COOK LIKE A LOCAL: SICHUAN

Try steamed buns, fragrant chilli-peppered dishes and pots of reviving green tea in this south-west corner of China

Try steamed buns, fragrant chillipeppered dishes and pots of reviving green tea

The Sichuanese capital, Chengdu, is renowned for its gentle pace of life, its teahouses and, above all, for its delicious food. While the Sichuanese adore the fragrant heat of chillies and the lip-tingling sensation of Sichuan pepper, their cuisine is far more subtle and varied than its hot and spicy reputation would suggest, with the likes of wildly spicy hotpots, lightly cooked vegetables and delicate soups, hearty street food and exquisite banquets.

Local chefs boast of ‘baicai baiwei’

(‘a hundred dishes, a hundred different flavours’) and this is no exaggeration. Even when it comes to chillies, the Sichuanese excel at teasing out a multitude of different tastes, from the stimulating spiciness of chillies scorched in oil, through the mild, fruity heat of pickled chillies to the scarlet glow and mellow fragrance of the local chilli oil.

One of the best ways to sample the food of Sichuan is by dipping into the many snack shops and street stalls that offer extravagantly flavoured yet inexpensive food: look out for queues of locals outside the most popular places.

And although it’s easy to be seduced by the drama of dishes covered in chillies or immersed in sizzling oil, it’s also worth trying some of the humble vegetables that have helped the region earn its name as a ‘land of plenty’, from glorious greens to seasonal treats such as bitter bamboo shoots in late spring, and purple cime di rapa in midwinter.

In Chengdu, you can happily eat all day, starting with some steamed buns or noodles and ending with spicy skewers or, for the adventurous, a midnight rabbit head encrusted with ground chillies and Sichuan pepper. If you need a break in between meals, visit a temple, enjoy a foot massage or play mahjong at an al fresco teahouse. »