Why is it that most Sichuan cuisine is Sichuan cuisine and other cuisines rarely appear?
Why is Sichuan cuisine, with a history of only a hundred years, so popular across the country? Other dishes are not bad
But in such a feng shui treasure place, there are many fortunes. When the Yuan Dynasty was established and the Qing Dynasty entered the country, great social unrest occurred, the population was greatly reduced, and the corresponding culture was also destroyed. For example, in the Song Dynasty, Sichuan was an important sugar cane producing area in the country. Unlike today, Sichuan people like to eat spicy food. At that time, the taste of Shu Han was sweeter. However, Genghis Khan used iron-burning butcher knives. The sugar industry in Shu was almost destroyed, and many of them were related to Sichuan. Cooking techniques related to sweetness are also gradually disappearing. At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Xianzhong was first captured, and then the Qing army came and turned the Land of Abundance into an enemy. It turned the once noisy human paradise into a desolate place, and later filled Sichuan with lakes.
Hunan immigrants who like to eat chili brought spicy culture to Sichuan when they arrived.
The Shu people combined the techniques of chili peppers and pickles to make chili peppers. They used broad beans instead of soybeans for making sauces, and melted the chili peppers to make Xian Dou Pan. The green ones are better than the blue ones. These condiments later became the soul flavor of Sichuan cuisine. By the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the well salt industry in Zigong, Sichuan was very prosperous, but boiling the salt was an arduous job. The remaining workers slaughtered the jailers who died of exhaustion every day to eat meat, and cooked the meat directly in ready-made salt water. This was later used for cooking. The prototype of Sichuan beef. But it was during the Republic of China that Sichuan cuisine truly developed into an independent culinary world.
How difficult is it to thrive in Sichuan cuisine: a blessing and a curse.
In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, the Nationalist Government planned to relocate factories, materials, and personnel from important cities such as Shanghai and Nanjing to Shu in order to fight for a long time. At that time, Chongqing was the accompanying capital of the Nationalist Government during the Anti-Japanese War. People from all over the country are pouring into the Land of Abundance, bringing with them food culture, different cooking techniques and different taste preferences. This kind of food culture conflicts with each other and continues to merge, which greatly promotes the formation of Sichuan cuisine.
For example, the above-mentioned boiled beef was improved and made by Sichuan chefs during this period, and the hot pot in Chongqing Chaotianmen is similar.
Originally, in ancient times, you couldn’t see anything but beef, and cow offal was not something ordinary people liked to eat. However, some vendors at Chaotianmen Wharf in Chongqing bought this cheap buffalo offal, bought it clean, and added chili pepper to cover up the fishy smell. It is cooked and sold at the dock. The first diners are often workers at the bottom of society such as docks and fiber departments. Why has Sichuan cuisine, which has a history of only a hundred years, become so popular across the country? Other dishes are not bad, but with the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War and the influx of immigrants, the diet of workers at the bottom of society has been continuously improved and developed, becoming a popular food across the country. It was during this period that the Sichuan cuisine we are familiar with was formed.
Why is Sichuan cuisine so popular?
If the climate in Shu is humid, chili peppers must be used to remove moisture from the body. Why is spicy Sichuan cuisine so popular across the country? This is actually related to changes in the modern dietary environment.
As Western industrialization penetrates agriculture and animal husbandry, fertilizers and genetic modification are used in crop cultivation, and large-scale breeding is extended to animal husbandry, the various food ingredients we modern people know have undergone great changes from ancient times. . For example, the pork we eat now are all fast-growing pigs, with a growth cycle of only half a year. The ancients ate it, but the growth cycle of domestic pigs is at least one year, and they eat a variety of feeds. Of the two distinct production methods, the most direct result is the impact on meat quality. As many older adults have said: Pork is not as fragrant as it used to be these days, but it is very fragrant.
Similar examples abound. The so-called fast-growing ducks can be produced in a month, while fast-growing chickens will be slaughtered even if their legs are unstable. With such an efficient production method, how much of the original flavor can we expect them to retain? It takes a skillful woman to cook without rice. No matter how exquisite the cooking techniques are, if the ingredients no longer have the same flavor as before, the food will naturally become unsavoury. This is a heavy blow to many cuisines that pursue the original taste of ingredients. Sichuan cuisine that values taste does not have such a big impact.
In addition, due to the disordered pace of life of modern people, the spleen and stomach are generally weak. At this time, spicy Sichuan food can fully stimulate people's taste and give people a feeling of eating better. Of course, the spicy, thick, spicy taste is just a misunderstanding of Sichuan cuisine.
It is also Sichuan cuisine, with sweet cabbage dishes. Compared with chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns are also the soul seasoning of Sichuan cuisine. The numbing taste of horse chili peppers is also the original flavor of Sichuan cuisine in the eyes of many Sichuan people.
But there is no way. Dishes such as beef hot pot and boiled beef from the ground floor are so down-to-earth that they are not only easy to make, but also easy to stimulate people's taste, overshadowing the rest of Sichuan cuisine.