Sichuan's new cool taste

Sichuan Restaurant (四川饭店) is a good example of how Sichuan cuisine, one of China's best, can be both classic and please modern eyes and palates.

While there are the more common though well-known Sichuan delicacies, such as spicy fried diced chicken with crispy peanut (gongbao jiding宫保鸡丁) and sweet and spicy fish-scented pork slices (yuxiang rousi鱼香肉丝), the restaurant has many new creations and also new ways of presenting the dishes. Executive chef Zheng Shaowu is a Chinese cooking master recognized by the China Cooking Association.

Contrary to popular perception, Sichuan dishes are not all spicy or tongue-numbing. Boiled water cabbage (kaishui baicai开水白菜)for example, is a genuine surprise. Although it looks plain, it is not plain boiled water that one sees but clear broth that is arrived at after a complicated cooking process. Abalone, shark fin, chicken and duck are simmered for more than 10 hours, before being mixed with mashed chicken to produce the broth. There is not a drop of oil in the soup, which has a great taste.