Nanshan Spring Water Chicken

Nanshan Spring Water Chicken

　　As is widely known, there are countless ways to cook chicken in home-style cuisine. But Chongqing’s “Nanshan Spring Water Chicken” stands out uniquely, attracting diners from far and wide, and its fame has now spread across the nation.

　　In the mid-1980s, most people in Nanshan were engaged in flower cultivation. A villager named Li Renhe, in addition to growing flowers and vegetables, also opened a “yao dian zi” (a Chongqing dialect term meaning a small eatery) to provide travelers passing through with simple home-style dishes to fill their stomachs. Since there was a deep well in the backyard of the eatery, with water sourced from a mountain spring, it was named the “Spring Water Eatery.” By 1993, one day while chatting with friends about ways to cook chicken, he decided to try something new. He grabbed a free-range rooster from its cage, slaughtered and cleaned it, then cut it into small pieces. He sprinkled salt and minced ginger on the pieces, and stir-fried them in one jin (500g) of hot rapeseed oil at about eighty percent heat. After a few minutes, he poured out some of the oil, added a certain proportion of spring water and ten or so seasonings that had been pre-fried—such as Sichuan peppercorn, dried chili peppers, garlic, fermented black beans, and rock sugar—and continued to stir-fry and simmer for about twenty minutes before finishing the dish. To name the dish and identify the location, Li Renhe simply used the name of his eatery. And thus, a dish with the distinctive characteristics of “numbing, spicy, hot, fresh, fragrant, and tender”—Spring Water Chicken—was born.

　　Once this dish was introduced, it quickly gained popularity among diners for its unique ingredients, strong numbing-spicy flavor, fresh and crispy taste, affordability, and overall deliciousness. Nowadays, there are generally three ways to enjoy Spring Water Chicken, commonly referred to as “one chicken, three dishes.” In addition to the method described above, the other two are “stir-fried chicken giblets with pickled chilies (or green chilies)” and “chicken blood clear soup.” In 2001, “Spring Water Chicken” was named a “Chinese Famous Dish” by the former Ministry of Internal Trade, and in 2003, it was further recognized as a “National Green Catering Dish” by relevant authoritative departments.

　　Ingredients:

　　One free-range rooster (black-bone chicken can also be used), 1 jin (500g) salad oil (or rapeseed oil), 2 liang (100g) dried green Sichuan peppercorns (2 liang pickled chilies, 3 liang dried red chili peppers, 2 liang pickled ginger, 2 liang Pixian bean paste, 1 liang ginger, 1 liang garlic, cooking wine, MSG, pepper, white sugar, fine salt, a small amount of chopped scallions, two eggs, fresh broth (can be made from pork bones or fish slices), mineral water for backup

　　Preparation Method:

　　(1) First, slaughter a live chicken, scald and remove the feathers and internal organs, then clean it thoroughly. Cut the chicken into large thumb-sized (or slightly larger) square pieces, rinse the blood off with clean water, then add a small amount of minced ginger, mashed garlic, and the two prepared egg whites, along with a bit of fine salt. Mix well and set aside in a container.

　　(2) Finely chop the Pixian bean paste, pickled chilies, and dried chili peppers. Cut the dried chili peppers into sections. Finely chop the fermented black beans, ginger, and garlic, and mince the scallions. Toast the sesame seeds until golden and set aside.

　　(3) Place a wok on the stove and pour in half a jin (250g) of oil. Heat the oil to about fifty percent heat, then add the chicken pieces to deep-fry briefly. Remove and set aside once slightly fried.

　　(4) In the same wok, heat the oil until it reaches seventy percent heat. Add the dried chili pepper sections and fry until fragrant and crispy. Then add the dried green Sichuan peppercorns and stir-fry until aromatic. Next, add the Pixian bean paste, minced pickled chilies, fermented black beans, minced ginger, and minced garlic, and stir-fry everything together. Once the oil turns bright red and the mixture becomes fragrantly crisp, add the fresh broth. Put in the chicken pieces, followed by cooking wine, white sugar, pepper, salt, and soy sauce. Cook until the chicken becomes tender and the meat starts to separate from the bone. Add MSG, drizzle in some sesame oil, stir well, then remove from heat and transfer to a round serving dish. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and chopped scallions before serving.