Szechuan cuisine is a type of food that once was nearly impossible to taste outside its home region of Sichuan, China.
However, in recent years it has grown in popularity around the world thanks to the convenience of bottled Szechuan sauce making its way around the globe.
While it is technically a type of Chinese food, it is very distinct from other types of Chinese cuisine.
Szechuan flavors are characterized by their heavier use of garlic and the region-specific Sichuan pepper, which brings a distinct hot flavor from other peppers or chilis.
If you are looking to give Szechuan cooking a try, keep in mind that the sauce and the food overall tend to be on the spicier side, and therefore not everyone is going to be a huge fan.
This is another reason the bottled sauce is so convenient, as it gives you the ability to add it to what you want and keep the spiciness down when you want.
Beef; It’s Szechuan Dinner
Szechuan (also spelled as Sichuan) cuisine is typically based on one main protein – beef.
While there are dishes and recipes that are made from chicken, pork, or other animals, beef is the most traditional for this type of cuisine.
The Sichuan region is able to raise more beef animals than in other parts of China, due to their rich soil and climate as opposed to other regions and provinces, which is why beef is more prevalent in Szechuan foods than other Chinese foods.
Traditional Szechaun meals also contain a healthy portion of rice and vegetables.
Another benefit to the fertile growing environment they have is their ability to grow crops easier than in other places in China, giving their cuisine a much more vegetable-heavy content in comparison to other Chinese cuisines.
Don’t Be Afraid To Experiment With Flavors
Szechuan cuisine has undergone many evolutions in its long history.
At one point after the Ming dynasty, the population of Sichuan province was cut by well over half, which allowed for settlers from nearby provinces to move in and incorporate their own forms of cooking into the local food fare.
As it tends to happen when societies and cultures intertwine, the flavor profile of Szechuan foods has widened greatly over the centuries.
With every new encounter with a foreign society, new flavors are added to the mix and new tastes can be created from the mixture.
So, when you are trying your own Szechuan cooking, don’t be afraid to mix the flavor into things you may not think about mixing them with.
It very well may surprise you with how well it turns out.
It’s All About Sauce Control
As with any seasonings or spices, this too can be overdone quite easily if you aren’t paying attention when you cook.
With bottled sauce, you can add a little at a time until the flavor is just right and avoid making it too strong.
Szechuan sauce packs quite a bit of a bite, so it is definitely recommended that you start small and work your way up the heat ladder, so to speak.
As with all foods, you never know how much you do or do not like something until; you try it.
And with an ever-growing number of folks swearing by the Szechuan flavors, they can’t all be wrong.
So, the next time you are feeling like a little spice in your meal, give Szechuan cooking a try.
It may be the first and only time you ever eat it, but it could also end up being your new favorite go-to meal.