2011 May 02 Hot Hot Hunan: Spice Like Momma Used to Make
The restaurant’s name, Xiangxia Cai, punningly refers both to Hunan cuisine (xiang 湘) and rural cooking (xiang 乡). On the tables, old photos of Longtang Village point to the common hometown of the entire kitchen staff. These Hunan country folk have brought the recipes of their village to the white-collar crowds who fill the modest two-floor space for lunch and dinner. Owner Jin Pengyuan is frank and sincere. He displays sample ingredients near the entrance, bans the use of MSG and dodgy oils, and makes marinated diced chilli – key in Hunan cuisine – from scratch.
Prepare for the genuine spiciness to come with a refreshing cucumber salad (拍黄瓜 RMB 8); the vinegary, garlicky sauce has a depth that brings out the cucumber’s natural fragrance. As you look around, you’ll see a fish dish so popular that it’s on almost every table. It will look deceptively “safe” – not too heavy on the scallions, chilli and spicy, oily broth. That’s the ganshao liyu, Chef Liao Yingli’s dry-braised carp (干烧鲤鱼, RMB 35 per jin). It will turn out to be like putting a torch in your mouth, burning for at least five minutes. Put out the fire with a bowl of organic rice (RMB 3). Simply steamed, the grains have a natural aroma and pleasant al dente texture which steals the thunder from the fish.
Liao’s other signature dish, stir-fried beef slices with green and red chilli (小炒黄牛肉 RMB 35), cranks the spice up further still. The small portion disappointed us a little, but later we noted the owner’s posts on social networking sites complaining about recent hikes in the price of beef. He also stresses that they insist on buying beef from Niujie Market because it’s more tender there than at Dongjiao Market. At least they’re trying to maintain high standards in the face of inflation, even if we’d have liked to enjoy more of that stir-fried beef.
Kaixiaozao Xiangxia Cai. Daily 11am-2pm, 5-10pm. Stall 116, 2/F, Bldg B, Hou Xiandai Cheng, Baiziwan Lu, Chaoyang District (8721 7993) 开小灶湘下菜, 朝阳区百子湾路后现代城B会所116号2层
Photos courtesy of Emily Young
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