火锅Chengdu
How to make a Sichuan hotpot dipping sauce like a local
Sichuan hotpot does not come with sauce. You mix it yourself from a bar, and the locals' bowl is nothing like what tourists make.
100–150 RMB ppPrice
ChengduCity
火锅油碟In Chinese
Step by step
- Take a bowl, fill it one third with sesame oil (香油). This is the oil dish (油碟). It cools the chili, it does not add heat.
- Add a spoon of minced garlic, a pinch of coriander, a few drops of oyster sauce. Stop there. No peanut sauce, that is a northern thing.
- Order the broth as half-and-half (鸳鸯锅) and say mild (微辣). Mild still bites. Extra-mild does not exist.
- Tripe (毛肚) goes in for 15 seconds, swish it: seven up, eight down. Duck intestine 10 seconds. Potato slices 3 minutes.
Where to go
Any branch of Xiaolongkan (小龙坎) or Shu Da Xia (蜀大侠) is fine. Skewer hotpot (串串) shops near Jinli are cheaper and more fun.
The one mistake
Drinking the red broth from the ladle. It is 40 percent chili oil. It is not soup.
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Before you fly
How much English is there?
Hotels and airports, yes. Restaurants, taxis and shops, mostly no. That is why every card here ends with a phrase to show. Download the Chinese pack for your translate app's camera before you fly.
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Check your passport against China's official lists.