The perfect gaifan?

Gaifan (盖饭) means "box meal," basically consisting of one dish -- think egg-and-tomato, General Tsao's chicken (which doesn't really exist in China), Kung Pao chicken, etc. -- on a bowl of white rice. If you are what you eat, I am gaifan (pretend I just said that in an "I am Iron Man" kind of voice).

Anyway, when I returned from my travels after Spring Festival I realized a new gaifan place had opened across the street from my courtyard, called Chengdu Xiaochi (Chengu Deli/Cafe, I suppose). On the first day, I made friends with one of the bosses -- always a good idea for neighborhood places because the storeowners are all friendly people who desperately need business (there are two other gaifan places and two chuar (kabob) bars on my street that I reguarly frequent, so the competition's pretty intense). I was rewarded yesterday night when I went in for dinner and was asked if I wanted what they were eating, something off-menu. I was led into the kitchen area and saw that they were preparing two kinds of just-arrived sausages from Sichuan.

I said yes, definitely.

This is what they came out with:


It was, in a word, delicious.