What was Sichuan Food before the chili pepper?

Main Ideas

• Today’s iconic Sichuan dishes are relatively recent. Mapo tofu and Chongqing-style spicy hotpot emerged in the late 19th century. The chili-heavy version of laziji became popular much later, in the 1980s. The video argues that no specifically Sichuan dish from before the chili pepper’s arrival in China can be traced to the present.
• The people and culture associated with modern Sichuan cuisine formed after a major rupture. The chili pepper arrived in China around 1590, but the culture now recognized as Sichuanese took shape around 1700, following the devastation and depopulation of Sichuan during the Ming–Qing conflict.
• The Ming–Qing era brought catastrophic upheaval to Sichuan. Climate-driven famine, peasant rebellions, and Qing military expansion contributed to the collapse of the Ming. Zhang Xianzhong’s rule and violence in Sichuan became notorious, though the video stresses that the scale of the killing—and how much was attributable to Zhang—is debated. By the late 17th century, the province was severely depopulated.
• Migration reshaped Sichuan. The Qing encouraged people from other provinces to resettle there with land, tax, and other incentives. Migrants came from places including Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Jiangxi, and Shaanxi. The resulting language, festivals, and food reflected this mixing; the video suggests sweet potatoes and chilies also arrived through migration.
• What pre-migration Sichuan food tasted like is mostly unknown. Historical sources preserve a few dish names but little usable detail. They do indicate that Sichuan had salt, Sichuan pepper, and significant sugar production, raising the possibility that its earlier food culture was not defined by heat.
• “Spicy” meant something different before chilies. Historical Chinese uses of the word for spicy or pungent could refer to alliums, black pepper, ginger, Sichuan pepper, yellow mustard, long pepper, betel leaf, and zhuyu, a fragrant relative of Sichuan pepper. These ingredients produced pungency, warmth, or tingling, but not chili-like capsaicin heat.
• Ming cooking could be familiar and surprising at once. The recipes and ingredients still read as Chinese cooking, but historical sources also mention thyme, dill, cheese, and other ingredients less common in much of Chinese cooking today. The video’s broader lesson is that food cultures—and the dishes people treat as timeless—can be much younger and more changeable than assumed.

Historical Recipe Approach

The presenters use recipes from a 1504 collection associated with Song Xu’s mother. They emphasize that historical recipes usually omit steps and quantities that their original readers would have considered obvious. Recreating them therefore requires interpretation, and the cooks openly add modern choices rather than claiming to reproduce an exact historical dish.

1. Pepper-and-Sichuan-Pepper Fried Chicken

The source recipe calls for chicken, fermented sauce, pepper, Sichuan pepper, and scallion whites, with optional additions such as chestnuts, mushrooms, cucumbers, or dried squid.

The presenters’ interpretation:

1. Marinate the chicken, using modern seasonings of their choice; the subtitle does not provide the full marinade details.
2. Grind 4 teaspoons of whole black pepper to maximize its flavor.
3. Heat 1½ tablespoons of lard in a wok and fry the chicken over high heat.
4. Add a generous amount of scallion whites once the chicken firms up.
5. Lower the heat to medium-low, add ½ tablespoon of whole Sichuan peppercorns, and briefly fry.
6. Thin about ¼ cup of fermented soybean paste with hot water. Move the chicken aside and fry the paste in the oil until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
7. Return to high heat, stir everything together, and add enough hot water to barely cover the chicken.
8. Add seasonings and simmer at a steady boil for about 20 minutes, allowing the liquid to reduce.
9. Add blanched shiitake mushrooms and more black pepper, then cook for about 5 minutes more. Finish with additional seasoning and scallion garnish.

The presenters say chestnuts or dried squid could also work as additions.

2. Mustard-Spiced Cold Pork Salad (“Cooked Mixed Pig”)

This recipe uses yellow mustard for its heat, rather than chili. Its dressing also features a historical “five-spice vinegar.”

• Make the mustard: The historical instructions are ambiguous about quantities. The presenters interpret them by mixing mustard seed with vinegar and water, then rubbing or working the mixture—the process referred to as cuo—to develop its pungency. Cover with breathable material and leave it until the next day.
• Prepare the five-spice vinegar: Combine scallion whites, black pepper, Sichuan pepper, ginger, and a small amount of sha ren, an earthy, floral spice. The presenters use about ⅛ teaspoon of powdered sha ren, judging that three whole pieces would be too strong. Simmer the mixture briefly, then finish with toasted sesame oil.
• Cook the ingredients: Blanch 225 g of lean pork, cut into slivers, for about 2 minutes; drain. Also blanch 100 g of lotus root for about 30 seconds and 50 g of Chinese chives for about 15 seconds.
• Add egg strips: Beat two eggs, cook them in a lightly oiled wok, roll the cooked egg, and slice it into strips. The historical recipe reportedly uses duck egg; the presenters use chicken eggs.
• Dress and serve: Mix the ingredients with a dressing proportion of about 3½ parts mustard to 2 parts five-spice vinegar, along with the presenters’ additional modern seasonings.

The presenters describe the result as a cold salad with a flavor profile that still appears in some regional Chinese dishes. They argue that yellow mustard deserves more attention in place of modern imitation wasabi.

Speakers and Sources Featured

Speakers

• Chris — Main narrator and recipe presenter.
• Steph — Co-presenter and taster, discussing the finished dishes.

Historical and Culinary Sources Discussed

• Song Xu’s mother’s recipe collection (1504) — Source for the fried chicken and mixed-pork recipes. Song Xu was from Huating, and his mother was from Beijing.
• Gao Lian, Zunsheng Bajian (1591) — Used to help interpret how to prepare yellow mustard.
• Wang Yun — Qing-era clerk whose account describes the devastation of Chengdu in 1672.
• Cai Yurong — Qing official associated with proposals to repopulate and redevelop Sichuan.
• Kenneth Swope — Author of a book on Zhang Xianzhong and the Ming–Qing transition, recommended by the narrator.
• Antonio Gramsci — Invoked indirectly through a paraphrased remark about periods of upheaval as times of “monsters.”