Many Asian cuisines are known for their hot and spicy flavors. Possibly nowhere is more renowned for its heat than Sichuan. But where does it get its unforgettable kick from?  You guessed it –  the chili pepper. It's become such a culinary icon in China's southwest, that many forget it actually came from another continent! Tao Yuan has the story.

People say you hear the sound of Mahjong even before your plane lands in Chengdu and smell the scent of hotpot. Indeed the capital of southwest China's Sichuan province is famous for a great food scene. And in every single one of its signature dishes – chili peppers. Fang Yuan is a proud store manager of one of the city's most popular hotpot chains.

FANG YUAN, MANAGER XIAOLONGKAN CHINESE FONDUE CONCEPT STORE "We Sichuanese eat spicy food soon as we are born. Even for breakfast, we need chili sauce to spice up the flavor. A meal without chili pepper for us is like a meal without salt for people elsewhere."

So nurtured into one of China's most beloved cuisines, that people often forget the chili pepper has its roots half a world away.

WANG SHIWU FOOD CRITIC "People used to call it the sea pepper, not chili pepper, which points to its origin from overseas."

The man behind that journey – Italian explorer, Christopher Columbus. He may have failed to find a shortcut to India. But in the Caribbean, he found exactly what he set out to look for – spices. Eager Spanish and Portuguese traders then quickly spread the edible plants to places as far as Hungary, Africa, India and China.

TAO YUAN CHENGDU, SICHUAN PROVINCE "Exactly how the chili pepper found its way to the Middle Kingdom? Food historians have yet to arrive at a consensus. The earliest record of it here in Sichuan dates back about 400 years. In the centuries since, people in this region have exploited all its culinary possibilities – fresh, dried, pickled, grinded into powder, made into sauces and oils. Nowadays, the famed cooking of Sichuan has become a wildly popular global sensation."

FANG YUAN, MANAGER XIAOLONGKAN CHINESE FONDUE CONCEPT STORE "If you compare Chinese gastronomy to a kingdom, salt is the unshakable king. But if this kingdom wants to grow and prosper, then the chili pepper is that wise and resourceful prime minister."

And for the Sichuanese, spiciness has become so much more than just a flavor.

WANG SHIWU FOOD CRITIC "Eating spicy food opens up your pores, hence making you go about life and work with more passion. Sichuan people tend to be fiery and fierce go-getters."

So feel the heat, in every sense of the word. The New World import, with all its bite and burn, has become, in every way, part of the cultural identity of Sichuan. Tao Yuan, CGTN, Chengdu.