Comments by "佐々木楓(^.^)" (@Kaede-Sasaki) on "Chongqing - Nightlife in the Chinese megacity | DW Documentary" video.
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@eriksonyw
I looked this up on chat gpt as it was interesting:
Before 1492, Chinese cuisine was quite different from what we might recognize today, particularly in its absence of chili peppers, which are now integral to many regional dishes. Peppers were introduced to China in the 16th century after being brought from the Americas by Portuguese traders. Prior to this, Chinese cuisine relied on other sources of heat and flavor.
Here are some of the key characteristics of Chinese cuisine before the arrival of chili peppers:
1. **Spices and Aromatics**: Chinese cooks used a variety of local spices and aromatics to flavor dishes, such as ginger, garlic, onions, and Chinese cinnamon (cassia). Sichuan cuisine, known today for its use of chili peppers, relied heavily on Sichuan peppercorns for a numbing, tingling heat (má là) instead.
2. **Fermented Ingredients**: Fermented products like soy sauce, fermented black beans (douchi), fermented tofu, and vinegar were key umami-rich ingredients. These added depth and complexity to dishes without the heat from peppers.
3. **Herbs**: Fragrant herbs like cilantro, green onions, and Chinese chives were commonly used to add freshness and complexity to dishes.
4. **Other Flavor Profiles**: The balance of flavors — sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and savory (umami) — was still important, even without the heat from peppers. Ingredients like honey, maltose, Chinese plums, and sugar were used for sweetness, while soy sauce, salt, and pickled vegetables brought in the salty and umami aspects.
5. **Cooking Techniques**: Stir-frying, steaming, braising, and boiling were widely used methods of cooking, with sauces often built on soy sauce, vinegar, or wine bases.
In regions like Sichuan, where chili peppers later became central to local cuisine, cooks relied more on aromatic spices and the numbing quality of Sichuan peppercorns to achieve a distinct flavor profile, even without the fiery heat we associate with Sichuan dishes today.
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