Joanna James
Located in Sichuan Province, Chongqing is known for its delicious and spicy cuisine. A mix of hot-pot, that's very popular, and Sichuan dishes mean you can be a foodie to your heart's content. But, while Chongqing is known as the hot-pot capital, here are some other dishes well-worth a taste!
The locals crave youcha as much as westerners crave a cup of morning coffee. The dish resembling a porridge is a morning staple for most. Youcha is made with fragrant oil, to which puffed and mashed rice crisps are added, it's topped with fresh green onions and crunchy fried soybeans. The perfect breakfast to leave your Chongqing accommodation for, and if you are staying at places like Somerset Yangtze River Chongqing located in the JieFangBei business district; you can look for a lovely riverside restaurant to savour a delicious bowl of youcha.
Locally known as Zha cai which translates to 'pressed vegetables' the Chongqing version refers to a pickled shoot of a type of mustard plant which growing locally in Chongqing. This tuber is pickled in a concoction of chilli and spices and is an accompaniment at many meals.
Famous across the country, the sweet rice balls are a firm favourite. The dish is most popular during celebrations such as the Winter Solstice Festival and the Lantern Festival. The dish is made by mixing starchy rice flour and water, which is then formed into balls. The balls or Tang Yuan are then cooked in a sweet syrup and often filled with red bean paste and black sesame seeds – chocolate too is often used.
Different to your experience of the sweet 'Kung Pao chicken', this dish in Chongqing is made with the areas very popular hot dried chillies, loads of crunchy savoury peanuts and a good portion of garlic and vinegar. You can try the version cooked with tofu, which is first dipped with corn-starch and deep fried for a crunchy kick.
No day in Chongqing is complete if noodles are not included in a meal. 'Little Breakfast Noodles' is a dish and a staple quite similar to that staple croissant you would look for in Paris. The dish consists of handmade wheat noodles which are boiled in a hearty meat full broth.
Hold on a minute, before you skip this one! Wood ear fungus is really a type of mushroom, with a slightly harder bony consistency. Locals call the dish Liangban Mu'er. The wood ears are crunchy and often an accompaniment for salads. But this version has them marinated in fragrant oil and put on skewers as the ideal snack on the go!
As the locals call it Shui Zu Yu, translates to 'water boiled fish' a name which is way too bland to describe the flavour packed Sichuan style boiled fish. The dish is made by boiling an entire fish, generally a carp, in a delicious and thick broth full of the popular Sichuan peppercorns and exotic dried chillies.
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