Beauty Hunan: Oh So Spicy, Oh So Delicious

If you know me, you know that I love spicy foods. You would probably know that if you read my blog post on the Carolina Reaper. When people think of spicy Chinese food, they will typically point to Szechuan cuisine. Szechuan cuisine is known for the pungency of its food offerings, but Hunan cuisine takes that to a whole new level. Hunan cuisine implements higher amounts of chili peppers in comparison to Szechuan. As a lover of spicy foods, Hunan cuisine is hard to ignore.

In celebration of my father's birthday, my family decided to eat out for dinner in an area known as "Convoy" in San Diego. We first decided to go to a Taiwanese hot pot restaurant, only to discover that it was completely packed. The wait for a table could have exceeded an hour. After a few minutes of ponderous decision-making, we departed for a slightly obscure restaurant by the name of "Beauty Hunan."

Entering the restaurant, we were greeted with a massive fish tank filled with a variety of beautiful fishes ranging from goldfishes to silvery arowanas. After admiring the fishes in the tank, we were quickly seated. Unlike the hot pot restaurant, many of the seats in Beauty Hunan were empty by comparison. One reason for this could have been due to its relatively non-busy location. A sign of that was the fact that parking for Beauty Hunan was simple while parking for the Taiwanese hot pot restaurant was problematic. I was a little concerned about the emptiness, but that didn't deter us away from the establishment.

Ordering at Beauty Hunan was very pleasant. The menu was easy to navigate, and was abundant with many different options. The waiter was courteous and well-informed about the menu items. When asked a question about a dish, they answered kindly and accurately.

 Hunan cold dishes. Spicy beef, pork ears, and duck tongues.

The first dish we received was a combination of Hunan cold dishes. The dish consisted of spicy beef, shredded pork ears, and stewed duck tongue. The spicy beef was what I would describe little bits of spicy and oily goodness. The pork ears were a bit chewy and shared a similar flavor profile to the spicy beef. The stewed duck tongues were spicy and oily as well. However, I didn't care too much for the duck tongues because the presence of bone in the tongues was a little unpleasant. Overall, this was a very decent appetizer to begin the course.

Next came the cuttlefish dry pot and fried rice. First and foremost, let's talk about the fried rice. There is not much to say about the fried rice because it was your typical Chinese fried rice. However, it was a good complement to the overall course. The more significant of the two dishes was the cuttlefish dry pot. For those who don't know what a dry pot is, it can be described as a hot pot without the boiling hot broth. A major difference is the fact that all the ingredients come to the table pre-cooked and already in the pot. The dry pot is warmed over a heat source at the table in similar fashion to a traditional hot pot. As for the cuttlefish dry pot, it was placed over a wooden vessel with a cast iron top containing a small flame. This was a visually pleasing enhancement to the presentation aspect of the dish. Inside the cuttlefish dry pot was a wealth of ingredients including broccoli, cauliflower, chili peppers, potatoes, onions, and of course, cuttlefish. Without reserve, my family and I commenced our attack on the dry pot.

Cuttlefish dry pot. A perfect balance of flavors.

The first bite of the cuttlefish was intensely flavorful. Perfectly seasoned, perfectly spicy. The savory and spicy flavors enveloped my tongue in a pleasingly piquant hug. The saltiness and spiciness were in a perfect harmony akin to the two Chinese divers diving in the 2016 Rio Olympics synchronized diving event. The texture was pleasantly tender and similar to squid. All the other ingredients in the dish were delicious as well, but the potatoes in particular stood out. These potatoes were gloriously salty, just slightly crispy on the outside, and moist on the inside. They reminded me a little of the most decadent of potato wedges. It was hard to restrain myself from ignoring basic civility and completely devouring all the potatoes like a Neanderthal.

Boiled fish in spicy broth. An acquired taste.

The final dish served was boiled fish in a spicy broth. The first thing I noticed about this was how fragrant the dish was. The scent of peppercorn completely dominated my olfactory senses. The fish, as one could probably guess, had the strong taste of Szechuan peppercorns. This put a numbing sensation on my tongue that strangely turned sweet once the sensation settled down. The fish was moist to the point where eating it was almost as easy as chewing air. I feel that this dish might have an acquired taste because the flavors stemming from the peppercorns are profoundly intense.

For a person that has never tried Hunan cuisine, it is hard to not recommend this restaurant. It is especially hard not to recommend this restaurant to lovers of pungent and spicy flavors. Not too long ago, I was disappointed to learn that my favorite Chinese restaurant in Convoy had closed down. After learning the unfortunate news, I toiled in my search for another enjoyable Chinese restaurant that could possibly replace my now-closed-down favorite. After coming to Beauty Hunan, it's safe to say that I've found my replacement, and a very good one at that.

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Wedding Hors d'oeuvres

It's hard not to appreciate hors d'oeuvres at a wedding. When the servers come to you and ask if you would like so-and-so, it feels like it's your birthday! Of course, that wasn't the case here. My favorite hors d'oeuvres at this wedding I attended was most definitely the coconut butterfly shrimp. It may have seemed simple, but the taste was ever so good and ever so familiar. The asparagus wrap and mini beef wellington were decent as well, but could not match the coconut butterfly shrimp.

Deep-fried shrimp coated in coconut flakes? Now that's a winner!

Asparagus wraps. Not bad.

Mmmmm...mini beef wellington.

 

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I ate a Carolina Reaper.

Yes, I ate a Carolina Reaper. Why, you ask? That is because I live for the challenge. Specifically, spicy challenges. I'm no stranger when it comes to eating dangerously spicy foods. For instance, I once ate a taco labeled the "Death Taco" from a restaurant called "Genkiyaki". Now this taco was absolutely filled with habanero extract, which is worse than the actual pepper. A few seconds after my first bite of the taco, I quickly reached for my soda and attempted to bring down the heat. However, my attempts were futile and I had to endure the pain for however long it lasted. The pain felt as if my tongue was suffering from first degree burns. However, this pain was nothing compared to what I had to suffer through with the Carolina Reaper.

The Carolina Reaper is considered the spiciest chili pepper in the world as of this writing with a Scoville rating (which is used to measure spiciness) of up to 2,200,000 Scoville heat units! That's more than two times as hot as the famous ghost pepper! My cousin Derek showed me the pepper early in the morning the day of my other cousin's wedding. I was very hesitant to try it. There was no way I was missing my cousin's wedding ceremony, and I definitely did not want to show up to my own cousin's wedding while I'm dying a spicy death. I pondered for hours during the wedding ceremony and reception. Is it worth going through immense pain to say you ate the Carolina Reaper, the hottest pepper on the planet? Are the bragging rights really worth it? Do you want to die? To the first two questions I answered, "Hell yeah."

After the wedding was over, I headed home to take on the fiery challenge. No one could convince me not to take the challenge at that point. I sat down on the couch in my living room with Carolina Reaper in hand, anxiously waiting for the moment I was ready to take a bite. After documenting the beginning of my death on camera, I, with brave stupidity, tore the chili pepper off the stem with my teeth and swallowed.

A few seconds passed before I felt a sudden, rising burning sensation on my tongue. The pain had arrived much quicker than I had anticipated. Within a minute or so, I had to make a dash for the milk (or rather, the coconut milk). Unbeknownst to me, there was only about an eighth of a carton left. How unlucky I was for this to happen. I had to get water immediately. I knew it would probably make the heat worse, but it would at least cool my mouth down for a second with each swig. With a water cup by my side, I prayed to the heavens on a floor mat for my survival. Only later was I informed that there was ice cream in the freezer. The lords have saved me! Unfortunately, the vanilla ice cream was completely frozen and tough to scoop. I could only scavenge a meager amount of ice cream on a spoon, but it was just enough to help cool my tongue. A few minutes after, the burning in my mouth started to cease. I had to thank my high spice tolerance for shortening the time I had to endure intense pain from eating the Carolina Reaper. In reality, that was only the beginning.

About fifteen minutes later, the burning sensation that was on my tongue transferred into my stomach. It was not good. I sprinted to restroom in hopes of finding salvation. However, it would not come no matter how hard I tried. An hour later, I felt as if I was going insane. Running around the house like a deranged lunatic, writhing on the floor in incredible agony. It felt as if someone had ignited thermite from within my stomach. My stomach could have replaced the knives in those 1000 degree knife videos! I was forced to take my shirt off as the heat was making my whole body sweat. Finally, the pain reached an incredible level that was no longer bearable. I forced myself to violently disgorge my stomach contents into the toilet. As a result of this, I could feel extremely intense acidic burns throughout my stomach, esophagus, and mouth. Moments later, I suddenly passed out.

Thirty minutes later, I woke up finding myself on the bathroom floor. The pain was now reduced to a lingering burning feeling in the stomach. Compared to what I had to go through, it was absolutely bearable. Leaning of the bathroom door, a feeling of relief encompassed me. I had survived the Carolina Reaper.

In retrospect, do I feel that it was worth it? My foolish pride says yes, but my stomach says no. The Carolina Reaper gave me the most excruciating stomach pain I had ever experienced in my life. Would I do it again? Maybe. I'm definitely not doing it alone however. I will say this to conclude this writing. I fear that there will be a new chili pepper in the future that bests even the Carolina Reaper in terms of spiciness. I cannot wait for the day of its conception to come.

P.S.

I plan on releasing video footage of my experience sometime in the future.

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