"Peter Dy" wrote in message
. ..
I think in this case it's a special Sichuan preparation called "shui
zhu".
Such dishes can be made with beef, lamb, fish slices, etc.


Of course, "shui zhu" or "water boiling" isn't special to Sichuan; but in
Sichuan it refers to lightly cooked stuff in a chili and Sichuan peppercorn
laden sauce, with lots of oil. Yummy.

In fact, I see now that Dunlop notes: "Sichuan people joke that outsiders,
wary of the fiery local flavors, order this dish in restaurants in the hope
of eating something mild and soothing--it's name in Chinese just means 'beef
boiled in water' [shuizhu niu ro]. In fact it's sensationally hot, a dish
based on lashings of chili bean sauce and finished off with a sizzling pile
of ground chiles and lip-tingling Sichuan pepper."

Just had a wonderful rendition of the fish version at Spicy and Tasty in
NYC. It's got to be one of my favorite Sichuanese dishes. I'll post of pic
of it over at alt.food.binaries soon. Maybe I'll write a NY report here
soon too.

Peter