Like many of the recipes in TMCC, this one relies on another recipe that takes a bit of time. Do yourself a favor and make those chile-pickled long beans the requisite 3-5 days in advance. The resulting dish is among the most impressive I’ve made, and hands-down my favorite Chinese dish that I’ve made.

Notes: I made a triple batch with a frozen lamb rib and back and this worked well. Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly, which worked amazingly well. The only thing I would consider changing is to use the breast (as the meat did not pull easily off of the bone) and also maybe cook it a little longer to see if it gets to this point. “Crowd Pleaser!” Serve with rice.

Joe’s Rating: 8.5

Unfortunately, this lovely dish is another example of one that I did not take a picture of. Great meal, especially served fresh. Noticeable BBQ flavors (used my favorite “Taste & Technique” cookbook indoor smoking method). Smokey-sour. Had to order the menma on Amazon, although in larger cities (e.g. Boston), I’ve since found it much more conveniently and affordable in Japanese specialty markets.

Joe’s Rating: 7.5

Yes please! This is one of the marquee recipes in TMCC, featured in the second interview profile of Danny Bowien “San Francisco” (I think… It’s actually been about 4 years since I’ve read it.) The “Chili Crisp,” a spicy numbing homemade version of the umami bomb with red label that is ubiquitous in asian markets, is the real highlight.

Cooking notes: consider cutting salt in the chili crisp for this recipe (subsequent use of this ingredient had a good salt balance). Also, consider using a more delicate (very soft) tofu next time.

Joe’s Rating: 6.5

Great bar snack with some bread. (6$) Watch out – this contains gluten! (and lots of other stuff). No image available. No cooking notes. Made about 4x times.

Lovely “crowd pleaser” according to my notes. Uses a classic overnight uncovered freeze to get a crispy texture. A bit of tripe adds some unexpected crunch and chew, although I remember it mostly being chewy.

Cooking Notes: use less salt probably (?) Spice rub rocks! Try cooking tripe less next time.

Excellent dish! I got a couple of gallon-sized jars on Amazon to make lots of pickles with (I think I originally got them for the book “Fermented Vegetables, but I got several more to serve Sichuan pickles at Fortnight Wine Bar. While I did not end up serving these at the bar, I did end up selling Sichuan-pickled long beans for 6$ as a bar snack, see below.) I recall these being tasty and numbing-peppery.

Cooking notes: Don’t forget the cilantro. Extra vegetables are OK.