The Kung Pao Test: Sichuanese Cuisine (Redmond)

My first restaurant was chosen somewhat at random.  I wanted to go somewhere I've never been, so I just searched for Chinese food on the internet and picked one that was near me.

Sichuanese Cuisine
15005 Ne 24th St
Redmond, WA 98052
At 148th & 24th, between a Teriyaki Place and a Five Guys

Service: friendly. Hole in the wall take out style, I grabbed my own menu but I have no doubt they would have brought me one quickly. 2 chefs 1 waitress/cashier.  Kitchen is visible behind counter.  A couple came in who we're obviously regulars, having conversation with the employee.

Tea: decent. Steeped to a good level. Free

Ordered Kung Pao Chicken, ask for extra spicy, 8.95. Steamed rice 75cents.

Initial bite was pretty tasty. It was a little sweeter than I expected. I don't typically think of Kung Pao having noticeable sugar.  Though it did have dry peppers I can't say it was spicy. I only started feeling the heat after I finished my first plate.  Overall I was satisfied with the meal, no doubt.

Spice level: meh. For an average American it may be spicy. It was slightly above baseline for me.
 

Ingredient quality: nothing special. About what you'd expect from the appearance of the place. Definitely not bad at all.

Would I do it differently? A little less sugar and less oil. I don't typically put cabbage in my Kung Pao, but I rather liked it. It caught the sauce nicely.

Would I come again? Definitely. This was a pretty good Kung Pao, I'd like to try their more Americanized staples and some other random items. I ate half the dish, saved the other half for lunch tomorrow.

The Kung Pao Test: Intro

I've decided to begin a new series.  Instead of a drawing theme like the Game of Thrones drawings, this one will be about food.  I'll basically be reviewing some Chinese restaurants in my area.

The Kung Pao Test
What is the Kung Pao Test?  Just something I made up.  I was taught that Kung Pao can be considered one of the most basic of Chinese stir fry dishes.  I learned how to cook stir fry through learning to make Kung Pao and later experimenting with it.  Considering what I was taught, my theory is that eating a restaurant's Kung Pao Chicken is a good way to get an understanding of the restaurant overall.  This is mainly just for fun, and a reason to go out and eat a bunch of Chinese food in my area.

My father is a great cook, and I grew up eating a great variety of food.  I was lucky.  He often made stir fry and one of his favorite dishes was Kung Pao chicken, the recipe for which he get from our favorite restaurant.  This recipe called for chicken, scallions, bell peppers, sometimes onion, peanuts, dried chilis, and a basic soy sauce base sauce.  IT was mostly a dry stir fry, the sauce is very light and just to provide specific flavors, not to sauce it up or change the consistency.  This is the Kung Pao I was introduced to.  Since then, I've had a good variety of Kung Pao versions.  Some have celery, some have carrots, some are very saucy, some have no veggies at all.  They seem to actually very rarely have bell peppers, which to me are a normal defining feature.

Can any of this be used to judge/compare/or gain a general opinion about a restaurant?  Hopefully I'm about to find out.  Will my plan of going around to a bunch of Chinese restaurants and eating Kung Pao yield any results beyond a notch on my belt?
Let's find out.  Maybe I'll even draw a picture or two.