Chengdu 3rd full day

As usual, I was looking for a cooking class during this trip. Despite the reputation of being a "foodie" city, it wasn't very easy to find the right class. The price point is rather high compared to other Asian countries. I guess szechuan food is not for everyone and there isn't enough demand? Based on what I saw in the city, there are very few foreigners in Chengdu.

Today is the last full day and I scheduled a half day cooking class. The school offers lunch time and dinner time and I chose the lunch option, which is between 9:00am and 1:00pm. I knew there'll be tons of food to eat after the cooking class. But I got breakfast from street vendors outside the hotel anyway... The hotel is located in the city center and there are quite a few vendors on the busy street to serve breakfast for the local business people who work in the city.


One of the most standard breakfast dishes in China is porridge. There are many But I thought the way they serve it is very unique.  The container is a clear plastic cup with a lid served with straw. I guess I'm supposed to suck the porridge from the straw like a drink.. It's weird but clever.

Shiu mai

Steamed bun with read bean paste inside

Fried dough - another typical breakfast food (not necessary a specialty in Chengdu, though)

After the breakfast, I headed to the cooking class. The school is called Chilli Cool, which I booked through Viator (which normally doesn't show's each business' name). Today's class is just for me and an Italian girl who speaks multiple languages including Mandarin (she said she doesn't understand the locals in Chengdu because of their heavy accent). Like other cooking classes I've attended, it started with a market tour. This is as important as the actual cooking for me because I get to see the local's food life with an expert. Usually vendors at the market are very friendly when I have a local guide. This market was no exception. Chinese are not particularly known to be friendly people. Up to this point, I haven't seen many friendly locals. But with the hostess of the cooking class, I had a very pleasant experience.

It's a bit graphic... Rabbits without heads. Hair on the legs is left for some reason.

I thought all the thousand year eggs are black. But some are yellow

The hostess stopped by at the vendor that makes the dumpling that looks like tortellini. I was able to make some with the vendor. It's funny that we did this with the Italian classmate. I told her I learned how to make tortellini when I took the cooking class in Bologna.

The color of the carrot is what it is. Not because of the light or my camera. I have never seen such  a reddish orange carrot. I had to ask if this is something else...

After the market tour, we came back to the kitchen. They renovated a Japanese restaurant so that I saw a few items of Japanese decor. 

First, we started to prep the veggies and fish. Half of the fish was already prepared, but I sill had to remove some belly bones and slice it thinly. It took me a while to get used to the Chinese knife. It was pretty heavy... But I got compliments on my knife skills 😁

The seasoning, including aromatics, such as garlic and scallions, are pre-prepared.

I took a picture of the chili paste that we used in the class. It's made with chili, oil and fermented broad beans (fava beans). It's pretty salty by itself. I got this chili paste at the local market after the class. 

The first dish is twice cooked pork (Hui guo rou). The pork is cured (cooked once). Then cooked again so that it's called twice cooked pork. When I had this dish last night, I wasn't sure what veggie was used but I know it now. It's garlic stems. I've had garlic stems (sprouts) before. Once it's cooked, the green parts are very similar to Chinese chives (although chives are much thinner). That's why I though it was Chinese chives yesterday. 

Sauteed eggplant with fish flavor (Yu Xiang Qie Zi). However, there's no fish in it (not even fish sauce). 

A cold dish, called Three slices salad (Liang Ban San Si). Julienne veggies tossed in spicy and sour sauce

Ma po tofu. It was pretty close to what I had last night at Chin Ma Po Tofu restaurant

The last dish is fish with pickled green (Suan Cai Yu). I requested this dish. (I also requested the cold chicken in chili oil but it was turned down because it's too time consuming to complete within the class schedule). This is one of my favorite szechuan dishes. But now, I'm a bit hesitant to try it again because of the amazing amount of lard used in the broth. No wonder it always tasted so rich despite the lean and flaky white fish. The fish is fresh water fish and that's totally understandable based on where Szechuan province is located. 

All the dishes are made with MSG. Since I'm not against MSG, I'm just fine. But I always wonder how it used to be made before MSG was invented. It's costly and time consuming to get the same level of umami without using MSG. Probably Chinese before the MSG era used to spend more time extracting more umami from other foods?   

There was tons of food after we finished cooking - I believe we didn't even finish a quarter of it. I was really stuffed. After a brief rest in the hotel, me and my friend went to the very center of the city. My friend found an amazing pastry filled with spicy meat (he explored the city before I arrived). He told me that he couldn't help finishing although it was super spicy. I was still full but I had to try it because today is the last chance. 

It was a very small venue and it had a line of 20 people. Because their oven capacity is limited and line moves only the pastries are baked (approximate 20 pieces at a time). And we have to wait another 15-20 min for the next batch. I think I waited for 30 min or so. 

There are different fillings to choose from but I picked regular (there was spicier version but my friend told me the regular should be spicy enough). 

My friend was right! It was spicy enough. Also super hot (temperature-wise) because it's just right out of the oven. However, it was DELICIOUS! It was VERY numbing and addicting. It is a bit too oily but still tasty.

The dinner is not for the food's sake. My friend found a Chinese traditional dance show (including Bian Lian, which is a mask changing performance) that comes with pre fix dim sum dinner. Since I was very full, dim sum dinner was perfect. One dish I wanted to try before I leave Chengdu is tan tan mian, which is unseasoned noodle served with spicy meat sauce on top. In fact, that was the best dish of the meal.

I'm leaving for Japan tomorrow morning. I wish I could have more food....

Chengdu 2nd full day

Since I came to Chengdu, I've seen several Starbucks, a few McDonald's and a couple KFCs - not many foreign companies. This is a good sign that the city preserves its own culture. However, one of the drawbacks of strong culture is the lack of English.


Another tasty breakfast venue didn't have English signs... Very new and casual interior. Yet the foods are very traditional.

This is their signature dish Feichangfen, which is soupy spicy (of course) noodles with organ meats. The noodles are made with some potato and are semi transparent, which reminds me of Korean cold noodles. Unlike noodles made with wheat flour, they're very light. I really don't know what to call the liquid portion. Unlike ramen or pho, this is not soup because it's supposed to be left after all the noodles and other solids are eaten. But it's not thick enough to call it a sauce. It seems wasteful, but the water is from the pot that the noodles were being boiled in. It's not any special stock. So, I guess it's soupy just to dilute the seasoning and spices....

Nonetheless, it was very tasty. Again, it wasn't hot in terms of chili and had a nice flavor of szechuan pepper corn.

This is my most favorite szechuan dish, called Koushuijipian!! Cold steamed chicken is covered with chili oil with various spices and peanuts. I had to have this dish while I'm in Chengdu. I wish I had more time to try it at various restaurants. Spiciness-wise, it was pretty mild. I've had a much spicier version when I was in Los Angeles. All of chicken in Koushuijipian I've had in the US were bone-in. But this one had bones removed. It could be just this restaurant but I didn't expect that... Anyway, this was satisfyingly good dish. 

There are not many sight seeing spots in the city. I could have made one day trip outside the city, but I rather wanted to have as many Szechuan dishes as possible. However, I did go to Wuhou memorial temple, which was beautiful. The temple is surrounded by Jinli pedestrian street, filled with souvenir shops, food stands, etc.

Although the street looked very touristy, I didn't see any vendors for foreign tourists. This is one of the very few vendors with English signs. 

In this place, I found that draft beers are sold. I was expecting some sort of lager made in China. But they are selling IPA! I had to try it.

I was really impressed with their IPA. Very hoppy west coast style IPA. I figured out the owner of this venue is an American from Boulder, Colorado. No wonder why.... Anyway, this is unexpected in Chengdu. 

Another late lunch to avoid the crowd. It is similar to the hot pot that I went to yesterday. But the difference is the foods are skewered.

Some appetizers, deep fried meats and sticky starchy cakes soaked in syrup. Later, I'd be glad that I had these, especially the sweet one....

Like the hot pot from yesterday, there are two kinds of broth. Based on my lesson yesterday, I chose the mildest (again there are 3 levels of spiciness). This broth is more chili and less szechuan pepper corn. It's supposed to the mildest of the three but it seems spicier than yesterday. As I ate, the heat of the chili got out of control and it became inedible. I was trying to cool down my mouth with the sweet appetizer, but I had to surrender at some point. It was too spicy.... Still tastes great, though. 

The dinner was at Chin Ma Po Tofu, which is just across the street from the hotel. This restaurant is considered the pioneer of the famous Szechuan dish, ma po tofu.

Of course, I ordered their ma po tofu. Luckily, they offered two sizes, small and large. I chose small because I could try other dishes then.. I was expecting a pretty hot and numbing ma po tofu. But compared to the lunch, I didn't really feel any heat.. Since this is one of the most famous restaurants in Chengdu, probably they are toning it down??

This is another famous szechan dish, called twice cooked pork, which is my favorite. I've had both spicy and non spicy versions. I guess this is supposed to be spicy but not so much. All the twice cooked pork I've had before in the US was prepared with leeks. But the green veggie used in this dish didn't look like leeks. Probably Chinese chives? It was good but I wish it had more heat.

Not particularly Szechuan dessert but my favorite. Sticky rice ball filled with black sesame paste. The rice balls are served in the semi sweet warm water. Although I was pretty full, I finished this with no effort.

The service was pretty horrible. Because any other restaurants I went to in Chengdu weren't like this at all, I don't think this is Chengdu's "authentic" service. Probably famous restaurant's attitude?

When I left the restaurant, I saw two single customers. Each customer was having so many dishes. One lady was having a small ma po tofu and three other big dishes. Are people in Chengdu big eaters? Or are these people tourists and just trying to eat as much food as possible like me?

Chengdu 1st full day

My first full day started with nice breakfast at an eatery specialized with tofu, which is walking distance from the hotel.

This is their specialty noodle dish. Initially I thought the noodle contains tofu but tofu is at the bottom. Tofu and noodle is served with spicy sauce with peanuts topped with braised ground meat. Very flavorful but it wasn't as spicy as it looks. Probably because this is breakfast??

Other dishes includes:

 Eggy tofu with meat sauce

Rice flour dumpling with sweet/savory ground meat inside 

 Dumpling

After breakfast, I walked around the city and stop by at this place

This is Chendu's Fuqi feipian, literary meaning husband and wife lung piece. "fei" originally spelled "offal" (organ meats) but the Chinese alphabet was later changed to "lung." Lung can be a part of this dish but lung is not the only offal that is used. This fuqi feipian is served in the pita-like bread. Like other szechuan dishes, it's served with plenty of chili oil but the bread absorbs the oil and is supposed to prevent it from dripping. However, it still gets pretty messy. It wasn't spicy in terms of chili, but it gives a nice numbness from szechuan pepper corn. 

After the snack, I kept walking and found very unique looking food court. Since it was still pretty early, around 10:00am, not everything was open but it looks like there are more than 20 vendors.

For the first time, I saw one of Chengdu's most famous regional foods, rabbit's head. It's pretty graphic and I was surprised that this many heads can be sold. It must be popular... Heads are covered with chili flakes and I believe it's flavorful. But it's questionable if there's much to eat...

While I was heading back to the hotel to take a short rest, I found an interesting looking mango. It is bigger than most mangoes and very yellow green. I thought it's not ripened yet but this is the color it's supposed to be. According to the fruit shop staff, this is a locally grown mango. I didn't know mangos can grow in inland China... The staff said she could cut the mango, so I decides to try one to snack on at the hotel.

It tasted closer to red & green and round mangos than the small yellow ones from Southeast Asia.

There are tons of hot pot restaurants in Chengdu. My Chinese friend found this place from a Chinese review site and it's one of the most popular in Chengdu. Since it sounds like this restaurant is always crowded, we chose a late lunch after 2:00 pm. Still, there were more than 20 people waiting before us. Although the menu was written all in Chinese, I found the restaurant's name on the outside wall spelled in English, which is Xiaolongkan.

The waiting time wasn't that bad, approximately 15 minutes. The decor inside was newly renovated yet retro, and very clean. There were 3 levels of heat for the broth. Because of everything I've had since I arrived, I ordered spiciest of the three and non spicy broth for my friend (the small pot in the center is non-spicy broth). However, the waiter brought the mildest saying they can add more spices if we'd like to after tasting first. I was a little worried because they may tone down everything for "tourists" (people in Chengdu speak Mandarin but with heavy accent so they can tell my Chinese friend is not local).

I'm glad I didn't insist on the spiciest.... It was an amazingly tasty broth but very spicy. It was still an edible level spiciness for me, but approached the upper end of my heat tolerance. Although it's pretty "hot" in terms of chili, the numbness from the Szechuan pepper corn is strong too. I finally had the Szechuan flavors that I wanted to have in Chengdu!!!

Topping (cilantro and chopped garlic), flavored oil and tea

Tripe

Meat ball on top of rose petal (I'm not sure if the rose petal does anything flavor-wise...). The meat ball was very flavorful

Wood ear mushroom and pork belly

As I ate, the broth kept getting spicier because the chili and Szechuan pepper corn were being cooked. It was almost inedible by the time I finished the meal. I'm so glad that the waiter gave me the mildest first..... Anyway, this was an amazing meal!!!

In the evening, I went to a famous place, called Kuanzhaixiangzi, which consists from 3 parallel streets (wide, medium and small). Two bigger streets are filled with restaurants, tea houses,  food stands and souvenir shops. Although it was a weekday evening, it was packed with people. 

Because I was still stuffed from the huge hot pot lunch, I didn't try any street food, though it all looked so inviting... I managed to try the grilled tofu with chili flakes on top. It was a light late night snack.

I believe I accomplished a lot this day. I hope I can try this many dishes tomorrow!