Listen, if you’re a white person, and you think you’ve had Szechuan food, you probably haven’t.
Most of the Szechuan restaurants in the USA lack a basic component: spiciness.
I say this because a friend from out of town just went to a Szechuan restaurant in Vancouver, thought it was going to be business as usual, and now he’s doubled over because the spice is too much for him.
He tells me, it’s so bad, that he feels the spice eking out of his pores. 🤣
@atomicpoet I went to a Chinese place in Asiatown here in Cleveland last year, ordered the “dry chili chicken” off their Szechuan menu which came with a ton of the little peppers mixed in.
It was delicious, but I HURT that night.
So yeah, totally believe you there, Mexican and Thai don’t bother me that much. 😅
@atomicpoet I do know of what you speak. Not a lot of experience, but there's a fusion restaurant in the Mission in San Francisco..."Mission Chinese”. oh my good jeebus what tremendous food.
@atomicpoet I am intrigued about what this spice tastes like. I love a good painful hot and find most conventional restaurants to be too mild, and I'm somewhat used to the Thai chili pepper.
@atomicpoet I'm not very good with food identification, but I'm pretty sure that's like 75% Thai chili peppers, just infusing the rest of the sauce with their heat. I don't think I've ever had anything with that many, and a few on their own will already do a lot of damage!
Szechuan spice isn’t like other spice. If you think you can handle it because you like Mexican food, you’re mistaken.
This spice doesn’t just attack your mouth. It attacks your nose, throat, esophagus, stomach. You’ll be on the toilet, and you’ll feel the spice on exit.
I once asked my wife, who is Chinese, why Szechuan spice is the way it is. She tells me that, back in the day, people didn’t have heaters and this was how they warmed up.
@atomicpoet Here, there are not that many, so they usually ask if you want mild, medium or strong. The mild feels pretty hot for a Norwegian palate, and medium is barely tolerable for me who like it spicy. Strong is way over my limits.
@atomicpoet ha ha. I am aware that different spices are different. For example I am better with green chillies than I am with black pepper. But I always that I tolerated green chillies simply because I loved the flavor. Now I will have to google this phenomenon 😀