Though shot in different years and set in different locations, hit U.S. television series such as The Big Bang Theory, Friends and Ugly Betty have one thing in common: Some of their main characters frequently ordered food from Sichuan restaurants, with Sheldon Cooper, the socially awkward theoretical physicist in The Big Bang Theory, famously “freaking out” when his favorite Chinese restaurant Sichuan Palace moved. Credible? Yes. Actually, Sichuan cuisine is one of the hottest Chinese cuisines in the world—in both flavor and popularity.
Another testament to the popularity of Sichuan cuisine is the mushrooming of Panda Express, an international fast food corporation that offers typical dishes with origins in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan, including the orange chicken, tangerine chicken,
