The throbbing heart of Sichuan cuisine, which hit the city during the past year like a ton of ma po bean curd, is the dish known as dan dan noodles. The "dan dan" refers to the shoulder stick on which the mobile noodle vendor hangs his pots of ingredients. Of the many estimable versions in town, some are found in Flushing food courts and some in the Grand Sichuan and Wu Liang Ye chains, but our burning lips go out to the apparently independent Grand Sichuan House in Bay Ridge. There, the dan dan noodles float in an oily red broth shot with fermented beans, and a handful—yes, we said a handful—of peppercorns top the heap. Ouch! Our mouths are on fire!