The Eat Drink Asia podcast hosts explore the fascinating history of Sichuan cuisine.
The Eat Drink Asia podcast hosts explore the fascinating history of Sichuan cuisine.
Eat Drink Asia Podcast
Podcasts

Sichuan food history: from Ming to McDonald’s – and Rick and Morty

  • Bernice Chan and Alkira Reinfrank analyse the cultural appropriation, and fascinating history, of Sichuan cuisine
  • They delve into the chemistry of the Sichuan pepper and unpack the components of a traditional meal

Yang YangBernice ChanAlkira Reinfrank
Yang Yang Bernice Chan and Alkira Reinfrank

Updated: 1:48pm, 31 Jul, 2019

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The Eat Drink Asia podcast hosts explore the fascinating history of Sichuan cuisine.
The Eat Drink Asia podcast hosts explore the fascinating history of Sichuan cuisine.

When the animated film Mulan was released in 1998, McDonald’s launched its SzeChuan Sauce, marketed as an accompaniment to their chicken McNuggets.

Almost 20 years later, the long-forgotten sauce regained its mainstream popularity thanks to adult cartoon Rick and Morty. But there is no such thing as SzeChuan Sauce in Sichuan province, China.

So where is this sauce from? And how does it differ from “authentic” Sichuanese food? With these questions in mind, Bernice Chan and Alkira Reinfrank explore the history and mystery of the spicy cuisine.

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Written and produced by Yang Yang

Yang Yang

Yang Yang

Yang Yang was a podcast producer at the Post from 2019 to 2020. Before joining the Post in 2019, Yang was a TV producer and editor for 2M Media Group in Washington, where she produced mini-documentaries and studio interviews.

Bernice Chan

Bernice Chan

Bernice Chan is a former SCMP Culture writer who is now based in Vancouver, Canada, where she writes compelling stories about food and drink, lifestyle, wellness and the Asian diaspora. She previously co-hosted the award-winning Eat Drink Asia podcast and received a SOPA honourable mention for a video story about a Jamaican-American looking for her Chinese grandfather.

Alkira Reinfrank

Alkira Reinfrank

Alkira is a Senior Video Producer, where she presents and coordinates on-air interviews and video segments in the Post's studio. She is the series producer for the SCMP’s flagship video interview series ‘Talking Post’, which features global newsmakers, such as Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and fashion icon Vera Wang. Alkira also co-hosts the podcast series Eat Drink Asia, which was named Asia’s Best Entertainment Podcast at the Asia Podcast Awards in 2019. Before moving to Hong Kong, Alkira worked as a multimedia reporter with ABC News in Australia. Alkira has appeared on BBC World News, BBC World Service, i24 News (Israel) and The Project (Australia).