Food with Diana Kuan

Vegetarian Sichuan Cuisine

An all-vegetarian version of our popular Intro to Sichuan Cuisine class! Sichuan cooking is well-known for its addictive spicy dishes. And although the flavors are complex, creating the dishes from scratch is surprisingly easy, with a few key ingredients and techniques.

In this 2-hour intro class to Sichuan cooking, you'll learn how to whip up delicious vegan versions of popular Sichuan dishes in your own kitchen. We'll discuss the various uses of Sichuan pepper, the backbone of Sichuan cooking, as well as other essential ingredients in a Chinese pantry. And of course, we'll create three delicious dishes to share: vegetarian dan dan noodles, kung pao sweet potatoes, and Sichuan cucumber salad.

(class size: 12, demonstration and some hands-on)

Please let us know if you have any food allergies in advance by replying to your confirmation email. We do use peanuts and sesame in this class and would not recommend it for anyone with a nut or sesame allergy. Not gluten free.

What to bring

4 lbs orange sweet potatoes 2lbs smoked/baked tofu (teriyaki/savory flavors are okay) handful shitake mushrooms 1/2 cup veg stock 14 kirby cucumbers 3 bunches scallions 5 heads garlic 1 large piece ginger 1 pound dried Chinese egg noodles 1 cup unsalted roasted peanuts 1 bottle vegetable oil 1 bottle Soy sauce 1 bottle Hoisin sauce 1 jar Tahini 1 bottle Chinese rice wine 1 bottle Chinese black vinegar 1 bottle apple cider vinegar 1 bottle Sesame oil 1 bottle Chili oil Cornstarch Sugar Dried red chilis Crushed red pepper flakes Ground Sichuan pepper

About Diana Kuan

Diana Kuan is a food writer and photographer based in Brooklyn. She is the author of Red Hot Kitchen, on cooking with Asian hot sauces, and The Chinese Takeout Cookbook, on Chinese food and culture in America. Her work has also appeared in Food & Wine, Time Out New York, and The Boston Globe, among other publications. In addition to writing and photography, Diana has taught cooking classes for the past 10 years in both Beijing and New York. Her favorite foods are dumplings, ramen, and tacos, usually with hot sauce on the side.