From time to time, Chris and I crave hot food. Not temperature hot, but chili hot.This is expected for me, having grown up in Malaysia with curries and lots of hot food (though, I must confess I was not much a fan of hot food till I reached my late teens and then something changed, and I still don't know what that is), but Chris was never brought up with hot food and yet, like me, the craving hits and then nothing will satisfy it like a good dose of Szechuan food.
To the uninitiated, Szechuan is a province in China known for its hot and spicy food. Liberal use of chilies, garlic, ginger and szechuan pepper feature in their cuisine. many dishes are topped with peanuts or sesame seeds. Among the better known dishes are kung pao chicken, mapo tofu and dandan noodles. However, szechuan cuisine extends far beyond these three dishes that have made it onto the menus of most Chinese establishments.
Our favourite place to eat when we're hit with the "hots" is a little eatery in Eastwood, just northwest of Sydney. You park at the multi storey council car park there and walk across the road to a little doorway that looks like it leads to a hole in the wall. Walk up the stairs and you will find yourself in a large-ish dining hall filled with people enjoying their "hot food".
What we order is pretty standard
Tripe and ox tongue in chili oil
Fried chicken in dried chili
While we proclaim that this is as delicious as Szechuan food gets, Alex does not agree with us. "It makes my mouth hot", he whines. Fortunately for us, they do have a few dishes for the non-chili-eater. Their dumplings are delicious and they have two varieties of that - one with a light soy sauce dressing and one in soup. Alex declared that the soupy one is better. They also have a tasty dish comprising of steamed egg with a meat sauce topping. Alex enjoys that dish with some rice on the side or a side of spring onion pancakes - fried crisp and delicious.
So next time you have a craving for something hot, try your local Szechuan restaurant. I hope you enjoy it as much as we have been enjoying "the hots".
Labels: food, restaurant
Only just barely, though.
I got wet in the rain last week and must have caught King Cough. Now King Cough won't leave me alone. I have been sniffling and coughing ever since.
We have been indulging in chicken soup and congee, and even some homemade dumplings.
Okay, so I cheated. These are frozen. Homemade, but frozen. I normally make up batches of up to 100 dumplings, freezing them in batches of 10 or 12.
I love dumplings, do you?
I have also been busy spinning.
Here's one of my latest
It's 60g of BFL top which I bought in the US and handdyed myself in mint green with hints of lavender. There's about 140m of it. It's enough for a small lacey scarf or a neckwarmer of some sort I think. I'd love to keep it but it's going to my friend Anne.
Vanessa had a stall at the Glebe market a few weeks ago. She was selling some of my stuff. She may be at the Kiribilli market next week with more of my stuff to sell. I know it's Mother's Day weekend, but if don't have other plans, Kiribilli market is always fun. There's lots of bits and pieces to look at. I hope to be there with Chris and Alex if it is not raining.
My parents were here visiting. They arrived on the Thursday before Easter and left yesterday. It's been so good to have them here. Alex enjoyed time with his grandparents. It's not often that Alex gets to spend so much time with my parents, so it was a real treat for him to have his grandparents sleeping in the room next to his.
They visited the Hunter Valley on their last weekend here and look what they brought home
It's an early birthday present for Chris and me. We were naughty and broke into it early. It's not our birthdays till end of May/start of June, but we have already drunk a third of it.
Thanks, Mum and Dad!
Labels: food, spinning
