I’d like to talk about the very first time I tried Xinjiang fried rice noodle. Basically, it’s kind of a traditional dish?in Xinjiang, China. The main ingredients are rice noodles, chicken slices, celery and a super spicy sauce?made of red chilli peppers. Recent years, it went viral?due to the spicy food challenges?all over the internet.

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As a spicy food lover, I’d always wanted to take on the challenge myself. So as soon as a Xinjiang cuisine?restaurant opened near my company based in Beijing, I decided to try it with my colleague. I think that was about 3 years ago, back in 2020.

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The restaurant was a pretty cramped space, but?packed with?diners. As I walked in, I was greeted by?the?pungent smell of hot pepper. The menu was pretty interesting, too. So apparently, you can choose from: mild spicy, medium spicy?and extra spicy. I went for the extra spicy and laughed at my colleagues’?safe choice of mild spicy. Well, it’s a decision I was gonna regret later.

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When our meals were finally served, I went for my first bite. It was heavenly! Each bite was an explosion of flavors and textures, from the chewy?chicken slice, to the smooth noodle smothered in?rich hot sauce. However, After no more than five minutes, I began to feel the intense spice kicking in. My tongue turned numb and my mouth was on fire. But at the same time, I couldn’t get enough of it?because it’s just way too good. So I ended up downing three bottles of milk to cool down. I still remember my stomach burning the entire afternoon, which only started to wear off late in the evening.

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So that was my first encounter with spicy fried rice noodle which is unusual because it’s the first time I’ve ever failed a spicy food challenge. And also my colleague’s gloating?face after seeing my painful reaction was something that stuck with me for a while. And Lastly, the food itself is just super savory, so it later became my favorite dish. But I would always remember to make the safe choice and order the mild spicy!

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traditional dish 傳統(tǒng)菜品

the main ingredients are...主要食材有...

spicy/hot sauce 辣醬

go viral 網(wǎng)絡(luò)上暴火

spicy food lover 喜歡吃辣的人

[place] + cuisine 某地的料理

cramped space 狹窄擁擠的空間

packed (with...) 擠滿(mǎn)了，擁擠的

be greeted by...一到某地，...就撲面而來(lái)(畫(huà)面，聲音，味道)

pungent（氣味）刺鼻的；（味道）強(qiáng)烈的

mild spicy 微辣；medium spicy 中辣；extra spicy 特辣

heavenly 好吃極了

an explosion of flavors 各種味覺(jué)爆炸

texture 口感

chewy 有嚼勁

be smothered in 這里相當(dāng)于 be thickly covered in 裹滿(mǎn)了...

kick in 開(kāi)始有效果

my mouth is on fire 形容被辣到了

I couldn’t get enough of it. 怎么吃都不夠

down 一口氣喝下

wear off 逐漸消失

gloat 幸災(zāi)樂(lè)禍

savo(u)ry 好吃的，咸的