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Thirty teachers and students from Hong Kong have completed a Sichuan culinary training program after an eight-day study tour in Chengdu, with their work showcased at a graduation dinner earlier this month.
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The Chinese Culinary Culture Training Program, organized by the Greater Bay Area Homeland Youth Community Foundation and the Vocational Training Council’s Chinese Culinary Institute, focused on Sichuan cuisine this year following previous editions in Shunde and Chaoshan.
Participants traveled to Chengdu in August, where they received hands-on training from instructors at Sichuan Tourism University in traditional Sichuan cooking techniques. Their graduation dinner was held on October 9, with students designing and preparing the menu.
The meal highlighted the Sichuan culinary idea of “one dish, one style; a hundred dishes, a hundred flavors,” with dishes including shredded chicken in strange-flavor sauce, chicken tofu pudding, Sichuan braised pork, camphor tea-smoked duck, mapo tofu with foie gras and wontons in red chili oil.
The program also included visits to cultural and heritage sites in Chengdu, including an intangible cultural heritage center for Sichuan cuisine, Luodai Ancient Town, Kuanzhai Alley and the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.
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Chinese Culinary Institute student Vivian Ho said mastering Sichuan seasoning had been challenging because of its complexity.
“Sichuan seasoning is much more complex than Cantonese cuisine. It was challenging to master the exact proportions,” she said, adding that students had to closely observe the chefs’ techniques and practice repeatedly.
Fellow student Wai Sai-ho said the trip had shown him that Sichuan cuisine was not defined by a single type of spiciness, but by 24 different flavor profiles.
The organizers said the annual program is intended to deepen culinary exchange between Hong Kong and the mainland while giving young chefs practical exposure to regional Chinese cuisines.
