Only Sado-Masochists Need Apply!

Here's my piece on S & M stuff of the culinary variety - Szechuan food!I love Szechuan food! I love the way it makes my lips turn red & full (read: swollen). :)I had the pleasure of indulging in authentic Szechuan cuisine @ Si-Jie whilst visiting my gal pal in Hong Kong in Sept 05. It was so good that I had to eat there again during my recent visit to Hong Kong in June 06 & I'm planning my next trip (soon, hopefully). The pictures here were taken during my first visit to Si-Jie in Sept 05 with 2 gals.

We had 2 starters consisting of Spicy Marinated Pork Slices & Aubergines in Spicy Bean Sauce.Apologies to all the purists, I don't know the original Szechuan names but I reckon that you would know which dishes I'm referring to.

They were followed by a dish of Fried Ma La Prawns!

This was numbingly yummylicious! As we ate, our lips & tongue swelled. Our conversation grew increasingly difficult as with swollen tongues, we were beginning to lisp.

Mala Prawn's S & M Factor: 4 on a scale of 5

The beef cubes in the Szechuan Beef Stew were tender & flavoursome. The radish cubes had absorbed alot of the rich spicy flavours making them addictive. Despite the layer of chili oil, we decided to risk an expanding waistline & finished the whole bowl. S & M Factor: 3 on a scale of 5

I absolutely love Mapo Tofu! Though the heat factor was high, it was an excellent complement for a bowl of warm fluffy rice. S & M Factor: 4 on a scale of 5

Then the highlight of the meal..."Shui Zhu Yu", loosely translated it means "Water-Cooked Fish".

By this time, I was beginning to wonder if spice-cooked tongue might be more appropriate but I digress... *grin* :)

Shui Zhu Yu's S & M Factor : 5 on a scale of 5!!!

The above montage shows us trying to get Chili Oil-free morsels of fish sansexcessive quantity of Szechuan Peppercorns & Dried Chili & the view from the dinner bowl. :)The fish was absolutely fresh & succulent. Amazingly, we could taste the sweetness of the fish despite our numb tongues & shell-shocked taste buds.

Though all 3 gals were sniffling & pretty stuffed, we could not stop ourselves from eating the dish; right down to slurping down tasty strings of Mung Bean Vermicelli (aka Tang Hoon) infused with Szechuan spiciness & enjoying the sweet respite that the crunchy beansprouts offer.

The meal ended with a dish of stir-fried cabbage. I didn't bother to take a pic as it is less picturesque than the Szechuan dishes.

This truly was a most mouth & tummy-warming meal. Our body temperatures definitely rose as we had flushed cheeks by the time we were done!

We also found that our normally thin lips had swollen to twice their size & were naturally red.

Perhaps there really is some truth in the published health benefits that chili offers. The added benefit, a natural flush without make-up! :)

http://www.healthrecipes.com/chili_peppers.html

PS. I know my photos do not do justice to the dishes but please pardon moi as I'm a novice blogger & a bad photographer. :( I welcome tips on how to improve! :)