Sichuan Style Fried Green Beans - Gan Bian Si Ji Dou

I've been craving Gan Bian Si Ji Dou for so long, ever since my friend Eugene visited from Singapore and arranged a catch-up at a Sichuan restaurant in Swanston Street. We ordered copious amounts of food and yet i kept on piling my dish up from the bowl of chewy fried green beans and pork.

In typical Sichuan style, this dish brings together the harmonious taste/sensations of oil, heat and salt which is what i feel makes it so irresistible! If you discipline yourself you can cut the oil down significantly in the dish and make it, well, somewhat approximate a healthy dish (if you squint REALLY hard).

I may have gone a bit overboard with my hankering for spice and salt this week! I'm doing Mapo on Tuesday for my father and Korean Fried Chicken for myself on Wednesday- stay tuned for that one!

Chong Qing Lazi Ji (Sichuan Chilli Chicken)

On a cool winter evening, late in 2008, and upon returning from a chilly viewing of the penguins at Phillip Island, myself and a few friends decided to venture to a quaint little chinese restaurant in the heart of Melbourne, called Dainty Sichuan. Being the only one who hadn't been to Dainty before, i let me friends order, blissfully unaware of the experience that awaited me. The plastic red chillis hanging from the walls were too-subtle clues for me in my hungry state.

So the first dish came out: semi dried slithers of beef, served cold, with a sharp chilli hit in every bite. Then some chilli eggplant, searing my nostrils with each bite. And a chilli fish stew permeated my senses as i watched my friends devour, wipe their brow, devour.

And then it came out. The signature dish: Chong Qing Lazi Ji. Crisp little morsels of heaven and hell in one bite, burrowed like nuggets of gold in a field of chillis and peppercorns. Moist and tender, the first bite bursts with flavour, before you pause, wavering, then lunge for the bottle of milk at the table only to cry out in anguish to find it's soy milk and does nothing to bathe your withering tastebuds! There is only one thing left to do- continue!! Continue until it's all gone and rush like hell to the nearest gelataria.

Please, please note: Unless you have a death with, eat the chicken but NOT the chillis. 

Dan Dan Mian

I do have a love affair for Sichaun food. From the smoky sweet kung pao chicken, to the fiery hot morsels of fried chicken in chong qing lazi ji, Sichuan food is an epitaph in today's age for the overpoweringly strong flavors of garlic, salt and chilli.

My understanding of Dan Dan Mian or Spicy Sichuan Noodles is that the sauce can be almost souplike, where the noodles are swimming around; or, as in this case, the sauce clings to the noodles as like an Italian pasta. Either way, Dan Dan Mian is a mouth watering mix of creamy peanut, pungent garlic and ginger, and salty pork. 

To cater to the tastes of my diners (my mum for one! haha) i toned down the heat a little in this recipe. Feel free to crank up the heat with dried chillis or more peppercorns.

Kung Pao Chicken

Kung Pao chicken is a dish everyone has heard of thanks to its popularity in America and it's related inlfuence on television. (George Constanza ends up breaking the heart of a dying boy as the result of Kung Pao Chicken).

Well the first time i'd actually had it was at Choi's restaurant in Hawthorn East. If you haven't been there, it's worth a look. From an unopposing little door on a fairly quiet stretch of road, you enter an almost obscenely decorated dining room complete that looks like it came from Las Vegas. Having said that it seems to work, the service is impeccable, and the dishes are delicious.

Anyway! I'm not saying this dish is authentic, but it's not the terrible rubbish you get at franchise Chinese restaurants or noodle boxes. It's sticky-sweet, moist and tender, before the tingle of the sichuan peppers tap your shoulder.

Spicy Sichuan Cucumber Salad

Finally getting around to posting my Sichuan meals from a couple of weeks ago. I adore Sichuan food. Even though i'm not great at handling ultra spicy food, there's something incomparable about Sichuan cusine, with the heavy lashings of pepper, spice, garlic, and salt that makes me salivate just thinking about it. The one thing that irks me though, is that at places like Dainty Sichuan, i can't find anything other than boiled rice as a palate cleanser! My mouth is searing from the moment i walk in, with no salvation until i literally run to the gelato shop after dining. This dish is a little bit toned down, and the cucumbers has a nice cooling effect on the palate.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium cucumbers
• 1 tsp dried, crushed chilli
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sichuan peppercorns
• Sesame oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1tbs red wine vinegar
• 1tbs brown sugar
• Cooking oil
• 1tps chilli paste
  

Method:

Peel the cucumbers, then cut in half lengthwise, and then each strip again in half to give four strips. Using a knife, remove the seeds and pith. Cut the remaining strips into large bite sized chunks. 

Toss the cucumber and the salt together in a bowl and set aside for 10 minutes to draw out moisture.

Heat a small pan on medium heat.

Add the oil, then garlic and sichuan pepper. 

Cook until fragrant then remove from pan and set aside to cool. 

Drain the cucumbers in a sieve.

Mix the vinegar, sesame oil, sugar and chilli paste in a bowl. 

Pour all mixtures over the cucumbers in a bowl, and toss.

Redfridgerate until cold.

This dish works will as an accompaniment salad for other sichuan foods. It's a little less extreme than most Sichuan dishes, and the cucumber has a cooling, cleansing effect on the palate. I, however, don't mind scoffing this salad alone as a quick lunch in summer with a nice Sauvignon Blanc.