Chongqing Feature Food

Chongqing Cuisine is a branch of Sichuan Cuisine, except the spicy and pungent, features of Chongqing Food include fresh, tender and hot. Fish dishes and odd taste are the most popular elements.

Hot Pot is the No. 1 popular Chongqing food in China, if you never visit Chongqing, you will not find out that different main ingredients should use different Hot Pot condiment, Chongqing people will never order a fish hotpot condiment when they will enjoy red meat (beef, pork, lamb, etc). And duck hotpot here should be served with pickled radish and rabbit hotpot is always served in dry wok. Chongqing people could enjoy hotpot all the year round. And a hotpot restaurant could be in a shopping mall, an apartment, a local vegetable and meat market and old air raid shelter, etc. 
So there is an interesting saying, if a Chongqing girl love you, she will agree to order a two-flavor hot pot when dating with you. One is for her, classic spicy and pungent; another is for you, clear soup no spicy.

Here is some classic and popular Chongqing dishes, you might have a try when you visit here.

Spicy and Pungent Hot Pot

You could have many ingredients in the hotpot, here are some local people recommendation: longsnout catfish, eel, spicy and pungent sliced beef, cattle stomach, cattle blood, duck blood, duck intestines, etc.

Geleshan Spicy Chicken 

The deep-fried diced chicken be fried with lot of dried crispy red chili, white sesame seed and Sichuan pepper. The chicken is tender with a crispy crust, very tasty. And another pleasure is to find the diced chicken on the red chili hill.

Wanzhou Baked Fish
It is the most popular baked fish in China, there are so many baked fish restaurants in China, and they all learn from Wanzhou Baked Fish.

The baked fish will served in a oblong hot pot with many side seasonal vegetables such as Chinese cabbage, lettuce, toufu, bean sprout, potato, celery, konjak tofu, etc. And the flavor could be Spicy and Pungent or fermented soy beans.

Chongqing Noodle

The No. 1 popular breakfast in Chongqing, the most basic Chongqing Noodle could be cooked noodle with soy sauce, chili oil, pepper, Sichuan pepper powder, lard, spring onion, fried peanut chips, ginger, garlic and vinegar, and then add some bone soup to mix them. Further more, you could order extra pork gravy, cooked pea, fry egg, braised pork intestine, types of pickled vegetables,etc.

Steamed Chicken with Chongqing Sauce

It is a popular odd flavor Chongqing dish. Chicken thigh is the best part for the dish. Steamed the chicken thigh and then put it into ice water when it just be taken from the very hot steamer, change the ice water if the water is not cold enough. then make the sauce with chili oil, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, Sichuan pepper oil, yellow rice wine, spring onion, ginger, salt, chili chips, deep-fried peanuts chips, fried white sesame seed. Mix the sauce with cold diced chicken thigh, and putting into refrigerator for 30 minutes will give better flavor.

Toufu Pudding and Rice

A really simple but homesick Chongqing dish. The Toufu Pudding is served with special sauce made by soybean sprouts, minced pork, fermented black soy beans, chili oil, soy sauce, salt, spring onion, coriander and ginger.

Whole Duck Soup with Pickled White Radish

It is a simple Chongqing non spicy soup, the whole duck is put into a clay pot with spring water and mature ginger, cooked for several hours till the duck bone-meat separation, then put into pickled White Radish for about 30 minutes.

Stewed Cattle Tail Soup

It is another popular non spicy soup in Chongqing. Except cattle tail, the ingredients will be include some cattle side meat, old chicken, old ginger, Sichuan red pepper and salt. do not worry about it will be pungent, because only a little bit Sichuan red pepper on the soup, only for giving special flavor.