一位外國遊客在四川的尋辣經歷

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

如果四川人告訴你“這道菜一點兒都不辣”的話，你最好別相信他。

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.

前幾日旅遊時經過中國西南地區。該地區因其多山區和高溼度聞名，促使居民靠辛辣的食物散溼。可像我這樣沒沾過辣椒的人，去西南地區就等於給自己找麻煩。

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.

開始我還沒太在意。我想，只要避開那些跟辣沾邊兒的所有食物，也就沒什麼事兒吧。另外，其實我也能吃點辣，想當年在北京吃烤串的時候，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.

我走進了一家飯店，然後點了一碗麪，這碗麪在菜單上的實圖上只有一點點辣椒。這是最不辣的一個檔次吧。但是，當面端過來的時候，我嚐了一口，瞬間就淚奔了。原來這個麪湯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.

我意識到四川人和外地人對辣的概念是不一樣的。在吃了大量的辛辣菜餚之後，他們的舌頭已經適應辣椒了，所以他們也說不出什麼是辣，什麼是不辣。所以，我不得不“長個心眼兒”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.

第二天我吃了火鍋。我直接忽略了那些在菜單上看起來彌滿了辣椒油的菜，然後點了一個用西紅柿湯，葫蘆和蘑菇做的鍋底。我把菜單看了一遍又一遍以確保我沒點什麼有辣椒的菜。

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.

當火鍋端上來的時候，我喝了一口湯然後發現自己被欺騙了。受傷的舌頭還認得辣椒的味道，即使它的菜單上並沒註釋着有辣椒。

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

番茄湯怎麼是辣的呀？也只有這一個地方的番茄湯是辣的吧，你絕想不到還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.

很顯然，即使他們沒在菜單上標註這是辣的，每個四川人都知道並且早已習慣了這辣死人的番茄火鍋。

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

我爲了避免被辣到還專門看了菜單，可依然沒逃過這個“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.

實際上，當我第二天問廚師他能不能炒菜不放辣椒時，他居然搖了搖頭說，不放辣椒就不知道怎麼做飯啦！事實就是，他們炒菜時習慣性地放辣椒，要是沒有放辣椒這個過程的話，他們覺得自己做不出什麼好吃的菜餚來！

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.

爲了我的舌頭和我的腸道健康着想，我決定接下來的日子就只挑我知道的東西吃，像什麼白粥和豬肉包子啊。祈禱它們沒有被偷偷放進辣椒吧！