Today’s theme, something spicy, is one of my favorite dishes that I order at Szechuan (Sichuan?) restaurants. I am not a very good Asian when it comes to spice, but for some reason, I still power through and love eating this mouth-numbing dish.
I used a recipe from Woks of Life, but it was definitely interesting to research other recipes. There’s so much variation from instructions like “use silken tofu” versus “use soft tofu,” “use soy sauce” versus “soy sauce is not part of the authentic recipe,” and “use fermented black beans” versus recipes like this one that don’t mention them. My head spun a little bit, trying to figure out what was the most “authentic” recipe, so pardon me if this recipe that I used is not in fact authentic.
Watch me make this dish on my TikTok.
I remember telling my fiance that it should be a relatively easy dish to cook, but I didn’t factor in all the little steps to prep before the actual cooking process. For instance, it took me forever to peel some garlic (yes, I know there are hacks out there to peel garlic quickly, but what can I say, I’m a rebel), and I had to grate the ginger and garlic, grind the peppercorns, and chop up all the veggies. In true chef fashion, I assembled all my components into their own bowls (I specifically bought some glass bowls today to be fancy and add to my small collection) and lined them up so I could have them ready to go since this dish seems to cook fairly quickly.
The end product was not as spicy as I expected. Typically, when I order this dish at a restaurant, each bite packs a punch, but this seemed to slowly build over time and was more subtle. It also tasted like it was lacking some flavor, like sweetness, so something for me to keep in mind for if I make this again. I ended up eating this with some stir-fried black beans and stewed lotus root , both prepared side dishes that I bought from heaven on earth (a.k.a. H-Mart), and the combination was perfect – soft and spicy with crunchy and sweet.
