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The owner of Chun Ye New Wave Sichuan Cuisine, Guo Zhuyi, nicknamed “Chef Guchui,” set his heart on becoming a master chef when he entered the kitchen at 13. Smitten with Sichuan cuisine, he travels to Sichuan every few days to “seek the scriptures,” all so he can give diners new taste sensations. The highest realm of Sichuan cooking is “numb on the tongue yet never burning on the lips.” Chef Guchui sums up its flavor in a jingle: “Three aromatics, three peppers, three seasonings; seven textures, eight tastes, nine mix-ins.” The media crown him “King of Sichuan Flavor,” and he once took gold at Shanghai’s Food-God Steam-Off. Chef Guchui commands more than 100 Sichuan dishes—water-boiled fish, chopped-chili fish head, cumin-spiced pork, water-boiled beef, pepper-sauce white pork, wok-seared yellow croaker, and “imitation crab” are house signatures. The “crab” is actually egg white, cod, and two or three shrimp, slow-stirred over low heat, then dried over high; the trio blends into a cotton-candy softness. A single yolk folded in at the end gives an intense crab aroma. Pepper-sauce white pork leaves the tip of the tongue tinglingly fragrant; wok-seared yellow croaker perfumes without heat. And the must-try benchmarks—water-boiled fish and water-boiled beef—show off Chef Guchui’s wok mastery; meticulous ingredient choice is the final secret.