Happiness is...Good Chinese Food

Yes it's true.  I eat out.  A lot.  But what can I say, it makes me happy and I don't have dishes to do afterward.  A few nights ago I revisited a favorite place of mine, Seven Stars Pepper, in the International District.   Located in one of the dingy strip malls, littered along S. Jackson Street, this place is mainly know for their Hot Pots, but I always opt for the stellar Szechuan fare.  I love this place, it is always clean, food is prepared at lightening speed, and the prices won't empty your wallet.  However, the dishes are served traditional Family-style, so you had better come with a few friends or family members.

Every time I have visited Seven Stars Pepper we have ordered the delicious Green Onion Pancakes with spicy dipping sauce, but this time we changed it up and ordered the Szechuan Hot Pepper Sauce Won Ton.

Surprisingly the sauce was on the mellow side, heat wise, even though it was little more than hot broth topped with sesane oil infused with garlic and toasted peppers, Still the flavor was intense and very nice.  The delicate wonton pillows floating in the chili sauce were light and tender with plenty of pork filling.  This dish makes me smile, so soft and slippery and tasty.

Another specialty of the house are their fried tofu dishes.  We ordered the Fried Tofu with Black Mushrooms.  Who knew Tofu could be so good (and I am a huge fan of tofu).  I just love the texture of Black Mushrooms, all slippery and chewy, they are the perfect compliment to the firm fried tofu and crunchy bok choy.  This dish is all about texture.  The sauce was light and perfectly seasoned, since we requested no MSG (it gives me the shakes).  As with all Chinese food, if you don't request them to leave out the MSG the sauces can be too salty.  I prefer not have to gorge myself on water all night long after my meal.

Finally, we got the one dish we order Every-Single-Time we come to Seven Stars Pepper, Crispy Pork with Hot Garlic Sauce.  It is so GOOD!  Tender pieces of fatty pork fried crispy in a light batter and then tossed in this amazing spicy vinegar glaze.  It's kind of like a Sweet & Sour Pork in that it is fried and coated in sauce, but it's not greasy, not sweet, super spicy and totally amazing.  We never have a take-home box of this dish.  I foresee we will continue to order this dish everytime we go back there, it is that good.


Other Dishes of Note:
* Fried Pot Stickers hand-made.
* Szechaun Pepper Pork Tripe feeling adventurous?
* Any of the Hand-Shaven Noodle dishes nothing like them!
* Hot Pepper Fried Shredded Potato amazing!
* Fried Tofu with Eggplant again, all about texture.