Top spiciest dishes in Chongqing you should know

Chongqing is known as one of the famous cites for its spicy dishes. Chongqing dishes often include lots of peppers, garlic, and ginger. If you love spicy and hot dishes, don't forget to visit Chongqing.

Mapo Tofu

This is a big favorite when it comes to Sichuan cuisine. Translated literally as “pock-marked woman’s tofu,” the dish was created in the 19th century by a lady with a pock-marked face, to sell from her family-owned tavern. The principal behind her creativity was to make a tasty and soulful staple from simple and inexpensive ingredients – silken tofu, ground beef or pork, fermented chili bean paste, Sichuan peppercorns, and lots of hot chili oil.

Hongshao Rou

Lots of regions in China have pork dishes similar to this that tend to be sweet in flavour. But the Hunanese version features their love of chillies. Hongshao rou translates as red braised pork, and the Máo shì hóngshāoròu version was reputed to be the favourite of Mao Tse-tung, so much so that the authorities have codified what it should be made from and how it should be made.

Dandan Noodles

This dish gets its name from the long pole people use to carry two baskets, one containing the noodles, and the other the sauce. The latter is made from preserved vegetables, mushroom stems, chilli oil, sichuan pepper, minced pork and spring onions.

Cold Mung Bean Noodles

A refreshing dish in Chongqing’s sometimes oppressive heat and humidity, noodles are strips of cold cornstarch-based strips resembling noodles. Topped with seasonings like soy sauce, vinegar, and garlic, the dish can be found throughout China, especially in Lanzhou where it’s sometimes served stir-fried.

Chongqing Hotpot

A crock pot with clear broth or spicy broth is kept simmering on the table when varied food and ingredients are added according to personal preference. For social gatherings in Chongqing, a pot with two chambers is often used. This contains a mild broth on one side, and a spicy broth traditionally made from pepper oil sauce and chilies on the other. The pot is placed in the middle of a table on a gas burner and heated, after which the guest boils the food according to taste. Other combinations of savory and sweet sauces are possible, but the locals often ignore the normal broth.

Deep-fried Spicy Chicken

A very delicious delicacy is the deep-fried spicy chicken. In this dish, chicken pieces are deep-fried together with many chilies and finished with pepper. This pepper has a special flavor that is reminiscent of lemon, and the gives the dish a fresh note. A plate of crispy chicken smothered in chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, and tons of aromatics to create an electrifyingly hot numbing sensation that’s so addictive. Take the challenge if you can handle the heat.

Read more: Having breakfast like a local in Shanghai, China

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The tasty dishes made from tofu in China

Tofu, also known as bean curd, is a food of Chinese origin. It is made from soy milk, water and a curdling agent. The production of tofu from soy milk is similar to that of producing cheese from milk. It is made by coagulating soy milk, then pressing the resulting curds into blocks.

There is a wide variety of tofu, which can be split into two main categories as fresh tofu produced directly from soy milk, and processed tofu processed in some way from fresh tofu.

Stinky Tofu 

Image: Josephine Lim

This smelly tofu is a kind of snack with a strong odor described as rotten or fecal. Blocks of soft tofu are fermented in a unique brine, and then fried till the rind becomes crisp, and are usually served with sweet sauce, soy sauce or spicy sauce.

Mapo Tofu

Mapo tofu is a Sichuan specialty, typically made with tofu, various aromatics, oil, broth, and beef. The last two ingredients are meaty, sure, but do they have to be? You can make a vegan version that is just as satisfying. The key adaptations are replacing the meat-based broth with a soy-and-mushroom concoction and subbing a mix of fresh and dried mushrooms for the beef.

Dried Tofu 

This extra firm tofu contains the least amount of moisture of all fresh tofu. It is usually pressed very flat and sliced into long strings, which look like loose cooked noodles, and can be served cold or stir-fried.

Read more: 5 noodle dishes you must try in Shanghai, China

Silken Tofu

Silken tofu is the softest type of tofu. Some are so soft they crumble as soon as they make contact with chopsticks. It is by far my favorite type because of the texture and subtle sweet and nutty flavor.

Source Internet