Chinese restaurants are very common in metro Detroit.
Many of these restaurants have similar menus with recognizable dishes like almond boneless chicken (a dish with roots in Detroit not China), Mongolian beef, and chop suey. Variation occurs mostly in presentation and quality. China is the most populated country in the world with over one billion people and one of the largest in size as well.
With this in mind, it should be no surprise that the food found in most Chinese restaurants in metro Detroit barely scratches the surface of Chinese cuisine and is more Americanized than it is Chinese.
Trizest in Sterling Heights is one restaurant serving Sichuan food, a different kind of Chinese cuisine.
Sichuan is a province in the southwest of China. Sichuan's cuisine is known for its bold spiciness and balanced composition.
“For every teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of sugar is added,” explains Sui Ling Chen, manager at Trizest. Sichuan dishes are spicy, but they have an additional component unique to Sichuan cuisine – numbing spice. According to Smithsonian Magazine, Sichuan pepper has a molecule called hydroxy-alpha-sanshool naturally present that touches receptors in our mouths that give the sensation of feeling numb (tingling) rather than pain like capsaicin. Numbing is not a word we use regularly when talking about food, but it is common in Sichuan cuisine.
Before I mention specific dishes, it is important to explain a couple things about Trizest's menu. While Trizest's specialty is Sichuan, they do serve other Chinese food too. Almond boneless chicken, Kung Pao beef, fried rice, and more are all on the menu, but this is not why you visit. Also, Trizest is a family style restaurant, meaning dishes are meant to be shared.
Chen says, “Some of our American customers make two mistakes: they don't try new things and they order their own dish.”
Almost every dish on Trizest's menu is meant to be shared. It's an opportunity to explore new cuisine and start a conversation about it. Some of the large round tables even have Lazy Susans to make sharing even easier. Don't get Chen wrong, she harbors no ill will to those who order familiar foods, but she is more than excited to show off Sichuan food to the uninitiated.
If you haven't been to Trizest or any other Sichuan restaurant for that matter, the Sichuan part of the menu will be unfamiliar. That is OK, though, Chen says any of the servers will offer suggestions to new guests.
Chen told me a story about a guest she has affectionately named, “Sichuan lamb,” because after asking for almond chicken one day, Chen suggested Sichuan lamb instead. The woman took her up on the offer and has been eating Sichuan lamb ever since. Sichuan lamb was my fiery introduction to this cuisine. Marinated lamb, celery, jalapeno, dried chilies, and Sichuan peppercorns are stir fried into a mouth numbing, face melting wondrous plate of food. Admittedly, I have eaten an entire order of this myself – it's that addictive.
The most exciting thing about Trizest for me is something that may not sound exciting at all – consistency. Trizest is a place where you can blindly pick a dish off the menu and be almost certain that it will be served properly and taste good. That's no small feat for a place with a relatively large menu with different styles of cuisine.
In my many visits, I have sampled at least 20 different dishes and have been impressed consistently. The consistency goes across cuisines too, so if you are not into the spiciness of Sichuan cooking, rest assured that the American Chinese side of the menu will be worth your while too.
As warming as the food is at Trizest, the hospitality is equally as warm. Sharing goes beyond the food guests share. The Trizest family is bringing Sichuan culture to our minds as well as our taste buds. There's a thrilling element to eating a plate of Sichuan food. From the incredible heat and intensity in its preparation which translates to an exhilarating heat and intensity on the plate to the smiles present in the dining room, Trizest is simultaneously very spicy but wonderfully welcoming.
