Meal # 26: China (Part 5: Sichuan)

Rich in history, beautiful landscapes and controversial damming projects, Sichuan province has many claims to fame. Not only is it home to most of China’s recovering panda population, it is also the site of China’s “space city”, Xichang. It is not hard to see why Sichuan would be chosen for a major satellite launching station; as we discovered on Saturday, the chilli here is powerful enough to blast you off the planet!

Dainty Sichuan Noodle
Corrs Lane
Chinatown, City

Despite its unprepossessing alley-way entrance and almost shy-sounding name, the Dainty Sichuan noodle house proved to be a robust and lively eatery. With strings of satin chillis hanging from the wall – just to let us know what we were in for – and many large round tables to accommodate hungry groups, it was the perfect place for our Chinatown finale. Our culinary adventurers this week were Paul, Deb, Naomi, Nick, Helen, Sai, Rami and Caroline.

The colourful menu had a selection ranging from the classic (e.g. Sichuan’s signature dish Kung Pao Chicken), to the quaint (eg Ants Climbing Trees, a fried noodle dish) to the out and out extravagant (e.g. platters stacked high with chilli crabs). All dishes were marked with a number of chillis to indicate how hot they were, from to three chillis, with one indicating “moderately spicy” and three chillis meaning: “WARNING: VERY VERY SPICY”.

In addition to its famously spicy sauces, Sichuan is also known for its pork, producing more of this meat than any other Chinese province. This was reflected in the menu, with a large number of pork-based dishes, from from chilli and cumin spare ribs to stir fried pig’s ears. Another trend was for dishes to be made with “threads”, i.e. very thin strips of the core ingredient. Everything came in threads – beef threads, pork threads, eel threads, even potato threads.

Given the range of dietary requirements, and variable levels of bravery regarding the chilli, we ordered separate meals. The staff were accommodating, and were happy to provide us with a vegetarian version of a meal that would normally contain meat. They also offered to reduce the level of spice from “normal spicy” to Westerner spicy. We declined, as experiencing the full flavour of regional cuisine is what “80 meals” is all about. Bring it on, we said, and they did. They did.

Entrée:
Spicy pickled cucumber
Garlic eggplant

This meal pulled no punches from the outset, with both the entrees packing a powerful chilli hit. The cucumber was a mixture of hot and cool, mouth numbing one second, refreshing the next, while the eggplant hit you with waves of flavour – first saltiness, then garlic, then chilli. Spicy as they were, these dishes were just training for the chilli marathon ahead.

Mains:

Kung pao chicken
Kung pao prawns
Dry stir fried beef threads
Ma Po Tofu with pork mince
Ma Po Tofu (without mince)
Pork threads with wild black fungus
Spicy baby octopus
Spicy chilli vegetable stir fry

Possibly Sichuan’s most famous dish, Kung Pao appears to be the inspiration for most sauces labelled “Sichuan” in mainstream Chinese restaurants. The sauce was like an intense version of sweet and sour, again hitting in waves – salt, sweet, chilli - and coming with peanuts and fiery little red peppers. Meanwhile the beef combined an aromatic mixture of vegetables and spices, giving an almost flowery taste, with super-dry peppery meat. It was indescribably tasty – at least partly because it numbed the mouth to the point where descriptive words became hard to speak.

Even with these two strong contenders on the table, nothing, but nothing, could compare to the octopus. The only “3 chilli” dish we ordered, the spicy baby octopus was a unique experience. The octopus itself was well cooked and wonderfully tender, served in a sauce that seemed to contain every type of chilli known to man. There were dried chillis, fresh red chillis loaded into each octopus like firecrackers, bright orange chilli oil that could be seen separating from the sauce, in short more chilli than you could shake a chopstick at. Each mouthful provided a warming rush of earthy chilli flavour, followed by a 10 megaton explosion in your mouth. We salute the diner who went head to head with this dish.

After all this chilli, the pork threads with black fungus were a welcome relief. With a zero chilli rating, they relied on a more subtle but no less satisfying combination of flavours. The greens also provided some refreshing relief, though they were spicy enough in their own right. After a while it all became relative. Even the Ma Po Tofu began to seem mild, though in other contexts it would be a hot dish. A famous Sichuan specialty, it combined a warming bean-based chilli sauce with delicately textured bean curd. With or without pork mince, it made for perfect comfort food.

Overall

Wow. Not only was this by far the spiciest meal encountered on our journey, it also ranked among the best. As with Hunanese cuisine, the flavours, though strong, were well balanced and complex, coming together like a symphony. A symphony played at crashing volume, maybe, but still a symphony. It is something worth experiencing, though we recommend you have some milder dishes on the table as well to break the onslaught.

The meals were moderately priced - starting at $12 for a noodle dish, averaging around $18, higher for seafood - and the servings were extremely generous, making for excellent value. This was the first stop where we’ve asked for take-away bags, which were cheerfully provided. We could however, have done with more rice during the meal, as we needed it to cool our mouths down.

For chilli fans, this place is an absolute must. Convincingly Sichuanese, it also provides an insight into a side of Chinese cuisine you will not see in a generic Chinese takeaway. Although, after the chilli extravaganza we had last Saturday, we’re still wondering where the “dainty” part comes in.