DINNER FRIDAY
Dinner on Friday was more of a family affair. One of the people in my client company and the one who introduced me to the company in the first place, is also an old friend. So, I had dinner with her, her husband and just-teenage daughter as well as another friend.
We chose this place which was conveniently right next door to my hotel. A "hot ticket" in town I was told and I believe it. It is an up-market Sichuan hotpot restaurant.
We arrived at 7 pm and it was just beginning to fill up. Bright young things. Family groups. Loving couples. All sorts. By 8 it was rocking!
3 Generations
Of course, we weren't here to discuss the clientèle, but to get our fill. As soon as we were seated we were presented with this.
Even the non-spicy side would be considered spicy by many. The spicy side is incendiary.
We then collected things on sticks of our choice and parked them on the convenient stick parking thing at the side of out table.
Batch 1 - far from the last!
then they go into the boiling dual stocks.
Pig Offal on Sticks
So you want to know what's on the sticks? Are you sure?
Various bits of pig offal - intestines, liver, bits neither you or the pig knew it had. Best not to know! Here are a few. By this time we were living in a micro-climate of chilli-laden steam so the pictures aren't as clear as I would like.
Celery wrapped in pork.
Enoki mushrooms wrapped in pork
Quail egg on a stick
In case things aren't hot enough for you. Pickled chilli wrapped in pork and cooked in the hot side of the pot.
Pickled chilli stick and pig's blood.
This we washed down with the local beer, Liquan. This particular line, 1998, was brewed to commemorate Bill Clinton's visit to the city in the said year.
Finally, we were stuffed and requested the bill. This is calculated by the number of sticks you have in your stick bin. The various skewered items were on one, two or three sticks depending on price. Non-skewered items such as the pig's blood were priced by colour-coded plates - Sushi conveyor belt style.
And so to bed. Next morning, I woke with chilli and Sichuan peppercorn still oozing from every pore! But a lovely meal.
