Matt and I went to Pacific East Mall so he could make use of the new camera he got for Christmas. He wants to Photoshop the inside of the mall, adding a monorail. Lunch first, though, at Great Szechuan (3288 Pierce Street, Richmond) at the back of the mall. I’ve written about this place before, but let me say again how authentic the food is. Two dishes of note today: Szechwan spicy fish ($9.95) and dry cooked chicken wings ($11,95). The fish entree was generous beyond belief – a large number of deep-fried fillets of moist, white-fleshed fish served on a wooden tray under a mountain of chili peppers, jalapenos and a few red and green bell pepper chunks. There was chili oil in there, too, and methinks the fish batter was laced with something hot, but this might have been my inability to detect exactly where the heat was coming from once I reached DEFCON 1 on the Scoville scale. The wings were like salt and pepper wings, but much, much hotter. Both dishes, though fried, were not greasy. Both were flaming hot, but complex. For example, the fish had plenty of whole Sichuan peppercorns on top that provided a nice numbing contrast. Be sure to order plenty of rice to cut the heat. If you drink water, it’ll just spread it around your palate.
