I can still taste the garlic. I awake the next morning, peppercorns everywhere. The night before a Sichuan feast took place, the likes of which not even Kobe Bryant can understand. First comes the chicken in chili oil, poached chicken immersed in a bath of oils, scallion and peanut. Next comes the wontons in chile oil, the slippery little bastards shimmering with the oils and vinegars. Then comes beef hot chili style, a glass platter filled with cabbage, beef, garlic, Sichuan peppercorns, and yes, oils. Oh sweet christos, the oils are infused with garlic and Sichuan peppercorns! And don't forget the flash fried string beans, with yet more garlic. My eyes roll back into my head, and the next thing I know I'm at home, and my body has taken over because I'm feeding myself cream cakes, but I'm not really in control, it's as if someone else is shoveling cream into my mouth. I again drift from consciousness, and I'm never fully asleep, but I'm not awake, either. Finally, around 5am, the sensation of tingly peppercorn arouses me, but then it's the garlic that pervades. My stomach...something is happening to my stomach.
The Best Sichuan
West 39th Street btw 5th and 6th
Lady M
West 40th/Bryant Park
