I never thought Chinese food could be so hot.
When I was living in Malaysia, Chinese food seemed to be quite mild, as most Chinese food in Malaysia are variations of Cantonese cuisine.
The above photo shows one of the dishes we had when we first arrived in Beijing. This is a Sichuan dish. There is probably as much chilli in there as chicken.
In Beijing, there are varieties of cuisine from all over the country. I love Sichuan food, but they are often very hot. In this 2nd photo (above), the prawn dish on the right seemed quite harmless, doesn't it? Actually, there are lots of bits of chilli scattered all over. These dishes are eaten with steamed rice.
Skewers of vegetables, meatballs, tofu, mushrooms…. I have not eaten this. Sure looks hot! I am not sure if this is Sichuan food…
The best capsicum I have ever tasted, but it was extremely hot.
If you are alone, ordering food from a menu can sometimes be a challenge as most dishes are for 2 or more people. But some menus offer the lone diner a portion of a dish over rice… So here’s hot spicy chicken over rice…
And hot spicy pork strips with vegetables over rice
Hot dumplings are yummy but it felt like I was torturing myself. Yet, I could not stop eating…
And another hot chicken dish… Now, where are the tissues? And where is the cold drink I ordered?
Quite a presentation… hot chook.
Finally, one last hot dish…
Sichuan peppercorns are widely used in these dishes. It has a very distinctive flavour and sensation (numbing effect) in the mouth… Here’s a link if you are interested to read more about Sichuan food.
