11 Spiciest Chinese Dishes
If you feel the pleasure of eating spicy foods, check out the most hot and spicy dishes in the land of China.
Chinese cuisine plays a relevant role in Chinese culture. Due to the historical power of the country, their cuisine has influenced various cuisines all over the world. This includes the spicy dishes.
Technically, spiciness isn’t a taste but rather a sensation. When you eat spicy food, a particular compound in the food revives a particular sensory receptor in the mouth. Thus, it causes a reaction.
Spicy cuisine are dishes made with spices that are very spicy. These can be snack food, spicy meals, soups, noodles, and meat. Chinese cuisine is divided according to the cooking styles and flavors. And each cuisine has its most popular spiciest food.
But before we move on, let’s check out some of the reasons why we should eat spicy food.
WHAT ARE THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF EATING SPICY FOODS?
Spicy foods promote health benefits such as weight loss, cancer prevention, kill harmful bacteria, prevent the risk of heart disease, and more.
1. Weight Loss
Eating spicy foods speed up your body’s metabolism. Spices such as turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, peppers, and chilies can increase the metabolic resting rate of the human body. and decelerate appetite.
2. Cancer Prevention
Studies show that an active component found in chili peppers called capsaicin slows down and damages cancer cells without harming the healthy cells.
3. Kills Bacteria
It has also been proven that spicy spices have antimicrobial properties and antioxidants which can guard against damaging bacteria in the human body.
With all the health benefits one can get from spicy foods, there is no reason not to try having a spicy meal.
China has various regional spicy cuisines, but the most hot and spicy dishes are from Yunnan province, Guizhou, Chongqing, Hunan, and Sichuan.
Let us check what these spiciest cuisines are.
SPICIEST DISHES IN CHINA
China has numerous essential spices used in Chinese cuisine such as the red Sichuan peppercorn, star anise, five spice powder, turmeric powder, dried red chili pepper, white pepper, ghost pepper, Sichuan peppers, and the likes.
Thus, the country serves Chinese dishes that are very spicy which most people prefer.
Below is the list of popular dishes made with spicy spices, from different provinces of China.
#1. Yu Xiang Tofu (Sichuan Cuisine)
Yu Xiang Tofu, also known as Chinese fish flavored tofu, is a stir fried tofu with a Szechuan style hot sweet and sour sauce which is often called Sichuan hot garlic sauce in Chinese restaurants.
The ingredients used in preparing this spicy Sichuan food includes red chili bean paste, garlic, ginger, sugar, onions, soy sauce, fried tofu, and fresh capsicum. If tofu is not available, you can use eggplant or ground pork instead.
#2. Hotpot (Chongqing Cuisine)
Another popular spicy Chinese food is the Chongqing hotpot, also known as spicy hot pot. This delicious food is similar to the dry stir-fried mala xiang guo, and are both eaten in most restaurants.
The traditional preparation of this spicy food includes putting all the ingredients in a pot. These include pork, beef, chicken, Chinese sausages, pig blood, duck intestines, and beef strips. Once cooked, customers right away eat the food from the hotpot on their table, dipping pieces of meat in sesame oil.
The hot pot base is made with red chili oil, bay leaf, chili peppers or chili powder, and cinnamon. Other spices used which make the base soup very spicy are stir-fried and boiled chili, beef tallow, bean paste, and garlic.
Customers can select the food they can add into their Chongqing hot pot ,like meat, seafood, and vegetables.
This mouth-watering spicy hot pot is available in most Chongqing hotpot restaurants in China.
#3. Er Kuai Spicy Chicken (Yunnan Cuisine)
Spicy dishes in Yunnan province are actually hard to find, but the spiciest dish you should look forward to when visiting the place is the Er Kuai Spicy Chicken.
This Chinese dish is a tangy rice cake made of glutinous rice paste, preserved soybean paste, chili peppers, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, and spicy diced chicken.
Yunnan University serve this spicy chicken dish and in various restaurants in Kunming.
Er Kuai dishes are definitely one of a kind, and you should not miss to try their delicacies especially this delish spicy chicken.
#4. Hunan Spicy Beef (Hunan Cuisine)
Hunan beef in China is often made of dry smoked beef that is spicy, tangy, and lightly sweet in flavor. Hunan province is known to be the second-largest beef supplier in the country. Thus, they used beef as one of the main ingredients in their famous dishes.
What makes the Hunan beef spicy are the spices used with the stir-fried beef. These include fresh and deep fried chili peppers.
The beef is thinly sliced, and stir-fried with colorful vegetables in a spicy sauce.
This dish can be made at home, but you can also order Hunan spicy beef in most Chinese restaurants.
#5. Hot and Sour Fish Soup (Guizhou Cuisine)
Hot and sour fish soup is popular in Guizhou cuisine. In fact, the sour soup is a culinary tradition of the Miao ethnic minority and a staple dish in Miao culture. This spicy soup dish originated from Kaili, and is mainly made of fresh fish and tomatoes.
The soup broth is made of pickled vegetables such as cabbage and chillies which give the soup a hot and sour flavor. Other ingredients added are ginger, shallots, wild tomatoes, pepper, and some vegetables.
The traditional way of preparing this hot and sour fish soup is bringing the broth to boil. Then cook fish in the bubbling broth along with other spices and ingredients.
This famous fish dish is available in larger cities in China.
#6. Gan Guo (Hunan Cuisine)
Gan guo is Hunan’s version of dry pot, also known as mala xiang guo. This Chinese dish includes a variety of raw meat, vegetables, and tofu, and stir fried altogether.
Compared to Sichuan food, Hunan dishes are less oily. Hunan food is known to be the spiciest cuisine in China due to the abundance of fresh green and red chili peppers, ginger, garlic and scallions.
This spicy and delicious meal is available in most restaurants all over China.
#7. Hot and Sour Glass Noodles (Chongqing Cuisine)
Hot and Sour Glass Noodles is a classic Sichuan dish, particularly in Chongqing, with a tangy soup, hot and sour glass noodles.
The hot and sour soup base is made of chili paste, soybeans, chili oil, and vinegar.
This slippery spicy noodle dish is available in every corner of China, and some high-end restaurants.
#8. Saliva Chicken (Sichuan)
One of the spiciest foods that will definitely make you a perfect meal, is the Saliva Chicken from Sichuan province.
Also called as Koushuiji, this spicy appetizer will definitely make you drool.
Saliva chicken is one of the spicy Sichuan dishes you ought to try.
This mouth-watering spicy Chinese food is made of boiled chicken marinated in chili and sesame oil sauce.
You can find Saliva chicken not only in a Sichuan restaurant but other high-end restaurants in China.
#9. Dan Dan Noodles (Sichuan)
Another spiciest cuisine that hails from Sichuan, is the Dan dan noodles. This dish is made with fiery chili black bean paste, black vinegar, ground Sichuan pepper, soy sauce, ground peanuts, raw minced garlic, and cilantro and scallions for the toppings.
The food has a distinctive hot, nutty, and numbing taste.
#10. Ma Po Tofu (Sichuan)
Another spiciest food from Sichuan province you must try is called Ma po tofu. This popular spicy Chinese dish has a blistering bright red sauce.
Mapo tofu dish is made with simmered silken spicy garlic tofu added with ground pork or beef, chili oil, Sichuan peppercorn, and fermented bean paste. Its oily sauce has an amazing taste that boosts the spiciness and flavor of the dish.
#11. Chinese Chili Garlic Shrimp
Shrimp dishes are hardly to be found in China, but this spiciest cuisine can be found in various restaurants in the country.
Chinese chili garlic shrimp is mainly made with shrimp, and other ingredients such as oyster sauce, honey, chili oil with chili flakes, black pepper, unsalted butter, garlic, cilantro, green onion, red or green chili, fried shallot, and lemon.
This spicy Chinese garlic shrimp goes well with garlic noodles, steamed and fried rice.
Definitely among the spiciest food you must try when visiting China.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
The predominant ingredient in most Chinese cooking is rice. But in some places in the northern region, wheat-based noodles are often used more than rice noodles.
Mexico is the home of the spiciest chili and peppers such as Jalapeno, Pabloan, Habanero, Ancho, and Serrano peppers. Thus, the country makes the spiciest food in the whole world.
A recipe that includes red pepper, chili powder, garam masala, Jalapenos, and peri peri sauce is unarguably a very spicy food that will give your mouth a fiery sensation.
