- [Trevor] Comin up,
we're goin on a deep backstreet,
Sichuan street food breakfast tour.
Starting out bright and early
in the noodle joints and
backstreets of Neijiang, Sichuan.
You can follow along with us
on this Sichuan street food series
as we travel from Chengdu
down south to Yunnan,
following the ancient tea horse road.
And in this episode,
we found five amazing Sichuan street foods
and some super friendly people.
Make sure to watch until the end
to discover all these unique
Sichuan street foods with us.
Let's eat.
Alright to check it out it's Trevor James.
We are deep in Sichuan in Neijiang,
and today we're gonna
go for a big breakfast
and street food tour
through the morning markets.
I can't wait.
Let's go check it out.
Before the morning market,
we made our way to a local noodle joint
to get a bowl of the best and spiciest
beef noodle soup in Neijiang,
at a place named Guǎfù miàn
meaning widow's noodles.
And as soon as you walk up,
you notice the huge amount
of garlic and chilies.
You notice all these chilies and garlic
and spices all laid out on the table
ready to make spicy bowls of noodles.
And when you see the locals slurping away,
you know it's gonna be good.
These are some of the best noodles
you can try in Sichuan.
- [Trevor] Been open 40 years here,
we're gonna have to order one.
- Yeah there's just looking at this
there's so many chilies--
So many chilies,
so many spices, and tons of garlic.
- Chinese ingredients.
- Oh that's the stock right here.
- [Trevor] Nice.
Wow that smells amazing.
- This is the secret right here.
Not only do you get an
intense mixture of garlic
and fresh and dried chilies
and an amazing homemade pork broth,
but they top it with
their red braised beef
made with over 20 different secret spices
that's incredibly tender and flavorful.
This here is true noodle heaven.
Awesome.
- We found the best beef noodles
in the whole province here.
Neijiang--
- Aw the most famous
noodles are right from here.
It's full of beef,
full of that hong jiao beef,
and that rich,
look how rich and
powerful that broth looks.
We're just gonna have to go right in.
- Wow so even people from Chongqing,
where the noodles are
super spicy and powerful,
come here.
Just gonna add a little cilantro to that.
Oh yeah here we go, here we go.
That is delicious.
That broth.
- Oh the broth is so flavorful.
It's quite spicy,
but not overpowering.
It's Sichuan red chilies
in there are just,
there's just hundreds of
Sichuan red chilies in there
which flavor it so well,
but they're dried red chilies.
- I'm not gonna buy a house here.
- And they put so much garlic in there,
just full of dried and
fresh chilies and garlic.
You can just see tons of dried chilies,
chunks of dried chilies.
That is so powerful.
I think that was definitely one of the top
three bowls of noodles I've ever eaten.
So flavorful.
After those life changing noodles,
we've made our way to
find one of the largest
outdoor food markets in Neijiang.
If you want an excellent
introduction to Sichuan food,
come to a local market like this.
You can find all the ingredients
used in Sichuan cuisine,
and find some delicious street foods too.
Looks like we've found a market,
a Sichuan market.
(chatter in background)
- [Trevor] Look how fatty that looks.
- [Trevor] Wow look at that.
That looks extremely fatty.
Oh.
- [Trevor] It's like a
fatty pork salad almost.
- [Trevor] It's like a fatty pork salad.
- Oh yeah look it he's
hanging one up over here too.
Okay.
- Look at that guys.
That looks extremely fatty.
Wow and I can smell the cumin.
I can smell the chili.
I can smell the peppercorn
and the green onions.
Oh wow.
That looks intense.
I'm gonna get a big mouthful.
Good.
- I was really not expecting that.
Honestly it is very fatty,
but somehow it's so satisfying.
The chilies,
it's seasoned well.
It's quite salty.
The skin is a little crispy,
which is very nice.
The cumin and the hújiāo
are also very pronounced,
but that cumin flavor
gives it a very deep, deep strong flavor.
This is so cool coming into the markets.
So much action.
Wow.
So much food.
Roast duck.
Awesome.
- [Trevor] Pickled
chilies with chicken feet.
I think we're definitely gonna have to
get some of those.
- Oh so it should be a
little sour and spicy.
- Her mom taught her how to do that.
- Yeah the Sichuan flavors are the best.
- And we were just walking
through this crazy market here
and there's actually a
ton of food to try here.
This looks like it is roast fatty pork
over top of salted greens,
and there's actually quite
a few other things here.
It looks like there's some pig snout
and some nice beef jerky,
but we're gonna go in for the chicken foot
'cause I've never tried this.
- [Trevor] Look at those chicken feet.
Honestly they feel soggy
from the pickled chili sauce,
but I'm keeping an open mind here.
Okay.
Let's try it out.
- It actually is not very sour,
it's quite salty, very salty.
The chili kick on there is intense.
- And you just sort of
suck the skin off.
- I can see it's somehow satisfying,
but I don't think it's for me.
And this here is why I moved to Sichuan
because the food is delicious,
the people are good,
and it's so lively and full of action.
Coming to the morning markets
you get a real feel for
what it's all about here.
This is a lot of fun in Sichuan.
Look at that guys.
This is why you come to markets
because you can see exactly the core
behind the cuisine that you're visiting.
And this is a tian jiao,
a really important part
of Sichuan cuisine,
and that'll burn your lips right off.
- We're gonna keep exploring.
Bye bye.
Bye bye.
Whoa.
- This is gonna take a whole day.
- That's a lot of fresh chilies.
These are so spicy.
- Oh you get spicy hands doing that.
I know that feeling
- You gotta do it fast 'cause
there's a ton of chilies.
Cut it here,
and throw them into the assorted basket.
Nice.
People are so friendly.
They just let me help and have fun.
Part of the market experience right?
I'm so sure now that if you want
the full Sichuan experience,
you have to leave Chengdu or Congquing,
the main cities,
and come ut to smaller cities and towns
into the markets here,
and you get the real full on experience.
- There's so much food
here in the markets.
I decided to buy one of the
red bean sticky rice snacks,
but they told me not to eat it
until going home to warm it up.
But before I knew it,
they were behind the scenes making us
a sticky rice ball covered
in sugar and sesame.
- So it's like a sticky rice blob.
- That is
oh that is really nice.
That sticky rice,
it's like a sticky rice,
it's like a gooey sticky rice ball
with granular sugar on there
and a slight sesame paste,
slight sesame flavor.
This market is crazy,
and there's the sticky
rice they're pulling out.
Oh and that's how they make it there.
They put it over top of the sugar.
Oh.
So they're using the sticky rice,
they scoop out a big blob of sticky rice,
and they put it into this pan full of--
- Sesame and white sugar,
and then it turns into this blob.
That is amazing.
- These markets are awesome.
- [Trevor] It's like a big blob covered
in granular sugar and sesame.
It has a bit of a nutty flavor to it.
They are the sticky rice masters.
You like that thing?
It's really good right?
- Pretty sweet.
- Yeah it's really sweet, really nice.
Crunchy, soft from the
sticky rice, amazing.
This is like an endless market.
You come here,
you're gonna fall in love with Sichuan.
For our final stop on the breakfast tour,
we stopped by to have an early lunch
at a classic douhua and
red-braised beef joint.
Here you can taste classic
Sichuan red-braised dishes.
Kind of like spicy Sichuan stews.
Made spicy and fragrant
from chili bean paste
and dry Sichuan chilies,
and packed with spices like star anise,
cinnamon, and ginger.
When you explore Sichuan,
you see these all over the place,
but you rarely see one this photogenic
and this colorful in a
deep back market like this.
So we knew we had to order some dishes
and try out the flavors.
This is amazing.
This is so amazing in here.
It's like food everywhere.
Whoa look at all the woks.
- [Trevor] Carrot with spare ribs.
Wow that looks so flavorful.
- [Trevor] Amazing.
Wow look at this,
and over here is the douhua, silken tofu.
Right on the side of the street.
This is crazy.
Oh wow.
Nice,
silken tofu.
This is really amazing.
(people chatter)
- [Trevor] Oh that is intestines with--
- Intestine with soybeans.
This is just crazy here guys.
Right on the side of the
street we found a gem.
We had to order the red braised
pig intestine with soybeans.
Look at those big chunks of intestine.
That looks intense.
Over here we got douhua,
which is silken tofu.
It comes with a chili paste
mixed with broad bean paste
and green onions.
That is gonna be flavorful.
So you dip that in.
We also got red-braised beef ribs
with lots of carrots.
Oh yeah and those carrots,
they might actually be a little sweet.
And then some classic
(mumbles) Sichuan fish root.
This one actually tastes a bit like
pungent cilantro slash fish,
and it's covered in a chili oil.
Oh yeah looks like there's some greens,
maybe some celery in there.
First thing I'm gonna try is the
red-braised intestines with soybeans.
Red-braised usually includes
cinnamon and star anise,
lots of chilies,
and it's very, very smooth
and fragrant, not too spicy.
Oh.
Oh it's potent.
I don't know if I like that.
That intestine flavor is really...
No, no, no, no.
That is nasty.
That's nasty.
The background flavor behind that
is actually kind of nice but...
Oh I don't know if I can handle that.
The thing about intestines is
I've learned my lesson the hard way
a few too many times.
Sometimes they're good,
and sometimes they're bad,
and these ones are just so fatty.
And the odor.
I'm not sure how you do it,
but there is a way to remove
that intestine stench.
In this one,
it has not been removed.
So I'm just gonna have to go
on to some other dishes here.
That's too much.
Okay so we're gonna go
for the yú gēn here.
Sichuan fish root covered in chili oil.
I wanna get that flavor out right away.
That is still pungent.
Oh it tastes like a stenchy cilantro
with chilies.
Okay I need something delicious now.
How about some beef?
That's a little better.
The carrots are so soft,
and actually a little sweet,
and the beef chunks are very soft,
they melt in your mouth.
And this dish is very light.
It had a home-cooked clean flavor,
not too spicy.
Just a bit of that cinnamon fragrance.
Oh and it's,
this is probably the best dish right here.
I would love to know
what you thought about
this food and travel video
in the comments below.
Please click that little subscribe button
and little bell button beside it
'cause we are going on a
deep Sichuan food journey
over the next month,
and you're not gonna wanna
miss these street food tours.
Thanks so much for watching guys.
This is crazy.
