Sichuan cuisine through the Spring and Autumn to the Qin enlightenment period, to the time of the two Han and two Jin dynasties, has shown the initial outline. During the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, Sichuan cuisine had a greater development. In the two Song Dynasty, Sichuan cuisine has crossed the boundary of Ba Shu, entering the two capitals of Tokyo in the Northern Song Dynasty and Lin'an in the Southern Song Dynasty, and becoming known to people outside Sichuan. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Sichuan cuisine was flavored with the introduction of planted chili peppers, which further developed the seasoning tradition of inheriting the long-established Ba Shu's "still taste" and "good pungent aroma". After the late Qing Dynasty, it gradually formed into a system of extremely strong local flavor, and Lu Cuisine in the Yellow River Basin, Guangdong Cuisine in the Lingnan region, and Huai Anti Yang Cuisine in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

The basic characteristics of Sichuan cuisine

Sichuan cuisine has been developed to date, has a wide range of materials, a variety of flavors, dishes to adapt to a wide range of three characteristics, which is known for its many flavors, changes in ingenuity. "Taste in Sichuan" is recognized by the world.

The flavor of Sichuan cuisine, to spicy. And see how the Sichuan cuisine to use the spicy flavor, you can compare its strengths with other places. Chili pepper and other spicy materials used together or separately, there is a dry spicy (with dried chili peppers), crispy spicy (paste spicy shells), oil spicy (pepper), aromatic spicy (green onion, ginger and garlic), sweet and spicy (with green onions or rakkyo), sauce spicy (Pixian bean paste or red bean paste) and so on the ten kinds of different spicy flavor. Sichuan commonly used 23 kinds of flavor, and spicy touch up to 13 kinds, such as the taste of salty and slightly spicy homemade flavor, salty, sweet, spicy, fragrant and pungent fish flavor, sweet, salty, sour, spicy, fragrant and fresh flavors are very harmonious strange flavor, as well as the performance of different levels of hot and spicy red oil flavor, hot and spicy flavor, hot and sour flavor, paste spicy flavor, Chenpi flavor, spicy flavor, pepper flavor, pepper flavor, mustard flavor, garlic flavor, ginger flavor, so spicy! Seasonings play to their strengths, spicy style.

The cooking method of Sichuan cuisine

Sichuan cuisine has more than 4,000 varieties of dishes and snacks. These dishes are made up of five major categories: feast dishes, casual dishes, home cooking, three steamed and nine button dishes, and flavorful snacks. Today's popular Sichuan cuisine varieties of both the heritage of generations of Sichuan cuisine varieties, but also culinary technology workers continue to develop, innovation.

Numerous varieties of Sichuan cuisine, is made with a variety of cooking methods. Commonly used cooking methods, broad categories of 30 kinds, which are both some of the country's common, but also some of the original Sichuan. Such as Sichuan original small fry, dry stir-fry, dry burning, home cooking is unique. The method of small fry, but not oil, do not change the pot, temporary juice, urgent for the short fry, a pot into a dish, dishes from the pot on the plate, and then the flavor. Dry stir-fry method, hot oil with medium heat, the silk raw materials constantly stirring stir-fry, so that the dehydration, maturity, dry incense. The method of dry burning, slow burning with medium heat, so that there is a thick flavor of the soup penetrate the raw materials, natural juice, mellow and thick taste. Home cooking first with a medium heat hot oil 煵 stir-fried beans, into the soup to boil slag, put the ingredients and then low-fire slow-boiled to maturity and thickening of the flavor and become. The familiar Ma Po Tofu is cooked in the home cooking method.

Specialty raw materials for Sichuan cuisine

Sichuan is known as the "Land of Heaven", and the raw materials for cooking are certainly plentiful and extensive. 560,000 square kilometers of territory, thousands of miles of fertile land, rivers and streams, and the abundance of goods. Cattle, sheep, pigs, dogs, chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, can be described as six animals thrive, bamboo shoots, leeks, celery, lotus root, spinach, water spinach (Weng), can be said to be evergreen, there are a lot of good freshwater fish, the river group, rocky carps, Yayu, Yangtze sturgeon, to the Sichuan production of the treasure. Even some dry miscellaneous products, such as Tongjiang, Wanyuan silver ear, Yibin, Leshan, Fuling, Liangshan and other places of bamboo fungus, Qingchuan, Guangyuan and other places of black fungus, Yibin, Wanxian, Fuling, Dachuan and other places of mushrooms, most of the places in Sichuan are produced by the konjac, are the best. Even stone ear, ear of the ground, green vegetables, side ear root, amaranth, which grows in the fields, deep mountains and valleys of the wild scribes, has become a good material for making Sichuan cuisine. There are also Chinese medicines such as Cordyceps Sinensis, Phellodendron Bidentata, Cortex Eucommiae, and Tianma, which are also used as raw materials for health care and dietary therapy. Sichuan people's diet is particularly concerned about flavor, therefore, pay close attention to cultivate excellent planting seasonings and production, brewing high-quality seasonings. Zigong well salt, Neijiang sugar, Langzhong Bao Ning vinegar, in the dam soy sauce, Pixian bean petals, Qingxi pepper, Yongchuan tempeh, Fuling mustard greens, Syufu Brussels sprouts, Nanchong winter vegetables, new prosperous pickles, Zhongzhou bean curd milk, Wenjiang one-headed garlic, lettuce ginger in Beibei, Chengdu, such as the two gold stripes of the sea and peppercorns, all of which are of excellent quality. With cooking and feasts have a close relationship with the Sichuan tea and wine, its quality varieties are also recognized worldwide.