When he arrived in Chicago in 1997, Chungjun “Ben” Li was appalled at what passed for Chinese food here. Searching for a taste of home, he instead found restaurants that “served me sweet-and-sour chicken, chop suey, or egg foo yong,” he says. “I was so disappointed, because I don’t know what is that. When I saw the food I couldn’t eat it.”
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Li grew up in Chongqing, a large city in southeastern Sichuan that’s now a separately governed provincial municipality. After high school he found work cooking at a hotel, where he demonstrated enough promise that his employer sent him to culinary school. Sichuan’s regional cuisine is best known for its use of blisteringly hot chiles, funky black bean paste, and mouth-numbing Sichuan peppercorns. But that doesn’t begin to reflect its range.
At school Li studied banquet planning, majoring in decorative food carving. Then he returned to the hotel, where he helped orchestrate feasts showcasing elaborately presented versions of classic Sichuanese cooking, both common and exotic. After three years back he was lured away to the Rainbow Hotel in Beijing, where he was soon followed by his former “master” in Chongqing, hotel head chef Wan Cai Li.
There are notable differences between the cuisines of Chongqing and Chengdu. Ben Li says the stronger, spicier seasonings typical of his hometown help residents cope with the oppressive heat and humidity: “People want to eat more chile, then sweat,” he says. His fish in chile broth and hot pot of lamb with cumin are representative—fiery, oily, and swirling with flavors deeper than mere chile heat. A cold tripe appetizer is more texturally complex than other versions around town, with bits of crispy celery heart, sesame seeds, and cilantro dressing the snappy offal.
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