For those who crave spice, these dishes define Chengdu’s fiery palette
Most famous for turning the spice dial to 11, Chengdu delivers Sichuan peppercorn flakes and other sumptuous bites that linger on your lips. In steamy street stalls and bustling neighbourhood eateries, these Chinese spice-laden dishes are guaranteed to engulf you in heat and flavour.
Hot pot
Prepare to spit hot fire from the mind-blowing heat of Chengdu-style hot pot. Following in the footsteps of its sister city, Chongqing, Chengdu’s hot pot base is built on a richly spiced broth infused with aromatic oils, imbuing everything it touches with an intense, layered heat. Mala is the predominant flavour, thanks to the numbing sensation of Sichuan peppercorns coupled with fiery dried chillies. Ingredients range from sliced meat to tofu and seafood, all swished through the roiling pot before being dragged through dipping sauces heavy on sesame oil and garlic. It’s communal, chaotic and unapologetically intense. Try it at: Xiaolong Kan Huoguo (2/F, No 36 Dong Da Jie)
Red oil wontons
While wontons are ubiquitous throughout China, only in Chengdu will you find red oil wontons (hongyou chaoshou). Coated in glistening chilli oil, these crescent-shaped pockets of joy appear on nearly every street corner, where each shop tweaks the recipe just enough to inspire fierce loyalty among the regulars. As you stir, the warmth of the just-boiled wontons loosens the sauce, coating each morsel in silky oil, dried chillies, sweet soy sauce, garlic and tongue-tingling peppercorns. The result is deceptively simple yet deeply addictive. Try it at: Chun Yang Guan Yuxiang Paigu Mian (No 2, Blk 8, Jixiang St)
Sweet water noodles
Sweet water noodles (tianshuimian) spotlight Sichuan’s signature “strange flavour” (guaiwei) – a deft balance of spicy, salty, sour, sweet and sesame. Rope-like al dente noodles are swaddled in soy sauce, chilli oil, sesame and garlic pastes, crushed peanuts, Sichuan peppercorns and brown sugar syrup, creating a slick gravy that varnishes each strand with lip-tingling spice. Try it at: Shen Tang Tian Shuimian (No 5, Blk 2, Xinneng Ln, Fangcao St)
Mapo tofu
Cast-iron skillets bubble with custardy cubes of soft tofu that melt on the tongue yet hold their shape just enough to be deftly lifted with chopsticks. Slathered in a chilli-oil stew enriched with minced meat, the dish delivers layers of heat and savoury depth – perfect with rice. Beloved across the country, mapo tofu traces its origins to a humble Chengdu mom-and-pop shop, where bold seasoning turned simple ingredients into a national classic. Try it at: Chen Mapo Doufu (No 10–12, Blk 10, Qinghua St)
