as you probably know if you've been alive for more than five minutes, not being able to breathe through your nose has the unfortunate side effect of drastically limiting your ability to taste. fortunately, you can still taste spicy food, since capsaicin, the stuff that makes your mouth burn, stimulates the sensory neurons in your tongue.
no nose, no problem:
anyway, spicy food has lots of other benefits, not the least of which lies in its sinus-clearing powers. there's not a lot of empirical evidence for this, but you know it's true, i know it's true, and even some real scientists know it's true.
so in my stuffiest hour, i decided to find some seriously delicious spicy food. my fellow chowhounds came through, as always, with some great tips. multiple glowing (burning?) recommendations led me to hong kong palace, szechuan mecca of northern virginia.
the highlight of the meal was actually a dish i'd been reading about on the boards for a few months: fried chicken with crunchy peppers.
the title doesn't do it justice. the chicken is very lightly fried. it's sauteed with szechuan peppercorns (the numb half of the "numb and spicy" ma la one-two punch that's big in szechuan cuisine), garlic, ginger, chilies and cilantro.
but the special, not-so-secret ingredient that really ties the dish together is the crunchy pepper. these are, as far as i know, not available in the states. they're dried chilies, stuffed with a kind of savory sesame/peanut brittle and deep fried. they've got a little heat, a big crunch, and a sweet nuttiness that makes the dish a real home run. it's unusual and worth the trip. you might want to call ahead, though, as they run out of the peppers every few months in between trips to china.
if you go, try an order of the chengdu dumplings, the cumin beef or lamb, and the snow pea shoots.
impaled!!
they're all stellar, but the cumin (ziran) beef is a definite don't-miss if you're looking for big flavor and a healthy dose of heat.
the snow pea shoots are everything the rest of this meal is not. light, healthy, and refreshing. kind of like a giant palate cleanser. but this is no throwaway intermezzo. they're tender and sweet, with a hint of garlic. you will crave them.
NB: order off the chinese menu, not the white takeout one, which caters more to the american palate (read: greasy/flavorless). also, ask your server for recommendations. these guys are super knowledgeable and helpful. it's actually some of the best service i've had in a while. so, as my pal fatboy says, tip big or go home!
