Sichuan Pepper – How To Run Like The Wind (…’Burn Baby Burn’)

Sichuan Pepper) image by: Jackson Lee

No doubt about it, Sichuan province in China  is definitely a paradise for those crazy ones (including myself) that would go to any extreme to find the spiciest food they can get their hands on.  It’s just brilliant, everything here comes with chillies, but not the ones you know.
I bet most of you are probably thinking to yourself “too much chillies in your food kills the flavor”…. well, if you are among one of the following groups: Space vegans, French or just ‘sissies’, I and tons of others like me beg to differ!.
Spicy food is way more then just something that burns your mouth.  I mean, if one tiny chili makes you sweat and bet for a ‘new mouth’ implant than you might not enjoy Sichuan culinary kitchen to its full extent.  Read more... (239 words, 1 image, estimated 57 secs reading time)

Have You Eaten Yet? (Bao-zi)

image of Bao zi by (Shanghai street vendors)

Upon arriving to China, “ni chifàn le ma” (have you eaten yet? ) was one of the first expressions i’ve heard from the locals. at first I actually thought that they were ‘psychic’ or something and knew that I came to
eat everything i’m not familiar with (excluding dog and other things like that).

Only later I found out that this greeting means ‘how are you?”
strange no ? ….well, not really.
basically it tracks back to the time where there was nothing to eat in the mainland
and if you had something to eat, probably everything is good on your end.  Read more... (403 words, 1 image, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)