Flushing Szechuan House’s Chengdu Special Pot

Written by Giovanna Sun, Business Development Consultant of Sosokan App

Szechuan is famous for its spicy foods. The most popular Szechuan cooking style is from Chengdu (the capital of China’s Sichuan province). We had lunch with John Choe, the Executive Director of the Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce. Led by the Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce, “Flushing Fantastic” is a three-year district marketing campaign funded by the NYC Department of Small Business Services’ (SBS) Neighborhood 360° grant program. Flushing Fantastic provides local resources for visitors, businesses and residents, and covers events including history, food, culture and art. John Choe has invited me to be a contributor to Flushing Fantastic.

I don’t know much about Sichuan cuisine. But we met with Lisa Li, the manager of Szechuan House, who calls herself “Spicy Girl.” Lisa introduced me to Chengdu Special Pot, I thought it was a type of vegetable pot, but actually it’s a pot boiled with assorted vegetables, fish, and beef, with a spicy chili soup – the perfect amount for a single eater. One Chinese idiom says “when a single eats alone, it means the whole family also got fed.”

House specialties also include Braised Whole Fish, Braised Beef Soup, and “Mapo Tofu” (the most well-known dish). I also noticed the price for the fish of the day is not set at Market Price, but rather, there is already a set price, which provides the transparency to order the fish of the day. Like most “Mom and Pop” restaurants, Szechuan House offers an affordable lunch special. The lunch take out is only $6.50, from Monday through Friday!

John Choe also mentioned the red chili pepper came from South America. Just like the culture of New York, local Chinese restaurants combine the diversity of culture into their food. Flushing should not be stereotyped as a “New Chinatown,” but rather the “Real New York.”

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Angelina Sun

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