Sichuan Jin River

Tucked away in the back of an old, unattractive office building in Rockville lies one of the few places around that serves authentic cuisine from Sichuan Province, China.  This cuisine is known for dishes that are so spicy, it would make your mouth go numb.  This sensation is called "mala." The pain felt from the numbness leads to the release of endorphins in your body. This creates a natural high, causing the eater to want more of the food.  The first outsiders to try this cuisine thought that the food was laced with opium.  But unfortunately or fortunately (depending on your preference), none of the spicy dishes here will go that far.

This place may be seen from Rockville Pike, but is commonly passed over with the modern and trendy Town Square right across the street.  It's a brown brick building with a brown roof.  The menu here is quite large.  There is a variety of cold and hot appetizers, traditional dishes, home style dishes, and for some reason, Americanized dishes.  I went with a friend to sample some classic Sichuan dishes.

Dan Dan Noodles

To start off, there was a bowl noodles with pork in a sauce consisting of chili oil, Sichuan peppercorns, and sesame paste.  The sesame paste actually moderates the spiciness of the dish, which I guess probably a way to cater to the Western palate.  The traditional version has the noodles doused in a bright red sauce.

String Beans with Yacai

The green beans are dry fried with a specialty food unique to Sichuan Province.  Yacai is a part of the stem of the mustard plant that is salt pickled.  Because it's really salty, only a little bit is needed to flavor the dish.  I mean, who wants to eat straight salt.  And no, this isn't spicy, but it can be.

Double Cooked Pork

Pork belly gets cooked by itself before being stir fried with chilies, scallions, onions, peppers, and cabbage.  It's fatty and delicious.  I have had this dish before, but this version contains fried bread.  It's the sauce mop as well the croutons of the dish.  Personally, I don't think this was necessary just because the meal already comes with rice, which also mops up the sauce and intense flavor.  I also don't like croutons.

Mapo Tofu

This is basically tofu and some minced pork in a sauce made with spicy bean paste, chili flakes, garlic, and chili oil.  The sauce is modestly spicy but very fragrant.  Like many of the served here, the heat has been tapered down to a tolerable level.  For me, a little more heat would be alright.

Even though the taste is not as authentic as you would get in China, these dishes themselves are.  It's a great way to immerse yourself into a different style of Chinese cuisine.  I just wish that they would be able to pull all the stops to ensure the most authentic experience.  I mean, Rockville has a huge Chinese population, who would expect or prefer the numbing spiciness in the applicable dishes.  Nevertheless, I still think Jin River is an important restaurant as one can get a different taste of Chinese food.  China is a very diverse and country with many regional cuisines and Sichuanese is among the greatest of them.

Sichuan Jin River
410 Hungerford Dr.
Rockville, MD 20850