Chongqing cuisine is now known as Chongqing-style Sichuan cuisine by the outside world, with more emphasis on spicy taste. But Chongqing people prefer to call it "Chongqing Jianghu dishes".
As far as food is concerned, Chongqing is the base of Chongqing-flavored Sichuan cuisine (Chongqing Jianghu cuisine) and spicy hot pot, the birthplace of famous Jianghu cuisine in China, and even the ancestral home of hot pot chain stores such as Qincheng Mama, Dezhuang, Ba Jiangjun, Su Dajie, Qinma, Qiaotou and Little Swan. There are also Maoxuewang, Maoliangfen, Spicy Chicken, Beer Duck, Wujiang Fish, Tanyutou, Vetiveria zizanioides, Spicy Crab, Cattle and Rabbit Soup Pot, Spring Chicken, Qianjiang Chicken offal, Crucian Carp, Laifeng Fish, Chili Snail, Mapo Tofu, Husband and Wife Lung Slices, Boiled (Fish, Frog, Sliced Meat, Sliced Waist ..).
When it comes to Chongqing cuisine and Chengdu cuisine, mainlanders may not understand it. Aren't they all Sichuan dishes? In fact, the big ones look similar, and the varieties of dishes are similar. But in the eyes of the people in this province, it is very different. Chongqing's food is like Chongqing's geography, like mountains and rivers, and there is a tendency to devour everything. Chengdu cuisine, like the gurgling stream in front of the bamboo grove yard, has the beauty of a small jasper. This connotation makes Chengdu chefs and Chongqing chefs very different even if they cook the same dish.
Sichuan cuisine Sichuan cuisine is softer than the first gold medal of Sichuan cuisine, with moderate sugar, vinegar, pepper and noodle sauce, and the overall feeling is more palatable. Sichuan-style pork in Chongqing is a little crispy, but the seasoning is much tougher, and the overall feeling is more pleasant. However, this smell is generally not felt by outsiders.
Chongqing people like to be lively, and there is a lawless straightforward culture in it. Eating is unconventional, and chefs don't like to cook according to recipes, so they often indulge in all kinds of new dishes. These new dishes are generally created by Jianghu chefs without formal training.
Chengdu people like elegance in life, and there is a flowing petty bourgeoisie culture in it. Pay attention to the authenticity of the guests, and the chef dare not neglect them. A Chengdu chef is very particular about meat selection, slicing, ingredients and cooking time. Every restaurant wants to claim that its chef is a formal graduate of Sichuan University. Chengdu cuisine is more elegant, more refined and more refined.
If I invite a well-dressed friend, I will treat him to Chengdu cuisine. More tasteful If I invite my well-dressed friend, I invite him to have a special celebration. More delicious.
Chongqing people unconditionally support innovative dishes. Since 1980s, a large number of Jianghu dishes have appeared in front of Chongqing people. Some of them have not withstood the test of Chongqing people and gradually disappeared. However, those who have withstood the test generally have to spread to Chengdu first, and then to the north and south of the river. For example, there are more than ten kinds of famous dishes in Chongqing.
Chongqing hotpot. Jianghu dishes with a long history are said to have been invented by Yangtze River stalkers, fishermen and porters. There are many kinds of hot pots, the most famous of which is Maodu hot pot, and then there are eel hot pot, seafood hot pot, fish head hot pot, mutton hot pot, dog meat hot pot, Yuanyang hot pot and so on.
Jiangjin fish with Chinese sauerkraut. Starting from the roadside food store in Zhu, Jiang Jinfu Town, Chongqing, it served the drivers coming and going, and then the drivers spread all over Chongqing. 1988 became popular. I am good at this dish.
Geleshan spicy chicken comes from Geleshan Town, Shapingba District, Chongqing. A roadside shop named Lin Zhongle was first introduced. 1990 became popular. Diners' pleasure is to search for crispy diced chicken as big as soybeans in a large pot of peppers. The shop is located in Geleshan, a forest park in Chongqing, near the famous official residence of Chiang Kai-shek in Chongqing (it is said that Chongqing is not considered without going to the forest park, but the place is closed), and tourists and diners form the current spicy chicken street. I am good at this dish.
Beer duck. From a roadside food store 7 kilometers away from Nan 'an District, Chongqing. It is said that the inventor was inspired by Guizhou. 1992 became popular. The practice is to stew a duck with a bottle of beer, which is spicy and delicious. At its peak, the store used thousands of ducks a day, but now it is going downhill.
Spring chicken in Nanshan Town, Nan 'an District, Chongqing. 1993 became popular. The method adopted is to slaughter live chickens quickly and then burn them fiercely, and the time from slaughter to cooking should not exceed 5 minutes. This dish comes from Nanshan and is known as the "Corolla of Mountain City". So a spring chicken street was formed to hold the Spring Chicken Festival.
From Taian Valley, Taian Town, Tongnan County, Chongqing. 1994 became popular. It is also spread and popular by drivers. But this dish is more skillful and not easy to fake, so it is not as popular as other dishes. My wife is good at this dish.
Hotpot fish in Lianglu Town, Jiangbei District, Chongqing. At first, it was also aimed at drivers' friends. 1996 became popular. Hotpot fish is also very fierce. Fish is about 10 Jin. Cut the fat fish that is about to spill oil into palm-sized pieces. Burn a large wok like a pot and iron. After cooking, serve it in a big footbath, which is red and hot. A circle of people gathered around this big basin, fishing for fish with beer bottles. Cook some vegetables and tofu after eating, which is especially crisp and tidy.
Boiled fish. In fact, the predecessor of boiled fish is hot pot fish. After the hot pot fish spread, many restaurants in the city began to imitate it, but the kitchens of these restaurants could not produce a large iron pot, and the fire burned like iron. In addition, it is not convenient for diners to eat 10 Jin of fish. So make a small pot, a small fire, and a small fish. It is called boiled fish. But personally, I don't feel as happy as hot pot fish like wide soup, fierce fire and fat fish.
Spicy crab. This dish should have been invented by a restaurant in Chongqing. Because Jianghu restaurants don't involve high-end things like crabs. However, the spicy crab is still like Chun Xue in Chongqing, and it is not successful in the Jianghu. 1996 became popular.
Bullfrog with pickled peppers. 1996 became popular. First the bullfrog, then the pickled cuttlefish. And derived a variety of pickled pepper series. This dish was also handed down from the restaurant.
Stewed duck with sour radish. With very sour pickled radish, specially brewed, not in other provinces. It usually takes half a year to soak, and the longer the better. There are many varieties of this dish, such as sour cowpea stew, pickled mountain pepper stew, mutton stew, chicken stew and so on. 1996 became popular.
Crucian carp in the postal kiosk. From Youting Town, Dazu County, Chongqing. 1997 became popular. There are many seasonings, and the way to eat is exquisite.
Wujiang fish in Fuling area of Chongqing. Wujiang River runs through Fuling and Qianjiang in Chongqing, with many tributaries, which can produce all kinds of wild fresh fish. The practice of Wujiang fish is to pay attention to the freshness of fish, but they are generally farmed in cities, so cities generally use catfish (sticky fish) to make Wujiang fish. 1998 became popular.
Mao comes from Ciqikou Town, Shapingba District, Chongqing, a small town that preserves the ancient pier culture in Chongqing. Boil beef omasum, blood slices (eel) and duck blood tofu together. It was also spread by poor dockers. It's quite hot in recent years.
The above are some typical and popular innovative dishes. In addition, there are Laifeng Fish, Qiuxi Catfish, Chengkou Roasted Bacon, Qianjiang Sour Soup Fish (also available in Guizhou), Nanchuan Bamboo Shoot Meat, Wulong Mountain Scenic Resort Mushroom Roasted Pheasant, Bandit Chicken and so on.
Generally, after an innovative dish comes out, drivers and friends in the first few stores circulate first, then people are crowded and then swept the city like a gust of wind. You know, you have to taste it according to your impatience.
These dishes in Chongqing have some similarities, that is, they are generally made by Jianghu chefs, and the raw materials and production are more popular. Unlike Chengdu, which has to be steamed and smoked several times, most people can't afford it and can't do it. The cooking methods of Chongqing cuisine are generally big oil, strong ingredients (some dishes have more peppers than vegetables), fire, cauldron and big basin, and now we pay attention to killing and cooking. In the way of eating, it is also rude. For example, spring chicken, chicken head, chicken neck and chicken liver are mixed into a big pot, and sometimes chicken feathers can be seen, which is more in line with Chongqing people's lawless psychology and rude and straightforward personality.
Chengdu cuisine is far from innovation. It seems that Feng Fish Head is the most famous and popular dish in China, but it is actually an improvement of fish head hot pot. Therefore, there are very few popular dishes in Chengdu, and Chongqing cuisine often maintains a leading position. For example, boiled fish is popular in Beijing now, and even the small northeast restaurant downstairs has grandly launched their boiled fish. People think that boiled fish is as lethal as a strong flu.
However, Chengdu cuisine has been excavating Sichuan cuisine, an ancient treasure house, and constantly summing up and perfecting it. From material selection, cooking, service and management, all-round continuous improvement. This improvement is not the improvement of a chef's personal consciousness, but the continuous improvement based on the continuous accumulation of national consciousness.
Since the Han Dynasty, diners in Chengdu began to pay attention to the artistic conception, experience and perfection of diet. Li Bai (Jiangyou people, Jiangyou is 0/50 kilometers away from Chengdu/Kloc-and rarely travels to Chengdu) has a feeling of being in the city when he drinks the bright moon alone, which Chongqing people who like to drink heavily in the street will not have. Dongpo pork invented by Su Shi (Meishan, 80km south of Chengdu) needs to be simmered for three hours, and Chongqing people who like to eat it raw will not have the patience.
If you want to eat authentic Sichuan-style cooking, the restaurants in Chengdu are not too bad, and they are all consistent, and the cleanliness is one order of magnitude higher than that in Chongqing. But in Chongqing, there will be many tricks. Stir-fried pork, some restaurants in Chongqing put dried tofu, some put lettuce heads, and some put cabbage. Anyway, the chef can put whatever he likes. As for the choice of seasonings, it is even more varied. And the restaurants in Chengdu are all green garlic seedlings. If there are no green garlic seedlings, he will tell you that Sichuan pork can't be fried. This will surprise Chongqing people.
Chengdu people carefully summarize the frying method of each side dish. A chef in Chengdu can sum up a method of frying Sichuan-style pork. He can write 10,000 words, teach you for 30 days, and then pass it on from master to master. A Chongqing chef summed up the method of Sichuan-style fried pork, that is, three words: meat, pepper, watercress and everything else. You eat a dried spinach in a casual street shop in Chengdu. It's crisp and refreshing, with a long aftertaste. And leaving Chengdu and traveling all over the country, I can't eat such good cooking. Chengdu people say it is difficult to stir-fry green vegetables, but no one in Chongqing agrees, because they don't learn as much as Chengdu people.