PrintChong Qing Chicken and Pea Shoots at Grand Sichuan
My favorite meal to eat at Grand Sichuan consists of a fiery hot meat dish and a non-fiery vegetable dish. During my last visit, my friends and I shared the Chong Qing chicken, whose star isn't the chicken as much as the mound of dried red chiles dotted with slightly crisp chicken nubs, Sichuan peppercorns, scallions, and thick slices of garlic. The first time I ate this dish I made the mistake of eating one of the chiles and paying the price with a seemingly never ending burning sensation in my mouth, on my lips, and any other bits of skin that were exposed to the chile's wrath. The chicken and chiles are similarly colored—don't bite into the wrong one. The chile content may be excessive, but combined with the peppercorns they infuse every morsel of chicken with addictive fragrant, tingly spiciness.
We mellowed out the heat of the chicken with sautéed pea shoots with garlic. Sautéed pea shoots are my favorite Chinese vegetable dish, right before string beans. Pea shoots have a subtle sweetness that meshes perfectly with garlic (admittedly, garlic probably makes all vegetables taste better) and, cooked to the right degree, they have a pleasant texture that is slightly crunchy and soft. I would happily eat this all day, all night, and in my sleep.
Grand Sichuan
23 Saint Marks Place, New York, NY 10003 (b/n 2nd Avenue and 3rd Avenue; map)
212-529-4800
Multiple locations listed at thegrandsichuan.com
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9 Comments:
.... I always eat the chilies too...
robertgoulet at 2:35PM on 02/10/09
Grand Sichuan is a great spot...I too share your love for this place...
http://www.ubereater.com/2008/06/grand-sichuan-hits-west-village-and.html
The Ubereater
www.ubereater.com
Ubereater at 3:42PM on 02/10/09
you should get the cucumbers off the cold aps menu, the perfect foil for anything spicy.
SoundBitesNYC at 4:46PM on 02/10/09
@robertgoulet: Sweet jesus, I must be weaksauce. I don't think I can handle em...
@SoundBitesNYC: Shall try that next time!
Robyn Lee at 5:07PM on 02/10/09
I second the cucumber suggestion.....they are served in a delicious mild scallion sauce.
pickled at 5:07PM on 02/10/09
I love the Chong Qing chicken. I recently was at a Sichuan restaurant in HK and accidentally ordered both Chong Qing chicken and Chong Qing pig intestines (the latter had a different name). It was a massive chile overload. I brought the leftovers back to NYC the next day and they were still good (and spicy).
http://www.goodiesfirst.com/2009/01/yunyan-szechuan-restaurant.html
Krista at 5:18PM on 02/10/09
Cant wait to try the Chong Qing (chicken)
I agree the cucumbers are great and here are some other awesome items from Grand Sichuan:
Soup Dumplings
Hot Oil Wontons
Dan Dan Noodle
Ghou Zhiu chicken
DudeLovesFood at 7:12PM on 02/10/09
Ah, Grand Sichuan, you can do no wrong.
My list of favorites includes the Gui Zhou spicy chicken, Dan Dan noodles, Ma Po tofu, eggplant with garlic sauce, shredded potatoes with vinegar sauce, Sichuan wontons in hot oil, sour string beans with pork, pork soup dumplings, beef with cumin flavor, cold cucumbers in scallion sauce...
kathryn at 1:15AM on 02/11/09
Ok yeah, Robyn, next time we're ordering everything Kathryn just listed there! :)
Kathy YL Chan at 11:29AM on 02/11/09