Yes, you got it, I'm about to tell you about the Yak.....apart from almost hitting one, to get here, I've had the pleasure of being able to eat one too. Think beef, but not as strong, maybe more Veal in taste. I'm sure others might beg to differ but that's my take!!!
I've eaten it two ways so far, the first in a Sichuan Hot Pot: A pot of bubbling broth, filled with Dried Chilies, Sichuan Peppers(Hua Jiao), Chili and Sesame oils. Add to this, your meat(in our case Black Chicken and Yak), noodles(one order of 'Glass', another of 'Flour') and vegetables(local, think robust Romaine!) oh, and an order of Tofu for good measure, let it boil away for a while, then using the slotted ladle and regular ladle provided, fish out and enjoy!!!
The flavour is that intense, mouth numbing, mind blowing, slightly sweet pungent, fire hot taste, that I now know is only to be found here in the Sichuan Province.
How can you taste the Yak you might ask with all those other things in there? Funnily enough, each ones own distinctive flavour shone through, even from under all that spice, I mean, the Chicken still tasted like chicken, the Vegetable, like.....mmmm, let's say mustard greens and the Yak, as I said, like Veal!!! The Noodles reminded me of slivered, Wonton skins and the glass noodles, well, they just absorbed the flavour of the broth, so those were hard to tell!!!
The other preparation I've had, was a Tibetan way. This dish was not spicy at all, the Yak being sauteed with an Aspargus-Broccoli shoot vegetable(forgot the name, hence the terrible description), Garlic, Onion and Red Peppers, thus allowing me to make up my mind, that it had more of a veal, rather than a beef or lamb taste, for that matter. Even in it's raw state, it had a much brighter, strawberry red, as opposed to your normal beef colour!
That same night, a couple of other Tibetan delights that I had the pleasure of tasting were Fried Chili Lamb Loin and Shredded Dry Beef with Peppers. The Lamb was prepared in much the same way as the Fried Sichuan Chicken, except there were NO bones. I gather it had been dusted with either corn or potato starch, as it was crispy on the outside, yet deliciously moist and tender inside. It had that same chili bang that I've mentioned previously and the 'old familiar' numbing, that Hua Jiao, can only offer.
The Shredded Dry Beef and Peppers was a delicious dish of just that, shredded dried beef and shredded chillies(both red and green), sauteed together, to give you a wonderful full flavoured beef(for those Africans among us, think moist biltong and chilies with out the chew and for those non-Africans, think Southern dried beef, Hormel makes it and it comes in a can!!!)) and chili. The robust taste of the beef, allowed it to shine thorough the bite of the peppers, will have to try this one when I get home as I've started collecting the peppers necessary to make some of the dishes I've tried.
BTW, I am now sitting in the InterCon' in Chongqing and hopefully we'll get to 'Food Street' tonight, where I'll definitely be trying some new dishes and hopefully will be able to publish the photos that go with them.
Until then, happy eating and reading too,
Ades
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