Dried Sichuan chillis are easy to find in the shops in Manchester’s Chinatown (UK).
By the by, I’d always been given to understand you didnt eat the dried chillis in Sichuan food and that they were only there for flavouring. Is that not so?
This is indeed what I have heard/read elsewhere (and seen in China myself). The chilies are first “seared” to release the flavour. I remember seeing plates left behind full of chilies. Some dishes have more chilies than meat and other bits.
When we first started our weekly (now bi-weekly) Sichuan jour fixe, I couldn’t stop myself from snacking on the leftover peppers… I have given up on that habit in the meantime 
More randomness @casa lingua due to my weird schedule… Thursday night was supposed to be salmon burgers, but since I’d ended up having one for lunch topped with hollandaise and a side of fanned avocado, I wasn’t feeling it. Ended up throwing together a shrimp/avo/celery salad and inhaled that at 11 PM.
Friday was another very late shift, so I ended up ordering wings. Again
Saturday we were invited to our friends’ house to celebrate several birthdays with wonderful Lebanese food and in equally wonderful company - kibbeh, kefte, an eggplant dish, fattoush, pilav, etc. etc.
Yesterday we stopped in at the blues jam and had … wings. Oh, my.
But guess what? Tonight we’ll have an actual dinner together. At a reasonable hour (i.e. before my shift): grilled rib-eye steaks and a big-ass mixed salad on the side.
Happy Monday, y’all.
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My husband and I go through and pick them out. Any we miss we call “lurkers.” 
This is one example. The chilis here are the fresh kind but one usually gets the dried kind (which I personally prefer). We had lunch at a temple with a tea house and restaurant attached. The place was always full whenever we went there.
The “squid” 
I have already eaten 10 of these
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Dinners have been fairly basic around here this past week. Pan-seared salmon with sauteed broccolini with lemon, garlic and crushed red pepper, and some crushed and roasted peewee potatoes. I managed to nail the cooking of the salmon, which made me pretty happy. The next night my son made a killer smoked bluefish salad with a bit of cream cheese, homemade mayo, dill, thyme, lemon and shallot served over some greens and veggies with a simple vinaigrette.
Last night I tried Sam Sifton’s oven-roasted chicken shawarma, which I really enjoyed. The only change I would make would be to check the chicken temp at 25 minutes, because it was a bit overcooked at 35. The recipe says 30-40. I added an extra onion, which I would do again. Homemade whole wheat naan, tzatziki, tahini sauce and a faux-Greek salad with leftover vinaigrette salad were served alongside.
Tonight is Monday cheapish date night, and we’re heading to our favorite sweet little Lebanese place in Cambridge.
Not a great pic, but here goes: 
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Quite right. They’re not really that pleasant to put in your mouth - sort of plastic-like and chewy
Ahh, but if they’ve been seared at a high heat they get a wonderful toasty flavour. I like to suck them like prawn heads. You’re right about the plastic texture if you attention chew them.
@Presunto I’m fascinated to see facing heaven chillies, we can’t get them here, or if we can they aren’t labeled as such. Would you be able to post a photo of what they look like dry? Do you find they have a distinctly different flavour to other chillies? I’m not sure if it’s something to do with our very strict bio-security rules but we don’t seem to be able to get the range of chillies that folk here regularly cook with here in New Zealand.
I’ve been wanting to make the NYT Trini chicken. Has anyone made this in the oven instead of frying? My friends stove is erratic so I’d rather go with the oven if possible…
Something I simply cannot bring myself to do.
There is a family tradition in this regard. At any gathering where shell-on prawns are being eaten, the heads are passed to my Spanish brother-in-law who will happily suck the contents out of every one of them.
I think the fresh kind isn’t common for a reason. They don’t impart much of that intense, distinctive aroma. To archive that Sichuanese taste the dried chilies are “seared” in a smoking hot wok. Dried Sichuan chilies are hot but just perfectly hot (unlike “stupid hot” Thai chilies!).
Wiki has a picture of the dried peppers. Mine in the steamed pork ribs has turned much darker due to the steam but it should look like what you see in the photo in the Wiki piece. However, be aware when you look up the pepper under this name. Apparently, there’s another kind of “facing heaven” that looks totally different! “Facing heaven” is plum and short in appearance.
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I suck the prawn heads! Ones with roe are best ones!
I didn’t know most people didn’t/wouldn’t do that!
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Your brother-in-law must be very happy that you all give him the spoils!
My father-in-law encouraged me to try it as I was initially squeamish about the idea. If the prawns have been cooked well (as he does) it’s fantastic. I don’t have the same skill with prawn cooking so when I try to suck the ones I have cooked it’s been less than pleasant. Perhaps I don’t get the pan hot enough? My fried dried chillies on the other hand have been wonderful.
Thank you! They look quite different to the dried chillies we get here. I’ll show that page to my local Chinese grocers and see what they say.
WFD: Irene Kuo’s Lobster Cantonese over egg noodles. Instead of 2 whole lobster we have two large fresh Maine lobster tails to use in the recipe, probably a little over 2 pounds total. The tails will be cut crosswise into 1 1/2" chunks.
In a wok with hot peanut oil ginger, scallions, garlic, and fermented black beans are stir-fried then a bit ground pork is added and stir-fried till all pink is gone. Lobster chunks go in next then soy sauce, stock, and a bit of black pepper. Wok is covered and everything is steamed for a short time. Cornstarch slurry is next and sesame oil to thicken. A beaten egg is drizzled over all and allowed to mix into the wok contents.
I usually serve this iconic dish with white rice and a stir-fried vegetable. However, I do like wide noodles and thought I’d see how this combination would work. Although Chef Kuo recommends both rice and a vegetable as being the accompaniments for the dish she also includes a green salad. So that’s what we’ll do: Tossed green salad of green leaf lettuce and Napa cabbage with a honey-red wine vinegar dressing. That’s a mild dressing so as not to interfere with the luscious. Cantonese sauce. Simple and delicious.
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Yes, smoky and spicy, which is why I would snack on them. But they kinda … bite you in the ass later, so to speak. #lessonlearned
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I’m pretty sure lingua does the in the oven.
I’ve only fried them once and much prefer them grilled or roasted in the oven, then finished under the broiler.
375 for 45-60 min. in the middle rack. 5 min under the broiler to crisp up the skin.
Bon appetit!
Thanks so much!
