It’s Trevor James

We’re going deep for noodles

And deep for street food

Bright and early here in Lonquan outside of Chengdu

Oh look at these fresh baozi

But we’re going to get some dan dan noodles

You can actually get these only out here in the rural area

Harder to find them in the city these days

I found a lot of good noodles in China

But nothing compares to the classic dan dan mian

In Sichuan, dan dan mian and zajiang mean are almost identical

So if you see either one

Order up a bowl

The bottom layer of chili oil

Sesame paste

Peppercorn powder

Vinegar

Salt, soy, and green onions is magical

And when mixed through, it’s heavenly

Wow, look at this

That looks insane

This is dan dan mian

All that ground pork on top

There’s fresh veg in there

And you’ve got to mix the noodles up

Because what’s on the bottom is the best

Look at that

Look at the chili oil on the bottom

This is just incredible

And this is a great way to start your day in Sichuan

It just smells fantastic

My mouth is watering right now

I got some baozi here

Oh this is a perfect morning breakfast

Look at this

Look at this

Here we go

MMMMM

OH, it’s just warm and soothing and spicy and fragrant

Oh and you just

I’m speechless

That chili oil is so fragrant and aromatic

Theres a slight touch of Sichuan peppercorn powder

Which is mixed throughout

Good morning Teacher!

Good morning!

Good bye!

I’m not a teacher

I’m an eater

That was really good

I’m actually just speechless

Those —AWWWW!!

That was great

They want a photo

And after breakfast

I made my way to a famous hole in the wall

Known locally as a fly restaurant

Really low hygiene standards

But famous famous food

So a lot of people have recommended this place to me here

So we gotta try it out

Ok!

Real hole in the wall here

some yingtao rou

Oh look at that

Mix it up in the bowl!

That’s pure chili oil there

That is romantic

Look at this

Oh, it’s like a food sanctuary

Look at this

This is Sichuan supreme here

Look at this

This is absolutely crazy

I’ve got six dishes of pure Sichuan authenticity

This is yingtao rou

Which is pork, fatty pork

Yingtou, which is cherries, probably stewed in cherry broth

I’m actually not too sure

We’re going to have to try that one out

This here is “Xian shao bai”

Which is steamed fatty pork

Over top of yacai, which is pickled mustard greens

Oh and look at these layers of fat on there

This over here

Is liangban bai rou

Which is cold tossed pork in a chili oil

And spices

Same over here

Which is liangban zhe’ergen

So these two are the same style

You see these all over Sichuan

You can get almost any dish

Any ingredient, liangban, tossed in chili oil and spices

So this is Sichuan fish root, zhe’ergen, super unique flavor

And over here these two dishes are steamed

We have fenzheng Paigu, which is steamed spare ribs covered in rice flour, chopped with green onions

And then over here

This is fenzheng feichang

Which is steamed intestines covered in that same rice flour and chilies

And that looks insane

First thing I really want to try is the yingtao rou

The cherry pork

MMM

Oh

Instant pleasure

It’s soft, fatty, oily, and you can taste the cherry

The cherry flavor is infused through there, slightly sweet

And as I kept trying dish by dish

The numbing spice began to build and build in my mouth

The cold Sichuan salads were insanely hot

And I was ready for a warm renewal of flavour with the steamed intestines

But what I got was something completely different and unpleasant

Oh and that Sichuan peppercorn is building on me

My mouth is starting to get numb

We’re going to try the fenzheng feichang

My mouth is just burning

Now that

That is nasty

I don’t even want to —

Oh my

That tastes like s***

Oh god

I need a drink

Oh I don’t like that

That’s really bad with the Sichuan peppercorn

And the fenzheng feichang

The intestine

I need a drink

I need that

I need a drink

And after that big feast, I went to one of Chengdu’s hundreds of tea parks

To digest and chill out like they do in Southwest China

One of the reasons why I love southwest china is because after you’re full

When you’re waiting for your next meal

You can come enjoy some tea in a tea park

Nothin like it

You can sit here, digest, and wait for the next meal

Oh yea

Just took the subway

We’re going hunting for more

So we made it way out the rural part of Chengdu

And I came here specifically to this Chinese muslim area

To try some special beef and rabbit

Let’s take a look

We’re going to go down the way

And get some more

Here we are

Another little joint

Oh yeah

awesome!Let's go eat

So we have some awesome qingzhen, Chinese muslim food here

All beef here and mutton

Oh yeah look at this

This is like qingzhen style Chinese muslim fenzhengrou

It’s with beef

Kind of similar to what I had at lunch

Let’s try that out

Now that

That is the best fenzhenrou I’ve ever had

I’ve had a lot of fenzhengrou

But this one is just packed with flavor

It’s really soft

It has a consistency kind of like a porridge

It’s that soft

Like a rice porridge

Except it’s packed with flavor

This one’s a little smoky

There is like tons of raw garlic on there see that?

Oh that is powerful!

Fatty!

Soft!

This is good!

This is next level here!

I’m going to take one of these lamb kebabs

And put it into the fuqifeipian here

And that is just going to douse it in flavor

Legendary!

Oh the lamb is so soft

That cumin flavor on there is powerful

Spicy

And then when you dip it in the chili oil, it’s quite nutty as well

There’s peanuts in there

Oh it’s just like

This is worth the trip out of chengdu here

Look at this

This is the secret here

Look at how thick that chili oil it

And for my pre dinner meal

I went back into the city to try some famous alleyway red braised eel noodles

So we’re in a little neighbourhood now

And I hear just up the corner here

Theres a little famous eel noodle joint

Let's go check it out

Here we are

I’m going to have to get a spot

Yeah look at those big chunks of eel

Lots of noodles and whole garlic cloves

WOW

I’m just going to have to taste that

Look at that big chunk of eel there

All that thick chili broth

A bit of that eel to consolidate

Oh the eel is so smooth

I gotta say

It’s quite oily

You gotta be really hungry for these

Look at that

I have a bias towards gan ban dry noodles

And this has a thick oily broth

Which is still pretty good

And for the final meal of the night

I made my way to try a zigong city specialty frog pot

Hotter than hot pot

And with thousands of fresh chilies

Not dried chilies but fresh chilies

This was dangerously spicy

Big chunks of frog

Look at that

That’s a whole frog

This looks kind of similar to the one I had in wuhan but they give you the whole frog

I’m just going to go right in here

Give a quick feedback and then update you guys about what Im going to be doing in the next couple months

The whole frog

I’m just going to go for that tender meat bit there

Frog is always good

Usually more tender than chicken

That’s an instant burn

Oh my tongue is on fire

This is burning

And I ordered moderately spicy

I really don’t know what extremely spicy would be like

Because my mouth is in pain

So a quick update here

I really need your help

You can follow me on Instagram at The Food Ranger

And leave me a comment for any of the following things

I’m at the Sichuan Higher Institute of Cuisine

Learning to cook Sichuan food for the next two and a half months

After that we’re going to Malaysia

Me, Ting Ting, and Chuchu

For a week in January with Chuchu

If you’ve followed my channel for the last year or so

You know Chu Chu

She’s probably one of the most famous co-host’s that I’ve had

We’re going to go to KL for a week to eat street food

And I need your personal recommendations where to go

After that we’re going to go to India

We’re flying to Delhi

Just Ting Ting and I

We’re going to be in Northern India for a month

I need your recommendations for where to go in Northern India for the best street food

We’re going to be in Delhi and then Calcutta

And then two other locations

So one week for each location

And then we’re going to fly down to Sri Lanka for another week

And I need your recommedations for all of these

So follow me on Instagram at the food ranger

Leave me a comment or a direct message and I will reply to you

And I would just love to have your recommendations

Thanks a lot guys

Nice