Sichuan Cold Dish-ify [Anything]

Today we are going to teach you a formula of sorts for how to make some Chinese cold

dishes, liangbancai, focusing specifically on the Sichuan province, because this is a

big topic.

We’ll be showing you three classic flavor profiles: first, the kinda old school Shaoban,

toasted chili, that we’ll be showing you using some shredded chicken; second, Tangcu,

sweet-sour, an absurdly simple classic that we’ll just toss in with a bit of Daikon;

and Yuxiang fish fragrant, which we’ll be mixing in with some deep fried lotus root.

Of course, all that said, definitely know that the whole essence here is that you can

use any of these sauces with basically anything you want, so… all of these are actually

pretty much interchangeable.

So… feel free to serve the daikon in chili oil or the shredded chicken in a Yuxiang – obviously

you can follow these recipes but do think of this as more of a framework.

So.

First up, Shaoban.

For this sauce here these here are going to be our fundamental components – pause the

video if you want.

Hongyou, Sichuan chili oil; hulajiao, toasted chili flakes; some toasted sesame oil, and

soy sauce.

Now – two points here.

First, for that chili oil generally speaking you’ll want something good quality and homemade.

So if you already have some homemade Sichuan chili oil hanging around, do use it – this

recipe was also tested with some proper homemade hongyou as well.

But, as a 101 video we also wanted to keep things a bit approachable, so today we’ll

be starting this off with our quick-and-dirty Lao Gan Ma-based substitute.

To… make it, to a hot wok just toss in one tablespoon of oil together with an equal tablespoon

of Lao Gan Ma chili crisp.

Then to those, also toss in one teaspoon of a red, fragrant chili powder like Kashmiri

or Gochugaru together with a half teaspoon of a spicy chili powder like cayenne pepper.

Over a low flame just fry all that together until fragrant, about one or two minutes,

and then… set it aside.

Then, second thing.

For that toasted chili powder, today we’re gunna pounding our own from whole dried chilis

– but this might also be something you could just buy.

Something like this would be awesome…

Thai prik bon would also be pitch perfect and in a pinch something smoked like chipotle

would be slightly different but still delicious.

Either way, to do so, just toss a handful to a dry wok and toast over a medium-low flame,

stirring constantly.

Toast for about 8-10 minutes or until they’re just beginning to scorch, then, toss those