Savour Presents: The Chilis of Sichuan

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Savour is a monthly, WeChat-based digest about cultural dishes and the stories behind them. Follow Savour at ID: laurensnaps, or on Patreon @SavourMagazine.

Savour Issue 03 | Chili Edition!

Sichuan, a mountain-rimmed Chinese province, known for its upsetting weather, stifling humidity, and dense fog happens to be the birthplace of China’s most sensational regional cuisine.

The Sichuan taste is distinct, heavily dominated by a concoction of chili and peppercorns. It is this combination of the better-known hot and spicy, and the unexpected puckering twist that hooks so many foreigners onto the unique flavor.

As more people visit the region and as more locals migrate to larger cities, the world feels the presence of Sichuan spice: authentic Sichuan restaurants lined down the streets of Chinatown, broad bean paste spicing up supermarket aisles, “Sichuan sauce” resting in the condiment caddies of fast-food chains.

For Xu, a migrant from Sichuan, the company of her hometown flavor is evocative, bringing her comfort and reassurance as she settles in another city.

Adrift yet Anchored

It’s true. Sichuan cuisine is well-known for its heat, the kind that brings tears to the eyes, and a bright red flush to the cheeks. But it’s exactly that – a feast well-seasoned with an unbearable amount of chili and tongue-numbing peppercorn – that teleports a migrant worker back home.

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Xu came to Beijing in 2011 seeking a job to support her entire family. Nine years later, she’s just one of the many millions of migrant workers in Beijing, tethered to their homes by cuisine.

Despite her lengthy stay in Beijing, Xu says that she “does not belong” in this city. A grueling schedule is the least of her worries when the sounds she wakes up to are alien, when the dialect she mimes every day belongs to someone else.

However, there are moments where she feels familiarity.

When the kitchen is thick with a heady aroma, a smoky mist, when she lifts her earthen jar, takes a whiff, inhaling a zesty, pungent scent, she is reminded that home is never far.

Recipe: Pickled Chili

Preparation Time: 7 days
Difficulty: Beginner

Ingredients

• 3 cups Red Chili

• 2 tbsp. Salt

• 1 Slice of Fresh Ginger

• 1 Clove of Garlic

• 1 Earthen Jar

Instructions

• Wash the chilis, then pat dry. Remove the seeds.

• Dice the chilis, garlic, and ginger.

• Pour the chilis, garlic, and ginger in a large bowl and combine with a wooden spatula.

• Add salt to the mixture.

• Pour the mixture into the earthen jar, cover with a lid, then seal the jar with water. Regularly refill as the water evaporates.

• After a     week, remove the lid. The relish is ready to use

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Photos: Courtesy of Savour

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