the wonderful Sichuan chili and spice mix...on everything.


lunch from the same place across the street from the guesthouse. they take me to the kitchen and let me pick out vegs and meat when pointing doesn't work. be glad you don't see the rest of the kitchen in the photos! be happy the food is good...questionable hygiene best forgotten


days before going to Chengdu i gobbled down Fuchia Dunlop's Sichuan cookery book, with drool on both sides of my mouth. the real Sichuan hotpot doesn't disappoint! we are given both broths in case we can't eat their famous red one...haha...it turns out we prefer the red stuff. only touch the white broth at the beginning. btw, i look around and only see people with young children have both broths. the rest only red! everyone's face is crimson. the restaurant specialises only hotpot. every table is taken, very noisy, very hot, and very delicious! RMB1 per skewer of anything. 7.5 euro for everything we consume. we could barely able to walk back to the guesthouse which is across a big road only around the corner or so.



this woman sells something in front of the hotpot restaurant. the kettle or whatever it is catches my attention so i buy a bowl. the pictures of the thing she makes don't turn out however. taken in complete darkness this time.



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Anyone can join us here to talk about food and the good life, or post your own food photos. Just keep it civil...that's it!
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does it keep boiling? and you dip the sticks of stuff in it?

I never did get into hotpot.

it has to continue boiling so that the meat is cooked. yes, you have to dip the sticks in it. at home i use a small pot and wired baskets with handles to cook the stuff, and to catch elusive little morsels that escape.

hotpot is fantastic. get into it now!

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does it keep boiling? and you dip the sticks of stuff in it?

I never did get into hotpot.

nice bits of food you got there... shame about the booze, China's never been known for good beer esp. after you've had german & belgian beers:) i see you had river fish with your hotpot soup... probably the best way to eat river fish(catfish & the other ?? fish) in Chengdu, they often smell of the river & tastes muddy but i bet you couldn't taste it or feel your mouth after that hot soup! ) That gooey dessert, that brings back memories, it's a old style country dessert, very hard to find these days in the West(Chinatowns). I sometimes have a craving for it... esp. the sweeten crushed peanuts that it gets rolled in.

DC.