Explore Journeys > Geography Tours > Flower Pepper Duck

FLOWER PEPPER DUCK

Sichuan cuisine is the tastiest within China. Although most foreigners are familiar with Cantonese food – most Chinese restaurants outside China are Cantonese restaurants – and a few other classics (such as roasted duck, a Beijing speciality), it’s Sichuan food that stands out most eminently within China. Yet even such fame still doesn’t do justice to Sichuan food: Sichuan cuisine is actually one of the world’s best, up there on the same level as Thai and French in terms of verve and distinctiveness and creativity and taste. And in terms of ingredients, Sichuan cuisine is the most varied in the world, a variety that’s the result of geography: the mountains in Sichuan with their stratified habitats and different climes and moist conditions hold the largest concentration of temperate species on earth, and this variety has obviously made into the pot. 

Our culinary adventure is designed provide you with a working knowledge of Sichuan cuisine during an exotic food tour. Think of our tour not so much as a cookery course, but as linking food with travel. We make the food part of the travel adventure, choosing settings (or destinations) for their association with particular foodstuffs and also for the independent merits of the sights. After all, only on four days out of thirteen days overall do we have instruction modules akin to classes, and the settings isn’t some dull classroom or restaurant as others do: our setting is an authentic village farm, and the class assembles in the shade of an impressive banyan tree 2,000 years old.

The teaching part is conducted in a practical manner to make it easy to assimilate: we promise you that afterwards you will be able to use the techniques and ingredients of Sichuan food to improve your overall cooking at home, and of course to be able to do a banquet of Sichuan food that would impress even recalcitrant dinner guests. Throughout the tour, we will introduce various modules, with each module introducing a sub-branch of Sichuan cuisine, and then preparing dishes that serve to illustrate that module’s subtopic. The teaching part of the tour is conducted at a village farm, where farmers are organised in a cooperative, producing foodstuffs for a select number of supermarkets and also restaurants. The cooperative employs expert agronomists to constantly improve the farming techniques, and cultivation is quasi-organic – the farm is called The Happy Farm (a clichéd name, but an interesting and successful setup and venture). 

Our culinary adventure – and subsequent travels – are built in three phases that are intermingled to make the programme more varied and eclectic. These are the following:

Phase 1: Happy Farm cookery modules

The instruction modules will be delivered at the Happy Farm over four days that are scattered throughout the 13-day programme. We will lodge in the nearby town – 15 minutes drive away – and then go to the farm where the instruction will take place at the restaurant on site (the farm has a rustically funky restaurant that caters for discerning residents of nearby cities as well as tourists). The instructor will be the restaurant’s chef, and food preparation by the participants will take place in the traditional Chinese courtyard under the shade of a massive banyan tree – the banyan tree, rising about seven storeys high and with a trunk that’s as bulky as a pickup truck, is an incredible 2000 years old. During the food preparation, virtually all ingredients will be sourced directly at the farm (pastes and condiments will come from the restaurant’s own kitchen, and speciality foods such as black bean sauce and Sichuan pepper corms are purchased). The instructor will introduce Sichuan cuisine, and then focus on categories of dishes in each module: each module would then have a handful of dishes that are prepared by participants. The instructor will focus on the following categories of dishes: 

• We will learn how to do some standard soups, using ingredients such as berries and herbs, and practice making a soup with seaweed, beans, and pork ribs; simple duck or chicken soup; egg and tomato soup; and soup with meat balls and mushrooms. 
• No banquet in Sichuan is complete without a salad. Famous salads that we learn include the cold cuts of meat with chilli oil and sesame seeds (meat can be chicken or beef), salad with thick rice noodles (called liang fen), salad with shredded vegetables, and cured meats. 
• Out of thousands of possible dishes, a dozen sauces are chosen for the participants to make – dishes chosen are delicious and practical from a Westerner point of view. We start by teaching participants how a ‘taste’ is created in Sichuan cuisine by combining certain flavours, and then practice the techniques by making some dishes: these include mapo doufu (tofu in minced pork, black bean sauce, chilli oil, and ground Sichuan pepper), tudou sai paiguo (ribs cooked in stew with chopped potatoes and other ingredients), bamboo beef stew (a stew of beef and bamboo), fen zhen rou (beef with split rice steamed in pungent herbs), and many more. 
• Tofu in Sichuan is like cheese in south Europe – it comes in a variety of forms, colours, and textures. The preparation, use, and consumption of tofu will be introduced in one teaching module – you will learn how to do soft tofu and soya milk (it’s so easy to make soya milk that you would not need to buy expensive soya milk from Western supermarkets ever again if you desire). We also learn how to use other forms of tofu and how to eat the different incarnations of tofu.
• Dumplings, which can be steamed or boiled, are like snacks in China, and people especially eat dumplings for breakfast. There are two types of dumplings, the ones steamed in bamboo baskets and the ones boiled in the water. It’s the latter ones that we will focus on as they can easily be done in participants’ kitchen: we will learn how to do the dough and the different types of fillings, and then practice doing the filling and cooking the dumplings.

Restaurant visits

When we are not travelling we will lodge in the nearby town of Deyang – a town that is a hybrid of modernity and traditionalism, and just 15 minutes drive from the Happy Farm – and on alternative days we will do teaching at the farm and then field visits to speciality restaurants. The aim is to enjoy the excellent restaurant food in a Sichuanese city, to make the course more varied and engaging, and also to learn something about speciality or delicacy food. We will visit the following speciality restaurants:

• Noodle house. Here we will learn how the chef makes the famous fresh noodles by hand (which is a great photo opportunity), and finally makes the various sauces that are served with the noodles.
• Roasted duck and other duck delicacies. At a restaurant that does fusion of Sichuan and other Chinese regional cuisines, we will learn how the restaurant does the famous roasted duck (this is sometimes referred to as “crispy duck” or “Peking duck” or “Beijing duck” in the West). In the same session, we will also learn how other specialty duck dishes are made; these include the excellent stir-fried duck tongue (soft meat and cartilage, very tasty).
• Mushroom hotpot. The most famous dish in Sichuan is the spicy hotpot, in which the broth is made from beef fat, and then diners cook pieces of raw meats or veggies in the bubbling soup on the table. It’s indeed a classic dish, but better for health and taste is the mushroom hotpot – the broth is made from black chicken and mushrooms, and more mushrooms are cooked in the soup by diners. We will visit a restaurant that specialises in mushroom hotpot, where we see how the hotpot is created from three dozen different varieties of mushrooms (including many wild mushrooms), and then enjoy the exquisite feast of mushrooms. 
• Rugged country dishes. Farmer’s restaurants in the area are famous among the middle classes – these people go to these restaurants to eat no-nonsense rustic dishes served in authentic farmhouse settings. These restaurants normally specialise – one does fish freshly caught from rivers for example, and many cook rabbit grown free range – but all prepare the dishes using the same techniques. The dishes are a bit rugged, rather oily and spicy, but that’s part of their allure – they represent hearty and traditional and rustic country food. We will feast at two of these restaurants on separate lunches, where we will watch the preparation of the dishes.
• Fresh market. On one morning, we will visit a fresh market to check out the colourful assembly of exotic ingredients, prepared sauces and condiments, and fast food outlets (mostly the steamed dumpling restaurants). At the market we will get acquainted with fresh ingredients and how they may be used in the cuisine (it’s also a great opportunity to take pictures). 
• Shifang duck. The nearby town of Shifang has bequeathed cuisine with an excellent cold dish of cured duck. The duck is marinated it in local rice whiskey, then smoked and dried, and finally, on the day that it’s served, it is boiled in herbs and water, cooled and served cold. On one day we will visit a household that does a famously delicious cold duck – it has been a family business for generations – and then sell the duck in a stall in the town centre. We will learn how they prepare the duck and run their entire cottage industry, and of course sample the duck for dinner. 

Regional travel

Throughout our course or tour, we will do various side-trips to nearby destinations where we will see exotic country sights of Sichuan and also learn more about the regional food specialities. We will travel to the following places:

• Mountain farmers. Life has changed little in the mountains at the southern rim of the Sichuan basin, where the peasants rake a living from the cultivation of major crops (mostly maize) and live in hamlets that consist of old-style wooden houses that seem to morph out of Chinese fantasy pictures. The houses are decorated with folk prints and old Chinese recitations as well as figures of deities that ward evil and bestow good luck. Groves of bamboo are grown around the farmhouses, planted for the utilitarian value in making furniture and other household implements, and also for its totemic value (the peasants in the south of Sichuan believe that bamboo has talismanic powers). The villages are picturesquely set in the subtropical mountains, where the climate is famously wet: streams and rivers meander along the plains and valleys, and there are several dramatic features such as deep dark gorges, thundering waterfalls, and mist-shrouded lakes. The people here have their own specialty food, and this is the reason for visiting this area particularly. We will stay in the gateway village, which has restaurants and guesthouses and old monuments such as temple and civil hall and opera house, and then we will explore the surrounding villages. Among the speciality foods here is dou hua, which is light-consistency tofu made in traditional stone mills and served for breakfast. Corn is also widely used, and here we will learn how to make corn bread and corn dumplings. 
• New Year Paintings village. The smallness and obscurity of the New Year Painting village belie the village’s long and illustrious history. The village gave rise to one of China’s top four subgenres of the so-called “New Year Paintings” – they are called as such because traditionally people made the paintings during new year period. It’s a village of charming, old-style farmhouse houses covered by white stucco, and on the exteriors of the houses there are the famous folk paintings that depict children and comical characters doing folksy things such as harvesting or fishing. These paintings symbolise virtues such as happiness, bountifulness, harmony, prosperity, humbleness, and so on. It’s all an accurate representation of the village and the surrounding agricultural land: the fields in the vicinity are supplied with limitless water and are very productive, and the area is known for its groves of loquat, pear and peach, as well as a large tea estate and a flower farm – the farm, run like a cooperative, produces perfume, soap, rose tea, and other boutique products from roses and tulips. We will stay at the village overnight, spending two days in the village and farms, lodging and coking with a local family. 
• Mengdeng tea. There is much more to making and drinking tea than you will ever imagine: the closest equivalent, in the West, is the making of wine. It’s the same with tea in China, making tea is both an art and a science, and we will travel to the ultimate tea source: the place where tea was first discovered and drunk in the Mengdeng mountains thousands of years ago. Even today, the region is still dominated by tea: the subtropical mountains are full of tea estates grown over the undulating terrain. Here we will learn the subtle secrets employed in the preparation of tea: we will learn how the taste of the tea is affected by the soil, the amount of watering, the time of harvesting, the maturity of the buds at harvest, the amount drying the leaves, and other factors. A tea master controls all the factors to make premium tea, and the enjoyment of the tea also extends to the preparation prior to drinking – the best brews are achieved when the tea is prepared using the kung fu tea ceremony. We will learn all of this during our visit to a museum about the history of tea, a tea plantation, and also teahouses.
• Sichuan opera and old teahouses. Sichuan opera has evolved its own distinct style, and it’s renowned for the rapidity with which the performers change their masks – and hence their persona – during the opera, and also the masterly use of fire, with the performers literally breathing or blowing fire. On one day we will visit Chengdu to see Sichuan opera and also visit some traditional teahouses. We will start by visiting the Wenshu Temple, the largest Buddhist temple in Chengdu, where we will explore the courtyard teahouse and then have a lunch at the temple’s delectable vegetarian restaurant. In the afternoon we will attend a performance of Sichuan opera, and then go sip some tea – and take in the atmosphere – at the evocative teahouse found in People’s Park. Then, for dinner, we will eat at a speciality restaurant that specialises in tofu dishes: the restaurants distinguishes itself by making modern and creative tofu dishes. 
• Farmer’s village. On one day we will visit a farmer’s village in the low stooping mountains that are like a spine running in the northeast part of the Sichuan basin, just 30 minutes drive from the Happy Farm. Even here, we will find farmers who seem to be trapped in a time-capsule: they live in rammed earth farmhouses and completely subsist off the land. We will go to one old farmhouse to have a look at the farmers’ way of life here, and then have picnic lunch in the courtyard of the farmhouse. If desired, a private group of travellers could also spend a day learning to weave accessories such as baskets from bamboo.
• Panda base. The course will include a visit to the panda research base in Chengdu; this will give us an opportunity to see these fascinating animals upclose and learn a little about their conservation status and behaviour. 

Start & Finish: Chengdu

Duration: 13 days

Prices: Highest-end prices start at RMB15,000 (€1,590 or US$2,150) total per person for two participants; RMB12,500 (€1,300 or US$1,700) each for three participants, RMB9,900 for four participants, and then continues to fall commensurably thereafter depending on the size of the group. The price is all-inclusive; the only things that aren’t covered are incidental or superfluous personal expenses.

Crew & Vehicle: Vehicles range from a seven-seat aircon van for a group of up to 4 travellers, then 10-seater or 17-seater mini-bus for larger groups. The crew consists of professional driver, chef instructor, interpreter and tour leader. 

Accommodation: Three or four-star hotels in Deyang city; guesthouse on two nights in Shangli, homestay on one night at the New Year Painting village.  

Dynamic Prices & Flexible Arrangements: Since we mostly cater for private groups on customised tours, the itinerary here is a default or suggested itinerary that we usually alter depending on the clients’ budget and preferences in case of private groups. The prices quoted above are for a full complement of crew and mid-range hotels. You can change these arrangements to something that suits you better – find out more about ways with customised arrangements at Dynamic Pricing.  

Sichuan Food Tour: In the case of private group, we can shorten or lengthen the course or tour according to your desire and timing. We can also change the amount and type of instruction – either have more involved and longer instruction and less field visits or travels, or opt for lighter instruction or explanations and more travel. You could even have a tour solely focused on food as a travel discovery and understanding of culture: this would be an eclectic itinerary that maximises exposure or indulgence of a variety of Sichuan eating experiences, without including any instruction at all – simply a Sichuan food tour. Write to us to discuss customising the food tour. 

Detailed Info: For any questions or more details about this tour, please write to us.

Terms & Conditions: For the general terms and conditions that govern our tours and operation, and Frequently Asked Questions, please go to Nitty Gritty (FAQs)