Food: The many words for spice(1)
By Alan Phillips 2009-3-2 11:45:00
The English language suffers from a lack of words to describe tastes and flavors. For example, we have only one word to describe every kind of intense or peppery flavor: “spicy.” This word is vague because we use it to label any non-bland flavor from cinnamon to oregano to jalapeño. We do have the word “hot” to describe the intensity of chili peppers, but this is actually even less useful since “hot” really means, well... “hot.” This makes it tough to talk about Chinese food, and Sichuan cuisine in particular, because there are actually several very distinct flavors in Sichuan cooking that all come under the umbrella of “spicy” or “hot.”
The Chinese language, however, has several words to describe the different kinds of spicy flavors. We don’t usually think of these as being different flavors of “spicy” in English, but in Chinese cuisine these differences often define the regional cooking styles.
The most common kind of spicy flavor is called la (辣) in Mandarin. This is the flavor of chili peppers, or lajiao (辣椒). Hot chili peppers are used by the bushel in Sichuan cooking, both fresh peppers and dried. Despite their popularity in Sichuan cuisine, there actually is not a large variety of chili peppers in China. In markets of Chongqing and Sichuan provinces, I’ve only seen small round peppers and long green ones. There is not the variety you find in the American southwest and Mexico such as jalapeño, serrano, habañero, chipotle and the like. This is probably because chili peppers are actually not native to China. According to my college archeology professors, chili peppers are native to the New World. But in the past five hundred years the people of Sichuan have adopted chili peppers as their own and made them a central part of the cuisine.
A second word for spicy flavor in Chinese is ma (麻). This is the flavor of Sichuan peppercorns, or huajiao (花椒). “Ma” literally mean “numb” in Mandarin and it accurately describes the sensation of Sichuan peppercorns on the tongue. Huajiao is rarely found in Chinese restaurants in the U. S. Only the most authentic Sichuan restaurants will serve dishes with huajiao.
People are rarely neutral in their opinion of huajiao. The Sichuan peppercorns have the kind of taste that people either really love or really despise. They taste something like a combination of black pepper, chili pepper and dentist’s novocain. Kung Pao chicken is a dish that has lots of huajiao in it when served in China, but the American version often omits it. If you order Kung Pao in Chinatown and your tongue’s not tingling with numbness, then you got the watered-down version.
The Chinese language, however, has several words to describe the different kinds of spicy flavors. We don’t usually think of these as being different flavors of “spicy” in English, but in Chinese cuisine these differences often define the regional cooking styles.
The most common kind of spicy flavor is called la (辣) in Mandarin. This is the flavor of chili peppers, or lajiao (辣椒). Hot chili peppers are used by the bushel in Sichuan cooking, both fresh peppers and dried. Despite their popularity in Sichuan cuisine, there actually is not a large variety of chili peppers in China. In markets of Chongqing and Sichuan provinces, I’ve only seen small round peppers and long green ones. There is not the variety you find in the American southwest and Mexico such as jalapeño, serrano, habañero, chipotle and the like. This is probably because chili peppers are actually not native to China. According to my college archeology professors, chili peppers are native to the New World. But in the past five hundred years the people of Sichuan have adopted chili peppers as their own and made them a central part of the cuisine.
A second word for spicy flavor in Chinese is ma (麻). This is the flavor of Sichuan peppercorns, or huajiao (花椒). “Ma” literally mean “numb” in Mandarin and it accurately describes the sensation of Sichuan peppercorns on the tongue. Huajiao is rarely found in Chinese restaurants in the U. S. Only the most authentic Sichuan restaurants will serve dishes with huajiao.
People are rarely neutral in their opinion of huajiao. The Sichuan peppercorns have the kind of taste that people either really love or really despise. They taste something like a combination of black pepper, chili pepper and dentist’s novocain. Kung Pao chicken is a dish that has lots of huajiao in it when served in China, but the American version often omits it. If you order Kung Pao in Chinatown and your tongue’s not tingling with numbness, then you got the watered-down version.
From sampan.org