Cuisine

Chongqing food is part of Sichuan cuisine. Chongqing is known for its spicy food. Its food is normally considered numbing because of the use of Sichuan pepper, also known as Sichuan peppercorn, containing hydroxy alpha sanshool. Chongqing's city center has many restaurants and food stalls where meals often cost less than RMB10. Local specialties here include dumplings and pickled vegetables and, different from many other Chinese cuisines, Chongqing dishes are suitable for the solo diner as they are often served in small individual sized portions.[146] Among the delicacies and local specialties are these dishes:

Typical Chongqing hot pot served with minced shrimp, tripes, pork aorta, goose intestine, and kidney slices.

Chongqing Xiao mian with peas and spicy bean paste

  • Chongqing hot pot– Chongqing's local culinary specialty which was originally from Northern China. Tables in hot pot restaurants usually have a central pot, where food ordered by the customers is boiled in a spicy broth, items such as beef, pork, tripe, kidney slices, pork aorta and goose intestine are often consumed.[147]

  • Chongqing Xiao Mian – a common lamian noodle dish tossed with chili oil and rich mixtures of spices and ingredients

  • Jiangtuan fish – since Chongqing is located along Jialing River, visitors have a good opportunity to sample varieties of aquatic products. Among them, is a fish local to the region, Jiangtuan fish: Hypophthalmichthys nobilis although more commonly known as bighead carp.[148] The fish is often served steamed or baked.[149]

Laziji is famous for its crispy texture

  • Suan La Fen (Sour and Spicy Sweet-Potato Noodles) – Thick, transparent noodles of rubbery texture in a spicy vinegar soup.[150]

  • Lazi Ji (Spicy Chicken) – A stir-fried dish consists of marinated then deep-fried pieces of chicken, dried Sichuan chili peppers, Sichuan peppers, garlic, and ginger,[151] originated near Geleshan in Chongqing.[152]

  • Quanshui Ji (Spring Water Chicken) – Quanshui Ji is cooked with the natural spring water in the Southern Mountain of Chongqing.

  • Pork leg cooked with rock sugar – A common household dish of Chongqing, the tender, reddish finished dish, has been described as having strong and sweet aftertaste.[153]

  • Qianzhang (skimmed soy bean cream) – Qianzhang is the cream skimmed from soybean milk. In order to create this, several steps must be followed very carefully. First, soybeans are soaked in water, ground, strained, boiled, restrained several times and spread over gauze until delicate, snow-white cream is formed. The paste can also be hardened, cut into slivers and seasoned with sesame oil, garlic and chili oil. Another variation is to bake the cream and fry it with bacon, which is described as soft and sweet.[154]