Kung pao chicken is the dish that has been Americanized into oblivion — the version most of us know is sweet, gluey, full of bell peppers, and bears almost no resemblance to the Sichuan original. The Sichuan original is built on Sichuan peppercorns, dried chilies, and a sauce that hits the tongue with both heat and the citrus-numbing tingle the locals call "ma la."
Pablo Zitzmann runs Zitz Sum in Coral Gables, where his dumplings are famous and his kung pao is the version Sichuan would recognize. Bobby's kung pao, per the room, was "sweet." Sweet kung pao is American kung pao. Zitzmann brought the real thing. The judges, who can read a Sichuan menu, picked the real thing.