“Pao (爆)” is one of my favorite techniques in Chinese cooking. The word itself means “explosion”, and the cooking involves rapidly rolling marinated, usually sliced ingredients in extremely high heat for under a minute…

On a hot summer day, Sichuan folks gulp down Mala stew covered with red-hot oil with Zen, no sweat is shed. A foot away Southerners at the ice stall impatiently trying to cool down and think Sichuanian are ridiculous. Next stall…