My mouth is already watering and so too are my eyes for that matter, as I anticipate the dinner I'm going to enjoy this evening. Szechuan, or the way it is spelled here, Sichuan!!!
As promised, I said that I would give you the name of the numbing spice, well, here it is.....Hua Jiao or the English way, Chinese Prickly Ash. Apparently, when looking for this wonderful spice, one should insist on getting Da Hong Pao, as this is the best, or as we'd say in Hawaii, "Da Kine"!!!
Too good to believe; it is one of the best feelings I have ever had in my mouth; it numbs the tongue and lips in an almost addictive way!!!
Remember my telling you of the translucent noodles found in Xian, well, they're served cold(chilled actually). Try to imagine the feeling of cold noodles, followed by burn of spices that instantly make you break into a sweat or hiccups, then, closely followed by an unbelievable numbness that starts with your tongue, to be soon followed by your lips.
I have included a few photos of the spices, just so you can see what they look like, should you be fortunate enough to be in a place that sells them.
I am actually finishing this blog, post my meal and will start another, to tell you of that fine fare!!!
I do apologize for the shoddy picture of the 'Naked Spice', however, Geraldine, a lady Nancy and I met in the elevator on the way up to our room, just happened to be carrying a bag with the spices you see(of course I had to ask her, if they were Hua Jiao and thankfully they were) was holding them, so between her shake and mine, it ended up outta focus!!!
She also just happened to work in Hong Kong at the Shangri-la, so guess who we'll be hitting up, to show us places to eat when we reach Kowloon.....but I guess, that will be yet ANOTHER story!!!
Read on and hopefully I'll have you drooling, as I was, with the food in Chengdu.
Ades
No comments:
Post a Comment