Qianjiang Chicken Offal

Qianjiang Chicken Offal

　　Qianjiang Chicken Offal is a signature dish of the stewed pot series in Qianjiang. Prepared using Tujia cooking methods, it features chicken innards such as intestines, liver, and heart, along with thinly sliced chicken meat. It is cooked with diced potatoes, pointed pickled chili peppers, fresh scallions, and more. The dish offers a perfect balance of spicy and numbing flavors, vibrant colors, delicious taste, and rich aroma.

　　 After cooking, Qianjiang Chicken Offal is slowly simmered and eaten with added vegetables such as Chinese cabbage, bean sprouts, winter melon, and leafy greens, forming a uniquely distinctive Tujia dish.

　　 For visitors to Qianjiang, the first must-try dish is undoubtedly “Qianjiang Chicken Offal.” Popular eateries specializing in the dish, such as Tianlong Penglin Chicken Offal, Changming Chicken Offal, Guoqing Chicken Offal, and Xiangge Chicken Offal, have become flagship restaurants representing Qianjiang. Across central Chongqing and Chengdu, “Qianjiang Chicken Offal Shops” and “Qianjiang Ancient Town Chicken Offal Shops” are ubiquitous. Meanwhile, Qianjiang locals have opened “Qianjiang Chicken Offal Shops” in cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Lhasa, and Guangzhou, all of which have been met with great enthusiasm.

　　Those who have visited Qianjiang often leave with this classic saying: “If you haven’t been to three food spots, you haven’t truly been to Qianjiang; if you’ve been to Qianjiang but haven’t tried Qianjiang Chicken Offal, you haven’t truly tasted Qianjiang cuisine!”

　　 In Qianjiang, this long-renowned and unique dish showcases the culinary wisdom of the Chinese people and their versatile use of ingredients to the fullest. Chicken offal has become a renowned “gastronomic calling card” of Qianjiang, celebrated across Chongqing and even nationwide. It is also one of the few Qianjiang dishes to be granted geographical indication status.

　　 What is chicken offal? It refers to a general term for various chicken entrails, including the heart, liver, intestines, and gizzard.

　　 The Chongqing region is humid and its people love spicy and numbing flavors. Qianjiang Chicken Offal is prepared using traditional Tujia cooking techniques. Given the strong gaminess of the chicken offal, it is stir-fried in hot oil with bright red pickled chili peppers and tender pickled radish strips, seasoned with scallions, ginger, garlic, Sichuan peppercorns, and other spices. The result is a dish that is crispy, tender, fragrant, and richly flavored—with a perfect blend of spiciness and numbness, vibrant hues, delicious taste, and an aroma that whets the appetite.

　　 After cooking, the dish is simmered over low heat and eaten gradually, making it a uniquely distinctive Tujia dish. For decades, it has remained a favorite among the people of Qianjiang.

　　 There are many chicken offal shops in Qianjiang, and many regions across the country also have establishments bearing the “Qianjiang Chicken Offal” sign. But Qianjiang locals can tell at a glance whether it’s authentic. First, check if only oil—not water—is added to the pot; second, ensure the pot contains only pickles and chicken offal, with no potatoes, taro, or other side ingredients that might dilute the flavor; third, inspect whether the pickle brine is made from decades-old “0zi water.” Locally made Qianjiang chicken offal pickles are fermented in “0zi water” that has been used for decades. The pickle jars function similarly to fermentation tanks—only the sediment is removed each year, and the water is never changed. Thanks to the inclusion of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs like agastache in the brine, locals even drink it to relieve stomachaches.

　　 Nowadays, Qianjiang Chicken Offal can be taken away and even eaten on the go. Qianjiang Chicken Offal has applied for a collective trademark. Chongqing Urban Backyard Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. has established a specialty food processing plant that highlights the authentic taste of Qianjiang Chicken Offal. They successfully developed the “Apengji” brand of preserved Qianjiang Chicken Offal products, which have a long shelf life and are convenient to carry. Since then, Qianjiang Chicken Offal has officially transitioned from the “kitchen” to the “market.”

　　 The people of Qianjiang love eating chicken offal and enjoy sharing it with visitors from out of town. Whether studying or working elsewhere, Qianjiang natives inevitably get nostalgic and start salivating when talking about their hometown’s chicken offal.