sichuan cuisine

There are more than 4000 kinds of snacks in Sichuan cuisine. These dishes consist of five categories: banquet dishes, simple meals, home-cooked dishes, three-steamed and nine-buckled dishes and flavor snacks. Today's popular Sichuan cuisine varieties are not only the inheritance of Sichuan cuisine varieties of past dynasties, but also the continuous development and innovation of cooking technicians.

Many varieties of Sichuan cuisine are made by various cooking methods. There are 30 kinds of cooking methods in common use, some of which are universal in China and some are original in Sichuan. For example, Sichuan's original fried, dry-fried, dry-cooked and home-cooked dishes are unique. The method of cooking, but oil, do not change the pot, temporarily want juice, hurry for short frying, a pot of vegetables, vegetables from pot to plate, suddenly fragrant. Dry stir-frying method: continuous stir-frying of filamentous raw materials with medium hot oil to dehydrate, mature and dry them. Dry burning method, slow burning with medium fire, makes the soup with rich flavor penetrate into the raw materials and naturally become the juice with rich alcohol and fragrance. For home cooking, stir-fry watercress with medium hot oil, add the soup to boil to remove the residue, add the ingredients, and then slowly cook it with low heat until it is cooked and tasty. Mapo tofu, which is familiar to foreigners in Sichuan, is home-cooked food.

Characteristic raw materials of Sichuan cuisine

Since Sichuan is called "Land of Abundance", there are certainly many and extensive cooking materials. Within the territory of 560,000 square kilometers, there are thousands of miles of fertile land, rivers and rivers, and rich products. Cattle, sheep, pigs, dogs, chickens, ducks, geese and rabbits can be described as six animals. Bamboo shoots, leeks, celery, lotus roots, pineapples and clams are evergreen all the year round. There are many excellent freshwater fish here, such as grouper, stone carp, Yu Ya and Yangtze sturgeon, among which the fish produced in Sichuan is especially precious. Even some odd jobs, such as tremella from Tongjiang and Wanyuan, Dictyophora from Yibin, Leshan, Fuling and Liangshan, Auricularia from Qingchuan and Guangyuan, Lentinus edodes from Yibin, Wanxian, Fuling and Dachuan, and konjac from most parts of Sichuan, stand out. Even tremella fuciformis, tremella fuciformis, green vegetables, lateral ear roots and purslane grown in fields and deep mountain canyons have become good materials for Sichuan cuisine. There are also Cordyceps sinensis, Fritillaria cirrhosa and Eucommia ulmoides Oliv. Gastrodia elata is a traditional Chinese medicine and a cooking material for health care and dietotherapy. Sichuanese pay special attention to taste in diet, so they pay great attention to cultivating excellent condiments and producing high-quality condiments. Zigong Well Salt, Neijiang White Sugar, Langzhong Baoning Vinegar, Zhongba Soy Sauce, Pixian Douban, Qingxi Pepper, Yongchuan Douchi, Fuling Pickle, Xu Fumeng, Nanchong Winter Vegetable, Xinfan Pickle, Zhongzhou Tofu Milk, Wenjiang Garlic, Beibei Lettuce Ginger, Chengdu Two Jin Pepper, etc. The quality is very good. Sichuan tea and Sichuan wine, which are closely related to cooking and banquets, are also recognized by the world for their high-quality varieties.

Mapo tofu is the most popular in Sichuan cuisine. Its founder is Chen Mapo, whose birthplace is Wanfu Qiaotou outside the north gate of Chengdu. Mrs. Chen had some pockmarks on her face, so people named her at that time. The tofu she made is famous all over the world because of its fine ingredients and careful collocation, which can achieve the effect of tender, smooth, spicy and spicy. Once I talked to the chef of Sichuan cuisine about this dish, and learned that when processing this tofu, it takes three thickening times to achieve the best effect.

According to the traditional genre, Sichuan cuisine is divided into Shanghe Gang (centered on Chengdu and Mianyang), Xiahe Gang (centered on Chongqing and Wanxian), Xiaohe Gang (Zigong and Yibin) and Zichuan (represented by Zizhong, including Weiyuan, Renshou, Jingyan and Fushun). Different regions, Sichuan cuisine has a poor flavor and a slightly worse color than the people. Sichuan cuisine ranks first among the eight major cuisines in China, with a wide range of dishes. According to statistics, there are about 4000 kinds, including more than 200 kinds of famous dishes. Sichuan cuisine has always been grouped by region, and has formed five schools for a long time, namely, Chongqing Gang, Chengdu Gang, Dahe Gang, Xiaohe Gang and Neibang.

The characteristic of Chengdu Gang is the combination of meat and vegetables, that is, there must be a vegetarian dish and a spicy dish in the high-class banquet of shark fin seats. Chengdu gang pays attention to color, fragrance and taste. The seasoning is Pixian watercress, Deyang soy sauce and Baoning vinegar, and the auxiliary material is green, red and green vegetables, which are very beautiful. Time-honored "Zhengxingyuan" and "Rongleyuan" are famous for their famous dishes, such as Jinjita, braised snow pig, mutton soup with bamboo shoots and liver, boiled cabbage and so on. The famous Sichuan cuisine kung pao chicken, Mapo Tofu, Zhangcha Duck and jar meat all come from Chengdu.

Dajiang refers to the Yangtze River, and Dajiang Gang includes Leshan, Yibin, Lu Xian, Hejiang and Jiangjin. It is famous for its homely flavor, including frying, frying, steaming and burning. Invented dishes include Meishan Dongpo elbow, Leshan boiled chicken, ginger vinegar chicken, bangbangji, Yibin winter melon cup, Lu Xian Yupai crispy belly, canned chicken, Hejiang fatty fish, Jiangjin pork slices, sesame balls and so on.

Xiaohe refers to Jialing River, that is, "Xiaohe Gang", which is located in the upper reaches of Jialing River and northern Sichuan. It is characterized by traditional folk dishes, such as hibiscus eggs, steamed pork with bean skin, stewed thousand pieces of meat, braised chicken, braised pork, fried omnivorous food, and crisp meat in original soup. Here are all inventions. There is also the famous "Shunqing Mutton" in Nanchong, the bean jelly in northern Sichuan, and the beef, which is said to have been created by Liu, a Liangping native in Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty. In addition, Hechuan sliced meat, three-piece set of stir-fried pork with lobster sauce and Suining glutinous rice are also famous all over the world.

"Self-help" is distributed in Zigong, Neijiang, Rongxian, Weiyuan and Zizhong. Zigong used to be a gathering place for salt merchants, with many famous dishes. Neijiang is the traffic artery between Chengdu and Chongqing, and there are many restaurants. Zigong's boiled beef and chrysanthemum hot pot are more prominent, while Neijiang's "sweet city" sand meat, bean fish, rock sugar tremella and assorted fruit soup are better.

Comparatively speaking, Chongqing Gang is characterized by being able to learn from each other's strong points, being brave in innovation and adapting to different customer needs. As early as the early years of the Republic of China, "Taolechun" restaurant was able to host high-grade sea cucumber banquets, and "Liuchunge" and "Jiuhua Garden" could produce more than 200 kinds of large barbecue seats, shark fin seats and Manchu banquets. Among the treasures of Sichuan cuisine, Cordyceps duck, shell hen, pigeon egg of bamboo ginseng and roast suckling pig are the first in Chongqing. At the same time, low-end restaurants serving steamed pork, boiled pork, fried pork intestines and tofu pudding are also dotted with customers. Because of the rich aquatic products, Chongqing chefs are good at cooking fish. Dry-roasted rock carp, silver carp with watercress, shark's fin with minced chicken and squid with sauerkraut are all their specialties.