When it comes to Chinese food, Sichuan cuisine is probably my second favourite out of the eight main cuisines of China, right after Cantonese, and it is certainly one of Ellie’s top three. Recently, the good people of Barshu restaurant in Soho, a stone’s throw away from London’s Chinatown, invited us to check out their Sichuan cuisine. So we did.
SICHUAN – A FASCINATING PROVINCE
Sichuan is one of the more interesting provinces in terms of its history, geography, and nature, not just its cuisine. The Western part of the region sits on the Tibetan Plateau and used to form part of Tibet over many centuries. Today, less than 2% of the population of Sichuan are ethnic Tibetans. The tallest mountain is Mount Gongga. With its 7,556m of elevation, it is the third highest mountain outside the Himalaya/Karakoram range. The forests are teeming with giant panda bears. Well, there are more pandas in the wild here than anywhere else in the world. It’s still only about 1,400 of them. For some time, until the provinces’ borders were redrawn, Sichuan was the most populous province of the most populous country in the world, and during WWII, China’s capital was located in Chongqing, which, until the late 1990s formed part of Sichuan. If Sichuan were a country in its own right, it would be the 18th largest economy in the world, ahead of Argentina, Belgium, Poland, and Sweden.
All pics incl. feature pic (c) BerkeleySqB.
THE NOTORIOUS SICHUAN PEPPER
The cuisine is dominated by the use of Sichuan pepper, which is included in the majority of dishes, often in generous amounts. It is very potent, mildly peppery, but also a bit acidic and lemony. Top quality Sichuan pepper can taste more like medicine than spice, in a good way. When eaten, Sichuan pepper produces a numbing, tongue-tingling effect due to the presence of sanshools, which are related to capsaicin, the molecule responsible for a somewhat similar sensation when eating chili peppers. Sichuan pepper tends to transform other flavours in its vicinity. It is often combined with chili peppers to create a flavour known as málà (Chinese for numb-spiciness). Considering how prevalent red chili peppers are in Sichuan cooking, it is puzzling to think that this spice only arrived with Portuguese traders in the 16th Century from Latin America. Perhaps surprisingly, Sichuan pepper is not closely related to any true peppers. Instead, it is the dried berry of the prickly ash tree and a member of the citrus family. The Chinese call it “flower pepper.”
A VARIETY OF SICHUAN PEPPERS IN MANY DIFFERENT CUISINES
There are a wide variety of Sichuan peppers, some merely used for culinary, others for medicinal purposes. The two main distinctions are green vs. red peppercorns, and fresh versus dried. Red pepper is the more common variety and much stronger in flavour, while the green variety is more fragrant, milder, and has a stronger numbing effect. While it isn’t necessarily called Sichuan pepper in other parts of the world, the spice is an important ingredient in Nepalese, Bhutanese, Tibetan, Kashmiri, Northeast Indian as well as in other Chinese cuisines. Five-spice powder, used in almost all Chinese cuisines, is usually made up of Sichuan pepper, star anise, cloves, Chinese cinnamon, and fennel seeds, for example. Barshu import all their peppers and chilies directly from China.
On the right: Barshu’s signature roast sea bass with aromatic sauce.
TYPICAL SICHUAN DISHES AT BARSHU RESTAURANT LONDON
By far the most popular meat in the province is pork. There are many chicken dishes. Beef is far more popular than in any other province, even though it is still only used in a small percentage of dishes. There are a myriad of typical Sichuan dishes, with the most popular and well-known ones probably being bon bon chicken (shredded chicken mixed with dark, toasty sesame sauce), dandan noodles (dan dan mian), kung pao chicken (gong bao ji ding; cubed chicken, roasted peanuts, vegetables such as spring onions, chilies with a light sweet-and-sour sauce), mapo doufu (literally “pockmarked old woman’s tofu”, after its inventor; tofu cubes, ground beef, salty sweet black beans in mala sauce), Sichuan hot pot (the most popular one of all Chinese hot pot dishes and very spicy), double-cooked pork (hui guo rou; very thin, very fatty strips of pork belly, first boiled then wok-fried, served with vegetables, usually including black beans and leek), bo-bo chicken (a kind of cold ‘hot pot’ with vegetables and chicken on wooden sticks), Sichuan barbecue, yu xiang qie (fish fragrant eggplant) and yu xiang rou si (fish fragrant shredded pork), as well as Chongqing-style numbing hot noodle soup (mala xiao mian). Almost all of these dishes can be found on Barshu’s menu.
SICHUAN CUISINE AT BARSHU RESTAURANT LONDON
I’ve been told by those in the know, that Sichuan dishes should never taste of a single overpowering ingredient or have just one flavour like sweet, spicy, bitter, or salty. Apparently, it is the complexity and combination of flavours that is typical for the local cuisine. In addition to the aforementioned mala flavour, there are about 20 other main flavours, including fish fragrant (yu xiang wei), which, despite its name does not include any fish. Instead, it got its name because it uses seasoning traditionally reserved for fish dishes (even though not in Sichuan cuisine), such as pickled red chilies, sugar, vinegar, combined with soy sauce and a truckload of garlic, among others.
Dan dan noodles, sweetcorn soup.
‘GARLIC PASTE FLAVOUR,’ ‘MOUTHWATERING,’ ‘SPICY SESAME,’ ‘WINE FRAGRANT,’ AND ‘STRANGE FLAVOUR’ AT BARSHU RESTAURANT LONDON
Then there is garlic paste flavour (suan ni wei), using mashed garlic, chili oil, sesame oil, combined with soy sauce that’s been simmered with brown sugar and spices. Mouthwatering (kou shui wei) uses a sauce made from red chili oil, sesame paste, vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce. Spicy sesame combines a heavy sesame paste with the mala flavour. Wine fragrant is based on the pressed lees left over from rice wine production and the actual rice wine itself, among other ingredients. My favourite flavour, at least going by its name, has to be strange flavour (guai wei), used for cold dishes, and employing a concoction of dark rice vinegar, garlic, ginger, scallion, Sichuan pepper, and chili oil.
PICKLES, FERMENTED BROAD BEANS AND SOY BEANS AT BARSHU RESTAURANT LONDON
Other popular ingredients in the cuisine are pickled (e.g. ‘Sichuan preserved vegetable’, a pickled mustard tuber) and fermented vegetables (e.g. fermented beans), doubanjiang, a bright red, very salty paste made from fermented broad beans, as well as douchi, a paste made from fermented black soybeans, which is even saltier, so only sparingly used.
Whelk, pork tripe.
BARSHU RESTAURANT LONDON OPENED IN 2006
Barshu opened in Soho’s Frith Street almost 20 years ago and has not moved since. Three years after opening, the Michelin Guide started to recommend the restaurant, and continues to do so to this day. We like this part of Soho and used to frequent a number of places, like Kettner’s and the French House, around the corner. Upon arrival, we were greeted by the friendly staff and led to our table. The interior décor is pleasant and sound-absorbing.
ORDERING OUR FOOD AT BARSHU RESTAURANT LONDON
We had had a look at the online menu beforehand, and read some reviews to find out about the popular dishes. However, the sheer length of the menu was still slightly overwhelming, in a good way. After lengthy deliberations, we finally made up our minds and ordered a bottle of Tsing Tao beer (£5.90) and a lychee juice (£4.50), shredded pork tripe with chili oil (#7; £11.90), spinach with shredded ginger (#9; £8.90), sliced whelk with Sichuan pepper (#13; £12.90), salt and pepper soft shell crab (#18; £10.50), Barshu sweetcorn soup with egg (#29; £5.50), Barshu’s signature dish roast sea bass with aromatic sauce (#52; £39.90), “the legendary dan dan noodles with minced pork” (#122; £8.90), and some steamed rice (#138; £3.50).
PEOPLE STOPPING ON THE STREET TO PEEK AT OUR FOOD
The drinks arrived quickly, and a very reasonable 15 minutes later all of the dishes we had ordered arrived, too. We probably ordered much more than we needed, but we are both very good eaters and we felt hungry after a long walk, earlier that day. Piled up on our table, the feast looked so impressive that about two dozen passers-by (we had a table next to a street-facing window) stopped to stare at our dishes. Salivating. We didn’t mind.
BARSHU RESTAURANT’S SIGNATURE ROAST SEA BASS WITH AROMATIC SAUCE
Our only proper main dish, the seabass, looked very impressive, having been split butterfly-style, sitting in a massive tray filled with bright red, comparatively mild, mala-inspired ‘aromatic sauce.’ It was crispy on the outside, but had retained a lovely texture on the inside. The vegetables that were floating in the sauce, such as the slices of lotus root, had great texture. Their flavour was heavily impacted by the sauce, as expected. With Sichuan being about 1,000km (600mi) away from the nearest ocean, sea bass is probably not a local food staple. But Londoners, on average, are not that keen on carp and catfish, and sea bass happens to be my wife’s favourite fish. So I think we are all good.
Soft shell crab, spinach.
DELIGHTFUL DAN DAN NOODLES, SEA SNAILS, TRIPE
Our favourite were probably the dan dan noodles with minced pork, a surprisingly substantial dish (for a starter/snack), with powerful meaty flavours. We both loved the Barshu sweetcorn soup with egg white. Unsurprisingly (to me), my good wife, who had given me her permission to ‘do my thing’ and order sea snails and offal, was not super-invested in those two dishes. That said, it is rather impressive that she had several bites of both dishes and didn’t seem too displeased. I myself, rather enjoyed both dishes. To be frank, when I order relatively exotic dishes like this, I don’t normally expect them to blow my mind and become my new favourite thing in the world. Instead, I want to try something new and be surprised, a bit like going on a culinary expedition. Neither dish was chewy, both tasted very refreshing and rather delightful, even though I wouldn’t order them again (there are too many other dishes to check out!).
THE SOFT-SHELL CRAB AT BARSHU RESTAURANT LONDON
Considering that we’ve both been to Singapore on more than one occasion and have various Singaporean friends, it is sad that over the years we’ve been so utterly spoiled with some of the best soft shell crabs this planet has on offer (they are very popular at the tip of the Malay peninsula). This meant that any other soft shell crab would almost certainly fight an uphill battle, and this one has done well for itself. Good effort. The spinach with shredded ginger was an unexpected highlight and we will definitely order it again on our next visit. Finally, Ellie seemed pretty much blown away by her lychee juice, which, at £4.50 looked like a real bargain.
BARSHU RESTAURANT LONDON – CONCLUSION
We will be back soon for some more Sichuan dishes. 4 out of 5 in our book.
Looking for more London restaurant reviews? Feel welcome to eyeball my posts about ICCO Pizza in Fitzrovia, Kibako in Fitzrovia, RAI in Bloomsbury, Café East in Canada Water, and RedFarm in Covent Garden. I’ve also blogged about London tours by helicopter and kayak, my recent Northwest Passage Expedition, my visit to Papua New Guinea, indoor ice-climbing, outdoor ice-climbing, rock-climbing, caving, running, swimming, and how peasants’ food became posh.
