All language subtitles for Exploring.China;.A.Culinary.Adventure.S01E02

'China, home to one in five of
the planet's population.

'The superpower the world fears,
but few really know.

'Ken Hom is the Godfather
of Chinese food.'

Heaven on Earth.

'He introduced the wok to the West
more than 30 years ago.'

This is the way you should be
cooking it.

'Ching He Huang is leading the next
generation of Chinese cooks...'

I'm just going to chop off the head.

'..with a modern,
inventive approach to the cuisine.'

It's like ducks
playing in springtime. Lovely.

'We're taking a once-in-a-lifetime
adventure across China
through food...'

Rabbit head. Shall we try one?

'..to delve into its heart and soul.'

Bang it, pull it.

Food is the best way
to explore Chinese culture,

because we really live to eat.

'It's an epic trip,

'3,000 miles from the megacities
of the East

'to the forgotten villages of
the Wild West.'

It's like going back to
the time of Genghis Khan.

Aaargh!

She's just decapitated it!

'We'll uncover the familiar,
the secret and the surprising...'

Wow, I've never seen that
done before!

'..cook simple
and delicious dishes...'

That is my Sichuan sausage.

'..and reveal the secrets of China,
old and new.'

It's like a journey
that I've always dreamt about,

but in a China I've dreamt about.

This time, we're in Chengdu.

It is one of the fastest-growing
cities in the world.

In the interior of the country,

it has always been
an isolated place,

free from Western influence,

and remains the most Chinese
of China's megacities.

Nearly 1,000 miles from Beijing,

deep in the heartland

in Sichuan province,

Chengdu is known as one of
the culinary capitals of China.

'The food here is the hottest
in China and increasingly famous

'all over the world
for its distinctive fiery flavours.'

Variety, yes.

'We've come to Chengdu's spice market
to explore the explosive tastes

'that make Sichuan food so unique.'

This place is like the core,

the heart, the mother ship
of spicy Sichuan food.

'The people here are obsessed
with chillies,

'claiming they have
a medicinal quality,

'driving out the cold, wet climate.'

You really feel like trying
all of them,

because some,
I've never seen before.

'I hope they're right,
because it really is damp here.'

HE SPEAKS IN NATIVE TONGUE

'Even the seeds of the chilli,
which we tend to avoid in the West,

'are sold here as a garnish.'

They take the seeds out of the ones
that are slightly off colour,

that aren't as desirable,
so that's a lot of chilli!

THEY SPEAK IN LOCAL DIALECT

Oh, so they stir-fry it,
so it's dry toasting.

'You would think this assault on
their taste buds would be unbearable,

'but it's not all about chillies.'

So big! Where do you start?

'There's a second key ingredient that
absolutely defines Sichuan food.

'This innocent-looking husk from
the berry of the prickly ash bush

'is called the Sichuan flower pepper.

'It creates an incredibly intense
numbing sensation

'that balances the chilli heat
of the food.

'It stimulates the taste buds,
unleashing an explosion of flavours.'

I don't know why I'm actually
a little terrified of trying it,

because I've cooked with it
so many times.

Wow!

Oh, my God!

It's really strong,
really numbing heat,

much stronger than
what we have in the UK.

'It's these authentic local flavours

'that I've come here
to cook with and master.'

The fragrance of lavender taste
is unbelievable.

I know. Lavender
and a little citrus spice to it.

I haven't been here
for almost 24 years

and now I realise
how much I miss this fragrance.

There are not many places
in the world where cooking is

so dominated by
just a few key spices.

We want to begin our exploration of
these fascinating, complex flavours

where some of the most
authentic food can be found -

here in these ramshackle
restaurants,

hidden away in the alleys
and backstreets of the city.

To help us track down
one of the best,

we've enlisted the help of
Jenny Gao,

a food writer raised in Canada,
but born in Chengdu.

She's taking us to a restaurant
in the old part of the city

that's due for redevelopment.

So, this is the famous
fly restaurant Ming Ting,

and it started off
just a couple of tables,

but as its popularity grew,
more and more tables were added.

As you see, it spilled out
onto the street.

Called fly restaurants

apparently because of their
rough-and-ready approach to hygiene,

these places have always been
the soul of the food culture here.

Wow! Ni hao!

Wouldn't it be fun to cook in
this kitchen? It's just chaos!

So it's got chilli bean paste,
it's got some garlic and ginger.

The fragrance! Yes. The roar of
the wok! How intense it is.

'I'm desperate to cook with
all these amazing spices,

'but first, I want to taste
how the chefs combine

'chilli and Sichuan flower pepper

'to create the distinctive
numbing heat they call ma la.'

For all these dishes, you won't get
a very strong sensation

of like, you know, very ma, very la,

but after you start eating more and
more... I can feel it now. I can.

..you start to feel it on
your tongue and on your lips, right?

Right. My mouth is on fire.

'One of the most famous
local dishes is Ma Po Dofu,

'a regional classic made with tofu
and usually ground beef or pork.

'But here at Ming Ting, it has
a surprising alternative ingredient.'

They're tricking you by putting
a little pig brain in there.

Pig brain?! Pig brain.
Pig brains with tofu?!

Yeah, dig in.

'Despite my dad keeping pigs
when I was young in Taiwan,

'I'd never developed
the Chinese love of brains.'

That's a generous bit of brain.

Oh, my goodness me!

This is a first for me.

I can clearly say I've had probably
all bits of offal, but not brain.

Not brain?
I'm feeling a bit funny, actually.

Think of it as tofu.

Right, OK, I'll...

Mmm. It's really creamy!

Yes!

It reminds me of foie gras.
Absolutely!

Pig brain is actually
very popular in Sichuan,

as is the brain of a lot of animals.

Yeah, I think I'll stick to
the tofu. Really? Right.

'Ma Po Dofu
is one of my favourite dishes

'and I really want to test out
the authenticity of my version

'on the chefs at Ming Ting.'

So, I'm going to
prep my ingredients here.

'Like many Sichuan recipes,
garlic, ginger, chilli bean paste

'and, of course, a pinch of that
ground Sichuan flower pepper

'are exploded in hot oil
to release their fragrance.

'Like most of the dishes

'we'll cook on our travels,
it's easy to do at home.

'It's a little unnerving, though,
to have such an expert audience,

'particularly because
I'm adapting the house special,

'swapping the pigs' brains

'for Chinese long beans
and pickled bamboo,

'although you could use
leeks and shallots.'

In with my beans,
in with the bamboo shoots.

I'm going to season now
with a little bit of soy.

In with the tofu.

That looks absolutely beautiful.

'You can get ground Sichuan flower
pepper in Chinese supermarkets
in the UK or online.

'And don't be afraid to experiment
to get that balance

'with the chillies just right.'

Beautiful.

Very good.

Very good.

THEY LAUGH

'I love the atmosphere in this place
and it's heartening to see

'that traditional cooking is safe
in the hands of these young chefs.

'And even though Ming Ting's present
location is soon to be redeveloped,

'chef Wu Jing and his staff
are positive about the future.'

He's going to just follow his boss.

Wherever his boss opens next,
that's where he will go.

Sichuan! To Sichuan! Cheers!
Cheers! Gan bei!

The next morning,

we've arranged to meet Jenny
on the outskirts of the city.

Chengdu is at the centre
of the government's Go West policy.

It's invested $300 billion to spark
an economic boom in western China,

on a par with Beijing and Shanghai.

Can you imagine? This whole area,

most of these buildings
were not here.

When I was here in 1989, it was
still a fairly primitive place.

Many of the streets were
little more than dirt roads

and people brought produce
in from the countryside

on carts pulled by donkeys.

Now, Chengdu has
a population of 14 million

and the fastest rate of urbanisation
in the world.

In the next decade,
it's expected to increase by

nearly a million people every year.

There it is, that's the hotel.

That is the hotel I stayed in.

It was the tallest building
in Chengdu.

That's it, and you see now,

it's dwarfed by
all these other buildings.

And they keep building, look how
many cranes there are over there.

It's just amazing.

I thought it would be a lot of
change, but not sort of this much.

It's shocking at the beginning

because it's sleepy backwaters here.

You expect that from Shanghai
and Beijing but not from Chengdu.

'Jenny's been kind enough to
invite us to her grandparents' home

'where she spent
her early childhood.'

My cousins and I used to come

and we would get together
for family lunches,

you know, dumplings and noodles.

'It's exciting for me, as I've
always believed the best cooking

'is in the home, and a taste of
family life is a great way

'to get beneath the skin of
a city.'

So, these are my grandparents.

THEY CHEER

My grandfather...

'Jenny's grandparents
are in their eighties

'and, as is traditional
in Chinese culture,

'one of their sons lives at home and
takes care of them with his wife,

'Jenny's aunt.'

84. I'm sorry! 84?

THEY LAUGH

My grandmother...
It's quite chilly, isn't it?

So, the reason why
it's so cold indoors

is because there's no
central heating in Sichuan.

There isn't?

All of the provinces don't actually
have central heating because

I guess the government figures
it's not cold enough to need it.

So, do they were coats indoors, then?

Yes, exactly. When it's winter,
everyone wears coats,

scarves, hats, the whole thing.

Thank God for the wok and cooking!

'While Ching gets to know
the family,

'I really want to see
the local market

'and join Jenny's aunt on her daily
trip to buy fresh ingredients.'

'Most days, she's here at the crack
of dawn to get the best produce.

'She spends around five hours
each morning

'shopping and preparing lunch
for her family.

'I offered to help out with
a dish of my own...

More sausages...

'..and I'm on the lookout
for inspiration.'

No? OK.

It's a struggle, though,
to understand the local dialect.

How much?

No, no, no.

So typical Chinese.

I'm embarrassed.

'I've always loved markets,

'and in China,
they're a particular pleasure.

'Chaotic, and despite
the government's pledge

'to improve food safety,

'I can't see many fridges.'

Do you see this for fish, see? Live.

This is how Chinese want freshness.

They want to make sure
their fish is really fresh.

Look at this, fresh frogs.

Turtles, of course.

'I spotted some rabbit,
a specialty in Sichuan.

'The Chinese actually produce
more rabbit than any other country,

'although they export most of it.'

They've quickly blanched it
in hot water

and they've pulled the skin off,
which is how rabbit is done.

You would not see this
in Beijing or Guangzhou,

or anywhere I've been in China.

I mean, duck, chicken,
of course you see that everywhere,

but certainly not rabbit,
and they just love it.

It's a great protein
and a sustainable food,

and it was quite poor here,
which is why they eat rabbit.

'While Ken's at the market,
Jenny's grandmother is showing me

'her traditional method
for making pickles.

'She first adds to the pickling
water, garlic, chilli and salt,

'and then uses a method
I haven't seen before -

'two types of rock sugar,

'a lot of Sichuan pepper and instead
of vinegar, she's adding bai jiu,

'a local 50% proof spirit, a bit like
a sweeter version of vodka.

'Pickles are incredibly popular
in China

'and are an easy way
to preserve vegetables.

'When I was a child in Taiwan,

'I used to have them for breakfast
with my grandmother.'

'Jenny's grandmother always has a pot
of pickles on the go, even today.'

Wow, I can't wait to try those.

'The pickling water is so strong
that the vegetables

'are ready in just 24 hours.

'She serves them the traditional way,

'with a light drizzle of chilli
and Sichuan pepper oil,

'made from infusing hot oil
with Sichuan peppercorns.'

Mmm. That is delicious. So crunchy.

I've got now the chilli, the numbing
heat of that Sichuan pepper oil

and a little sour from the pickle.

Beautiful, thank you.

'As soon as we return,

'Jenny's aunt gets straight to work
on the lunch.

'I'm making a simple
rabbit stir fry,

'but you could use chicken
for this dish.

'I'm using a marinade of soy sauce,

'sesame oil,
with a coating of cornflour.

'It's usually best left for
a couple of hours to take effect.

'I'm cooking the rabbit with garlic

'and the less spicy green chillies,

'as the flesh has
a delicate flavour.'

What people outside of China
don't know

is that even home cooks will heat
the wok up until it's very, very hot

before they add the oil.

So I've heated it up
for a few minutes now.

This is good firepower.

As you can see,
it's smoking like this. Don't worry.

You want this to be very hot.

'You obviously have to be careful
doing this at home,

'but if you pull the wok
away from the heat,

'the flames would die down quickly.'

This is the way, actually,
you should be cooking it.

This is what gives, um, Chinese food

its very, very special flavour.

It seals in the juices.

Now, it's very important to take
all this now and drain this.

We add the garlic and the chillies
and, instead of adding more oil,

which is a mistake
a lot of cooks make

when they're not familiar with
Chinese food,

we just add a little bit of the
broth I made from the rabbit bones,

and at the very end,
I return the rabbit.

'I'm only braising the rabbit meat
for a couple of minutes.

'In the West,
we usually aim for tenderness,

'but here,
people love chewy textures

'and really appreciate
the feel of food in the mouth.'

Very Sichuanese, then!

THEY LAUGH

'While Ken cooks, I'm enjoying
spending time with the family.'

I feel like I've come back home.
Yeah, it's very...

I grew up in a small village with
my grandparents in rural Taiwan,

and then, when I was five,

left with my parents
for South Africa,

finally arriving in the UK
when I was 11 years old.

When I was growing up at school,
I was never proud to be Chinese.

All I wanted to do was be English,

and, why couldn't I be
more like my English friends?

And I wanted to dye my hair blonde
and, you know, be very Western.

'Over the years, cooking has helped
connect me to my Chinese roots,

'so it feels important to make
something for Jenny's family that,

'for them,
feels authentically Sichuanese.

'Watching Jenny's aunt cook
is really inspiring.'

She's making a boiled fish dish.
Smells good.

Your aunt is
a really masterful cook,

and she cooks in high heels,
it's amazing. I know!

It really is amazing!

So now she's sprinkling on
the chilli flakes.

She's got some hot vegetable oil.

Wow!

That looks wonderful.

I've never done it like that before -
sprinkle a dish with chillies

and then just ladle
hot sizzling oil on top.

It's just beautiful. I'm learning
so much, it's wonderful.

'I want to make a dish with
traditional Sichuan flavours.

'I'm going to call it crispy,
fragrant Sichuan sausage.'

It is about experimenting,
I do like to improvise sometimes

because that's what I do at home.

'First, I'm boiling some of
Jenny's aunt's homemade sausages.'

It is a Chinese cook's dream
to have all these ingredients,

but I'm going to use
the wood ear mushrooms

because they'll be lovely
and crunchy.

'Texture is always important
in Chinese dishes,

'but if you like, you could use
oyster mushrooms instead.'

I've been pointed to these
lovely pickled chillies.

I'm going to keep the seeds

because I know this family
likes their food hot.

These look like spring onions,
or scallions,

but they're actually suan miao,
which is the garlic shoots.

'The sausages should be ready
after just ten minutes of boiling.'

Shape is important,
it's all about presentation

and also cooking techniques.

The same applies to vegetables -

if you cut them on the angle,
you expose more surface area,

they'll cook a lot quicker
in the wok.

In with the garlic,
then in with all the sausages.

I'm going to wok fry the sausages
first, so they get a bit crisp.

This is what
my grandmother would do,

cook the ingredients separately,
then bring it all together.

Takes a little bit more time but
it's going to hopefully be worth it.

I'm just going to add
the vegetables in now,

all of them together
at the same time.

You do need to be careful, otherwise
you'll set your hair on fire.

'The cooked vegetables are set aside,

'and then, inspired by Jenny's aunt's
fish dish,

'I'm making a kind of
hot oil dressing,

'based on chilli bean paste
and Sichuan flower pepper.'

Mmm, it's sour, it's spicy,
it's hot, it's numbing heat.

So what I'm going to do is just
throw this all back into the wok,

and toss it all together,

so that all the flavours
are mixed in really well.

That is my crispy, fragrant,
Sichuan sausage

with wood ear mushrooms,

garlic shoots and pickled chilli.

And it's so hot,

it's a numbing heat.

This is a true Sichuan dish, I think,

this will actually
blow your head off good.

I could give some of the fly
restaurants a run for their money.

'Jenny's aunt is treating us

'to the kind of feast the family
only enjoys on special occasions.

'30 or 40 years ago, they wouldn't
have been able to afford

'so many meat and fish dishes.'

'It's an amazing spread,
including the water-boiled fish

'with its vibrant layers of hot oil,
chilli and vegetables.

'Braised eel with green peppers.

'And a delicious, unusual
stir-fry shredded potato.'

This is better than any restaurant,
I can tell you.

Home-cooked food.
God, this is pretty impressive.

'With so much amazing
authentic food on the table,

'I hope I've pulled off a dish
that delivers the right balance

'of spice and numbing heat.'

Phew! I can have another drink now.

THEY LAUGH

We're now three days into
our stay in Chengdu.

Our time with Jenny's family

was a fascinating glimpse
into home cooking.

The next morning, Ching and I

are on the lookout for
some authentic street food.

That's brilliant,
that's just brilliant.

That's fresh chicken!

Western chains are moving in here.

McDonald's has 28 outlets
and 7-Eleven are planning to open

a staggering 350 shops in Chengdu
over the next five years.

Even so, we don't have to look far

to find some delicious
Chinese fast food,

like these traditional baozi buns.

Shall we get some pork ones? Yes.

Made from steamed bread,

they're an incredibly popular snack
throughout all of China.

We saw in Beijing,
they have their version. Mmm.

Everybody has their version.

It's sort of like our sandwich.

It's just delicious.

In Cantonese, we only have the
barbecued pork with no vegetables,

and that was really nice.
I took it to school.

People were envious,
they had these horrible,

like, cold cut sandwiches

and I had this wonderful
fragrant bao.

SHE SPEAKS LOCAL DIALECT
..Starbucks?

Starbucks?
SHE SPEAKS LOCAL DIALECT

She says she's never heard of
Starbucks. No, she's unaware of it.

Even though China is modern,
I don't think its food culture

is in any way endangered by
all these foreign fast food places,

simply because there's a tradition
of eating things like this. Yeah.

'The real threat to authentic food
on the streets of Chengdu

'is the re-development
sweeping through the city.'

It's like a different planet.

Yeah.

They say China has
half of the cranes in the world.

'As the old neighbourhoods
are torn down,

'many of the street food stands have
been moved here to Jinli Street,

'a purpose-built recreation
of the old Chengdu.'

So, this is really modernised now.

It's modernised, but it's OK.

Ah, that looks good too.

They all look good.

They ALL look good!

This is a Sichuan delicacy.
Yes, that's right.

It's a dessert, right? A sweet.
It's glutinous rice balls. Uh-huh.

It's called San Da Pao,
three big bombs. Yes.

THE BALLS THUD

It's to attract people to come,
traditionally. It's the sound of it.

'The theme park atmosphere
seems to have done nothing to dent

'the Chinese enthusiasm for
unusual and wonderful snacks...

'..like deep-fried rabbit's head.'

Shall we try one? This is
the rabbit head, shall we try one?

No way! No, I don't think so. Yes,
I think we should try one, come on.

I want to try this
because I've never tried it before.

OK, so eight yuan. That's, like, 80p.

It smells good.

Oh, that's a proper skull over there.

There's not much meat on it,
except for...

the cheek.

Oh.

You know what it tastes like?

It tastes like,

a little bit like a ham.

She's saying you should open it
like a crab claw...

Oh, I see. ..to reveal the meat.

All right, then.

KEN LAUGHS

The seasoning and the spices on it
are really tasty, aren't they?

Mmm, that's what makes it good.

And it does make something that is
a bit gross to eat delicious.

It's cultural.
If you grew up eating this,

then it wouldn't be disgusting.

Now, you know what Chinese
used to find disgusting?

When Westerners eat
big slabs of steak,

they found that really disgusting.

My mother used to recoil.

She'd say, "Oh, God, how can he eat
a big slab of cow like that?"

THEY LAUGH

Ken may be keen on rabbit's head,
but I want to show him

what everyone in the city
is really eating.

It's a food tradition
that will never be threatened,

however fast the city grows, and it's
one of the national dishes of China.

THEY SPEAK IN LOCAL DIALECT

This fiery, bubbling cauldron
of broth is known as hot pot.

You can order pretty much anything
you like, but the catch is,

you have to cook it yourself.

This is China's fondue,

except they've been eating hot pot
for thousands of years.

Hello. Ni hao.

Bamboo shoots.
It's fantastic how they slice it.

There's no cooking here
because all they do is prep, right?

Right.

'Of course, this being Chengdu,

'they do a mean ma la,
numbing heat version here,

'and I want to know
exactly what goes into it.'

This is where
they make all their soup bases.

Look at that Sichuan peppercorn.

That's a lot of flowered pepper.

'The copper hot pot is shaped like
the Yin and Yang symbol,

'to represent the balance of
the mild broth on one side

'and the spicy on the other.'

So they put in dry chillies

and then he puts in
the flower Sichuan pepper.

THEY SPEAK LOCAL DIALECT

'There are many varieties of hot pot,
but in this version,

'the Yin side gets added flavour
from a fish,

'tomatoes,

'and what looks like spam.

'It might seem a weird combination
for Western tastes,

'but the buzz here is amazing

'and it's clear that
for the people of Chengdu,

'hot pot is just as important
a social event as it is a meal.

'As if the hot pot
wasn't already spicy enough,

'more stock and chilli oil
is brought to the table.'

That's a lot of chilli oil.

'It's sealed in these bizarre
clinical-looking bags,

'apparently to reassure the customer
that the oil has not been recycled,

'a practice of some
hot pot restaurants.

'But now that the government

'is beginning to crack down
on food safety,

're-using cooking oil
has been banned.'

It's making me hungry,
looking at the spicy red sauce.

'It seems like we may have allowed
the waitress to order too much food,

'but it was the heat from
that lethal-looking broth

'that I really wanted to try.'

It's not what I expected. It's not
as spicy as I thought it would be.

Did you not taste the numbing heat?

It's kind of like a delayed reaction.
There's a delayed reaction. Yeah.

It's really spicy. That's true.

It's only when you say, "Oh,
it's not hot" then you go, "Oh!"

HE CHUCKLES

That numbing spice
is really addictive. Yeah, it is.

'After suffering Chengdu's
damp and foggy climate,

'I think I'm beginning to understand
why everyone is obsessed

'with this unique
combination of spices.'

I mean, it's amazing,
the first few days when I was here,

I felt my bones creaking.

I thought, "My God,
I feel old for the first time."

And I noticed since I've been eating
this kind of food,

my joints did not sort of creak
the way they did the first day.

'The climate might be damp here,

'but it's contributed to
the area around Chengdu being

'so fertile that Sichuan is known
in China as the land of abundance.

'But it's not only crops,

'it also supplies
over half the country's pork.

'My dad kept pigs
when I was growing up,

'so I'm looking forward to visiting
a local pig farmer.

'I'm hoping to try my hand at
some traditional pork dishes.

'Mr Peng is different
to most farmers in the region,

'because his pigs are organic.

'Nearly three quarters of all
the meat eaten in China is pork.

'To the Chinese,
pigs symbolise virility,

'and traditionally,

'they've always been an important
part of everyday life.'

Wow, they're really hungry.
Hello, piggy!

'And although the Chinese
eat every part of the pig,

'they still get through
nearly two million every day.

'With so much pressure
to churn out pork,

'organic farming has not been
a priority, so I'm happy to discover

'Mr Peng is obsessive about
his pigs' wellbeing.

'He produces and mixes his own feed

'and has a radical and unusual
approach to their health.'

These are all
Chinese medicine herbs.

I still can't believe

they eat so well!

'Mr Peng's business started slowly,

'but in the last five years -
due to food safety scares

'and the expanding middle class -

'the demand for organic food
has quadrupled.'

'He's invited me to his house to meet
his wife and to have some supper.

'In return, I've offered to cook
a dish for them.

'Mrs Peng has prepared a whole
selection of different cuts

'of their own pork
which she's boiled for 30 minutes,

'and before I cook, she wants to show
me some classic home-style dishes,

'starting with
a much-prized cold salad.'

It's funny, isn't it?
Because back in England,

pig's ear is probably
the cheapest thing

because people don't want that
and actually discard it, or make it

into dog food, but here, it's really
prized and the most expensive part.

She's got some baby spring onions.

'Before it can be eaten,
the pig's ear salad

'needs to soak for a couple of hours
in the spicy dressing,

'which is, of course, made with
chillies and Sichuan flower pepper.

'From all the activity,
it looks like I'm in for

'more than the simple supper
I was expecting.

'With typical Chinese hospitality,

'Mrs Peng is preparing us a feast
using every part of the pig.'

She said this is like a bridge,
a bridge pork rib.

It's a really wonderful
way of steaming here,

she's just put water at the base,
and then put a plate over the top.

Their wok's amazing.

'For her next dish,

'Mrs Peng is making
another local speciality,

'cherry pork made with soy sauce,
and a mix of caramelised sugar

'and a touch of vinegar.'

It's juicy, really tender
and very sweet.

'I'm planning to cook my hosts
a dish using more of

'that delicious pork belly,

'a Sichuan classic called
twice-cooked pork.'

'Mr and Mrs Peng are clearly very
particular about their food,

'and they both seem concerned I won't
stick to the traditional recipe.'

The light is used for seasoning,

for saltiness, and the dark is used
for colour, to caramel it.

There's so many different variations.

She likes to use the lao chou,
which is the dark soy sauce,

but I like to mix a little bit
the light and the dark.

'For my version of the dish, I'm
starting with fermented black beans,

'mixing them with chilli bean paste,
and frying them it all in hot oil.

'Twice-cooked pork is essentially
a stir-fry dish,

'using slices of pork belly

'that have already been boiled
for half an hour.'

I'm just going to add
a little bit of the dark soy sauce

and a little bit of
the light as well.

Little bit of sugar.

'The last ingredient in,
as they only need a minute or so,

'are the spring onions.'

I hope they're going to enjoy this.

He's so proud of, you know, the
Sichuan classic, classic Hui Guo Rou,

this isn't even good enough for him.

He said, it's OK, it's salty,
but it's not the real thing.

Mrs Peng said it was good.

'Mrs Peng has made us
so many classic Sichuan pork dishes,

'each using
a different cooking method.'

Doesn't it look amazing,
all the dishes together?

The dressing on this pig's ear
is really good.

It's very crunchy.

Cartilage-y,

but good.

This is Mr Peng's daughter.

Actually, I'm going to ask her
what she thinks of my Hui Guo Rou,

my twice-cooked pork.

She said it's good, got good taste.
At least someone likes it!

SHE LAUGHS

As well as pork and flower pepper,

there's another
locally-produced ingredient

that Sichuan has made famous and
defines the tastes of the region.

In the few days we've been here,
everyone we've met has relied on it.

If chilli and Sichuan pepper
are the heart of the Sichuan food,

then chilli bean paste is the soul.

This is incredible.

I've never seen
anything like this in my life.

I feel like I'm walking into
a cemetery or a monastery

because it's so Zen.

It's a bit spooky and eerie.

'At this factory in Pixian,
just outside Chengdu,

'they've been making the best
chilli bean paste in the world

'for over 300 years.'

SHE SPEAKS IN LOCAL DIALECT

Two years, this one has been
aged for?

They have three years
and five years.

'The paste is actually very simply
made from just three ingredients -

'broad beans,
red chillies and salt.

'It's then left to ferment
in these earthenware crocks

'for up to five years.'

That is really superb.

It's beautiful.
It's sour, spicy, beany,

just really intense. Yes.

It's funny, I would never say
this is chilli bean sauce.

Absolutely, it's never
this colour anyway,

so that means that
they haven't been aged as long.

The quality, Ken, that we've been
cooking with is sub-standard,

what we get back home.

'The secret of this paste lies in
the relentlessly damp
Sichuan climate.

'The humidity in the air
helps the years of fermentation,

'creating a chilli bean paste
unlike any other.'

It's a little bit like wine.
You know, when we do wine,

we're talking about
where the grapes come from,

the terroir, as the French say,

and I think it's very much this,
because this is the heart

of what Sichuan cooking is about.

This kind of damp, foggy climate

that makes this kind of
moody chilli bean sauce

that's the heart of
this type of cooking.

During our time in Chengdu,

we've seen modern China
pushing up against the past...

..but in the People's Park,

the surrounding tower blocks
are kept at bay,

and certain traditions that stretch
back centuries remain unchanged.

Chengdu has a reputation as
the most chilled-out city in China.

As the saying goes here,

"Sunny days are rare,
but teahouses are abundant."

One thing I really remember about
my mum is her love of Mah-jong,

and she could sit for hours
just drinking tea

and just playing with her friends.

You couldn't get her to pay
any attention to anything.

When she's playing,
she's focused on that.

'Despite Chairman Mao
closing down teahouses

'because he felt gathering places
posed a threat,

'they re-opened in the early '80s

'and the retired Chinese
still come here to play.'

You hear the clack
when they go like that...

They call it washing the tiles.

'Just as I'm beginning to relax,
a stranger offers me

'the Chinese equivalent
of a shoeshine.'

Oh, my God! He's got a little... He's
got a little flashlight on his head!

What does it feel like,
is it soothing?

It's not soothing,
it's very interesting.

Whoa, that is a sensation!

Oh, he's massaging your ear.

He's massaging my ear, I love it!

'While the rituals of teahouse life
may remain unchanged

'and where once I would've expected
to see the gentle rhythm of Tai Chi,

'today, people
are moving to a different beat.'

DANCE MUSIC BLARES

'The dancing reflects a newfound
freedom that I hadn't sensed

'when I came here in 1989.

'Then, China was still emerging from
a period of long isolation

'and the trauma of
the Cultural Revolution,

'Mao's attempt to impose Communist
ideas throughout the country

'in the 1960s and '70s
resulted in chaos and famine.

'Every aspect of life was affected.
Rationing was introduced,

'the art of cooking was abandoned,
and many people fled the country.'

Chef Li's
our Cantonese Executive Chef.

'People like Chef Li. He escaped
to Hong Kong when he was 18,

'but returned to Chengdu ten years
ago, as life began to improve.'

Oh, he swam! He swam!
He swam to Hong Kong!

Wow, that is amazing.

'It feels good that Chef Li
has returned to China.

'The influence of chefs like him
has done so much

'to re-invigorate
the food culture here.

'He agrees to give me a hand
to make one of my favourite dishes,

'crispy aromatic duck.'

What we do in the UK is,
we take the duck

and we put things like five-spice
and Sichuan peppercorn on it

and salt,
but here is sort of the real thing.

'For the dry marinade, it's OK
to improvise the ingredients,

'but the base usually starts with
salt and chicken stock powder.'

And, of course, we're in Sichuan,
so you add chillies, lots of it,

and then the most important thing
are these

lovely Sichuan peppercorns.
Really quite powerful.

He said, "Put it all in!"

'The rest of the marinade -
including cardamom, ginger,

'fennel seeds and bay leaves -
are rubbed in,

'then the duck is left for three
hours to absorb the flavours.

'The trick to this dish
is to steam the duck first

'for about 45 minutes,
then to let it dry,

'and finally, to deep-fry it
until the skin is crisp and golden.'

Chinese like to gnaw on the bone

because we feel that
that's where all the flavour is.

The marinade
permeates the duck meat,

and that's what makes it red.

Absolutely beautiful.

Out of this world.

It's much more complex
than the aromatic crispy duck

that we get in the UK.

It's funny, you don't even taste
the chillies, and things like that,

but it's a very sophisticated
mixture of flavours here.

Outstanding!

THEY SPEAK LOCAL DIALECT

Sichuan Province may be
one of China's culinary hotspots,

but no trip here
is complete without a visit

to see Chengdu's
most famous residents.

Oh, my God, they are so funny!

It's like they don't look real.
They're so human-like.

You think at any moment,

someone is going to take
the mask off and go, "Da-da!"

I love the one in the tree.

'This panda sanctuary is home to
most of the world's panda population,

'and here, at least, you feel
that life will remain unchanged.'

This was worth the trip here. Yeah.

'Pandas are a massive draw
for Chengdu,

'particularly for Chinese tourists,
but we have one last place to go.

'It's a place where our experience
of Sichuan food traditions

'are brought together
and elevated to a new level.'

Oh, I can't wait! I know!

'Yu's Family Kitchen

'is one of Chengdu's
most celebrated restaurants.'

That's so beautiful,
little hedgehogs.

'The food is the work of this man,
Chef Yu Bo.

'He's travelled the world,
gathering ideas

'and inspiration for his cooking.

'And now he's receiving acclaim
both at home and abroad

'for his modern twists
on traditional Sichuan dishes.

'I haven't seen such an innovative
approach to traditional food

'anywhere in China.'

It looks so beautiful,
I don't want to eat it,

because it looks like a work of art!

'These pastry brushes are filled
with a sweet red bean paste.'

'It couldn't be
a better demonstration

'of the new culinary confidence
in the country.'

Wow!

Presentation is fantastic,
I can't wait to try it.

He's a genius, real genius.

'This feels like an incredible
opportunity to try out

'some of the cooking techniques
I've discovered here

'on one of the best chefs in China.

'I want to use a traditional flavour
combination, unique to Sichuan.'

It's called guaiwei,
it's called strange flavour,

and actually, it's a combination
of all these flavours,

like the chilli bean paste,
some sesame paste, vinegar, sugar.

You know,
sort of all brought together.

So we'll just see how it goes.
It's like a dressing.

It is like a dressing, exactly.

'I'm kind of nervous
because all the chefs here

'work with such precision
and my dish is a bit more rustic.

'My guaiwei strange flavour salad

'will taste spicy, sour,
sweet and nutty.

'It's a take on a Sichuan classic,
smacked cucumber.'

You just smash it,
it just bruises it

and it starts to allow you to
sort of put the flavours together,

you know,
absorb flavours of dressings.

It's quite a local way
of doing a salad.

'I'm cutting the cucumber
into large pieces,

'adding sliced mustard green hearts -
broccoli stems would work too -

'and some finely chopped
garlic shoots to add at the end.'

'For the dressing, the strange
flavour sauce is actually

'a mix of icing sugar, with black
rice vinegar and light soy sauce.

'It's a sort of Chinese vinaigrette.

'To that, I'm adding
some smooth peanut butter,

'which gives a lovely, rich nutty
flavour, and then sesame paste.

'The vegetables are tossed in
the dressing

'and the garlic shoots
sprinkled on top.'

Lay the garlic shoots.

'Finally, the key regional flavours -
Sichuan flower pepper

'and chilli bean paste - fried in
hot oil to release the flavours,

'a trick I learned from Jenny's aunt,
poured over the top.'

So sort of a hot and cold.

'And to top it off, chilli oil.'

Boy, cucumber salad
has never been the same.

'And more
ground Sichuan flower pepper.'

That looks amazing...

That looks lovely!

It's a nice, crunchy,
refreshing texture.

I expected it to be...

More hot?

Yes, but it's not as hot as
I thought it would be.

He said, "Now that you've taught me,
in future, I will definitely try."

That's good. Wow!

'Chengdu might be
the fastest changing city in China,

'but our time here has been dominated
by a sense of the traditional.'

Before, in the past,

when I have come to China, I've felt
a little bit that I don't fit in,

but this time, I feel a little bit
more comfortable in my own skin.

Cooking Chinese food,
that's made me have

a real deep appreciation
for Chinese culture.

I could definitely envisage myself
coming here

and spending a lot more time here,
especially in Chengdu.

The chef here has taken things
on another level,

and I think we're only seeing
the tip of the iceberg

about what's really happening
in China.

'Next time...'

Looks like an ancient medieval city.

It's really on the far fringes
of China.

'..we'll explore
a hidden side of China
that feels distinctly un-Chinese.

'From the Wild West...'

This is like stepping back
2,000 years.

'..to the tropical jungle.'

Look at the chicken head.

There's some Chinese traditions
I don't like.

'And find out how
China's race to modernity

'is affecting
these ancient cultures.'

It's sort of a Chinese Disneyland.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd