10 Dishes You Must Try at a Szechuan Restaurant 

NEVER smoke pot and watch Strictly Dumpling's videos at the same time. NEVER EVER. Btw, man, you have a lifetime sub from me. You made me wish to move to the US or China ;D

You should list the dish names in the description.

As a native from Chengdu(in Szechuan), I have to say, you are totally right. :)

Ok, posting 4 yrs later, can’t help it. My fave dish at our local Szechuan restaurant is charred stir fried cabbage. I don’t if it’s rly Szechuan, but never seen it anywhere else. They tell me they test new chefs on whether they can make the sauce. (Bernie Sanders ate there when he visited nearby in 2016, I assume he got the word, it’s so good.) That place aside, best Szechuan place I’ve eaten at was a literal hole in the wall in Bloomington IN, where our son went to school. The menu was taped around the walls scrawled on paper plates, in Chinese. Very few dishes in English, but it was all awesome. College towns can rly be the best for authentic ethnic foods of all kinds if you look.

You should do a food vlog show like on the food network! You eat at all types of places!

Mike, you mentioned that you eat out often...please do food vlogs of what you eat at restaurants. Btw. I love your food tip and advice videos like this one and the hot pot video.

i have these horrible memories of when i stayed up in these beautiful mountains near a few hours from Cheng Du and all I ate was Szechuan food. the first 3 days I thought I was in heaven eating my fave food everyday, then after a week my stomach just wasn't having it. Since the area I was in was more rural there was only a few restaurants there and you gotta be careful with the food there. Unfortunately on the last day before I was in Cheng Du I got sick (like extreme need of a bathroom sick), I was stuck on a bus for a few hours that wasn't stopping. By the time I reached the first pit stop in the city I was just about to explode, and I did...good times good times...

My last experience at a Szechuan resto was just that, everybody ordered the typical white person dishes, but I had to stand out so I ordered braised chicken gizzards with hot peppers. The waitress gave me a funny look and said, that's really spicy you sure you want it, even the chef came out to see who is this white boy ordering the spiciest dish on the menu, he had a big grin on his face thinking I'd be crying in pain but was impressed that I finished my meal and then tried to convince me to eat all the chili peppers as well. You guys could be so mean :D

I'm a white guy who loves eating the red peppers...all of them! I've been told by the servers that you don't eat them but I like my food really spicy. I even grow my own peppers. Can't wait to try these dishes.

I absolutely love authentic chinese food secheun dishes included. Ma po dofu is one of my favorites. (I've actually successfully made it with secheun pepper corns an doupan jan /the broad bean paste) Ps please excuse my spelling as I don't speak Chinese or chinese dialectics

This guy is hilarious! Nice video

I saw the shredded potatoes with Sichuan pepper at a local restaurant and was intrigued so I looked up a recipe and made it myself. To die for!! Absolutely incredible.

man hungry now!!!!

the dry fried green beans and fish flavored eggplants are our faves! the twice cooked pork is also really yummy and dan dan noodles are perfect for the brutal winter of Liverpool, UK.

Love love love Szechuan food. It's the best thing ever. Being Indian and foodies we like try new things and are attracted to the words "Spicy" so we just love this kind of food. And a Chinese uncle once told us that we order like real Chinese people so that made us happy :) The water braised fish was too good to be true

Mike, I wanted to say thank you for this video. Growing up in the South, I never had authentic Szechuan food before. Thanks to your channel, I was able to track down a restaurant where I'm vacationing right now. We just finished our meal about an hour ago and we loved it! I got the water braised beef and my wife got the spicy chicken. We're going back in a few days for more stuff, maybe a hot pot or some pork belly and fu qi fei pian. Once again, thank you :)

You literally listed all the dishes I usually order

What? I love putting the 'peppercorns' in my mouth!

Indeed, Mike please do your eating out food vlogs and also teach us a few cooking techs!

you can make every food looks mouth watering...like literally

Oh Mike... I love ALL the dishes you mention, esp the 水煮鱼 and the 夫妻肺片。

I love spicy food until the day I die!! I also love cow tongue and tripe (I cook alot of Hispanic food at home) so the first dish does appeal to me!!

Watching this while waiting on my Szechuan food to arrive. Ironically enough my local go-to has "authentic" in the name, but it's a sleeper if that's a red flag for you. Best deal is their water braised fish. Has me sweating bullets every time. Curious if Mike has been there since he's a NYC boy as well.

Am so happy... I'm an Indian living in Sydney, Australia and my wife and I have had all of these dishes except a few (Lungs one, potato noodles) We make Mapo Tofu once a fortnight at home as well.. with the proper Douban Jiang and Tin Min Jiang (sorry if I spelt them wrong)!! Love to Sichuan food from 2 Indians!! Maybe 3, so far my 2 year old daughter likes tofu.. she'll get there..

I like chicken feets. My grandma used to make a soup with them (I grow up in Bulgaria), but I had them in Canada (Sechuan restaurant) with ginger,garlic, and chilli peppers...etc. I liked very much the dumplings in hot oil, so now I know how to make them at home:)

I have tried ALL the items you have listed at the Chinese Cultural Center in Phoenix, AZ - Szechuan Palace!

Bro you are great this is one the most helpful videos on Szechuan food!! thank you!!!!

If mapodofu wasn't on your list you would've been in trouble.

#8 brings back memories of when I was 16 or so and was at a mostly authentic Szechuan restaurant, and while eating the chicken and chili dish I didn't know I wasn't supposed to eat the peppers too. Figured it out after sitting there sweating for a good 15 minutes and noticing the folks working in the kitchen occasionally taking turns looking out the door to the kitchen and laughing at me. So of course after I noticed that I kept eating them. Good times for all xD

You hit on all of my favorites, but I also would add the hop pots as a must get item.

I know I’m super late to the party. I live way outside Cincinnati. We don’t have much Szechuan going on out here. As a white dude that loves spicy Asian food. It’s hard to come by. I just made Twice cooked pork and it was phenomenal. I want to know what other recipes to look for. Your video helped me out a lot. Thank you.

The first 2 that you mentioned are my addiction🤤🤤♥️

So yeah, we go to Mala Szechuan in Houston about twice a month. Always get at least half of these dishes, dan dan, hot oil dumplings, mappo tofu, and water boiled EVERYTHING. I always eat the red peppers with my spicy chicken! :D Pro tip: If you like to have feeling in your mouth, steer clear from eating the pepercorns.

Pretty spot-on list. La zi ji is my favorite dish (it...is...incredible). I don't care for the potatoes (Chinese tend to undercook potatoes to a Westerner like me) and haven't yet had couple's lung slices (seen it a million times but never had it). Mapo tofu and the eggplant on two piles of rice is about as good as a breakfast meal as there can be.

Excellent suggestions! I've had all of these dishes many times at my favorite restaurant in Chicago, Lao Sze Chuan.

going to Sichuan soon, thanks for the heads-up!

If you're ever in Chicago, I'll take you to Chendu Impression. Their Mouth Watering Chicken (口水鸡) is amazing. Their twice cooked pork is the best I've ever had (especially mixed with scallion pancake. It is by far and away the best Sichuan in Chicago. They even have bone-in rabbit and frog on the menu and a couple of fried pig intestine dishes. It's the real deal. I'm often the only white guy in the place.

I'm obsessed with the bone in chicken with green peppers, Kung bao chicken, double cooked pork, spicy cold noodles!!! 😍😍😍😍

Water Braised Beef is SOOOO GOOOD!!!!

As a native Sichuanese, I have to say this guy told you the truth. There are still tons of super yummy Sichuan dishes that I don't know or didn't try.

By far my most favorite dish is three pepper chicken, or sanjiaobianji. It. was. DELICIOUS.

You cannot compare Panda Express to one of the many amazing neighborhood Chinese food restaurants in NYC. They have those lovely signs you pointed out and the food is spectacular.

As a Szechuan person (but born in USA) I can confirm these dishes are yum

Fu qi fei pian, wu jing chang Wang, yu xiang qie zi and sun yi bai rou r some of my favorites.

Lol. I had the chicken and dried chillies dish at a hotel in Shanghai and I ate all the chillies. The waitress gave me a real 'WTF' stare when she came to clear the table! xD

I am lucky enough to live near a couple Sichuan restaurants and now I have a couple more ideas of what to try. Thank you sir :)

OMG you really know what you r talking about!!!!! I love all the dishes! they r absolutely the bestest in Szechuan Restaurant!!!!!

What about 毛血旺?? That's my all-time favorite!

Great rundown. I love the fried chicken with chili peppers, but now I have some other dishes to try. Thank you!

Thank you for this video! Reminds me of my four month in Szechuan and I loved the food!

Mike, those potatoes are so bomb. They're my favorite appetizer/side dish that I make it a point to keep track of restaurants that only do the potatoes well.

Mike is a naturaaaaale at being funny and commentator 🙂🙂🙂

you just brought me back my Shanghai memories n Sichuan food, it is soo good, Bao Bao jiao is the best restaurant for Sichuan food in Shanghai

Omg! Everything looks sooooo goooooood!!!

Schezuan is my fave type of Chinese dishes!!! 👌🏾 Ooooppssss Szechuan lol

Sichuan spicy hotpot?? Love all the dishes, now I'm hungry!!!!

Lol u were so different 2 years ago lol 😅 Wowwwww 3 years!!!!!!! Trying to catch up, cramming lol!!!!!! So far so good!!!! My faves are the tofu dish & double cooked pork!!!!!!👌🏾 Mikey, is it really double cooked???????

No mention of Zi Ran Yang Rou (Cumin Lamb)?

I do eat all the peppers with the Chung King chicken. Have you tried vine pepper chicken casserole?

Sichuan eggplant dish is the best eggplant/brinjal dish ever!!! ❤️

love the energy haha

The written names would be useful too. Thanks for the recommendations

I'm going to Chengdu in March. I don't know whether I'll love or hate the food there. It is one of UNESCO's gastronomic cities, so I will probably love it. Do they use a lot of pork? I don't eat pork...

this guy looks like my buddy from cali. same personality. tried all food and loved it and i cook erm too

Great video!! You definitely know your Szechuan!

I LIKE YOUR VIDEOS

my grandma makes the best mapo tofu and stir fried potatoes! I didn't know they were szechuan dishes

I am already hungry now by Only listening about the Sichuan dishes... I super love spicy food

also other famous dishes are tea smoked duck and pork slices with mashed garlic served cold......

i like beef with cabbage? fried fish, coating is rice(?) , fish in redish sauce, sooo good

you video makes me hungary and homesick!

You hit all the great dishes! Now I'm craving Szechuan food...

I've tried all of these delicious dishes before. And no need for the practical joke...I always go for the peppers anyways xD

not a chinese dish but if you guys hate brocoli like mike, make brocoli and sausage soup. be generous with sausage so the flavour overtakes the brocoli. yall won't even notice that this healthy vegetable is there ;)

Water braised beef or "Sliced beef and hot and spicy gravy" YUM. I Can never have anything other than that because its so addictive!

I visit Mr Chili in Liverpool England often and always orer Mapo Tofu and Dan dan Noodles

Mapo tofu makes my heart happy

the tripe app and the eggplant is the best!

ahhh I want to try them all! I love this. Thanks for making it! (I love hot pot though.)

great suggestion!

Looks yummy and very spicy!

I love Mapo Tofu.. one of my favorite dishes.

Yeah, all of those dishes he mentioned are my favorites!!

You just named most of my favorite dishes. I would add Szechuan beef noodle soup, long hot pepper (green) shredded pork and Hong Kong bay shrimp(obviously not szechuan but they serve it and it's awesome) to the list. I used to love "american" Chinese food but since an authentic place opened near me, I will never go back to that crap.

Now I've got more dishes to try thanks.

I have next to zero spice tolerance (so I probably wouldn't head here for authentic Chinese cuisine that I know I may like), but these all sound so good that the spice factor may be worth the risk.

ahhhh, got my dinner menu now----off to the kitchen to roast Szechuan peppers...

I like the last story about Missouri/New york at the end.

As someone who worked at an authentic Sichuan place, all is so freaking true.. I love the peppercorn. I know many Chinese names for Sichuan dishes just from working there.. I am so proud (too proud.. it's sad) I've eaten all of the dishes on here :D Also, I knew all of the Chinese names before you said the English version. :) 水煮牛 FTW.

Ma po tofu and twice-cooked pork, two of the greatest achievements in culinary history!

You forgot about "ants climbing the tree"! I'm white, but I made this for dinner last night (I found myself with a huge bundle of cellophane noodles for some reason). My equally-white-American husband said it wasn't spicy enough :-)

I like fried rice as a side pretty much anywhere. I mean, you gotta have some carbohydrate to balance the meal if you don't wanna feel ill after stuffing yourself with a ton of meat dishes (and some vegetably meat dishes - I love green beans), and the price at authentic restaurants isn't usually much more expensive than at a random takeaway, so it's not like you're paying a huge premium for that generic dish. I agree with you about not understanding people who JUST order fried rice and other non-Szechuan dishes though - or worse, order fries. Why do people do that?

Thank you so much. Ive been craving for my fave cuisine for soo long. Will go to a chinese restaurant and try some of these

Love Szechuan style cooking...and I do eat the peppers. If I can handle Vindaloo curry, I can handle the peppers....LOL!

my threshold for numbing is quite high, i love love love to eat those pepper corns

I'm proud to say that I've tried them all and I can now cook them as well

Wow Mike Chang has change a lot

love those hot bitter peppers they clear your head right up dude if you have a cold perpect.

I love their variant of red cooked pork belly. And a little place here (sadly it is no longer open--too authentic for the area it was in, not to mention no restaurant at that location has been successful since Loves BBQ built it over 40 years ago. They had a cold sliced pork belly with a very sauce , I got it from curiousity and was hooked on it. Being definately a ''Ma La'' sauce I'd say Szechuanese.

I love szechuan restaurants.