My lips are still tingling

I am speechless. Luckily, as this is a blog, I can still type. What a meal!

Tonight, I dined at Yu Xin Chuancai, a Sichuan restaurant that has a handful of locations around Beijing. I had pegged Sichuan food as one I knew I had to have during this week; I think it was in subconscious knowledge that this meal would come to pass. The place was a bit hard to find, hidden off of the street in a building that contained the Chang An Grand Theatre, among other establishments. Through some dumb luck I spotted the name in English on the side of the building, and made my way inside.

Though the hostess looked at me with some surprise when I asked for a table of one (not common when dining out in China), she led me to a fine little booth off of the bar. I settled in and opened the menu. As I've seen a couple of times, it was a huge book, replete with full-page pictures of the dishes on offer. Thankfully, there were English translations, as I'm not sure how long it would have taken me to match up the dishes recommended in Beijing Eats if I had to do it by characters. I found the two recommended, added two more of my own, and some refreshment.

The refreshment was draught beer. Both because I really like draught beer and because I knew I'd be tucking into some spicy food and that seemed a good choice to chase it with. After three rounds of back and forth with the waitstaff ("are you sure you want a pitcher?" "yes, I'm sure"; "you want the big size or small size?" "big size, please"; etc.), the pitcher arrived. It was a little thin but would serve its purpose.

The first dish was a wildcard, lettuce draped in sesame paste. Not spicy in the least, actually the opposite of. This dish was intended to serve as the metaphorical yogurt to my forthcoming curry. It was tasty, with both lettuce and sesame having individual good flavor. The only small improvement I could make would be to replace the lettuce with crispier hearts of Romaine, to bring a bit more snappiness to the dish.

Then the heat began. The appetizer was chuan noodles in chilli oil. Simple, rectangular affairs of translucent noodles were layered on an oval plate. Smothering them, underneath, around, and on top, was a mixture of chilli oil and chilli paste, with a smattering of sesame seeds through in to brighten up the plate. This dish was heaven. Simple, full of taste and flavor, and with an addictive sauce that kept me coming back. Initially hot and shocking to the palate, it remained hot but became a craving after two or three noodles. The noodles themselves were thick and chewy, providing a substantial vehicle for the transportation of massive amounts of chilli into my mouth.

And then the heat intensified. The main dish was poached beef in chilli oil. Thin strips of beef were floating in a literal sea of chilli oil and chilli paste. Look at the picture, look how deep the bowl is. It is an ocean of chilli, covered with rafts of beef. The beef was piping hot, cooked but not dry, and delicious. It was also deliriously spicy. Little did I know that immersed in the ocean was a set of Chinese greens and bean sprouts that were also delicious and, somehow, beyond spicy. This dish, when combined with the chuan noodles, were the Sichuan experience. My lips went numb. My nose started to run. My eyes started to tear. I thought my ears might start to bleed (but they didn't). And, I...kept...coming...back...for...more. I simply had to finish it all, there was no question about it. And, slowly but surely, I did.

What serves as a denouement for a meal like this? I chose lotus buns stuffed with black sesame. For me, these hit the spot. Covered in translucent mock salmon roe, these chewy buns brought the heat down considerably. The black sesame inside was scrumptious and made me make sure I ate all five.

What a meal. I enjoyed it so much that I was the second to last party to leave. And it only cost Y86, or about $12USD, including the pitcher of beer. And, the menu had so much more that looked absolutely delectable. It will be hard for me not to visit this place again before I leave. We will see what happens. Viva Sichuan!

Postscript: As I was walking out, I saw an ad for my restaurant in the lobby, full of pictures. I glanced at it and saw some rather peculiar items on offer, foremost of which was the dish pictured below. It is entitled, in English: "Wood Frog's Fallopian Tubes with Pawpaw".