♪ ♪ >> Water is life.

It's a vital component of every ecosystem.

Close to 3,000 years ago, the mighty Min River was tamed by an ingenious system of levees.

No more floods.

The soil around Chengdu became rich for agriculture.

Food became abundant, attracting more and more people and settlement, and Chengdu was born.

The magic of water, next on "Yan Can Cook."

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> "Yan Can Cook: Spice Kingdom" is brought to you by... >> ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪ >> Circulon Cookware.

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And by B&G Group of Malaysia.

♪ Building Malaysia's tomorrow.

♪ >> Dujiangyan is a must see attraction for anyone who comes to Chengdu, but why?

On the tourist brochure, it simply says ancient irrigation system, so what makes it so special?

The answer can be summed up in one word -- water.

♪ >> [ Man calling in Chinese ] ♪ >> [ Calling in Chinese ] ♪ >> It is by no means an exaggeration to say that Chengdu exists today because of Dujiangyan exists.

Back in the Qing Dynasty, over 2,000 years ago, the mighty Min River, the longest tributary of the Yangtze, was both a blessing and a curse.

Why?

It brought water to the fields.

It also brought floods -- that is, until a local governor named Li Bing came up with an ingenious solution.

Instead of building a dam, he created a system of levees that could divert the flow of this rapid water.

Floods was avoided, and countless lives were saved, and the area of Chengdu prospered.

♪ Amazing place.

Ah!

Wow.

♪ Truly amazing.

This is really an engineering marvel.

UNESCO recognized Dujiangyan as one of their World Heritage Sites.

Look at this.

Isn't it amazing?

Never see anything like this.

♪ >> [ Man speaking Chinese on loudspeaker ] >> Each spring, they celebrate the Dujiangyan story in a water-letting ceremony.

It's a festive event with hundreds of local people reenacting their history in colorful costumes.

It is a history lesson in three dimensions.

>> [ Man chanting in Chinese ] [ Group singing in Chinese ] [ Indistinct conversations ] >> Dujiangyan is not far from the famous Mount Qingcheng, a national wonder in its own right and a spiritual enclave.

It is also the birthplace of Taoism in China.

In honor of that rich cultural heritage, we're showing a few dishes that have philosophical elements to them, using traditional ingredients.

I'm going to learn from a local master, Chef Gu.

[ Speaking Chinese ] Chef Gu, is going to show how to using all these pickled vegetables and wonderful spices locally to do a wonderful dish.

Step number one, clean up your fish.

Gut it, and then step number two, you heat up your frying pan.

Heat it up, hot wok, cool oil.

Remember, the secret of Chinese dishes.

Use vegetable oil.

>> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> One hundred grams, about 3 ounces.

>> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> Lard -- basically Chef is going to mix, blend the lard and the vegetable oil together, and then, wow, chili paste, a lot of chili paste.

Whoo!

[ Laughs ] I can smell the chili.

Sinus, clean it up, and then [Speaking Chinese], the bean sauce, the fermented bean sauce, so you have two, and then... >> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> ...[Speaking Chinese], this is a pickled vegetable, pickled ginger, fresh ginger and garlic, pickled mustard greens.

Lot of pickled vegetable, that's what makes Sichuan cuisine in Chengdu so famous.

This is pickled daikon, a lot of pickle, and then the local green onion, the stem only, and then this is the pepper oil, chili oil.

It can be chicken broth or pork broth.

Put it right here.

This is chili oil with pickled mixture, one portion, half a portion of broth.

The pickled chili and the pickled daikon, put in the last minute.

Okay?

This is the fresh Sichuan peppercorn.

Fresh one like this, put it in.

Ah.

Very, very good.

And then you put the catfish, which is already gutted and cleaned, and put it in, and then you let it braise for approximately 5 minutes.

Time flies.

Five minutes up.

That means the fish is ready to be served.

Ah, look at that.

It's amazing.

I can smell the aroma, I mean, the Sichuan peppercorn and also all the pickle.

Then you lightly thicken it up with cornstarch.

Always shake it.

Always shake it.

Learn from Chef Gu.

Ah, look at that.

I want to thank Chef Gu.

This is to Dujiangyan, to Chengdu, to water and to life.

[ Speaking Chinese ] >> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> Water -- we take it for granted most of the time, especially in our kitchen.

These days, we expect that water will appear with a little touch of the hand, but in Chengdu, water gave rise to the origin of that historical city.

It sustained and allowed the city to grow and flourish.

A trip to Dujiangyan really opened up my eyes because everywhere you see is an ancient irrigation system developed 2,000 years ago and still being used, and it still controls flood.

Today, we're going to do a braised fish in a spicy chili broth.

It sounds very, very hot, but when you eat it, you're going to be so pleasantly surprised, so step number one, of course, you got to have fish, and then I have the Chinese celery.

This Chinese celery actually is a lot more fibrous and a lot more flavorful than the regular celery.

When this is done, I'll do it with a dear friend, Chef Zhao, actually born and raised in Chengdu, Sichuan, China, and he just came over here 17 years ago and has a restaurant called Chef Zhao's Sichuan Bistro.

Let us welcome my dear friend.

[ Speaking Chinese ] Braised fish in a spicy broth, it is actually one of the most famous Sichuan dish.

Step number one, fillet the fish.

Chef Zhao is going to fillet the fish.

Wow.

And then the fish head, and then fillet the fish.

Nothing goes to waste because you're going to use the bone and this to make fish broth.

You see?

The Chinese chefs use one knife to do everything.

Okay?

Now, thin slices, very thin slices.

See?

Very thin slices, and then you marinate.

And then cornstarch or tapioca starch, about 1 1/2 teaspoon.

This will give that nice smooth texture, and then a tiny bit of rice wine, 1 tablespoon rice wine, and then mix it.

Why do you use salt instead of soy sauce for fish?

Well, you want to make sure this colors is retained really nice and fresh, white fish.

>> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> Next thing is... You see this Chinese celery?

We put it right in here and toss it in and quickly blanch this.

You know that, huh?

And then, when this is done, oyster mushroom, also water blanch.

Okay.

This is beautiful, and then we will take this out and put in this, wonderful, in the bottom.

This is going to be bottom.

This way, the fish won't get stuck on the bottom and get burned.

Okay?

>> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> And then we use the same water because of its flavor.

The water is already flavored for the fish.

Just poach it for two reasons.

One, you quickly seal in the moisture because the cornstarch, and secondly, just in case some extra cornstarch, to get rid of that extra cornstarch.

Beautiful.

>> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> Huh?

[ Speaking Chinese ] Oh, beautiful.

Just this fish is about 65 percent cooked.

Okay?

You don't want to overcook them.

[ Speaking Chinese ] Nice and moist.

Never overcook fish.

Most people have a tendency to overcook fish, but Asians, particularly chefs from Chengdu, this fish is so precious.

They want to make sure they do not overcook.

[ Speaking Chinese ] >> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> The main flavor of this dish comes actually from a few things, from the bean sauce.

This is bean sauce, fermented bean sauce, and [Speaking Chinese] and also the peppercorn.

This is the peppercorn and also... >> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> ...star anise and cinnamon stick.

First... >> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> ...cinnamon bark, star anise, get it out.

Get the flavor out.

Sichuan peppercorn, now, look at this.

This is the key.

[ Speaking Chinese ] >> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> [ Speaking Chinese ] This is the flavored oil, very good.

>> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> [ Speaking Chinese ] And then we use the same oil, the flavored oil, and then [Speaking Chinese] -- this is the fermented chili bean paste.

Step number one, which is already... Now, this is the key of this dish.

Look at that, the color, and then garlic, nice and red garlic, lots of garlic, chopped garlic.

>> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> Ginger.

Now, how can it be not tasty?

Huh?

>> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> And then green onion.

Okay.

>> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> It dance.

Look at that.

It dance because you mix oil with water, and then a tiny bit of salt... >> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> ...and wine.

Look at this, nice and hot.

This is the hot chili broth, and then poached fish, put it here, and then look at this.

You're not cooking the fish that much.

See?

Very nice.

You can have braised beef, braised chicken, braised lamb, braised anything in this hot chili broth.

And then put a tiny bit of oil here.

>> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> [ Speaking Chinese ] Lot of oil, huh?

Look at this.

Now you put it over here.

Yeah.

Now, look at this.

Look at this.

Huh?

And then this... You'll be surprised, and then a tiny bit of extra green onion.

The fish is ready.

Put it right... Look at amount of chili.

Look at that.

Look at amount of chili.

>> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> Sichuan peppercorn.

>> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> Now, look at this.

Whoo!

Ah, this is braised fish in a chili spicy hot broth.

[ Speaking Chinese ] >> [ Speaking Chinese ] >> Look at this -- bubbling, and I think it's done.

We shut it off, and we shift, and then, right before you serve... Look, it's still bubbling, and then, of course, some cilantro, some extra green onion, sprinkle right on top.

Let it dance a little bit, and look at the amount of chili, and then you will serve right here.

Look at that.

This is truly amazing.

This is braised fish in a chili hot broth.

Chef Roy, what do you think about... For spicy dish like that, what kind of wine do you think we should serve, white wine, red wine or beer?

>> Well, you know, Chef, a lot of things will go great.

Thank you for showing me this gorgeous dish, Chef.

What I brought today for us to share is a beautiful Chardonnay that's gone through a little bit of malolactic fermentation... >> Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

>> ...because that gives it a little bit of butter and a little sweetness, and the sweetness will counterbalance the beautiful spice of this gorgeous dish.

>> Perfect.

Perfect.

Now, while you're pouring the wine, one for me, we're going to serve both of you this beautiful fish.

Look at the chili.

>> Wow.

>> Ah, look at the fish, and the chili give the flavor.

Please.

Once again, here is to... Dujiangyan.

To doubanjiang and also spicy braised fish in a wonderful hot broth.

♪ There are farms everywhere.

Organic farming is all the rage around here.

The farms follow very strict guidelines when it comes to fertilizing and growing procedures.

The modern climate and rich soil do the rest.

This particular farm caught my attention because I would not expect to find blueberry over here.

Back home, blueberries are popular, but I haven't seen any blueberry plant in China, but I do taste the local brew, the blueberry wine.

Ah!

Delicious.

♪ ♪ This is a cooperative farm.

About 100 family work together as co-op instead of attending small family farms.

A larger scale makes it more efficient and more productive.

♪ Organic farming is all the rage around here.

♪ ♪ Look at these, all fresh, all organic and all natural.

I wish I could take them all home.

These days, people in the West are getting very, very fussy about their drinking water.

Hey, join the club.

Chinese have been praising the special quality of pure mountain water for centuries.

Better water makes better tofu, breeds better fish in the fish farm and brings out the true essence of a cup of fine tea.

On the show, I keep on saying that water is life.

Maybe I should add, "Better water adds to the better quality of life."

♪ This village has a very interesting name.

It is called Xiao Yu Dong or Little Fish Hole, and it's true to the farm.

There's a fish farm right here.

They pipe in fresh water from the mountain stream, and it is the best water for raising fish.

Circle.

There are over 10 different varieties of fish here.

The cooler temperature of the mountain water is providing a perfect habitat for them.

It looks like water doesn't just benefit agriculture.

It also sustains the other food sources.

This is good news for fish lovers all over Chengdu.

♪ >> [ Speaking Chinese ] ♪ >> When making the perfect dish, we look for the freshest ingredients, perfect technique and the ideal combination of spices.

There is still one thing missing -- pure spring water.

♪ ♪ Mapo tofu is one of the most popular dishes in Sichuan.

Millions of chefs around the world will cook it tonight.

What makes this dish so special here in Chengdu?

Remember these tips -- high heat, hot oil, ground beef and thickening multiple times before serving.

First, we cook the beef and set that aside.

Then, we heat up some spicy bean paste and chili powder in a wok.

When the oil turns red, add fermented black beans and minced Chinese leeks and the first cornstarch thickening solution.

We poach the tofu gently.

Don't break the cubes.

Return the main ingredients.

Cook.

Thicken again.

The cornstarch solution is added in different stages.

This will hold the velvety consistency of the dish throughout the meal.

Look at this.

This is what makes this dish a true classic.

The tofu is cut to perfect shape and handled with care to keep it from breaking.

Once again, let us not neglect the importance of water.

Hey, too much, it will become soup.

Too little, the whole dish dries up.

Hey, this is just right.

A classic Sichuan dish is born.

♪ ♪ Water, that which gives life, it's how the city first planted its roots thousands of years ago.

The pioneers took this gift from nature and nurtured it to create the grand city that is Chengdu today.

>> You can visit our website to learn more about Martin and his travels, get information about upcoming events, find and print selected recipes, provide e-mail feedback and more.

It's all at yancancook.com.

"Yan Can Cook: Spice Kingdom" is brought to you by... >> ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪ >> Circulon Cookware.

Circles for life.

>> Monogram, a full line of professional appliances designed for food and entertaining enthusiasts.

>> By Melissa's.

The freshest ideas in produce.

By Lutian.

Tasting the essence of lotus.

♪ By Granite Expo, offering a wide selection of cabinet and countertop solutions.

And by B&G Group of Malaysia... ♪ building Malaysia's tomorrow.

♪