Guiyang Griddle

Griddle-frying of this kind is a Guizhou speciality, most associated with Guiyang and with Shuicheng in Liupanshui, whose 'Shuicheng griddle' (水城烙锅) is the version usually named as the well-known one. By local account the way of cooking on a domed griddle goes back a few centuries in the Shuicheng area and grew from poor hill country making the most of a single iron pan, a little oil and whatever meat and roots were to hand; the specific dating is folk tradition rather than firm record. From a humble field-and-mine-country meal it became a Guiyang street and night-market institution, the food stalls lined with low stools around the hot griddles. The defining accessory is the dry dip bowl, which sets the Guizhou griddle apart from a plain barbecue and is where much of the flavor lives.

Off the hot dome the pieces come crisp-edged and browned, the meat juicy within its seared crust, potato and lotus root caramelized at the rim, tofu blistered and hot. Dragged through the dry dip, each bite picks up a coat of toasted-chili heat, the crunch and oil of crushed peanut, and the sharp, faintly fishy-herbal note of fish mint that is so Guizhou. There is no broth, so the appeal is dry texture and smoke against the cool, spicy, fragrant dip; the table fills with the smell of searing fat and toasting chili. Eaten slowly, piece by hot piece, it is as much a way to spend an evening as a dish.

The griddle's domed shape is the point: oil and rendered fat run off the raised center to the cooler rim, so the food fries on a thin film rather than stewing in grease, browning and crisping through the Maillard reaction and caramelization while staying relatively dry. The center sits hottest for searing meat; the sloping sides are cooler, holding cooked pieces and gently crisping starchy slices. A wipe of oil and constant turning keep things from sticking and color them evenly. The cooking is plain — heat, oil and turning — so the seasoning is carried almost entirely by the dry dip: toasted chili ground to a coarse powder (its pigments and aromas drawn out by dry-roasting), crushed roasted peanut for crunch and fat, fish mint and scallion for freshness, with salt, MSG and toasted soy or sesame as the cook likes. Because there is no sauce on the pan, every diner seasons each bite to taste at the moment of eating.