Jiachang Wei Archives • The Mala Market

Sichuan’s fùhé wèi (复合味) are a collection of more than 20 classic flavors and flavor combinations that form the base of many of the province’s dishes. This page explores jiācháng wèi (家常味) and the recipes that feature it. Other fuhe wei can be found through the menu above.

While the numbing-spicy málà flavor profile is the gateway into Sichuan cuisine for most of the world (and much of China), jiācháng is the flavor that defines everyday life inside the province. Jiācháng (家常), often translated as “homestyle,” is built around doubanjiang, soy sauce and salt. It’s a flavor combination you’ll find used daily in kitchens all across Sichuan for go-to stir-fries and braises.

Iconic dishes in this style include the famous twice-cooked pork (huíguō ròu, 回锅肉) and home-style tofu (jiācháng dòufu, 家常豆腐). This flavor also shows up in a variety of home-cooked dishes like braised duck with konjac (móyù shāoyā, 魔芋烧鸭) and stir-fried chicken with green peppers (xiǎo jiānjī, 小煎鸡). Some might even include mapo tofu in the jiachang flavor profile, though it is equally at home in mala wei; dishes can sometimes be a combination of more than one fuhe wei.

Jiācháng is short for jūjiā chángyǒu (居家常有), meaning “often found in the home.” The term carries two layers of meaning: In a broad sense, jiachang dishes (jiācháng cài, 家常菜) refers to all foods that are rooted in a home-cooking style. You also often see this phrase used on menus in casual, homey restaurants, to describe their style of cooking, and the phrase, when used this way, is not limited to Sichuan cuisine. Within the context of Sichuan’s fuhe wei, however, the meaning is narrower: The phrase jiācháng wèi (家常味) describes a savory, umami and mildly spicy flavor profile—one of the most essential flavor combinations in the region.

The history of jiachang wei is closely tied to the development of doubanjiang, the fermented spicy bean paste often called the “soul of Sichuan cuisine.” Doubanjiang’s use expanded significantly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The ingredient was first incorporated into Sichuan kitchens as a side dish for rice, eaten on its own as a condiment, like you would eat a dish of paocai (pickles). Home cooks then gradually began adding it to braises and stir-fries, especially preparations that included fish or pork, two of Sichuan’s most accessible and popular proteins. These dishes were eventually adopted by restaurant chefs and standardized over time.

Twice-cooked pork, perhaps the most iconic jiachang dish, appears in Fu Chongju’s book A Comprehensive Chronicle of Chengdu (Chéngdū Tōng Jiàn, 成都通鉴), written around the 1910s. In the following decades, the dish’s reputation spread far beyond Sichuan, further expanding the reach of the jiachang flavor profile. In her 1945 classic How to Cook and Eat in Chinese, Buwei Yang Chao noted: “Twice-cooked meat is a Szechwan dish but famous all over China.” In the eight decades since, its popularity has only intensified, securing its place in the hall of fame of Chinese cooking.

In Popular Sichuan Cuisine (Dàzhòng Chuāncài, 大众川菜), a beloved cookbook first published in the 1970s, jiachang dishes are well represented. The tome includes nearly 20 clearly named jiachang dishes—and likely many more if one traces the flavor profile through various ingredients and methods and dishes that overlap with other fuhe wei. Twice-cooked pork appears as the very first recipe in the book.

Of course, the two meanings of “jiachang wei”—the connotation of a home-cooked style and the codified flavor profile—often blur. Jiachang cooking is flexible by nature, shaped by what is on hand and who is cooking, allowing for constant adjustment and substitution. This adaptability is precisely what makes it “homestyle,” and why it remains the most vital flavor carried across Sichuanese kitchens.

The Base Ingredients of Jiachang Wei

Jiachang wei is described as “savory, umami and slightly spicy” (xiánxiān wēilà, 咸鲜微辣), a combination that comes from a mix of Sichuan pantry ingredients:

Core ingredients: doubanjiang, soy sauce, salt
Frequent ingredients: douchi (fermented soybeans), tian mian jiang (sweet wheat paste), pickled er jing tiao chilies, Shaoxing wine, black vinegar, msg
Aromatics such as ginger, scallion, garlic and garlic greens are also often added

For example, salt-fried pork adds douchi to the core ingredients, which builds savoriness. Twice-cooked pork adds tian mian jiang, to add sweetness, and sometimes douchi as well; and braised fish dishes made with this flavor profile usually include pickled chilies, which bring some brightness.

The defining flavor of all these dishes, however, is always Pixian doubanjiang. This is the ingredient that gives these foods their depth, saltiness and signature red hue. Cooks use 3-year-aged doubanjiang to take advantage of its deeper, funkier, lightly caramelized flavor and a red-oil version (hóngyóu dòubàn, 红油豆瓣), which is young doubanjiang with added oil, for brighter color and sharper heat. Or they sometimes combine both versions in one dish.

Classic Jiachang Wei Dishes

The jiachang wei flavor profile appears most often in stir-fries and braises using pork, chicken, duck, beef or freshwater fish (though tofu and vegetables can also be prepared this way, if you like). Some of these dishes include the words “jiachang” or “douban” in their names, but many simply incorporate the profile’s structure without calling it out.

For stir-fried dishes, the basic cooking method is straightforward, but the steps might vary. In general, you sear the meat first, then add the doubanjiang to bloom it in the oil (sometimes with douchi or sweet wheat paste), and then cook everything until the oil is red and aromatic. Vegetables and sauces are added and tossed briefly at the end of the cooking process.
- Popular examples of this style include twice-cooked pork (huíguō ròu, 回锅肉), salt-fried pork (yán jiān ròu, 盐煎肉), stir-fried chicken (xiǎo jiānjī, 小煎鸡), and stir-fried beef slivers (jiācháng niúròusī, 家常牛肉丝).
For braised dishes, you can generally take one of two approaches: For some dishes you fry the doubanjiang first, then add stock. Once the sauce has been made, you add the rest of the ingredients (sometimes frying or blanching them first), then let them simmer until tender. For other dishes, you fry the main ingredient with doubanjiang before deglazing the pan with stock, then braise everything until tender. Some braises (in either style) are also finished with a light starch slurry to give the sauce a glossy consistency.
- Popular braised dishes include homestyle braised tofu (jiācháng dòufu, 家常豆腐), braised freshwater fish (dòubàn yú, 豆瓣鱼), braised pork hock (dòubàn zhǒuzi, 豆瓣肘子), braised chicken (shāo jīgōng, 烧鸡公), and pork and sweet potato (or mung bean) glass noodles, also known as “ants climbing the tree” (mǎ yǐ shàng shù, 蚂蚁上树).
- Notably, many Sichuan “red-braised” dishes also rely on doubanjiang rather than the caramel used in Jiangnan-style red-cooked dishes. Red-braised beef (hóngshāo niúròu, 红烧牛肉) and pork ribs (hóngshāo páigǔ, 红烧排骨) are common examples.

Fuhu wei category photos and text compiled in collaboration with Xueci Cheng.