It’s Trevor James

We’re going deep for noodles

And deep for street food

Bright and early here in Lonquan outside of Chengdu

Oh look at these fresh baozi

But we’re going to get some dan dan noodles

You can actually get these only out here in the rural area

Harder to find them in the city these days

I found a lot of good noodles in China

But nothing compares to the classic dan dan mian

In Sichuan, dan dan mian and zajiang mean are almost identical

So if you see either one

Order up a bowl

The bottom layer of chili oil

Sesame paste

Peppercorn powder

Vinegar

Salt, soy, and green onions is magical

And when mixed through, it’s heavenly

Wow, look at this

That looks insane

This is dan dan mian

All that ground pork on top

There’s fresh veg in there

And you’ve got to mix the noodles up

Because what’s on the bottom is the best

Look at that

Look at the chili oil on the bottom

This is just incredible

And this is a great way to start your day in Sichuan

It just smells fantastic

My mouth is watering right now

I got some baozi here

Oh this is a perfect morning breakfast

Look at this

Look at this

Here we go

MMMMM

OH, it’s just warm and soothing and spicy and fragrant

Oh and you just

I’m speechless

That chili oil is so fragrant and aromatic

Theres a slight touch of Sichuan peppercorn powder

Which is mixed throughout

Good morning Teacher!

Good morning!

Good bye!

I’m not a teacher

I’m an eater

That was really good

I’m actually just speechless

Those —AWWWW!!

That was great

They want a photo

And after breakfast

I made my way to a famous hole in the wall

Known locally as a fly restaurant

Really low hygiene standards

But famous famous food

So a lot of people have recommended this place to me here

So we gotta try it out

Ok!

Real hole in the wall here

some yingtao rou

Oh look at that

Mix it up in the bowl!

That’s pure chili oil there

That is romantic

Look at this

Oh, it’s like a food sanctuary

Look at this

This is Sichuan supreme here

Look at this

This is absolutely crazy

I’ve got six dishes of pure Sichuan authenticity

This is yingtao rou

Which is pork, fatty pork

Yingtou, which is cherries, probably stewed in cherry broth

I’m actually not too sure

We’re going to have to try that one out

This here is “Xian shao bai”

Which is steamed fatty pork

Over top of yacai, which is pickled mustard greens

Oh and look at these layers of fat on there

This over here

Is liangban bai rou

Which is cold tossed pork in a chili oil

And spices

Same over here

Which is liangban zhe’ergen

So these two are the same style

You see these all over Sichuan

You can get almost any dish

Any ingredient, liangban, tossed in chili oil and spices

So this is Sichuan fish root, zhe’ergen, super unique flavor

And over here these two dishes are steamed

We have fenzheng Paigu, which is steamed spare ribs covered in rice flour, chopped with green onions

And then over here

This is fenzheng feichang

Which is steamed intestines covered in that same rice flour and chilies

And that looks insane

First thing I really want to try is the yingtao rou

The cherry pork

MMM

Oh

Instant pleasure

It’s soft, fatty, oily, and you can taste the cherry

The cherry flavor is infused through there, slightly sweet

And as I kept trying dish by dish

The numbing spice began to build and build in my mouth

The cold Sichuan salads were insanely hot

And I was ready for a warm renewal of flavour with the steamed intestines

But what I got was something completely different and unpleasant

Oh and that Sichuan peppercorn is building on me

My mouth is starting to get numb

We’re going to try the fenzheng feichang

My mouth is just burning

Now that

That is nasty

I don’t even want to —

Oh my

That tastes like s***

Oh god

I need a drink

Oh I don’t like that

That’s really bad with the Sichuan peppercorn

And the fenzheng feichang

The intestine

I need a drink

I need that

I need a drink

And after that big feast, I went to one of Chengdu’s hundreds of tea parks

To digest and chill out like they do in Southwest China

One of the reasons why I love southwest china is because after you’re full

When you’re waiting for your next meal

You can come enjoy some tea in a tea park

Nothin like it

You can sit here, digest, and wait for the next meal

Oh yea

Just took the subway

We’re going hunting for more

So we made it way out the rural part of Chengdu

And I came here specifically to this Chinese muslim area

To try some special beef and rabbit

Let’s take a look

We’re going to go down the way

And get some more

Here we are

Another little joint

Oh yeah

awesome!Let's go eat

So we have some awesome qingzhen, Chinese muslim food here

All beef here and mutton

Oh yeah look at this

This is like qingzhen style Chinese muslim fenzhengrou

It’s with beef

Kind of similar to what I had at lunch

Let’s try that out

Now that

That is the best fenzhenrou I’ve ever had

I’ve had a lot of fenzhengrou

But this one is just packed with flavor

It’s really soft

It has a consistency kind of like a porridge

It’s that soft

Like a rice porridge

Except it’s packed with flavor

This one’s a little smoky

There is like tons of raw garlic on there see that?

Oh that is powerful!

Fatty!

Soft!

This is good!

This is next level here!

I’m going to take one of these lamb kebabs

And put it into the fuqifeipian here

And that is just going to douse it in flavor

Legendary!