Non Spicy Sichuan Food

Non spicy Sichuan food? Are there really any? Yes of course.  If you love Sichuan food but cannot put on too much heat, there are still plenty of choices.

I have a coupon of HK$100 for dinner at a Sichuan restaurant.  So I took my sister there.  Both of us like little bit of spicy, so here are our dishes - 2 cold cut starters, 2 hot dishes, 1 soup and couple of dessert.  

Cucumber Lumps with Garlic 手拍青瓜

Cucumber with garlic is a very healthy combination.  The special thing about this dish is that the cucumber lumps has to be pounded by hand with a heavy knife.  I think the garlic sauce is seasoned with some sesame oil.  Very fresh and delicious.

Pork Slices with Smashed Garlic 蒜泥白肉

Sichuan restaurant menus usually indicate the level of spicy by the number of chilies between one to three.  So this pork slices has two chilies means it is of medium spicy, still acceptable to us.

Stir Fried Chewing Pudding 炒年糕

Cantonese usually eat chewing pudding sweet, but Sichuan chefs make it savory which is quite a new taste to me.  Stir fried with preserved vegetables and pork slices, in a relative thick gravy, very fragrant and silky smooth.

Vinegar Fish Fillet 醋溜魚塊

This is quite a famous non spicy Sichuan dish.  While other tables all have big bowls of food full of red chilies, our table looks a bit plain and rare.  But look, this doesn't look colorful, but tastes good.  Fish fillets and black fungi in moderately thick gravy, we can sense the fragrance of vinegar combined with a little level of sweetness.

Fish Maw Hot and Sour Soup 魚肚酸辣湯

We share one bowl of soup not because of saving money, because the dishes are really large in size, and we want to be able to eat a little more varieties.

With one chili, the level of spicy is just right for us.  Lovely soup!

Sweet Dumplings 擂沙湯丸

We had this sweet dumplings before and love it very much.  It is made to order and it's still warm when arriving our table.  There are lava type sweet filling, coated with a layer of fine flour of some kind.  Very nice.

Green Bean Syrup 綠豆沙

While we had to pay for the sweet dumplings, the restaurant offered us the green bean syrup free of charge.  This made us exceptional full and kind of over loaded when going home.  But I really enjoyed the dinner.  Because this restaurant apart from providing wonderful food, its setting is lovely and comfortable together with friendly waiters.  Price wise is quite reasonable.

Cabbage in Plain Water 開水白菜

If you think that Sichuan signature dishes are all spicy, then you're wrong.  One of the most famous Sichuan dishes that China government serves their national guests is called the Plain Water Cabbage.  It's really plain in appearance but delicious for the mouth.  The restaurant we went last night serves this dish.  Unfortunately it has to be pre-ordered, minimum four, and costs HK$128 per person.  So the two of us missed the chance to try this national dish.

Total bill:  HK$556.5, deducting the $100 coupon, we ended up paying HK$456.5 (US$58.5) for our 6-course non spicy Sichuan dinner.  Well, they gave us another $100 coupon, really aggressive in encouraging us to come again!

Tin Fu Paradise

Wanchai, Hong Kong

Hong Kong Food Blog - Non Spicy Sichuan Food