Xu’s Kitchen Restaurant
Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
Lunch Saturday, April 9, 2011
Oh my goodness, I have to say this was the best, bar none, Chinese food since arriving in China. Our driver asked where we wanted to go and we gave him a few criteria… Xu’s Kitchen was where he selected for us. The atmosphere was pleasant, the place was clean, and the wait staff catered to our every need. I would most likely have never found this place on my own and if I accidently did… would probably not have ventured in. It could not have been more delicious!!!
Chinese food is meant to be served hot so generally you get your order one at a time so that each dish is eaten fresh off the fire. I took pictures, but it was at the end when all the dishes were partially eaten but all on the table. They serve warm water with the meal in the tea cups. I was told it was good for the digestion. But here is our meal… and I can proudly tell you that I was the most adventuresome ever in trying and eating everything!!!
See the hands in the lower right with the chop sticks? That is Michael… we have both mastered the chopsticks and can even eat rice with them. Although at home we tend to use the fork, when out at restaurants that dress the table with only chopsticks… we never ask for a fork.
Now… here is what the dishes are: FYI… any dish with specs of red and green… those are hot peppers… really hot peppers!
Gan guo hua ji - English translation - ‘chicken pepper pot’ - ji means chicken and this was kind hard to eat as it was chopped up bones with the meat. This is the dish that is in the middle with the fire under it…. See those bits of red and green? Those are the hot peppers I mentioned… and they are VERY hot, however that is not what you must be wary of… it is the black peppercorns. There is a clump of them, still on the stems, pushed to the upper right side of the pan. And you will notice a few black dots in one of the white bowls… I picked those bad boys out of the dish. Just a bite, of even the tiniest of those, and you will no longer have feeling in your mouth. In earlier times, these were used as anesthetic for dental work.
Shen shan xiao mu – loosely translated is ‘ pickled black fungus’. It is just to the top left of the chicken pot and is a cold dish. It is a tree fungus. It was crunchy and tasted very much like pickles.
Tei boen liang fen – loosely translated is ‘grilled rice noodles something’. It is just to the top right on the shallow black iron skillet. It was a really interesting dish. It was primarily made from rice that has been cooked and let to sit for overnight. Then the rice is pulverized and mixed with liquid. When it sets up it is like the consistency of an egg custard. It is heated and has a gravy like sauce with bits of pork and vegetables poured over it. It was really good.
Lai uei he zheng – loosely translated is ‘combination steamed something’. It is below the rice dish and is 4 baskets, the top left basket had baked taro root. It was like eating a baked potato with a tad of sweetness. To the right of that was a cooked pork belly. Below that was minced pork that was breaded and deep fried. And the last of the 4 baskets was baked pumpkin. All of the foods in this set of 4 were good, but my favorites were the taro and pumpkin.
Xiang jian xian bao – the friend bun and guo tei juan jiao – the fried dumpling. It is directly below the chicken on the other shallow black iron skillet and was two kinds of dumpling like dishes. The round ones were buns stuffed with cabbage and the dumplings below were pork and scallions. Both were so yummy and I particularly liked the dipping sauce. In the small bowl that looks like it is soy sauce; that in fact, it is a mixture of something that is a vinegar base, and very tasty!
Chang jiang dou - The green bean dish just to the left and above the dumplings is Sichuan green beans with garlic. These were a bit spicy and very delicious.
The last thing on the table beside the rice (which needs no introduction) was the little dish with the cucumber looking stuff and an orange sauce just below the dumpling plate. These were not cucumbers, they were radishes and scallions. It is served cold and the orange sauce was some kind of sweet vinegary mixture. These were really yummy too.
This entire lunch, drinks and all, was only CNY 177.00. Translated into USD is around $30.00 for 4 people… and we could not eat it all. So with full tummies, we loaded up and next stop for Michael and I would be the tourist bus station. It was time for Siew Keow to get back to the hotel and then to the airport.
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