The Lava Flavor: 5 Spicy Chongqing Foods in Southern China

Posted: January 4, 2021 by Kelly Branyik

You have experienced no spice like the spice of Chongqing foods.

In 2015, I went to Chengdu to teach the new batch of China Peace Corps China volunteers a lesson on health. After telling the Peace Corps Medical Office about my journey to better health, they invited me to do a training session.

Of course, I showed them my 47-pound weight loss picture and taught them about what to do and what not to do to keep their bodies on point during their 2 years in China.

I showed them pictures of local produce in China we don’t have in the US.

I told them to eat right, hold back on over-consuming noodles, bread, rice, sugar, and essentially any street food or whole in the wall restaurant (which, let’s be honest is the best).

So I preached hard about eating healthy, staying fit, and watching out for the dreaded China gutter oil.

About My Food Journey

I’m a liar. I mean. Not entirely, but I told them about staying healthy when sometimes, I’m wasn’t the best example when it came to eating healthy.

Some days, I would be Facetiming with my parents and destroying 15 chicken nuggets in the process.

I had my days where I got cravings for 6 plates of fries and a tub of ketchup, or sought out huge platters of tacos, or spent 46 RMB on Burger King, because, hey, Posh Corp yo. (46 RMB equals a little less than $8 by the way).

What You Should Know About Chongqing Cuisine

Chongqing food is cheaper than you would believe.

If I were living off an American salary, eating in China would be insanely cheap, and life overall would be pretty sweet. But there is no doubt I would absolutely gain all 47 pounds back.

I’m going to tell you about and show some of my favorite local Chongqing foods that I grubbed down on when chicken and vegetables became boring. Local Chongqing foods are by far, cheaper than any foreign chain restaurant that can be found in the city.

What Spices is Chongqing Known For?

First and foremost, the Chongqing municipality is known for its incredible spicy dishes in which they use a few different kinds of spicy pepper.

They use spicy flavors in pretty much everything, and you can’t go to too many places in Chongqing where spicy is not added.

Sometimes it’s so spicy, I can’t even enjoy it. Like, when I’m eating I think, “God, it’s so delicious, but this must be what lava tastes like.”

Generally, Chonqing food is eaten in the summer to balance your body temperature. Chinese peeps believe that eating spicy food in hot weather balances your body temperature, making you sweat, therefore cooling you off.

Small Chili Peppers

Most of their spicy peppers are just like ours, we have one that looks similar to a Pueblo Chiles, and then you have the small green and red chili peppers that are no bigger than your finger and are hot as hell.

But I can guarantee, most people still living in the states don’t know this next one.

Hua Jiao Peppers

The picture above shows a pepper known as a Sichuan Pepper known as Hua Jiao.

They’re small like peppercorns and annoying little jerks. My parents love them.

Hua Jiao is commonly referred to as the numbing pepper. It is added to enhance the spiciness, but usually not meant to be eaten directly.

However, people do ground the pepper into powder and mix it into most noodle dishes or dipping sauces for hot pot. When you do taste the magnificent flavor of the Hua Jiao, it will feel spicy and numb at the same time.

If you chomp down on one or two of those little peppers, it’ll be like you’re just coming off Novocain.

Keep in mind, that nearly every food here in Chongqing is all spicy and the spiciest food I’ve eaten in my life. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve accidentally eaten a Hua Jiao pepper and cursed furiously under my breath.

My 5 Chongqing Food Favorites!

This list isn’t too entirely long, because what I did know how to order in Chinese was enough for me to enjoy for two years straight and miss each time I’m not living there.

1. Liang Mian (Cold Noodles) – 5 RMB

The first one, and one of my favorites, is Liang Mian, or cold noodles. I could easily find my favorite lady rolling her cart around the nearby square with a microphone shrieking advertisements for her cold noodles.

I ask her how much it is, just a small 5 RMB for a little bowl. A mere $0.82.

Liang Mian is a combination of cold noodles, salt, MSG, sugar, soy nuts, sesame oil, vinegar, seaweed, a dash of pickled vegetables, hua jiao, red pepper, and green onion. Looks like this:

2. Chao Shou (Spicy Wonton Soup) – 9 RMB

The next one I adore so much is called Chao Shou. A larger bowl is about 9 RMB ($1.41).

It’s similar to that wonton soup you gobble up in your local Chinese restaurant in the US. But this one is spicy and far tastier.

In the bowl, you have:

broth
pork-stuffed wontons
water spinach
MSG
salt
spicy red pepper
hua jiao
green onion

This combination of ingredients makes the broth just as tasty to drink afterward.

3. Huo Guo (Hot Pot) – 100 – 300 RMB

The next one Hot Pot, is what Chongqing is most known for.

There are ongoing debates about whether Sichuan, Guizhou, or Chongqing have the best hot pot – I have no comment.

One time, my brother took me to eat hot pot in downtown Chongqing city. We arrived there just in time for the server to bring out a wok with a solidified chunk of oil that would soon melt down into our dinner. She put the heat on ultra-flamethrower, the solid chunk began to ooze, and I immediately saw just what hot pot was made of.

My mouth was watering and I was disgusted all at once.

When the solid became a liquid, I you could see just what hot pot was made of: a crap ton of oil, a crap ton of anything spicy that was ever made in the world. So you don’t eat this pot of oil like soup.

You toss a bunch of veggies and meat in, let them boil. After they are cooked, you yank them out with a pair of chopsticks, dunk them in oil, and devour.

Just choose your desired meats, veggies, dumplings, and duck blood and boil away.

Depending on how many items you plan to boil, your meal could cost anywhere from 100-300 RMB ($16-$50). The more people the better. Chongqing hot pot is an event, so plan on at least 3 hours around the table or at least until the oil solidifies on the table.

4. Shao Kao (Outdoor Barbeque) – 19 RMB

My next one is called Shao Kao. The street BBQ of China.

They pop up everywhere over summer. Especially outside of local bars looking to satiate drunk people. Some little Shao Kao stops have outdoor dining where you can sit for hours drinking and playing the game of “who’s going to vomit in the bushes first.”

Shao kao is great because you can go up, grab a tray and choose from a variety of vegetables, meats, and other things to be individually cooked to your liking. They’ll barbecue all your items, toss them in a metal bowl and mix in oil, MSG, salt, pickled veggies, hua jiao, and spicy red pepper.

I loved getting mine with quail eggs, cilantro, green onion, water spinach, eggplant, and mushroom. Altogether it cost about 19 RMB ($2.98).

5. Liang Gao (Cold Cake) – 5 RMB

I obviously can’t skip dessert. This one is called Liang Gao, or Cold Cake.

Usually, it’s eaten in the summer when it’s particularly hot. I’m still not entirely sure how they make it but would love to learn.

I know it’s made of rice flour and molded into something that resembles a breast implant, but I still don’t know the method. I go to visit the sweet old lady outside my house, who pulls a cart around welcoming the kids of all ages to indulge in this sweet treat.

I ask her for the cold cake, she places it in a small plastic dish and then pours a semi-thick brown sugar syrup on top, then stabs the center with a plastic spoon.

She and I would talk for several minutes as I devoured each morsel of sweetness. She stops me periodically to ask if I need more syrup (like please, lady, give me that whole God damn bottle, I don’t even need this boob-shaped cake).

I seriously love those 7 minutes. I did not look forward to leaving her behind when my Peace Corps service ended.

Liang Gao is a small 5 RMB ($0.78) for 7 minutes of heaven.

So, there you have it! If you ever visit Chongqing, give all of these a try! You won’t regret it! I mean, your colon might, but whatever! So kidding.