Chengdu, Sichuan Province — attributed to Chen Senfu and Zhang Tianzheng, 1930s
Technical deep-dive into the most iconic Sichuan cold dish — husband and wife lung slices. The classical version uses ox heart, tongue, tripe, and tendon (not lung, as the original offal is now rarely used). Each cut must be cooked to its specific ideal texture: tongue boiled until just tender, tripe briefly blanched, tendon gelatinous. All dressed in Sichuan cold dish sauce.
Multiple textures within one dish: silky tongue, chewy tripe, gelatinous tendon — all unified by the assertive Sichuan cold dressing
{"Each offal cut has a different ideal cooking time and method — they must be cooked separately","Ox tongue: boil 1–1.5 hours until just pierced with a skewer; peel while hot","Honeycomb tripe: blanch briefly (5 min); final texture should retain slight chewiness","Tendon: braise minimum 3 hours until gelatinous and yielding but not collapsing"}
{"Thin slicing is essential — all cuts should be 2–3mm thick maximum; a deli slicer achieves the ideal","The traditional 'lung' version is rarely served now — beef lung has been replaced by other offal in modern recipes","Crushed peanuts and sesame seeds added on top add textural contrast and visual appeal"}
{"Cooking all cuts together — results in some over-cooked and some under-cooked","Not peeling tongue while still hot — the membrane sticks when cold","Over-dressing — the sauce should coat thinly, not pool in the serving dish"}
Land of Plenty — Fuchsia Dunlop