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| Chongqing
Local Flavors and Snacks(1) |
Chongqing
Cuisine:
Sichuan, a "land of fish and rice", is the home of worldly
known Sichuan Cuisine. Chongqing had been part of Sichuan until the
90's. The Sichuan cuisine is characterized by its heavy flavoring
with spiciness and use of a diverse range of native ingredients. Sichuan
food receives high praise for its ability to evoke a special flavor
from each of more than 100 different dishes. Popular for piquancy,
dishes from this region are spiced with an array of flavorings: red
pepper, sesame, fermented black beans, scallions, ginger, garlic,
wine and soy sauce. In its more than 1000-year history, it developed
about 50 different cooking methods, such as drying, salting, spicing,
pickling, frying and smoking. Color, smell, flavor, shape, and nutrition
are carefully balanced in Sichuan food, so it is not only look pleasant
and appealing but also nutritious.
Classic southwestern dishes usually have two tastes - the initial
sting of the hot peppers and the more mellow aftertaste of sweet,
sour and salty flavors. The hot peppers are used either whole or crushed
and powdered. They give zest to a dish without overpowering it. The
unique feature of the Sichuan Cuisine is "Ma" - the feeling
of numbness in the mouth. The ¡°Sichuan red peppercorns",
known as ¡°Huajiao", give its distinctive taste to
Sichuan food and create a most sudden numbing sensation in one's mouth.
Another distinctive feature of Sichuan dishes is the use of nuts.
Often cashew nuts, walnuts and peanuts are combined with chicken,
mushroom or bean curd to attain the all important "texture"
which is crucial to all Sichuan dishes. |
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Pan-Fried
Beef Slices:
This is a very famous Sichuan food. This dish's
main ingredient is beef (sirloin steak). The moisture is drained from
the meat and it is then stir fried with hot peppers cut into thin
strips. This food is tender in texture and very spicy in taste. It
is a traditional Chinese dish. |
Beef
in Spicy Soup:
This food is a well-known Sichuan dish and made of steamed beef with
a variety of seasonings and spices. It tastes spicy, fresh and tender
with a rich hot and peppery flavor. It has a wonderful aroma looks
bright red. It shows mostly Sichuan characteristics. |
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Squash
with Meat Filling:
This food is made with squash and meat. The inside of a squash is
hollowed out, and the squash meat is then mixed with pork. This mixture
serves as a filling. The empty squash is then filled with the meat
mixture and then steamed. When trying this dish, you will experience
the crunch of the squash as well as the soft meat texture. You will
taste the bitterness and spice that make this food unique. Chinese
people believe that squash helps to lower body temperature, improve
eyesight and even slow the aging process. This food is very popular
in the summertime. |
"Fish-Fragrant"
Pork Slices:
This is a roast pork dish cooked with bamboo shoots, mushrooms and
Sichuan's special seasonings and spices. The special sauce is called
¡°Yuxiang", which means fish fragrant. There are several
dubious explanations for the name of this sauce, which contains no
fish. It's said that the sauce makes the pork taste like fish, or
that the sauce was used to flavor fish first and pork later. Whatever
its origin, this sweet, sour, and hot sauce is delicious with fish,
chicken, eggplant, and tofu as well as pork. This dish is dark red
in color and tastes salty, sweet, sour and spicy. Its unique flavors
and the strong aroma of the meat make it very popular outside China. |
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Camphor
and Tea-smoked Duck:
This dish is salted, smoked duck. After being smoked, the meat is
steamed and deep fried. It is dark red in color with crunchy exterior
and tender meat inside. Its aroma is like that of camphor trees and
flower tea, and it enhances the flavor of the dish. |
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