The cuisine features a wide range of materials, various seasonings and different cooking techniques. Statistics show that the number of Sichuan dishes has surpassed 5,000. With a rich variety of strong flavors, Sichuan food is famous for its countless delicacies, dominated by peppery, chili flavours, and best known for being spicy-hot. If you find the Sichuan dishes too bland, then you are probably not eating authentic Sichuan cuisine. Chili peppers and prickly ash are used in many dishes, giving it a distinctively spicy taste, called Ma in Chinese. It often leaves a slight numb sensation in the mouth. However, most peppers were brought to China from the Americas in the 18th century so thanks to the global trade for much of Sichuan cuisine's excellence.

Hot Sichuan Dishes
Stir-fried Tofu with Minced Beef in Spicy Sauce
It is a real feast of tender and white bean curd, minced beef, hot pepper, tasty bean sauce and green spring onion. It is believed that the dish was created by a pockmarked but ingenious woman, whose name was Ma Po.

Couple's Spicy Lung Slices
The dish is quite popular in Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province. It got the name because the lung slices sold by a couple was the most delicious among the vendors. Although this dish mainly made of beef slices today, the flavor remains savory.

Kungpao Chicken Cubes
The chicken cubes are quickly fried to keep its tenderness, and the deep-fried peanuts are added in to enrich the dish's flavor. Kungpao was said to be the official title of the dish's inventor, Ding Baozhen.

Lamp Shadow Beef
The beef cut with the larruping skill is thin, slippery and reddish. When put it under the lamp, a red shadow will appear. This delicious dish was named by the great poet Yuan Zhen in Tang Dynasty. Now it has been a special local product of Sichuan.