Deciphering the Liangshan Chicken—Chongqing’s worldly atmosphere

Overview

Liangshan Chicken is a popular dish in Chongqing in recent years. Its inventor has been dubbed the most popular restaurant in Chongqing. Why is he so cool? Today we will take a closer look. It is said that the name Liangshan Chicken comes from "Water Margin", one of my country's four famous novels. I guess it comes from the fact that the legendary stories of the heroes in Water Margin are quite similar to the Jianghu city of Chongqing. Think about the chemical reaction when Chongqing Spicy Red Soup encounters digital nourishing Chinese medicinal materials such as angelica root, adenophora root, wolfberry and so on. Liangshan chicken soup is red and bright, the chicken is soft and glutinous, thick but not irritating. It has a nourishing Chinese medicinal aroma and umami flavor in the traditional spicy flavor. It has the spicy and fragrant taste of Chongqing cuisine, as well as the warmth and mellowness of nourishing Chinese medicinal materials. It is not only delicious, but also warm and nourishing for the body. Mr. Liang Zigeng, a famous Asian chef, said this about Liangshan Chicken: A small shop near Liziba only has a single product, a pot of fragrant Liangshan Chicken. The thick Adenophora ginseng has the aroma of medicinal herbs and spicy flavor. A chicken weighing more than seven pounds was quickly eliminated. People were queuing up at the door while playing cards. People inside were guessing loudly, chatting louder and screaming, and eating Liangshan Chicken with concentration intertwined into a fantastic symphony of Chongqing food stalls. Finally, I realized that the remaining chicken head really looked like the one in the comics! The temperature has cooled down recently, so I cooked a pot of Liangshan chicken, called some friends, ate meat and drank wine, and warmed up my body, heart, and stomach.

Tags

• hot dishes
• adenophora
• angelica sinensis
• chili noodles
• green peppercorns
• hot pot base
• old ginger
• pickled pepper
• rapeseed oil
• red dates
• taro
• thirteen incense
• wolfberry
• cock
• garlic
• salt

Ingredients

Steps

1. 1 Try to choose adenophora with uniform thickness, buy it and break it into pieces of similar length by hand, then soak them with angelica in cold water for an hour. You can buy Angelica sinensis at pharmacies, and Aeolus root can be found in any dry goods market. Don’t buy the white ones.

   

2. 2 Roosters are generally used for braised chicken. Of course, free-range chickens are best, but pheasants are also acceptable. This kind of chicken is firm and tastes very fragrant and glutinous. Buy it and chop it into pieces of the same size, wash it in cold water and drain it for later use.

   

3. 3 Peeled taro is sold in the market. It may cost one yuan per pound, but it saves a lot of trouble. Choose a slightly larger one, and the size must be even. When you buy it, wash it and steam it in a pot for seven or eight minutes. It doesn't matter if it's not cooked yet. You'll have to put it in the pot to cook it later.

   

4. 4 This is the spicy wild pepper and green millet that I brewed myself, and you can also buy it at the vegetable market. Chop directly as shown below.

   

5. 5 Just chop it like this, this thing is very important~

   

6. 6 A little more garlic, I used almost ten cloves of garlic, just cut it in half and slice the ginger.

   

7. 7 Heat a frying pan, pour in rapeseed oil (be sure to add a little more) and heat until green smoke comes out, then turn off the heat and cool until there is no smoke, then turn on the heat and sauté the ginger, garlic, minced pickled peppers, and a pack of hot pot base ingredients until fragrant, stir-fry until fragrant, then add the washed chicken and stir-fry over high heat until it changes color.

   

8. 8 When the chicken has changed color, add a handful of green peppercorns and continue to stir-fry. You should be able to smell a strong aroma at this time, continue to stir-fry.

   

9. 9 Add chili powder (appropriate amount according to personal taste) and stir-fry evenly.

   

10. 10 Add boiling water (do not add cold water, otherwise the chicken will shrink and affect the taste), soaked ginseng, angelica root, wolfberry and red dates. Cover and simmer over low heat for an hour, depending on the type of chicken. After the chicken is raked, add the previously steamed taro and add appropriate amount of salt. Cook until the taro is soft and glutinous and ready to serve.

    

11. 11 Isn’t it very tempting~ The temperature has just cooled down. Cooking a pot of Liangshan chicken, calling some friends, eating meat and drinking wine is a rare pleasure in life!