Sichuan Pepper Hot Pot Chicken

Sichuan Pepper Hot Pot Chicken

　　Legend has it that during the Qing Dynasty, He Shaoji, the education commissioner of Sichuan, visited Mount Wawu and stayed overnight at the county yamen. One of his attendants caught a cold, lost appetite due to greasy food, and was listless. Worried, the commissioner asked the county chef to prepare an appetizer that was “spicy but without visible peppercorns, and meaty yet free from fat.” The chef racked his brains and, in a moment of inspiration, cooked a rooster that had just crowed, extracted oil from Sichuan pepper, and prepared a chilled dressing. After tasting it, the commissioner praised it as “delicious.” The attendant, enticed by the numbing aroma, suddenly regained his appetite and ate three meals in a row, feeling refreshed and invigorated. He marveled, “So tender, fragrant, and refreshing—truly a heavenly dish.” Thus, the Hongya Sichuan Pepper Hot Pot Chicken soon gained fame across Chengdu.

　　This chicken is made with oil from Sichuan pepper (which has limited production in places like Hongya and Ebian). The broth is light green with a slight yellow tint, giving the dish an immediately refreshing and appetizing appearance. No one could quite believe it at first glance. But once they picked up a skewer and tasted it, the fresh numbing flavor and spicy taste of the Sichuan pepper clung to the chicken, providing just the right mild stimulation to the taste buds—completely different from the intense and numbingly straightforward style of ordinary peppercorns, which can leave your mouth feeling dull. What’s more, there’s no lingering discomfort afterward. “A true gentleman, gentle and refined like jade”—the gentleman among peppers, Sichuan pepper, well deserves the title.

　　With its lingering numbing fragrance, Hongya’s 50,000-mu Sichuan pepper base ensures abundant raw materials. “Yaomazi Sichuan Pepper Oil” is highly sought after across the land, and Hongya’s hot pot chicken enjoys fame throughout the country.