Back from London and tired from bland British food, Hope had only one request when I asked her where she wanted to go out for lunch.  “I need some SPICE!”, she pleaded.  Somehow I managed to convince Hope and Davis to wake up early on a cold day and venture into the inner depths of Queens for a taste of Sichuan cuisine.

I wanted to ensure a good meal for their inaugural visit to Flushing, so I consulted with our friend Gary for some recommendations.  “What should I order?” I texted him.  An hour later, I got an email listing with instructions on what to order, divided into “cold apps” and “main dishes”.  One of the main dishes included one that was mysteriously called “enhanced pork”, which we sadly didn’t order.  I guess that’s for next time.  Just as I was closing the email, my eyes caught a glimpse of the last sentence — a few words of caution indicated by an asterisk:

*beware of the stinky tofu!  smells like someone stepped in dog shit

Taking Gary’s suggestions — and warning — into consideration, we picked out a bunch of dishes to try and share.  We started out with some cold appetizers, which were laid out in the display case towards the front of the restaurant.  This part of the ordering process was easy. I simply pointed and said “this one” with my limited Mandarin vocabulary.

Shredded fried bean curd with celery drizzled with garlicky sesame oil.

Having grown up eating beef ligaments with hot chili oil, a staple at restaurants serving Northern Chinese cuisine, I am accustomed to the texture and taste of them.  Served cold with a dense but chewy texture, the beef tendon accompanied by chili oil is not immediately spicy, although if you start eating mouthfuls of tendon the spiciness can start to creep up on you.  Although I’ve grown to like this taste and texture, Hope and Davis were not as fond of it, admitting that this was their least favorite dish.

Bamboo shoots with chili oil had a crunchy texture and nutty flavor.

Tea smoked duck with Hoisin sauce came with a crunchy skin and a beautifully smoky taste that was complimented by the hoisin sauce and scallion shreds.

The dry sauteed stringbeans were stir-fried in super high heat from wok cooking, (in Chinese the term is literally translated into “wok air”) browning the garlic and creating had a crisp crunchy exterior while maintaining the beans’ juiciness.

Submerged in a healthy amount of chili oil and fresh chilies, the fish fillet in fresh hot pepper was perfectly cooked and spiced with plenty of Sichuan peppers and spices.  Most of the hot chilies were hidden in the middle of the dish, which were intended to be stirred in.  Instead, we just worked our way towards the middle, each piece getting hotter and hotter.

Sichuan spiciness is different from that of salsa or curry, so even the spicier middle parts of the dish were not painfully spicy. Rather, these dishes are mildly hot and flavorfully spicy, which will at most make you feel a bit flushed and produce a few drops of perspiration but not dole out a full, mouth-on-fire sensation like that of strong Indian curries such as Vindaloo.

Last but not least were the peanut butter sweet sticky rice balls — a special request by Hope, who immediately was drawn to the peanut butter component (this came as no surprise; some of our favorite snacks freshman year consisted of bananas smothered with spoonfuls of peanut butter. Yes, I had a wholesale-sized jar of Skippy peanut butter from Costco).

These black sesame-filled glutinous rice balls were powdered with sugar and drizzled with a peanut butter sauce. Though I did find that they were not as hot (temperature-wise) as I’d like them to be.

Davis contemplatively ate his sticky rice ball..

Across the table, Hope took an unorthodox approach — eating it on an upside down spoon while simultaneously texting on her Blackberry.

Slurp

Although I am a seasoned eater of sticky rice balls and a self-professed lover of all things made from glutinous rice, I somehow encountered more difficulty eating them than both Hope and Davis.  Simply put, laughing and eating is a lethal combination. In this case, it resulted in a black sesame explosion that spilled into my spoon and onto my face.

Meanwhile, amidst all the sticky rice ball commotion, the staff sat at the table next to us, calmly unpacking and prepping a mountain of Chinese celery straight from the crate.

Spicy & Tasty
37-09 Prince Street, 1H
Flushing, NY 11354
718-359-1601

Rachel Yang, Akira Back, Youngsun Lee, Andrew Chang, and Tommy Lee

Don’t let her sweet demeanor deceive you, Rachel Yang makes some serious food.  She and her husband Seif own Joule Restaurant in Wallingford, Washington, where seasonal ingredients, French techniques, and Korean flavors take center stage, coming together harmoniously to create magical tastes that transcend cultural boundaries.

The first bite of Rachel’s smoked tofu with Honshimeiji confit and wild sesame seeds delivered a powerful smoky flavor, bearing close resemblance —in both taste and texture—to smoked mozzarella.  The smoky tofu slab was topped with a bed of Honshimeiji mushroom confit, then sprinkled with a chiffonade of basil, wild sesame seeds, and a drizzle of tart soy truffle vinegarette.

A trio of pickled beef tongue, braised kohlrabi and quail egg was shuffled into small wooden boats and quickly swept away by the hungry masses.  Pickling was a especially interesting way to prepare beef tongue, an ingredient commonly found stuffed into tacos or sliced like deli meat and stacked inside sandwiches.

Rum raisin and chestnut honey sweet rice fruit cake was a deliciously sticky orgy of glutinous rice, rum raisins, diced jujubes, and nuts topped with a dash of course sea salt and microgreens for embellishment, then generously drizzled with chestnut honey.

Previously a professional snowboarder shredding the slopes in Colorado, Akira Back now tears it up in Las Vegas, where he helms the kitchen and wields the sushi knives at Yellowtail Restaurant and Lounge in the Bellagio Hotel and Resort.  You can usually find him slicing up fat blue fin tunas freshly shipped from Japan in his army pants and bright blue Etnies kicks and mixing things up, often times throwing in ingredients on his menu that are probably more familiar at a Korean restaurant.

Kwang Eo with caviar and Gochujang sauce were meticulously laid out onto each plate beneath a delicate bed of micro cilantro and micro bulls blood beet greens.  Although this dish seemed fairly simple to make,  sake, mirin, and 7up were all stirred in with gochujang, a fermented Korean chili paste, to create a spicy effervescent concoction.

Youngsun Lee stays true to Korean flavors and culinary techniques in his cooking.  When asked by MC Vivian Lee why he chose cooking as his profession, he explained his mission to educate more people about Korean cuisine and culture.  Previously the chef and owner of Persimmon in the East Village, he is now teaches at the Institute of Culinary Education, his alma mater.

A sliver of braised pork belly “bo ssam”, moo woo kimchi, salted napa cabbage and baby shrimp.  The salty pork belly and spicy and tart kimchi are a winning combination.

A mild and creamy concoction of eggplant with tofu dressing, or “ga ji neng jo rim” in Korean, consists of slow-cooked eggplant, silken tofu and black sesame counterbalanced with crunchy black and white bits of fried rice cake.

Braised until tender, the grilled octopus salad, or “moon eo goo yi”, is paired with water chestnut, shallot, and pickled Asian plums.

Andrew Chang was born and raised in New York and is the newly appointed sous chef at the Central Park Boathouse.  He is Korean by heritage but 100% New York at heart — with a downright fierce devotion to the Yankees and a sleeve full of witty remarks.  Founder and president of the Global Culinary Society at his alma mater, the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, it is apparent that New York’s global culinary landscape is a major source of his inspiration.

Andrew’s pumpkin porridge with dried jujube, pumpkin seed oil, and roasted chestnuts had the texture and viscosity of a hearty butternut squash soup.  The bits of dried jujube and roasted chestnuts bring a nice sweetness to the soup when mixed together.

Having gone to Vietnam with Andrew and other student chefs for a culinary tour over four years ago, I still have vivid memories of all the delicious food we had while we were there.  Seeing a summer roll reinterpreted with Korean ingredients and flavors brought back nostalgic Vietnam moments and was a very welcome surprise.  Andrew’s version of summer rolls were filled with bulgogi in a shallow pool of spicy pineapple ginger dipping sauce.

Last but not least was Tommy Lee of Battery Gardens in New York.  Accustomed to catering to dignitaries and top political figures, he veered away from his usual repertoire and turned to his Korean roots for some inspiration.

Miniature pork and kimchi raviolis were a perfect mouth-popping size.

photo by Kathy YL Chan
More mini raviolis; these sweet versions are filled with red bean paste over a dollop of whipped cream, topped with crystallized ginger and a sprig of cilantro.

photo by Kathy YL Chan
Lollypop-sized Korean style barbecue lamb chops.

At the end of the night, while everyone was cleaning and packing up their belongings, Rachel approached me and asked, “Veronica, what should I do with this bucket of beef tongue?  This can keep for a while, since it’s pickled, and I would hate to throw it away.”  And just like that, I went home with a bucket of tongue.