Zigong Beef

Zigong Beef

　　"Food is the paramount necessity of the people." With the development of Zigong’s salt industry, the influx of people from various regions led to a proliferation of local restaurants and a rich variety of cuisines, making Zigong’s food culture wonderfully diverse and delightful. The most distinctive food in Zigong is beef. With an abundance of cattle, beef is both plentiful and affordable in Zigong, resulting in a wide variety of ingenious beef dishes that have become beloved delicacies. "Boiled Beef in Chili Oil" was a "commoners' dish" among salt workers. Because it was inexpensive, salt workers would slice the beef thinly, boil it in a pot, and then dip it in a spicy sauce—both economical and tasty.

　　After the 1930s, Fan Jian’an, a renowned chef from Zigong, modified the traditional Sichuan dish "Simmered Beef" by cooking all the seasonings and beef slices together in one pot. This method produced tender, smooth beef slices with a spicy, hot, savory, and bright flavor, offering an exceptional taste. Once introduced, the dish quickly gained immense popularity, and soon restaurants across the region began imitating it, gradually turning it into a signature Sichuan dish rich in Zigong’s local flavor. Zigong also boasts another famous product known across Sichuan and even the nation—"Fire-Grilled Beef." Its preparation is extremely meticulous. First, the “top round and eye of round” beef from the hind legs of the cow is selected—only 10 to 15 kilograms can be obtained from one cow. Then, skilled workers slice the meat into inch-thick pieces, which are nailed onto wooden boards leaning against the wall. Using extraordinary knife skills, they slice the meat into extremely thin pieces without any holes or gaps. A small amount of salt and soy sauce is applied, and the slices are hung in a ventilated area to dry. They are then spread on bamboo mats and slowly roasted over a low fire using cow dung ash or dry wood ash. It is said that beef roasted with cow dung ash has a uniquely fragrant taste. The finished Fire-Grilled Beef is bright red and translucent, with patterns visible through the slices. Finally, it is brushed with chili oil. The result is a beef that is crispy but not tough, dry and fragrant with a melt-in-your-mouth texture, rich in flavor, lingeringly delicious, easy to carry, and a unique specialty of Zigong.