I was late for dinner at SXY Szechuan because on my way out the door, I realized a change of clothes was needed. I was wearing white, but after picturing the sea of red chiles that characterizes Sichuan cuisine, I knew that would mean splashes of red all over the place. Wearing white would be an invitation to go home wearing my food. So after putting on some camo, I headed out.

I didn’t think I’d be visiting yet another Sichuan restaurant so soon after Simply Sichuan in December, but so many diverse Chinese restaurants have opened since 2019. I can’t help thinking 2020 may have marked the start of a tidal wave of Chinese/ Taiwanese (ah, it’s so political) restaurants rolling in, the same way that Japanese restaurants began saturating the market from the late 1980s until COVID-19 struck.

It all coincides with the rise of the Chinese century, as China’s economy is predicted to surpass ours in 2028. Oh well, why fight the inevitable? At least the food is delicious.

After living in Nevada for 30 years, SXY owner Amy Drew retired from the restaurant business and moved here with husband Sean Drew to be among family, but she couldn’t give up the biz so easily.

“I love cooking and know there’s not many people here who have tried Sichuan food — not just in Hawaii but everywhere — and I just want to introduce them to the food I grew up with.”

Drew is from Chengdu in Sichuan province, where she learned to cook by watching her grandparents. In Henderson, Nevada, she had to make a few adjustments to make her dishes more palatable to Western tastes, such as adding thin-sliced potatoes for people who did not grow up with rice or bread, a common carb in Central and Northern China, and adding a touch of sugar. “In China we liked our food very savory, with no sugar at all, but people here like food that’s sweeter.”

For the most part, the flavors are true to Chengdu, so some newbies run into trouble after realizing they’d been fed a watered-down version of Sichuan cuisine all their lives. The staff tries to gauge how much heat patrons can take, as the Drews can adjust. Amy steps away from her kitchen duties regularly to check on diners, also plying them with a variety of spicy sauces.

For newbies, I’d suggest milder dishes suitable for any palate, until you become conditioned to the robust flavors of Chengdu cuisine.

A good place to start is with the roast duck hot pot ($29.99) featuring a half duck in a mild anise- flavored broth. Like many of the stir-fried and steamed dishes on the menu, this dish could easily serve two to four with a single side dish. SXY’s idea of family size puts every other restaurant to shame.

Pork dumplings ($10.99) can be ordered plain or in a pool of Sichuan chile sauce.

Another must-try for beginners is the pork salad ($12.99), with thin slices of tender boiled pork folded over with equally thin slices of cucumber for dipping into a savory, garlicky sauce. The sauce has some pepper, but to be honest, I can withstand a lot of heat, so I can’t tell you how hot it may seem to someone with low tolerance. Dishes I don’t find spicy at all can send others desperately reaching for water.

Toothpick lamb ($19.99) is another Sichuan specialty, bite-size morsels of lamb dry-fried on toothpick “skewers” dominated by the flavor of cumin. This dish was drier than others in town.

Now — rubs hands gleefully — we come to the red stuff. Once accustomed to Sichuan flavors, you’ll find how addicting they are. I always continue eating long past the point I feel full. Trying to figure out why this is so, I learned that the brain, sensing you are being burned, releases endorphins to block the pain, plus dopamine for a sense of pleasure.

The combination triggers a feeling of euphoria. Which is exactly what I felt when picking apart pieces of spicy crab ($29.99). I didn’t care at all that it was messy work and I was lacking the tools to properly crack the spindly legs.

It was the same with the SXY dry-pot stir-fry ($19.99) of bell peppers, onions, chiles, wood-ear fungus and potatoes with choice of pork, beef, chicken or shrimp. I opted for chicken, but also loved the thin-sliced fried potatoes that soaked up the red chile oil.

I noticed that diners from China tended to start with an appetizer of skewered items ($19.99) including chicken hearts, gizzards and vegetables. SXY doesn’t shy away from the kinds of ingredients that can make some squeamish, such as fried frog legs ($25.99) and a stir-fry of pork intestines ($17.99).

Knowing this, we started wondering what kind of beef we were eating in a dish of Mala Beef ($14.99). Different textures had us wondering if it was a combination of offal that characterizes the dish Couples Lung. But no, we were told it was beef leg. Nevertheless, we couldn’t finish because of the dry, jerky-like texture. The dry-fried technique is prized in Chengdu. Here, we tend to favor moisture.

As an accompaniment to hotter dishes, vegetable offerings of stir-fried green beans ($10.99) and sweet-sour eggplant ($12.99) offer respite for burning tongues.

I would have loved to try desserts of sticky rice cake ($12.99) and ice jelly ($6), both with brown sugar, but have always left too stuffed to eat more.

SXY SZECHUAN

Ala Moana Center, Ewa wing, mall level next to Jamba Juice

Food: ***

Service: ***

Ambiance: ****

Value: ****

Call: 942-8884

Hours: Lunch 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily except Sunday (noon to 3 p.m.); dinner 4 to 9:30 p.m. Sundays to Thursdays, 4 to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays

Prices: About $60 for four

Ratings compare similar restaurants:

**** – excellent

*** – very good

** – average

* – below average

Nadine Kam’s restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser. Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com.