China: Numbingly Spicy Hot Pot


We had chosen ShuJiuXiang(蜀九香) for our last dinner in Chengdu. ShuJiuXiang is famous for its Sichuan Mala hot pot(麻辣火锅). Mala in Chinese literally means numb and spicy.


We arrived very early, so the restaurant was still empty.


Our table


Enlarge the menu if you read Chinese


source
At first, we were keen to try out the JiuGongGe(九宫格) style, where the pot was divided by 3x3 grid. It was invented so that everyone could cook their food at their own space. But some said it was used to cook different food as the cooking time needed was different.


But luckily we went for the normal twin broths, non-spicy and spicy. I will explain that in a short while.


marinated rib(九香排骨)


special duck intestine (极品鹅肠)


thousand-layered tripes(千层肚)


Meat balls(香菜丸子)


cow's throat(牛黄喉)


Tea Tree Mushroom(茶树菇)


kelp(海带)


Beer to go with the spicy hot pot


The food was fresh and the broth was spicy. It was not the normal spicy, it was numbingly spicy. Sichuan chili gave the broth a fiery burn while the Sichuan peppercorn gave an sensational numbing effect on the lip and tongue. For the second half, we only cooked the food in the non-spicy broth. Now you know the reason when I said we were lucky that we did not order the JiuGongGe. :)


Steamed and Fried Chinese Bread with condensed milk(金银馒头)
We made second our second order and you could see that all of them was not spicy food.


chive spring roll(韭菜春卷)


complimentary dessert was cherry tomato

Visit ShuJiuXiang for an unforgettable Sichuan Mala hot pot experience.


ShuJiuXiang Hot Pot Restaurant 蜀九香火锅酒楼(南府店)
53 Nanfu Street, Renmin South Road 4th Section, JinJiang
锦江区人民南路二段南府街53号(近盐道街)

5 comments:

cariso

I believe your lips will turn NUMB for the at least a few hours for that night if you were to consume the Jiu Gong Ge. :)

Duckie

looks not bad. even the pot looks nice :D

soo sean

Cariso, I can't imagine if we ordered the JiuGongGe. Hehe.

Duckie, thanks for leaving me a message. The food was good, but it is too spicy for my level. And I always think that I am quite good at spicy food. sad.

J2Kfm

I really really miss the sensation of sipping on soup laden with Sichuan peppercorns!!!

A little numbing to the tongue and lips, but present a different tingling sensation than the usual cili, or even cili padi.

soo sean

I miss that too. Any good one in Malaysia?