Sichuan Noodles in Chongqing
I arrived in Chongqing late last night. This region has Sichuan food which is known for it’s spice. China has 8 unique style of food based on the different regions. I was excited to explore the food of this region before I head to India.
After waking up I took a hot shower to warm up. The rooms in the hostel are slightly heated and the rest of the hostel is open to the outside air. The shower head was make shift and basically just a hose with a cupped end to distribute the water out. Tiny changes in the shower temp would make the temperature go from warm to scalding hot. It was an art to get the right temperature but was worth it in the cold hostel. The hot shower steamed up the whole bathroom.
I was hungry so I walked down the street to get some breakfast. I stopped at the first noodles place I could find. Unfortunately my Chinese knowledge of food only translates as far as ‘mian’ (noodles) and ‘fan’ (rice). As I was trying to communicate I saw that the restaurant had a C rating. Not sure how good or bad that is in China… As I am debating if I should stay the smells I was smelling made me think maybe C rating isn’t very good… But the Chinese lady I was talking to and a customer were trying to understand what I was saying so I decided I might as well give the restaurant a chance.
I pulled out Google translate and asked my favorite question:
“What would you recommend?”
This is a simple question but has great power. This question is framed to tap into the years of noodle eating experience that this person has developed in this region. If you compare that to my less than 12 hours in this city and my limited experience trying Sichuan noodles in the non-Sichuan regions of Shanghai and Beijing, my noodle knowledge is of no match. When I travel somewhere I want to eat and experience what the local people do, not my preconceived idea of what this is.
The lady pointed out my options. There was a variety of noodles to choose from, rice, and various fixings. I pointed at the wider noodles because they sort of remind me of small Biang Biang Mian (sheet noodles) that are very delicious. Then she points at the spicy sichuan sauce questioning if I could eat spicy food. I said dui (yes) with a thumbs up and smile. She then threw some greens into a big vat of soup and started preparing my noodles.
I wasn’t sure how much the noodles would be but based on the sign less than 9 yuan (7 yuan = 1 USD). When the dish arrived, the lady also went and grabbed me a box of tissues. Maybe this was foreshadowing…
First I mixed the dish together after taking my before food picture. Usually I try to take a picture of the meals I have so I can remember the different foods and maybe even try to recreate some in the future. Unfortunately I usually do not know the name of what I am ordering… After mixing I took my first bite. The noodles were tasty and enveloped in the spicy sichuan sauce that the region is known for. Sichuan is spicy but different than any kind of spice I have ever had. It almost has a numbing effect and leaves your mouth and tongue tingling. The spice sort of washes over your tongue with heat.
In China, everything is about balance between warm and cold. Sichuan area is often rainy so the warm/spicy food is used to counteract this. After coming in from the cold (not as cold as Minnesota) foggy streets, I could feel each bite warming me up. It felt good and gave some credibility to this whole balance thing. It may not be a bad idea using food as medicine which is a common philosophy in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
At first I got flavors but the spice overcame everything and I wasn’t able to distinguish the flavors. The more I ate, the more I was able to taste everything. Also, the more I ate the more my nose started to run. This had similarities to the Sichuan style I had in Beijing and Shanghai but the flavor seemed more authentic and pure. The greens also proved very delicious. As I finished most of the noodles the next question became, do I drink the soup? Usually I always drink the soup when I have noodles. I was hesitant because I was worried this would make my mouth more on fire. I decided to try a sip. The soup was delicious and soothing with many flavors. I drank most of the soup but left a little at the bottom.
The bill turned out to be 6 yuan/less than $1. I walked back out into the cold and could feel the sweat on my head that I didn’t notice inside the quaint restaurant. Belly full and heart happy, it was time to grab the free coffee at the hostel I was staying at and catch up on the blogs that I have been too busy to complete…
