Dan dan Noodles

I first ate these not on the spice-scented streets of Chengdu, but in the rather less exotic environs of London’s Soho. Barshu might not have been the first Sichuan restaurant to open in the capital but it is certainly the best. Sichuan’s famed ‘hot and numbing’ flavour is based on chilli and the wonderfully citrus Sichuan pepper. This is a classic Sichuan street snack. If you can’t find the preserved vegetables, don’t worry.