Introduction of Chongqing (2) Local Food
Author: i chongqing 2021-07-30

Chongqing cuisine originates from Sichuan Cuisine (one of the eight Chinese cuisines, Guangdong/Cantonese, Sichuan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian/Min, Hunan, Anhui, and Shandong,) and features pungent and spicy flavors from garlic, chili peppers, and sesame paste among others. One of the most famous dishes in Chongqing is undoubtedly Hot Pot, but there is much more to experience and taste!

 

 

Chongqing Hot Pot

 

 

Chongqing Hot Pot is the staple dish of the city. Hot pot restaurants in Chongqing are everywhere – if you look up on the street you are in, chances are you are standing near a hot pot restaurant. What exactly is hot pot and why do the people are like it so much? Hot pot is like Chongqing itself – strong, spicy, in-your-face with a down to earth history.  It’s a dish of the native. There are various tales about the origin of the Chongqing Hot pot. One of them is widely accepted.  In the beginning of the 19th century, at Chongqing Chaotianmen Wharf, one of the busiest places at that time, the boatmen and porters in winters would take the leftover meat from the butcher and boil them in a spicy brew of chilies and numbing Sichuan peppercorns, afterward dipping the cooked food in condiments, creating a delicious dish that quickly spread throughout the city.  In those times, Chongqing’s famous “stick-stick men” would carry the broth and ingredients on a bamboo stick throughout the city, selling it to any passerby that wanted a meal.  In those times, the hot pot would be suspended on the bamboo stick over an open fire, right on the street.

 

Today, hotpot has grown and diversified into a culinary art-food with prices that run that gamut, and choice, fresh ingredients that far outnumber those when hotpot was first born. There are also mild broths available for those that can’t handle spicy food.

 

Hotpot is the most distinctive and famous food in Chongqing 

 

 

Chuan Chuan

 

 

Even though hotpot is Chongqing’s most famous food, recently a new rival has emerged: chuan chaun. Chuan chuan, meaning something like “skewered food” is a sort of remis of the classic hot pot theme. Unlike traditional hotpot, however, the ingredients of chuan chuan are skewered on sticks and then placed in the boiling oil within a clay or iron pot, making it more convenient to pick up the food after it is cooked in the pot.

 

Both hotpot and chuan chaun have their advantages. Some say that the flavor of chuan chuan is “too mild” for their taste, or like the old school feels of hotpot. Others like the ingredients or the convenience of cooking food on kabobs. Whatever your preference, chuan chuan ranks up with hotpot as a must-try in Chongqing. The local in Chongqing come to that kind of Chuan Chuan Restaurant from all districts to satisfy their taste buds but not for novelty or following. Variety of dishes and unique taste impress visitors and keep them coming back for more. Many restaurants locate downstairs of an old residential building or in the labyrinthine laneways, always thronged with crowds inside and lines outside when visiting or just passing by every time.

 

Skewered parsley beef on sticks, waiting for cooking.

 

 

Fuling Pickles

 

 

Fuling pickles were produced in Fuling County that located close to Three Georges. Fuling pickled tubers, a local delicacy, started to be made around 1898 during the end of the Qing dynasty in the river city of Fuling (neighboring the main city of Chongqing) and quickly became famous and spread quickly throughout China. The process of making pickled tubers is long, complex and difficult and includes salting, drying, mashing, all of which are traditionally done handmade.

 

Fuling Pickles

 

(Image source: ichongqing)

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