The Food of Sichuan by Fuchsia Dunlop

To celebrate Chinese New Year on 25 January, editor Keith Kendrick cooks fiery chicken from Fuchsia’s cookbook

Recipe adapted from The Food of Sichuan by Fuchsia Dunlop (£30, Bloomsbury)

The first time I experienced authentic Sichuan cooking was in a small London restaurant, invited by a friend who had just come back from the Chinese province. He ordered Chongqing chicken with chillies. When the dish arrived, I almost bolted for the door. It looked terrifying. Cubes of chicken peeked out from a vast pile of angry-looking red. ‘You don’t eat the chillies, stupid,’ my friend advised. They were there to lend fragrance and a gentle heat. And the dish, to my relief, wasn’t as spicy as it looked. In fact, it was delicious. And it’s one that epitomises Chinese cookbook author Fuchsia Dunlop’s new book. Fuchsia says, ‘While in the West it is known mainly for being hot and spicy, in China it is legendary for its sophistication and amazing diversity: local gourmets claim that the region boasts 5,000 different dishes.’

But at the book’s heart is a celebration of red chillies. Fuchsia says, ‘In the countryside, chillies are strung up in bunches from the eaves of farmhouses, resembling the strings of scarlet firecrackers detonated for Chinese New Year. Dried in the sun, or pickled in salt and wine, chillies are at the heart of Sichuanese cooking. Sichuanese people have an extraordinary appetite for chillies, and they find their way into dishes served at breakfast, lunch and dinner.’

And then there’s the (in)famous Sichuan peppercorns (actually a flower bud). ‘One of the most ancient Chinese spices, it has an extraordinary, heady aroma that carries hints of wood and citrus peel, and produces a numbing effect on the lips and tongue (known in Chinese as ma, which also means anaesthetic). ‘Despite this initial strangeness, the spice’s taste and fragrance are incomparable, and most people succumb quickly to its charms.’ For me, they are an acquired – but addictive – taste. So, keen to replicate the experience of that night in Soho, I cooked Fuchsia’s Chongqing chicken with chillies. My word! When you were a kid, did you ever put your tongue on the points of a battery? Well, it’s THAT. The sensation was of pleasure-pain, moving to complex and fragrant. And utterly addictive. I will cook it again and again.