| rev:text
| - I was recently introduced to this new kid on the Spring Mountain block by a friend visiting from out of town since he noticed an ad in a local Asian publication for this place specializing in Shaanxi cuisine and he had done a study abroad in the Shaanxi province back in college. There were a few dishes he was yearning to have since then and we thought to check this place out to see how they measured up.
For those unfamiliar with Shaanxi cuisine, it is a underpopulated northwestern Chinese province with heavy use of pork and lamb in their dishes and they also have specialized dishes with regards to thick breads and noodles. The profile for most dishes emphasizes combining sour and spicy with strong and heavy flavors.
We began the meal with their lamb sandwiches. Spicy lamb cooked enclosed by a Chinese pita, the crunchy exterior provides a starchy contrast to the tender lamb with a carnitas like consistency.
Lamb skewers- served along long metal rods, the lamb was aggressively seasoned with a dry rub of chili and cumin yet the meat itself is tender and fatty like a good ribeye.
The dish that prompted this visit was the lamb "pao mo" since my friend waxed poetic about his time abroad being served a spicy lamb stew and a side of thick crusty pita-like bread that he had to tear into bite-size pieces by hand much like one would place oyster crackers into a chowder and allow the bread to soak in the broth for 10 minutes to absorb the flavor and soften up into a chewy noodle-like texture. Here the dish is served with the bread pre-soaked and it is accompanied by garnishes of red chili-paste, cilantro, and pickled garlic cloves. I thought the dish was tasty, but I'm curious how this compares to the read deal since the bread pieces essentially tasted like a well-cooked handpulled noodle diced into little cubes (I'm wondering if they cheated and actually used pre-boiled noodle bits) and it's one of those dishes that diminishes in quality the longer you eat it since each bite gets heavier and more cloying on the tongue. My theory is that either the liquid gets soaked up by the bread or the starches are gradually released into the broth. I recommend splitting one bowl to share so that it is consumed quickly for maximum quality and there is also a "supreme" version that sounds more promising since it has additional condiments of bean curd, wood-eared mushrooms, and other veggies to lighten this dish a bit more.
There are also several options for the adventurous eater such as lamb haggis stew and other forms of offal (pig's ear, ox tongue, chicken gizzards) and I'm looking forward to trying some of their handmade noodle dishes the region is famous for on my next visit. My advice would be to go for the lamb and noodle dishes (as Ron Burgundy would say, "When in Shaanxi...") and allow your tastebuds to go into baa-baa booey overdrive.
3.5 stars but with a half star bump due to originality and authenticity and I feel confident there are some standout dishes I have yet to try that other trusty yelpers will soon elucidate to me in time.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)