Known as the heavenly province of China, for its natural abundance, Sichuan is a rich microcosm for produce and flavourings that define its culinary traditions. When it comes to cooking ingredients, the famous Sichuan peppercorn, which imparts the tingling mala sensation in many popular dishes, is just one of many treats in store.
Sichuan chefs deal in a tapestry of flavours. For the basic heat characteristics of a dish, there are five well-used descriptions: mala (numbing heat), suenla (sour heat), tianla (sweet heat), xiangla and xinla.
'Xiangla is a fragrant heat that you get from a combination of dried chillies and peppercorns; it reaches your nose then travels in a mild hum through the system,' says Tong Hong, who cooks at the Chengdu Fulingmen restaurant. Tong, with fellow visiting chef Wang Hua Gui, have created a Sichuan menu for The Royal Garden hotel's Dong Lai Shun restaurant for July. 'Xinla is a fresh heat that hits you the whole way down - and out.'
Tong and Wang count four main types of chilli in their arsenal; and these are used fresh, dried, powdered and pickled to tune and control heat levels and length.
Chief among them, the er jin tiao, a long, medium-heat variety with a thick, shiny skin, is prized for its rich red colour and fragrance. When it's pickled it gives an extra note of sourness to dry stews.
The 'facing heaven' pepper is a cone-shaped, medium-hot chilli pepper with very thin skin, often used whole for its attractive shape.