{"id":8189,"date":"2019-03-31T18:09:59","date_gmt":"2019-03-31T22:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/?p=8189"},"modified":"2019-04-11T18:41:07","modified_gmt":"2019-04-11T22:41:07","slug":"mala-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/?p=8189","title":{"rendered":"MaLa Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I write about restaurants on Instagram, they’re usually brief takes accompanied by a photo or two. (You can see my feed right here on ethnojunkie.com, updated almost daily, by selecting the \u201cInstagram\u201d category from my home page \u2013 no signup required.) But because of Instagram\u2019s character count limitations, it’s often necessary to break up a review into several parts. This one originally appeared as six posts, published on March 25 through 30, 2019.
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I may be late to the game in terms of writing about M\u00e1L\u00e0 Project, 122 First Ave in Manhattan, but that doesn\u2019t stop me from working my way through their menu now. Their famous Dry Pot notwithstanding, four of us set out to explore other menu items, so we started with ten (count ’em ten!) dishes from the Appetizers, Snacks, Vegetables and Rice sections of the menu; I\u2019m posting a barrage detailing the whole lot.<\/p>\n

Here they are, in no special order. (Click any photo to view in glorious high resolution.)<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>M\u00e1L\u00e0 Duck Neck<\/p>\n

I’ve been nibbling my way around roast poultry necks since I was a kid. At Thanksgiving, some families argue over politics; we argued over who\u2019s going to get the turkey neck. So I was happy that there were enough M\u00e1L\u00e0 Duck Neck joints for the four of us. I don\u2019t recall these being particularly spicy though, neither m\u00e1 nor l\u00e0. Good anyway.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Husband and Wife Lung Slices<\/p>\n

Fuqi Feipian \u592b\u59bb\u80ba\u7247 is a Sichuan m\u00e1l\u00e0 classic. Choice of specific ingredients varies among chefs (not to worry, it never includes actual slices of lung) but tripe and tendon are traditional and ox tongue and beef shin can appear as alternate paramours \u2013 always two items though and always delightfully spicy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>M\u00e1L\u00e0 Pickles<\/p>\n

M\u00e1L\u00e0 Pickles, \u56db\u5ddd\u6ce1\u83dc, from the Snacks section. Just what it sounds like: Sichuan homestyle spicy pickled vegetables of sufficient variety that we worked our way to the bottom of the crock with ease.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Fried Pepper with Thousand Year Egg<\/p>\n

Sh\u0101o ji\u0101o p\u00edd\u00e0n, \u70e7\u6912\u76ae\u86cb. These eggs are of a certain age, but not in sync with their moniker; thousand year eggs, also known as hundred year eggs, century eggs and preserved eggs undergo a process that actually takes closer to weeks or months. They\u2019re covered in a mixture of lime (the calcium compound, not the citrus fruit) and salt and packed into clay or ash to cure (a bit of an oversimplification, but you get the idea). As you can see, the yolk becomes greenish grey and the white a gelatinous translucent brown. The funky flavor pairs perfectly with the fried spicy green pepper.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Xiangxi Fried Rice<\/p>\n

Xiangxi Fried Rice, \u6e58\u897f\u7092\u996d, with egg, Chinese bacon, pickled vegetables and chilies. The waiter informed us that it would be spicier than its menu mate \u201cLeftover Fried Rice\u201d; I believe him having not tried the alternative, but this portion, although certainly delicious, wasn\u2019t especially fiery. Good comfort food though.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Liangfen of Happy Tears<\/p>\n

Liangfen of Happy Tears, Sh\u0101ngx\u012bn Li\u00e1ngf\u011bn, \u4f24\u5fc3\u51c9\u7c89. I\u2019m not sure when sh\u0101ngx\u012bn (\u4f24\u5fc3) which I thought meant sad or heartbroken became \u201chappy tears\u201d but I suspect it has to do with the zesty deliciousness that this dish delivers. Li\u00e1ngf\u011bn refers to mung bean jelly \u201cnoodles\u201d \u2013 long, thick-cut, slippery, wobbly chopstick challengers (for some) in a spicy soy sauce based dressing. Good eats.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Candy Garlic<\/p>\n

A powerful snack: Candy Garlic, \u7cd6\u849c.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\ude20 It’s Candy! \ud83d\ude23 It’s Garlic! \u270b Stop! You’re both right! \ud83d\udc91<\/p>\n

Think pickled, not candied \u2013 neither dessert topping nor floor wax. Of course, if it\u2019s date night you might want a breath mint after consuming a couple of them, but these piquant cloves are approachable…with Certitude \ud83d\ude43.<\/p>\n

#RUOldEnough2GetTheJokes<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Eggplant with Roasted Garlic<\/p>\n

Eggplant with Roasted Garlic, \u849c\u84c9\u8304\u5b50, is a surefire winner. Eggplant and garlic seem to have an affinity for each other like chocolate and nuts, or bacon and pretty much anything. Again, M\u00e1L\u00e0 Project did a good job with this one.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Mouthwatering Chicken<\/p>\n

Mouthwatering Chicken, \u53e3\u6c34\u9e21, another classic Sichuan delicacy. Often made with white meat chicken (one of the few recipes in which it\u2019s a worthwhile choice IMHO), it\u2019s poached chicken in chili sauce and this version was excellent.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Sticky Rice Stuffed Lotus Root<\/p>\n

Sticky Rice Stuffed Lotus Root, \u6842\u82b1\u7cef\u7c73\u83b2\u85d5 was delicious. The Chinese characters read osmanthus, glutinous rice, lotus root. As I understand it, the cavities in the lotus root are stuffed with sticky rice and the root is simmered in a sweet syrup, often with the addition of goji berries and red dates, until tender. It\u2019s sliced and then gets a bath in its cooking sauce for serving. Osmanthus flowers adorn the top. It\u2019s a sweet dish, but not intensely so. Excellent.<\/p>\n

Okay. Next time, we\u2019ll save room for the Dry Pot!<\/p>\n

M\u00e1L\u00e0 Project is located at 122 First Ave in Manhattan.<\/p>\n

 
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When I write about restaurants on Instagram, they’re usually brief takes accompanied by a photo or two. (You can see my feed right here on ethnojunkie.com, updated almost daily, by selecting the \u201cInstagram\u201d category from my home page \u2013 no … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3336,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59,115],"tags":[35,55,44],"class_list":["post-8189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-instagram","category-restaurant-reviews-extended","tag-chinese","tag-sichuan","tag-szechuan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3336"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8189"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8196,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8189\/revisions\/8196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ethnojunkie.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}