🍽️ Husband-and-Wife Lung Slices

Sliced beef offal in chili oil, a Sichuan cold dish.

Husband-and-Wife Lung Slices is a classic Chengdu cold dish; despite the name, it traditionally uses beef offal such as heart, tongue, tripe and lean beef rather than lung. Each ingredient is braised, thinly sliced and tossed in a glossy sauce of chili oil, Sichuan peppercorn, sesame, peanuts, celery and master stock. The dish looks red and layered, offering numb-spicy, savory flavor with a mix of crisp and tender textures that balance offal and bold seasoning. It depends on fine slicing and a well-balanced sauce, served cold as a top banquet or street-stall cold plate, excellent with drinks or rice. With its catchy name and enduring taste, it has spread nationwide and abroad as one of the best-known Sichuan cold dishes.