Fuchsia Dunlop: belief

Transcript context

…Due to urbanization in China, right? Actually, another thing is the emphasis on texture. I don’t really know about the history of this, but one of the really distinctive things about Chinese gastronomy is that the Chinese totally appreciate and understand texture to a degree that is unheard of anywhere else, really. That’s why they enjoy eating so many slithery, rubbery, and also often tasteless foods that have interesting textures. There are certain textures — for example, one of my old favorite Sichuanese dishes, called bao yao hua, fire-exploded kidney flowers. That’s made with pork kidneys, which are cut into little frilly pieces and stir-fried very fast. You actually have to cook them fast to keep them nen 嫩 and a little bit crisp. I think, perhaps, when people have this obsession with texture, there are certain ingredients that require fast cooking. Also, vegetables — you don’t have everything very soft, but you have this briskness, liveliness, crispness in the bite. What’s your speculation on why this kougan 口感 is such a big feature of the Chinese food?…

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