I arrived at the Chengdu airport late evening and transferred to the local subway to meet my friend at the hotel in the city center. The subway was very modern and clean. The only problem is that everything about Google is banned in China.... I was going to cache a detailed city map at the airport but I realized I can't use Google Maps (I have an Android phone..). Because I remembered the closest subway station and the hotel is close to the station, I decided to give it a shot without a detailed map.
After I arrived at the station, I started to walk around hoping I could easily find the hotel. I was wrong.... I wandered for about 20 minutes without any luck. I thought about asking the locals but I realized I didn't bring the Chinese name of the hotel, only the English name.... All the signs in the city seem to be in Chinese... I opened Google Maps and found the saved starred location of the hotel and my location with GPS. I moved towards the starred location and luckily found the hotel. Later, I found that the hotel is right outside the exit of the subway station, if I had chosen the right exit (there are 5-6 exits).
When I united with my friend at the hotel, it was pretty late. Besides, I wasn't really hungry because of the time difference. However, I didn't want to miss any opportunity to try local Szechuan foods since my time here is limited. So, we went outside the hotel and tried a street vendor.
I wasn't totally sure of the hygiene of street food in Chengdu. But it was a chilly day and each dish is made to order on the hot iron plate. So, I thought it should be safe. This street vendor serves fried rice and fried noodle with a few side dishes. The customer before me ordered fried rice and was customizing all the additions. I had my friend order fried rice noodle. My friend explained I love spicy food and I saw the vendor double the chili and szechuan pepper corn (compared to the previous local customer...). I was a bit scared because I'm in Chengdu after all...
I also found an aromatic root vegetable, that I have never seen. Its scientific name is houttuynia cordia, which is also called chameleon plant, fishwort, bishop's weed, etc. Normally the leaf is consumed but the root is eaten in some regions. The flavor is very distinctive, medicinal and weedy. I liked it so I asked him to add it to my noodle. But I believe this is an acquired taste.
Here's the fried noodle. It wasn't as spicy as I thought. Just a comfortable (for me) spice level. Nice numbness from the szechuan pepper corn.
This is additionally ordered stir fried squid. The squid was skewered by the vendor so I thought it would be served with the skewer. But the skewers were removed and the squid was cut into smaller pieces. Then why was it skewered?? Anyway, the squid was cooked with aromatics and tons of fresh chili / chili paste. It's spicier than the noodles but still had an edible level of spiciness. Since it's a bit on the salty side, I wanted to have this with steamed rice. Nonetheless, very tasty!
It was less than US$2... Amazing deal.
I have 3 more full days to spend in Chengdu. Let's see how much food I can try...
No comments:
Post a Comment