Eunhae Han’s Reviews > The Food of Sichuan > Status Update

their theories of the five elements (metal, wood, water, fire and earth) and five directions (north, south, east, west and center), and their liking for fives in general. The five fundamental Chinese tastes, are salty, sweet, sour, hot or pungent, and bitter. The Sichuanese have often replacing bitter with numbing the extraordinary taste of Sichuan pepper-and sometimes also adding umamiand fragrant.