You HOs were clearly feeling the heat this quarter, making SICHUAN our big winner for COTQ! Sichuan is my favorite regional Chinese cuisine so I am really looking forward to this one. Bring on the mala!
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Which dishes do people like or recommend most?
I don’t eat very much Sichuan food.
I have tried around a dozen Sichuan restaurants over my lifetime. I have an uncle who loves Sichuan food so it’s often when he chooses the restaurant that I’ve tried it. He chooses the dishes, too.
I don’t know if I haven’t tried the right dishes, or if it just isn’t my jam.
I have made Sichuan Green Beans. I like them, but not enough to make them or order them more than once or twice a year.
and I like some restaurants’ Ma Po Tofu.
I look forward to inspiration here! I own Fuchsia Dunlop’s Land of Plenty, gifted to me many moons ago by @buttertart, but have not taken many peeks inside…
Would love to expand my repertoire beyond mapo doufu, gan bian si ji dou, and various hot pots 
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Twice-cooked pork belly with leeks is one of my absolute favorite Sichuan dishes: https://thewoksoflife.com/twice-cooked-pork/
I also love anything cooked dry pot style: https://thewoksoflife.com/ma-la-xiang-guo/
And dry-fried: https://thewoksoflife.com/sichuan-beef-dry-fried/
Bang-bang chicken (poached and served cold in a spicy sauce: https://thewoksoflife.com/bang-bang-chicken-sichuan/
Chongqing chicken: https://thewoksoflife.com/chongqing-chicken/
And that’s just scratching the surface!!
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Thanks!
I have to cook very low sodium at home these days for my DCs (low as in no added soy sauce) . I’m pretty sure the soy sauce and salty fermented ingredients are a pretty big part of making Sichuan food taste like Sichuan food.
I will try ordering some of the dishes you have mentioned soon, so I can try them.
I had no idea Bang Bang chicken was a Sichuan dish. I’ve never tried it.
Do you have any good recipes for cumin beef or lamb to share?
Looks like WoL is going to be a good source for Sichuan recipes
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Forgive me if this is a duplicate. I missed it back in “the day”.
Some interesting references to recipes and cooking.
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I really like this site and the recipes
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I made this Cumin Lamb in 2021. I liked it but my DCs didn’t like it enough for me to make it again
My cousin had sent me a really generous gift from the Mala Market. High quality ingredients , for sure.
I love cumin lamb but have never been happy with any recipe I’ve made at home - probably because I have never been able to source lamb shoulder and always end up using leg, which is much leaner. I really want to try this though: https://thewoksoflife.com/cumin-lamb-biang-biang-noodles/, as the cumin lamb noodles from Xi’An Famous Foods are truly divine.
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Love me some dan dan noodles. And Ants Climbing a Tree. Mmmmmmmm. https://thewoksoflife.com/ants-climbing-a-tree/
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Those sound amazing 
Yes, those things plus sichuan peppercorns/Facing Heaven chiles. I imagine the flavor profiles would be very difficult to approximate without sodium. Hopefully you can get your fix by dining out!
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X’ian has a shop right by my office. Addictive.
I also don’t handle sodium that well, but I can handle it in small amounts.
I’ll have to figure out where I can order good versions in downtown Toronto. Most of the better places are in the burbs , and I never go to the burbs anymore.
Yeah, my old office was right around the corner from their short-lived 54th St. location. It was good (bad for my waistline, but good!) while it lasted!
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Do the biang biang noodles count as Sichuan? I thought they were Shaangzi.
Berlin has an amazing biang biang noodle place (4 locations now) that makes an incredible version with cumin lamb. I can almost taste it 
I guess technically not, but the provinces are neighbors so I would assume there is some crossover of ingredients and flavor profiles. If not, we can save the biang biang for next quarter! 
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