Sichuan Cuisine – An Insider’s Food Guide Beyond Hot Pot
One Planet Journey’s Yali Kang, a travelling foodie, sets her sights on her home country, China, specifically the epic food region of Sichuan. In this definitive guide to delicacies in Chengdu, Leshan, and Chongqing, Yali treats you to mouthwatering Hot Pots, noodles, tofu, soups, dumplings, as well as skewered meats and vegetables on bamboo sticks. Get the inside recipe for Kung Pao chicken and many other classics, and why not try wolf’s tooth potatoes, duck blood curd, and rabbit’s head?
Sichuan Cuisine: A Fiery, Flavourful Legacy
Sichuan cuisine, one of China’s most celebrated culinary traditions, evokes tasting memories of numbing spice, coupled with bold and electrifying flavours. Originating in the Sichuan province and the neighbouring Chongqing Municipality, this gastronomical delight combines zesty garlic, fiery chili peppers, and the signature mala (numbing spice) of Sichuan peppercorns. The balance of heat, aroma, and umami produces unique recipes. You’ve heard and tasted dishes like Kung Pao chicken and Hot Pot, but there is much more to this vibrant food culture.
Sichuan cuisine is one of the four major Chinese cuisines, together with Shandong, Cantonese, and Huaiyang cuisine. Sichuan is my favourite, even though I’m from the Shaanxi Province. Perhaps because of the geographical location (Shaanxi is adjacent to Sichuan and Chongqing), Sichuan cuisine greatly influenced the eating style of Shaanxi people. Therefore, I’ve come to appreciate the special flavours from here. In fact, the food is what attracts me to visit Sichuan time after time. After all, as a foodie, the authentic food here makes you feel the joy of life. Perhaps that’s why people know Sichuan as China’s “heavenly country.”
Because of its agricultural richness, Sichuan has championed culinary innovation for a long time and today, UNESCO recognises the capital, Chengdu, as a City of Gastronomy. In my Chengdu guide, I have given you my insider tips for things to see and experience, including the iconic pandas, but with the food scene being so rich I am going to present the best savoury dishes and desserts Sichuan has to offer in the major cities like Chengdu, Chongqing, and Leshan. From the communal Hot Pot to amazing street food, get ready for a Sichuan style taste explosion!
Sichuan Cuisine in Chengdu
Chengdu food is associated with Hot Pot, and rich street snacks. Here are my top tips for can’t miss dishes.
Hot Pot (Huo Guo)
There is never a lack of motivation to travel to Chengdu. As a Hot Pot lover, coming here represents a spiritual belief. Sichuan is the birthplace of the Hot Pot. Numbness, spiciness, freshness, and fragrance represent the characteristics of an authentic serving.
There is a bold challenge when eating Hot Pot in Chengdu – pig brain. The hardest part of trying something new is often working up the courage to take the first bite. Prepare yourself mentally. As long as you don’t think about what it is, it tastes pretty good. My tip is to divide the brain into smaller pieces. It makes the experience easier!
Sauce is important for Hot Pot. The classic Chengdu dipping sauce recipe includes sesame oil, minced garlic, chopped chilli peppers, and a pinch of salt, with a dash of vinegar mixed in. Personally, I like to add a bit of sesame paste.
Hot Pot Eating Tips
Eating Hot Pot is usually a communal activity in China, but I didn’t mind going at it alone, as I enjoy the focused experience of savouring each bite. I dip the crunchy tripe and tender beef, coated in spicy oil, into my bowl of sauce, picking up the garlic and sesame flavours. The combination of spicy, sour, and numbing, is incredibly satisfying. After the initial wave of meat, you can add in some sweet potato noodles and crown daisy greens, finishing with a refreshing bowl of ice jelly, which makes for a perfect lunch.
If it’s your first time trying Hot Pot, order a non-spicy broth, especially if you can’t handle too much chilli. Or a double flavour version with half spicy, half mild. I recommend you to try Hot Pot in different cities because they have different flavours. Sichuan Hot Pot in Chengdu mostly uses vegetable oil, which is generally called a clear oil pot base. Chongqing Hot Pot uses beef tallow as the base, and the spicy taste is more pronounced.
Eating Hot Pot has become a form of leisure in China as the process gives people the opportunity to share, communicate, and strengthen their feelings towards each other. At the same time, Hot Pot allows you to choose from a variety of soup bases and dishes, and can easily accommodate varying dietary profiles. Therefore, it’s the perfect meal sharing experience.
Restaurant tip: Chuanxi Bazi, Shoo Loong Kan, and Chongqing Aibandeng are popular Hot Pot places in Chengdu.
Chuan Chuan Xiang
Chuan Chuan Xiang literally means delicious food on bamboo sticks, and served in a Hot Pot. Instead of meat and vegetables placed on a plate, for Chuan Chuan Xiang they come skewered on bamboo sticks. Choose your favourite vegetables or meats, and then the desired soup base flavour and cook them in the pot.
Chuan Chuan Xiang consists of a wide variety of choices. My favourites are the many beef dishes, such as green pepper beef, coriander beef, spicy beef, etc. You also have chicken gizzards, hearts, wings, peppercorn chicken, and more. The taste of chicken gizzards is relatively crisp. I recommend you try it. Special dishes include tiger skin chicken feet. This might sound weird, but I say leave those thoughts behind you and start your food exploration for real.
Compared with Hot Pot, Chuan Chuan Xiang is more affordable. A skewer costs only 0.3 RMB. The soup base is also much cheaper. Considered a down-to-earth delicacy, Chuan Chuan Xiang has spread across Chinese cities.
Restaurant tip: Liupo Chuan Chuan Xiang and Long Hu Ren Jia Chuan Chuan Xiang.
Mama’s Pork Trotter Soup
It may be hard to imagine that pig trotters can become regulars on dinner tables. But it’s not unclean, and in China food lovers have taken them to heart. I like spicy roasted pig trotters and the five-spice braised variety. And the unique Chengdu dish, Mama’s or Lao Ma’s pork trotter soup.
In Chengdu, locals eat pig trotters by stewing them. They pair them with white kidney beans, cooking them into a nourishing and nutritious soup, which is then eaten with dipping sauce.
How to make Pig Trotters
Wash them, roast over fire to remove the hair, then brush again. With the outer skin scraped off, cut in half with a knife, and put into boiling water to drain the blood. Adding an appropriate amount of cooking wine removes the fishy smell. Also soak the white kidney beans in water overnight.
After the cleaned trotters, go into a pot of water, add ginger slices, white pepper, Sichuan pepper, and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then turn to medium-low heat (cover the pot) and simmer for 2-3 hours (try to make the meat soft and boneless). After simmering for two hours, add kidney beans. Top with chopped green onions before serving.
The dipping sauce comprises soy sauce, sesame oil, chilli pepper, garlic, minced ginger, pepper oil, chicken essence, shallot, and chilli oil.
Locals eat this as a midnight snack. Imagine that after playing mahjong and drinking a little wine, you go to have a bowl of warm and nourishing Lao Ma pork trotter soup. This is also the reason it’s called night trotter soup. The soft and boneless trotter and the kidney beans melt in your mouth, and then a sip of soup. Very satisfying.
Restaurant tip: Yilaoma Tihua, Dingtaipo Laoma Tihua, Xiaomei Zibu Tihua
Dan Dan Noodles
Dan Dan noodles got their name after the people carrying water poles and selling them on the streets. Now a traditional snack in Sichuan, you can find plenty of noodle restaurants tucked away in major cities in China.
Dan Dan noodles are alkaline noodles, which taste refreshing and chewy. Rich seasoning complements the saltiness and fragrant flavour. Different flavours come together when chewing. Authentic Dan Dan noodles include bean sprouts, meat sauce, peanuts, chopped green onions, red oil, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, and salt. Stir well and eat. Some restaurants pair it with homemade pickles and fried peanuts as side dishes.
Sweet Noodles and Zhong Dumplings
Sweet noodles, a famous local snack from Chengdu, are round and as thick as chopsticks, with a satisfyingly chewy texture. The seasonings typically include crushed peanuts, Sichuan peppercorns, red chilli oil, sesame paste, mashed garlic, and a unique compound soy sauce (soybean soy sauce, brown sugar, rock sugar, water, and a variety of spices such as star anise, fennel, and bay leaves).
Serve sweet noodles cold and dress them with flavourful seasonings. Thanks to the compound soy sauce, the noodles have a subtle sweetness. When combined with the other ingredients, the dish delivers a delightful mix of numbing, spicy, and sweet, making it an immensely enjoyable treat.
Another popular “small bite” in Chengdu, Zhong Shuijiao (boiled dumplings), also uses compound soy sauce as a key seasoning. Together with red chilli oil, mashed garlic, sesame oil, and other ingredients, these dumplings make for a mouthwatering appetiser. I absolutely love them!
Zhong Dumplings, usually stuffed with pork, have thin skin.
Restaurant tip: Shengtang Sweet noodles.
Stir-Fry Sichuan Cuisine in Chengdu
When you find yourself in Sichuan, there are some authentic foods you have to try. The only problem is that there are many, so bring your biggest appetite. I will recommend a few iconic dishes that I never tire of.
Mapo Tofu
Mapo Tofu may look simple, but under the surface, there is a lot going on. It’s famous all over the world. Maybe you tried it in a Chinese restaurant in your city?
Tofu originated in China, and the Chinese have done a lot of research on how to eat it. In Sichuan, they cook tofu with chilli, fermented and salted black soybean, chilli bean sauce, chilli powder, pepper powder, and pepper oil, reflecting their local style. These ingredients turn even the simplest meal into an elegant balance of fresh, and fragrant.
Mapo Tofu contains minced meat, either beef or pork, cooked in hot oil with various seasonings added. When tender, add fermented black beans, salt and sugar. After sauteing, add tofu and soup. As it boils, throw in onions, ginger and garlic, then water starch to thicken, and finally pepper powder, sesame oil and spring onion before serving.
Restaurant tip: Passed down through seven generations, Chen Mapo Tofu got the recognition of a provincial intangible cultural heritage. I recommend it as well, and of course you can order other Sichuan classics.
Twice-cooked pork
Twice-cooked pork is another representative food in Sichuan traditional cuisine. The cooking process, as the name implies, involves boiling the ingredients and then frying them.
The principal ingredients include pork belly, green peppers, garlic sprouts, Pixian bean paste (the soul of Sichuan cuisine) and Yongchuan fermented soybean black beans (produced in Chongqing).
Put the pork belly in cold water, add scallion, ginger, peppercorns, and an appropriate amount of cooking wine or rice wine. Skim off the foam, then cook the meat until it’s 80% done (insertable with chopsticks), remove it, and let it cool naturally.
Next, cut the belly into thin slices. Stir-fry the chilli and peppercorns in hot oil in a wok. Add the pork slices and stir-fry until the colour is transparent and the edges of the meat slices slightly curl up. Then, put bean paste, garlic slices and ginger in the pot and stir-fry until red oil comes out. Then you add a little soy sauce, garlic sprouts, some cooking wine, sugar before a last stir-fry. The aroma of garlic sprouts and the taste of lard makes it the first choice to serve with rice.
Kung Pao Chicken
You may be familiar with Kung Pao Chicken. You can order it in many Chinese restaurants overseas. I think one of the main reasons for its popularity is the mix of spicy and sweet. Kung Pao Chicken is also part of Shandong Guizhou cuisine. The cooking styles of each region are somewhat different.
For this meal, you need diced chicken, carrots, peppers, and fried peanuts. The chicken should be tender, the peanuts crispy and fragrant.
Normally the chef uses chicken breast or thigh. You cut the meat into 1cm thick pieces, prepare soy sauce, cooking wine, egg white, cornstarch and some water, and marinate the chicken for 10 minutes. Spices include garlic slices, small pieces of peeled ginger, cut millet pepper, and green onion.
Sauce: Put a spoonful each of dark and light soy sauce, white sugar, half a spoon of oyster sauce, and two spoons of water.
Cooking: Heat oil in a pan, add chicken breast and stir-fry until it changes colour. Leave some oil in the pan and stir-fry garlic, ginger, peppercorns, and chilli peppers until fragrant. Mix in bean paste and stir-fry until the oil turns red. On high heat, put in the diced chicken, scallions, the prepared sauce, and finally cooked peanuts. Stir evenly and serve.
Yuxiang Shredded Pork and Fish Fragrant Eggplant
Yuxiang means fish fragrant. But in fact, this dish does not contain fish. The fragrance comes from the unique cooking and seasoning method where one mixes pickled chilli peppers (chopped into small pieces or minced) with ginger, garlic, sugar, salt, aged vinegar, and soy sauce. It’s characterised by saltiness, sweetness, sourness, spiciness (not prominent), and a distinct freshness.
You make fish-flavoured shredded pork by cutting pork tenderloin into shreds and marinating with salt, cooking wine, and starch for later use. Common ingredients include shredded wood ears and green bamboo shoots. Stir-fry the pork, add fish spices and vegetables, and water starch to thicken. It has a smooth and tender texture, and goes well with rice.
Fish-fragrant eggplant is also a famous Sichuan food. The eggplant needs to be sprinkled with salt to remove excess water and then fried in hot oil for 30 seconds until it becomes soft.
Chengdu Sweet Snacks
If the spiciness of Sichuan cuisine feels overwhelming, or if you’re craving something sugary to lift your spirits, brown sugar glutinous rice cake and iced jelly are must-try treats.
Brown Sugar Glutinous Rice Cake – a classic snack in Sichuan, made with brown sugar, glutinous rice, and soybean powder. Fried in oil, they get a delightfully crispy outer layer. After frying, you add a coat of soybean powder and drizzle with warm brown sugar syrup. The nutty aroma from the soybean powder and the rich sweetness of the sugar complement the soft, chewy interior, making it a satisfying treat.
Traditional Iced Jelly, made using ice powder and brown sugar, come topped with peanut crumbs, sesame seeds, candied fruits, and other condiments. These days, you can customise your serving with watermelon, dried fruits, or mango to create a more vibrant and flavourful dessert. According to locals in Chengdu, hand-kneading ice jelly seeds creates authentic Sichuan iced jelly, resulting in a texture filled with tiny bubbles. The crystal-clear jelly is smooth, icy, sweet, and refreshing—a perfect dessert to cool down after spicy Sichuan dishes. I love it.
Restaurant tip: Jimao Sichuan Cuisine and Chen Mapo Tofu.
Sichuan Cuisine in Leshan
In my impression, Leshan is a place full of joy and gastronomic delights. There are amazing attractions – Leshan Giant Buddha and Mount Emei. Sichuan people also recognise it as the food capital.
Bobo Chicken
Bobo Chicken originated in Leshan and boasts a history of over a hundred years. Initially, I found myself drawn to it because of its intriguing name. At first, I considered “Bobo” an onomatopoeia, but now know it refers to the earthenware jar traditionally used to serve this dish.
Bobo Chicken’s spicy and fresh flavours come from high-quality native chickens that are deboned, sliced, marinated, and skewered on bamboo sticks. After cooling, skewers soak in a flavourful blend of seasoning. It’s often accompanied by a range of vegetarian ingredients, such as lotus root slices, potatoes, cauliflower, and wood ear.
Another version, Teng Jiao (green Sichuan pepper) Bobo Chicken, originates from Hongya County in Meishan. It’s loved for its distinct numbing taste, thanks to the area’s abundant Teng Jiao crops. I find it spicy but not greasy, offering a fresh and fragrant experience.
In Chengdu, Bobo Chicken is ubiquitous, with restaurants and street stalls serving it at every corner. There’s no need to place an order or wait for food. Pick your favourite skewers and enjoy them on the spot.
Spicy Hot Pot (Malatang)
There are many Malatang restaurants in my city, and I’ve been a frequent visitor ever since high school.
Malatang is similar to Hot Pot, to some extent like Chuan Chuan Xiang (because the dishes in Malatang restaurants come skewered on bamboo sticks). However, the difference between Malatang and other Hot Pots is that after you choose the skewers, you give them to the chef, who is responsible for boiling them, and then putting the food in the prepared soup before eating. Malatang is more fast food style of eating.
A variety of spices and peppers make up the Malatang soup base, and I have seen an authentic way to fry the ingredients. Heat the oil, and pour in green onions and garlic. After they turn golden brown, add rock sugar, stir, and add bean paste, galangal, white cardamom, cumin, and cinnamon. After frying for a while, continue with angelica, red pepper, green pepper, and finally chilli.
Qiaojiao Beef
Leshan included Qiaojiao beef in the second batch of its intangible cultural heritage list. Qiao jiao means eating with your legs crossed (find a comfortable eating posture). Also, it is a rare dish in Sichuan cuisine that is not spicy.
It is said that the shop owner needs to make beef bone soup every day, and it usually takes 5 to 8 hours. First, fry garlic, ginger, and sprouts in oil; then add hot water, allspice, grass fruit, cloves, and a bag of 20 mixed spices (including some Chinese medicines). Next comes beef bones and intestines, which makes the configuration of bone soup. The raw materials of the hot pot consist of beef (tongue, liver, spinal cord, and tendon).
First, you drink the soup, and then eat the meat. The fresh thin beef slices are tender and smooth, and paired with minced chilli. Super tasty.
Restaurant tip: Feng Siniang.
Wolf Tooth Potatoes
These potatoes are a street snack with Sichuan flavour, best enjoyed after a delightful meal.
“Wolf tooth” refers to the name of potatoes cut into wavy shapes that look like canine teeth. After soaking in water to remove the starch, pour them into the hot oil in a pot and fry them for 2-3 minutes. The seasoning is mainly chilli powder, pepper, cumin, salt, and MSG, with chilli pepper, garlic, onion and coriander (sometimes with Zheergen, also called fish mint). Stir well before eating.
Leshan wolf tooth potatoes pairs with other vegetables, such as cauliflower, mushrooms, and enoki mushrooms. There are also sweet and sour spicy wolf tooth potatoes.
Restaurant tip: Nighttime Leshan Jianghu Cuisine for your first Leshan meal.
Sichuan Cuisine in Chongqing
Chongqing is a municipality directly under the Central Government of China. Historically, Chongqing and Sichuan have had deep ties and similarities in culture, language, and customs.
Chongqing food draws from the Sichuan kitchen and has developed into Jianghu cuisine characterised by earthy, rough, and mixed dishes. Here, they use burning earth stoves, bold ingredients, sprinkling chilli peppers, and peppercorns in large quantities. The cooking is eclectic, new, strange, and creative at the same time.
Mao Xue Wang or Chongqing style Duck Blood Curd
Mao Xue Wang is a dish I like a lot. It’s considered one of the originators of Chongqing Jianghu cuisine. Expect a numbing, spicy, fresh, fragrant, and strong taste suitable to eat with white rice. Whenever I feel stressed, I get an epiphany while eating Mao Xue Wang. Stress-relieving indeed.
The main ingredients include pig intestines, tripe, luncheon meat, duck blood and Asian swamp eel. The base is cabbage and bean sprouts, sometimes Tofu.
Chicken with Hot Chilli Pepper (Ge Le Shan Spicy Chicken)
Eating Ge Le Shan is like playing a game of finding the chicken cubes among the many chilli peppers. You just need to push aside the chillis and peppercorns and slowly search for the meat. It is a lot of fun to eat this dish!
Ge Le Shan uses farm-raised roosters, which are cooked immediately, with peppers and Sichuan peppercorns as the main ingredients. After it’s cut into small pieces, heat the oil to and fry the peppers to bring out the aroma. Add the chicken and Sichuan peppercorn and stir-fry continuously. The control of the heat and oil temperature must be precise, otherwise it is difficult to achieve the best taste and flavour.
I recommend reminding the chef to make a less spicy version when you try it for the first time; otherwise, you’ll only be able to drool over the spicy chicken and not eat it.
Boiled Fish with Pickled Cabbage and Chilli (Suancai Yu)
A classic made with grass carp as the key ingredient and served with pickled vegetables. It is sour, spicy and appetising. I miss it when not in China.
Like many foods, the combination of fish and pickled cabbage is also accidental. It is said that fishermen in Jiang Jinjiang Village, Chongqing, would exchange small fish they caught with farmers on the riverside for pickled cabbage. By chance, the fishermen discovered that Sichuan style pickled cabbage and fresh fish cooked in one pot tasted fabulous. Later, some shops promoted this recipe to the dining table. In the early 1990s, it became popular in Chongqing.
Restaurant tip: Tai Er, Sauerkraut and Fish, and Shan Cheng Wai Hot & Sour Fish Soup
Chongqing Noodles
Even locals do not eat oily and spicy food every day. Chongqing noodles are therefore the most common breakfast for locals.
Xiao Mian refers to vegetarian noodles seasoned with onions, garlic, vinegar and chilli peppers. A few slices of green vegetables (pea tips, lettuce, or water spinach) usually accompany it.
These noodles are alkaline (baking soda added), which are hard and thin. They are rich in condiments, including chilli oil, pepper powder, cooked lard, bean sprouts, crushed peanuts, soybean sauce, ginger and garlic water, and vinegar. Eat them hot for the best taste.
Adding stewed peas and a prepared sauce (usually minced pork) to ordinary dry noodles makes a dish called Wanza noodles. It has a spicy, salty, and beany taste. Many noodle shops in Chongqing offer it, so take your pick.
Sichuan Specialty Foods
Sichuan sausage and bacon
On the New Year’s Eve dinner table of Sichuan people, bacon and sausage have a prominent place. Many Sichuan locals make it at home using a traditional technique.
Specialty Seasoning – Fuling Pickled Mustard Tuber (fú líng zhà cài) and Pixian bean paste
These are popular seasonings, which you can buy in Chinese supermarkets overseas.
Sichuan Baijiu (Chinese liquor)
One can find Baijiu around China, but you associate it most with Sichuan Province as it’s the birthplace of strong-flavour liquor. Distillers make the liquor from sorghum and other grains. It comes in multiple variations and strength profiles.
Rabbit head
Chengdu offers another delicacy for the bold: cold-eaten, spicy rabbit’s head. Known for its fiery flavour and tender meat, it is a favourite among locals and adventurous foodies.
A Love Affair with Sichuan Cuisine
Sichuan cuisine goes beyond spicy heat. It’s a full sensory experience, a deep dive into history, culture, and the way people approach food. Whether you want to feel the numbing spice of Chongqing Hot Pot, the perfectly seasoned Leshan street skewers, or the refined artistry of Chengdu’s city of gastronomy, Sichuan has the meal for you. To truly understand these places, you have to eat like a local. I have given you the inside view so you know what goes into each dish. Hopefully, you will come away with the same love I have for Sichuan cuisine. Pull up a chair at a night market, sip tea in an old teahouse, and let Sichuan flavours guide you. Are you ready?
Have you tried Sichuan cuisine? What is your favourite dish? Let us know in the comment section! Subscribe to our newsletter and benefit from travel guides, sustainable tourism and luxury travel tips, insightful interviews, and inspirational places to visit. One Planet Journey – The World’s First Deep Travel Magazine.
