Fuqi fei pian

Given that it was invented out of necessity to make use of any available animal parts, fuqi feipain surprisingly became the most popular snack in Sichuan cuisine. Shavings of beef (mostly offal) are doused in spicy, mouth-numbing sauce.

Typical ingredients such as beef heart, head skin, tongue, and tripe are first cooked, then thinly sliced. Once the meat and the spicy sauce are prepared, the dish is arranged; first comes fresh celery with shavings arranged on top, next, the beef soup is poured over the whole thing, followed by a sauce that's made with chili oil, sesame seeds, and Sichuan peppercorns.

The dish is typically garnished with crushed peanuts. Even though most people consider offal meat not particularly appetizing, the shavings serve only to bring texture, while the entire flavor comes from the sauce. Although similar types of dishes existed before it, fuqi feipain was invented only recently, in the 1930s by a married couple that owned a restaurant in Chengdu.