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How to find good Sichuan food
Sichuan cooking is not simply hot. Its signature is mala — the numbing tingle of Sichuan peppercorn layered with chilli heat — and a restaurant that only delivers the heat has missed the half that makes it Sichuan.
What does mala mean?
Mala means numbing and spicy. The numbing (ma) comes from Sichuan peppercorn, which produces a tingling, buzzing sensation on the lips and tongue; the spicy (la) comes from dried chillies. A good mala dish balances both, so the numbing tempers the heat rather than adding to it. It is the defining flavour of Sichuan cooking.
What separates a good one from a bad one
- Peppercorn you can feel — Real Sichuan peppercorn makes your lips buzz within a bite or two. If nothing tingles, the kitchen is using too little or very old stock.
- Chilli oil with sediment — Good house chilli oil is fragrant, dark red, with toasted chilli flakes, sesame and spices settled at the bottom. Thin red oil that only burns is a supermarket shortcut.
- Two menus — Many Sichuan restaurants keep a Chinese-language or 'traditional' menu alongside an Americanised one. Ask for it, or look for the section with tripe, kidney and fish in chilli oil — that is where the kitchen is cooking for itself.
- Wok hei on dry-fried dishes — Dry-fried green beans and dry-fried chicken should be blistered and smoky, not oily and soft.
- Balance, not just heat — Fish-fragrant sauce, garlic sauce and strange-flavour dishes are sweet, sour and savoury at once. A kitchen that can do these is a kitchen that understands the cuisine.
What to order
- Mapo tofu — Soft tofu in a chilli-bean sauce with ground pork and peppercorn. The single best test of a Sichuan kitchen.
- Dan dan noodles — Noodles with spiced pork, chilli oil and preserved vegetable. Mix thoroughly before eating.
- Water-boiled fish — Fish slices poached in a broth under a layer of chilli and peppercorn. For a group, and spectacular.
- Dry-fried green beans — Blistered, with garlic and minced pork. The vegetable dish people come back for.
- Chongqing chicken — Crisp chicken buried in dried chillies. You hunt for the chicken; the chillies are aromatic, not for eating.
How Savor Scout looks for it
A Sichuan search reads reviews for mala, numbing and peppercorn — words that only appear when the dish was actually made the Sichuan way — and for named dishes like mapo tofu and water-boiled fish. A place that is Chinese in category but Sichuan in its reviews will surface ahead of one that is Sichuan in name only.
Looking in a particular city?
Each of these opens Savor Scout with the location already set, so you can say what you want and it searches from there. It covers 1,000 US cities in total — these are simply the largest.
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Chinese food, hot pot, dumplings