Wednesday
Apr142010
Local Eats: Gourmet Kingdom
Wednesday, April 14, 2010 at 12:01PM
Sichuan Pickles
Once in a while a little torture on your tongue isn't such a bad thing. Especially when the torture comes from numbing hot Sichuan peppers. Sichuan (or Szechuan, or Szechwan) cuisine is a type of Chinese food from the Sichuan province. The peppers that come from this region are known for their specific tingly/numbing sensation that comes along with them.
I was kind of spoiled when I learned that the chef from a nearby by restaurant failure had moved to this restaurant and was preparing Sichuan style food. Before my cousins found this spot we'd have to drive at least 30-45 minutes to Raleigh to find this kind of food, or even fly up to NYC just to eat this type of food. Lucky for us the Gourmet Kingdom in Carrboro, NC brought in new management and was offering a Chinese menu fit with sichuan cuisine. A word to the wise, don't go in expecting to be able to read this menu. We had our server translate and recommend most of the dishes to us. He was also very willing to steer us away from dishes as well.
Kungpao Lotus Root
When eating Sichuan cuisine it is noted that you should experience the "cool" dishes along side the "hot" dishes. The dish above is prepared in several different ways as a "cool" dish. If you've never had lotus root before it is very crunchy and has a light flavor to it. Eating is a bit more enjoyable when you've got these cool dishes to eat between the spicy dishes.
Sichuan Fish Hot Pot
I first fell in love with this dish at Grand Sichuan in the upper east side of NYC. Another cousin of mine introduced me to this style of cooking and since then I've been looking for this soup in NC. I think we've found it. The fish chunks in this soup are very light and flakey but you really wouldn't know it because you're too busy trying not to cry or poking your tongue to make sure it's still there.
I realize I'm not really making you want to try this type of cuisine, but trust me, it's worth every bit of pain!
Imperial Tofu with Shiitake Mushrooms and Baby Bok Choy
I often wonder who names these dishes. Something tells me a bit of it is lost in translation as well. In any case, this dish has many different styles to it, but in general it's a stuff and deep fried tofu ball in a salty sauce. It's very tasty and very hot (temperature hot). Please be careful before popping one into your mouth or you really may leave the restaurant scarred.
Beef Tendon with Leek and Sichuan peppers
I know it doesn't SOUND like it'd be good but the fact of the matter is, it's mostly texture and the sauce that it's prepared in. Beef tendon is widely eaten in asian culture. I remember growing up fighting over the cartilage left over from some stew. It's not as awful as it sounds though so please don't be scared and give this dish a try. It's a beautiful dish and has so much to offer!
Lamb and Cilantro
This dish doesn't really seem chinese to me. I didn't even know Chinese food even used lamb, but then I thought to myself "why wouldn't they use lamb." I mean food culture is derived from peoples experimentation during trying times. Back in the day when you had nothing to eat, but you had a herd of lamb, I'm sure they started to look mighty tastey. BAM! Lamb kabobs! Anyways, lamb and cilantro are so well paired in this dish you wonder why you've never thought to combine them before.
Well I hope you'll grow a wild hair tonight and check out this restaurant. If you have ulcers or can't really handle spicy food, I'd pretty much stay about 50 feet away from the restaurant. The exhaust coming out of the place could make your eyes water.
Cheers,
--Joe Kwon
For more info click here.
Once in a while a little torture on your tongue isn't such a bad thing. Especially when the torture comes from numbing hot Sichuan peppers. Sichuan (or Szechuan, or Szechwan) cuisine is a type of Chinese food from the Sichuan province. The peppers that come from this region are known for their specific tingly/numbing sensation that comes along with them.
I was kind of spoiled when I learned that the chef from a nearby by restaurant failure had moved to this restaurant and was preparing Sichuan style food. Before my cousins found this spot we'd have to drive at least 30-45 minutes to Raleigh to find this kind of food, or even fly up to NYC just to eat this type of food. Lucky for us the Gourmet Kingdom in Carrboro, NC brought in new management and was offering a Chinese menu fit with sichuan cuisine. A word to the wise, don't go in expecting to be able to read this menu. We had our server translate and recommend most of the dishes to us. He was also very willing to steer us away from dishes as well.
Kungpao Lotus Root
When eating Sichuan cuisine it is noted that you should experience the "cool" dishes along side the "hot" dishes. The dish above is prepared in several different ways as a "cool" dish. If you've never had lotus root before it is very crunchy and has a light flavor to it. Eating is a bit more enjoyable when you've got these cool dishes to eat between the spicy dishes.
Sichuan Fish Hot Pot
I first fell in love with this dish at Grand Sichuan in the upper east side of NYC. Another cousin of mine introduced me to this style of cooking and since then I've been looking for this soup in NC. I think we've found it. The fish chunks in this soup are very light and flakey but you really wouldn't know it because you're too busy trying not to cry or poking your tongue to make sure it's still there.
I realize I'm not really making you want to try this type of cuisine, but trust me, it's worth every bit of pain!
Imperial Tofu with Shiitake Mushrooms and Baby Bok Choy
I often wonder who names these dishes. Something tells me a bit of it is lost in translation as well. In any case, this dish has many different styles to it, but in general it's a stuff and deep fried tofu ball in a salty sauce. It's very tasty and very hot (temperature hot). Please be careful before popping one into your mouth or you really may leave the restaurant scarred.
Beef Tendon with Leek and Sichuan peppers
I know it doesn't SOUND like it'd be good but the fact of the matter is, it's mostly texture and the sauce that it's prepared in. Beef tendon is widely eaten in asian culture. I remember growing up fighting over the cartilage left over from some stew. It's not as awful as it sounds though so please don't be scared and give this dish a try. It's a beautiful dish and has so much to offer!
Lamb and Cilantro
This dish doesn't really seem chinese to me. I didn't even know Chinese food even used lamb, but then I thought to myself "why wouldn't they use lamb." I mean food culture is derived from peoples experimentation during trying times. Back in the day when you had nothing to eat, but you had a herd of lamb, I'm sure they started to look mighty tastey. BAM! Lamb kabobs! Anyways, lamb and cilantro are so well paired in this dish you wonder why you've never thought to combine them before.
Well I hope you'll grow a wild hair tonight and check out this restaurant. If you have ulcers or can't really handle spicy food, I'd pretty much stay about 50 feet away from the restaurant. The exhaust coming out of the place could make your eyes water.
Cheers,
--Joe Kwon
For more info click here.
Reader Comments (3)
So glad you posted this! My wife and I have been there a couple of times. So far I've really loved their duck dishes. We need
to go with a group so that we can expand our repetoire. Let us know if you need some dinner companions!
Yes, I absolutely love gourmet kingdom. I go regularly with as big of a group as I can find, so we can order as many things as possible.
Last time we got:
Chinese broccoli with oyster garlic sauce.
Green onion tea smoked duck. (incredible smoky flavor, there are multiple tea smoked duck dishes make sure you get this one)
Sichuan beef hot pot (there are two, one with very silky tofu one with cabbage. I prefer the cabbage one, but both are fantastic. This is something everyone should be sure to order at Gourmet Kingdom)
Cumin lamb -- this came last when we were already full, tons of cumin but not overwhelmingly spicy. I liked it a lot.
Eggplant and mushroom hot pot - another must get. I am not a huge fan of eggplant OR mushrooms, but this dish is such a winner. The sauce is fantastic, the texture of the mushrooms and eggplant is perfect, and it just tastes soooo good.
Keep in mind that Gourmet Kingdom is served in a traditional chinese family style. This means that the dishes will come out over time, not all at once, so order to share and try everything even if you don't think you'll like it. You'll be surprised, everything is s flavorful and cooked to perfection.
This is my favorite restaurant in the area. I have traveled in the Szechuan region in China and this is as close to real Chinese food as I have had in the US.
I will try to list the things I have tried:
Boiled beef in Szechuan Hot Pot 5/5 - This is my favorite thing ever and it is hard to not order it every time. One version comes with cabbage and another with tofu. I think I like the cabbage one the most. This dish is super tender strips of beef served in a simmering red pepper oil broth.
Eggplant and Mushroom Hot Pot 5/5 - As the previous poster said, this is great. Soft eggplant and mushrooms soaking in a brown gravy.
Pecan Shrimp - 5/5 huge shrimp breaded and fried then covered in a mostly sweet slightly savory white sauce with pecans and melon pieces - this is crazy decadent but I loved it.
Whole Fried Fish in Szechuan Sauce 5/5 - this is another of my favorites, a whole tilapia expertly fried and served covered in a tangy citrusy and spicy orange glaze.
Tea Smoked Duck (with green peppers I think?) 4/5 - I have had two versions of tea smoked duck here, one was a little dry but the other one was amazing tender slices of duck with green peppers all with a very smoky flavor. Not sure which one is the right one to order.
Cumin Lamb - 4/5 a plate of strips of lamb with a cumin and pepper sauce, there is a lot of cumin in this, I think it tastes great.
Prawns Cooked in Skillet 4/5 - this is another great shrimp dish if you want something spicy instead of sweet, comes with a real nice smokey sauce.
Twice Cooked Pork 4/5 - very fatty (almost like bacon) but extremely thin slices of pork served with green onions. this tastes amazing but might be sort of fatty to the less adventurous diner
Lamb Hot Pot 3/5 - we had a version that was a little bit too bland for my taste on its own but eaten along with some spicier options this is a refreshing dish. A simple stew of lamb and vegetables.
Shrimp with Szechuan Sauce 2/5 - this is fried shrimp with bread crumbs and peppers, this has a good flavor and texture but in my opinion there is too much bread crumbs and not enough sauce
Dan Dan Noodles 2/5 - noodles in a spicy broth with a flavorful ground beef topping. This one was somewhat of a let down because it was one of my favorite things in China but I found this version to be lacking some of the key ingredients.
The food at this place is meant to be shared, if you try to just order one thing for yourself you might not like it because some dishes are very hot and others are cool, some are all meat and others all vegetables, so you will want to mix and match. The more people you go with the better because you can try new things and you dont have to worry about trying the weird things because with a lot of people a single dish isn't going to constitute your entire meal. Also make sure you order off the full menu and not the limited paper menu they keep in the front. There are hundreds of things on this menu, but don't get intimidated, while some things are better than others everything I have tried has been good.
Some things to keep in mind:
1. each course will be brought out as it finishes, this means it will be as hot as possible, go ahead and start eating as the food comes out. Dishes that take longer to prepare will come out last.
2. this restaurant specializes in Szechuan food, if you don't like spicy food you should go somewhere else and not ruin this for the rest of us. Your food will taste best if you tell the waiter that you like very spicy food.
3. You will frequently not get what you ordered, this can be good because you can discover new things. If you really had your heart set on a certain thing just tell them you got the wrong thing and they will fix it.
I can't wait to keep going back here, every time is an adventure. I am looking forward to trying some of the more interesting appetizers soon.