Looking at the open air kitchen at the Chengdu Sichuan Cuisine Museum. Chengdu, China.
Chiles hang outside a window in Jiaju Zangzhai Village, Danba County. Sichuan's spicy mix of peppers is one of the region's distinctive characteristics.
A Chengdu resident at the tea house in Wenshu Temple, Chengdu, Sichuan
Chef Zhou Shizhong at Sichuan Higher Institute of Cuisine . The chef is one of the culinary experts that helped Chengdu receive a UNESCO designation as a "City of Gastronomy".
Chef Zhou Shizhong at Sichuan Higher Institute of Cuisine . The chef is one of the culinary experts that helped Chengdu receive a Unesco designation as a "City of Gastronomy"
Students at the Sichuan HIgher Institute of Cuisine taste their teachers' cooking.
Students at the Sichuan HIgher Institute of Cuisine taste their teachers' cooking.
One of Master Teacher Zhou Shizhong's favorite dishes, diced pork with rice crackle.
A student from Sichuan Higher Institute of Cuisine holds a plate of braised turtle with potatoes.
Chengdu market scene. Chengdu has a rich selection of fruit, vegetable,meat and live fish markets.
Chengdu market scene. Chengdu has a rich selection of fruit, vegetable,meat and live fish markets.
Chengdu market scene. Chengdu has a rich selection of fruit, vegetable,meat and live fish markets.
Chengdu market scene. Chengdu has a rich selection of fruit, vegetable,meat and live fish markets.
Chengdu market scene. Chengdu has a rich selection of fruit, vegetable,meat and live fish markets.
sichuan pepper in bulk
Chengdu market scene. Chengdu has a rich selection of fruit, vegetable,meat and live fish markets.
Outside one of Chengdu's market a stall prepares fresh spring rolls
The head cook Li Xi Chao at work in Xiaotan Douhua, a popular local restaurant in Chengdu, Sichuan
A popular local restaurant called Xiaotan Douhua.
A popular local restaurant called Xiaotan Douhua.
Xiaotan Douhua's signiature dish called san zi dou hua.
Bowls of noodles are prepped for the expected dinner crowds at Xiaotan Douhua, a popular Chengdu restaurant.
Li Xi Chao (middle), the head cook at Xiaotan Douhua is flanked by two of his helpers.
In 2010 Chengdu was designated a Unesco City of Gastronomy. Writer Mitch Moxley and I traveled to Sichuan’s capital to explore and taste the markets, restaurants and cooking schools that sustain this cultural treasure. Travel feature for the Wall Street Journal.Sichuan food is renowned for its intense, spicy flavors, owed to the liberal use of chili peppers, numbing Sichuan peppercorn, bean paste, garlic and more. Citizens of the West will be familiar with variations of some classic Sichuan (also spelled Szechuan) fare – think kung pao chicken. But the cuisine features some 5,000 different dishes, the vast majority of which have not ventured far beyond China’s borders. (mitch moxley)
