Szechuan Pepper

Suggest out of Sichuan cuisine, and many people immediately consider dishes hot, spicy food - the kind that you swallow large amounts of water throughout the evening in an attempt to appease your taste buds on fire. People are often surprised to discover that at least one third of revenue that make up Szechuan cuisine are not spicy at all. This is not to say that Szechuan's reputation for producing "mouthburners" is undeserved. But, with classics such as fire "Hot Fish and entertainment" and "Kung Pao Chicken" Szechuan is the home of "Tea Smoked Duck" - a fascinating dish, made by smoking a duck over tea leaves.

In addition, the peppers that have made the famous Sichuan cuisine is a relatively recent addition. Christopher Columbus brought the peppers with him on his travels (on behalf of the Spanish crown) in what he was wrong to be the East, and we now know somewhere in the Bahamas. When the intrepid, Genoa-born Italian explorer set foot in the New World, the peppers were flourishing in South America, the Caribbean and Mesoamerica (Mexico and Central America). Most sources Columbus State name of the plant itself, or baptism pimentito "Pepper" on a mistaken belief that he had discovered the black pepper.

It is not known precisely how chili peppers were introduced to Szechuan, a coastline, a mountainous region ringed in western China. The most widely accepted view is that Indian missionaries had chili with them while traveling along the Silk Road of China celebrates - a series of pathways built during the Han dynasty for military and strategic, which then become more important as a major trade route. Another theory is that they have been brought by Chinese merchants trading with Portuguese and Spanish sailors in the different ports. In any event, the peppers are now an indispensable part of Chinese regional cuisine. Dried peppers are frequently used in Szechuan dishes, while cooks for fresh peppers into the neighboring province of Hunan.

Tip - Ever heard the expression "oil and water do not mix?" It's true, so the water does not contribute to the fight against the effects of spicy foods. Like most spices are oily water rolls a little more spice. eat rice instead - it absorbs the hot chili oil. Beer or milk also help.

chili, Sichuan pepper, garlic, salt and dried and pickled ingredients such as Szechuan preserved vegetables. Beef, lamb and pork, although the Szechuanese eat less pork than neighboring Hunan, which is famous for its ham. Cooking methods: Sichuan cuisine using a variety of cooking methods, to blow up the fence and trembling. Twice cooked pork, where the pork is first boiled, then fried, is a classic regional cuisine. Ready Szechuan Fried Rice Please visit www.indomunch.com for more details.