🍽️ Lazi Chicken

Chicken cubes buried in dry chilies.

Lazi Chicken is a flagship of Chongqing's Jianghu street-restaurant cooking. Tender thigh meat is cut into cubes, marinated and fried until crisp outside and juicy inside, then tossed in the wok with heaps of dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns. The dish arrives as a mountain of red chilies, with the chicken cubes hiding inside — diners literally dig through the chillies to find the meat. The first impression is an intense dry, toasty aroma; the chicken is crisp and well-seasoned, and numbness and heat build layer by layer, growing more addictive with every bite. Despite the fiery look, it is aromatic rather than harsh. A staple of Chongqing's loud street eateries, it is eaten with rice or an ice-cold beer to balance the spice.