一位外国游客在四川的寻辣经历

Don't trust it when someone from Sichuan Province tells you, "This dish isn't spicy at all!"

如果四川人告诉你“这道菜一点儿都不辣”的话，你最好别相信他。

I'm currently traveling through Southwest China. The region, known for its mountainous areas and high humidity, prompted its dwellers to live on spicy foods. For someone like me, who doesn't have a trained tongue, traveling through this region can mean trouble.

前几日旅游时经过中国西南地区。该地区因其多山区和高湿度闻名，促使居民靠辛辣的食物散湿。可像我这样没沾过辣椒的人，去西南地区就等于给自己找麻烦。

At first, I didn't think much of it. I thought I'll just avoid all the food that's marked spicy; I'll be fine. Besides, I could eat mildly spicy food. When eating barbecue on a stick in Beijing, I could stand a little cumin and spices on top.

开始我还没太在意。我想，只要避开那些跟辣沾边儿的所有食物，也就没什么事儿吧。另外，其实我也能吃点辣，想当年在北京吃烤串的时候，我可以承受上面的那些孜然和香料。

So that's what I did. I went into a restaurant and ordered a bowl of noodles that had only one hot pepper drawn next to it on the menu. It's the lowest level in terms of spiciness. But, when it was brought to me, I took a bite and instantly teared up. The soup was decorated with chopped hot pepper and made with chili oil.

我走进了一家饭店，然后点了一碗面，这碗面在菜单上的实图上只有一点点辣椒。这是最不辣的一个档次吧。但是，当面端过来的时候，我尝了一口，瞬间就泪奔了。原来这个面汤是用切碎的辣椒和辣椒油做的。

I learned that the Sichuan people have a different concept of "spiciness" than people from the outside. After eating numerous spicy dishes, their tongue is accustomed to spices, so they can't tell whether a dish is spicy for others. I had to watch out for myself.

我意识到四川人和外地人对辣的概念是不一样的。在吃了大量的辛辣菜肴之后，他们的舌头已经适应辣椒了，所以他们也说不出什么是辣，什么是不辣。所以，我不得不“长个心眼儿”呀。

The next day when I ate hot pot, I deliberately avoided all the dishes on the menu that looked permeated with hot oil and ordered one made with tomato soup, gourd, and mushroom. I looked over the menu repeatedly to make sure there were no spices.

第二天我吃了火锅。我直接忽略了那些在菜单上看起来弥满了辣椒油的菜，然后点了一个用西红柿汤，葫芦和蘑菇做的锅底。我把菜单看了一遍又一遍以确保我没点什么有辣椒的菜。

When the pot was brought forth, I took a sip of the soup and instantly felt cheated. My injured tongue picked up the taste of chili, even though it wasn't marked on the menu.

当火锅端上来的时候，我喝了一口汤然后发现自己被欺骗了。受伤的舌头还认得辣椒的味道，即使它的菜单上并没注释着有辣椒。

How could tomato soup be spicy? You never would've thought that's the case anywhere else.

番茄汤怎么是辣的呀？也只有这一个地方的番茄汤是辣的吧，你绝想不到还有其他如此奇葩的地方。

Apparently, even though it's not marked on their menu, everybody in Sichuan knows and has accepted that tomato hot pot soup is spicy.

很显然，即使他们没在菜单上标注这是辣的，每个四川人都知道并且早已习惯了这辣死人的番茄火锅。

Even though I scanned the menu to avoid spicy foods, I still fell into their trap.

我为了避免被辣到还专门看了菜单，可依然没逃过这个“陷阱”。

In fact, when I asked a chef the next day whether he could make a dish without using spices, he scratched his head and said he didn't know how. It turns out that they regularly add hot pepper while stir-frying or cooking a dish, and without this procedure, they just don't know how to cook anymore.

实际上，当我第二天问厨师他能不能炒菜不放辣椒时，他居然摇了摇头说，不放辣椒就不知道怎么做饭啦！事实就是，他们炒菜时习惯性地放辣椒，要是没有放辣椒这个过程的话，他们觉得自己做不出什么好吃的菜肴来！

For the sake of my tongue and my intestinal health, I've decided that for the rest of my time in Sichuan, I'll stick to foods I know, such as rice congee or pork meat buns. I pray that they haven't secretly stuffed them with chili also.

为了我的舌头和我的肠道健康着想，我决定接下来的日子就只挑我知道的东西吃，像什么白粥和猪肉包子啊。祈祷它们没有被偷偷放进辣椒吧！