A relatively quiet street, there isn’t much here on Changkat Thambi Dollah save for Sichuan hotpot and Teochew porridge joints. Leaving the Teochew porridge for another day, we are here to sniff out a worthy Sichuan restaurant. There is the popular Hong La Qiao, but we opted for a quieter one down the road...
A certain smell lingers in the air, a low-level pungency buzz. Is it the chillies? The famous peppercorns? There's two menus here: one for dishes from the kitchen and another for the steamboat, a chart on a clipboard. Excitement builds. Collars are loosened, lips swell in anticipation, hair is tied back. We’re all prepared.
Sichuan cuisine (or Szechuan, Szechwan, 四川菜) is infamous worldwide for being the odd Chinese cuisine out – infested with heat and spice, raising the bar for macho tolerance of hotness. The ingredients involved are led by two main stars, the Sichuan peppercorn and the Sichuan chilli. The Sichuan peppercorn (unrelated to the common black pepper) is actually slightly lemony, tingling on your tongue and numbing it, much like drinking a can of soda. The Sichuan chillies are not extremely spicy, but a rather mellow yet aromatic hit that builds up. The term ma la (麻辣) means “numbing” and “spicy”; the numbness lent by the peppercorns allows for greater tolerance of the chillies.
"Fiery, reddish magma of a hot pot"
But we digress.
Different sauces are laid out on the table. Doufu ru (fermented beancurd reminiscent of tempoyak), lajiao (ground roasted chillies cooked in oil), and a nutty sauce that has the smell and texture of runny sesame butter. Interestingly, a bowl of chopped coriander leaves also arrives. A little doufu ru, a little lajiao, and a healthy pinch of coriander leaves make for the best dip to accompany what is to come: the ma la hotpot.
Sichuan chillies, Sichuan peppercorns, star anise were among the ingredients spotted floating in the fiery reddish oily concoction. A healthy bunch of scallions swim on the top, a stark contrast in every way. It is said that the bold flavors and large amounts of oil help preserve food and mask the decidedly unpleasant smells of blood and offal, cheap fare for peasants back in the day.
There are platters of food to toss into the bubbling magma: among them thinly sliced lamb, pork brains, blood cake, red potato noodles, luncheon meat, tofu skin, enoki mushrooms, even spicy marinated beef. The lamb is so thin, the broth so hot, that the fat melts away almost instantaneously. The first bite of the night is delicious; some of us have never eaten flash-boiled lamb before. The pork brain slices are cooked through til the pink turns white. It shrinks during the boiling (as we had to for a while), but loses none of its creaminess, a wonderful contrast to the sharp peppercorns. The blood cake was not as smooth as one would like, but still works fantastically with the intense heat.
Enoki mushrooms are delightful, softening into noodle-like strands in the heat of the broth. Spoon a little broth and mushroom into your bowl and down them like noodles. Spicy marinated beef to be cooked in a ma la hotpot is redundant, but none of us complain. No rice was ordered, but it would have been perfect with the beef. Red potato noodles look like thick pieces of fettuccine. These have to be left in the broth for a while to be slurp-worthy. Retaining just a slight chewiness to it, the starchy blandness helps carry the flavors of the hotpot well.
There are also two versions of Sichuan chicken: saliva chicken (koushui ji) and the famous spicy chicken (lazi ji ding). Cold spicy chicken is unfamiliar, but the saliva chicken is a welcome change from the fiery heat (temperature-wise) of the rest of the meal. The spicy chicken falls a little flat, as the meat is much too dried out. It is eaten with much relish however, as there is nothing quite like biting into fried Sichuan peppercorns. The mouth turns into a pinball machine as flavors and aromas bounce around.
Belts undone, mouths numb and hairlines sweaty, we still don’t want the meal to be over. It is a wonder that anyone can speak at all at this point. Poking around the hotpot reveals a forgotten piece or two, the flavor intensified three-fold after soaking in the broth for more than half hour. Luncheon meat breaks like soggy bread, incredibly delicious. The waiters catch our eyes, smiling and politely gesturing to the emptying restaurant. A quick time check shows it is almost 11 pm! We nod in return, finally sated. After breaking bread over the bill, we concede that our meal is done.
Now, to figure out how to drive home in this daze.
More Photos To Drool On
Delicate thin slices of lamb ready for the piquant broth
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Foodster's Verdict
Restaurant Chongqing Sichuan Cuisine
Taste
Service
Ambiance
Address:
No 144 & 146, Changkat Thambi Dolllah, off Jalan Pudu, 55100
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03 2144 2623
Open:
11.00 a.m. – 11.00 p.m
Pros:
Very good variety of meats, vegetables, etc available for the hotpot.
Cons:
The chicken in their lazi ji ding is disappointingly dry.
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