Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan Province, with a long history, and is known as "the country of Tianfu", "Shuzhong Jiangnan" and "Shuzhong Suzhou and Hangzhou". Chengdu is one of the oldest cities in China, where its site has remained unchanged and continues to this day, and its snacks have been famous since ancient times.
Chengdu's unique flavor and wide variety of snacks are as popular as its big dishes. From all kinds of small noodles to hand-pickles and dumplings, from pickled brine to cold food, from pan fried preserves to pastry dumplings, from steaming and baking to butter and deep-frying, there are no less than 200 kinds of varieties.
In the streets and alleys of Chengdu, you can see snack bars everywhere. Most of these famous snacks were picked up by small traders and vendors in the early years, and stalls were set up along the streets to operate. Chengdu snacks are often named after the surnames of small traders and the streets where the shops are opened, and the signs are rich and colorful, and they are linked to the characteristics of the industry and the scenery of the store site, such as Lai Tangyuan on Zongfu Street, Zhong Shui Dumplings in Lychee Lane, Xiaolong Steamed Beef at Zhide No. 1changshun Street, Zhang Duck in Dongzidong, Zhang Lao Wuliang Powder in Dongzikou, Plain Noodles in Tongjing Lane, etc. Today, some famous snacks have been relocated to new locations, but still use the old names.
Chengdu is famous for its tangyuan. In the past, in the bustling streets and alleys of Chengdu or near tea houses and theaters, there was always a pair of tangyuan burdens and hand-pickers at dusk, which were sold at night in the dark night, attracting late returning foodies. This kind of burden is placed at one end of the steaming pot, one end is a cabinet containing spices, the counter is also a table for foodies, a shiny yellow bamboo tube is tied to the stool of the foodie at both ends of the burden, and an oil lamp is lit in the dark, which not only attracts customers but also serves as cooking lighting. A small pair of snack burdens in that era gave how many people warmed up and how many people's mouths were hungry.
In 1894, Lai Yuanxin, a native of Dongfeng Town, Ziyang, Sichuan, followed his cousin to a restaurant in Chengdu to apprentice, and a few years later, the craftsman arrived home, that is, he raised money to sell tangyuan. In order to win customers, he pursues three business strategies: profit to see the thin point, good service point, high quality point. He makes tangyuan fine, the dough powder is polished evenly, the filling oil sugar is heavy, it has the characteristics of the dough powder is fine and white and tender, the filling is sweet and fragrant, the skin is thin and fragrant, it does not stick to the bowl, it does not stick to the chopsticks, and it does not stick to the teeth. Coupled with his kindness and kindness, Tong Shuo was not deceived, and Lai Yuanxin's tangyuan burden gradually became famous among many small food burdens. Over time, Chengdu people are accustomed to calling the tangyuan sold by Lai Yuanxin as "Lai Tangyuan". Lai Yuanxin got this reputation after paying more attention to the quality of tangyuan, the business is more and more prosperous, more and more savings, in the 1930s in chengdu's bustling area of Chunxi Road North Street to open a shop to operate tangyuan, the name of the shop is "Lai Tangyuan". At that time, Lai Tangyuan only had a small narrow shop, downstairs for business, upstairs for workshops, a hole in the floor slab, the following tangyuan was cooked, a rattle, a rope hanging and rubbing the tangyuan down, just on the mouth of the pot. Tangyuan stuffed with sesame seeds dipped in sugar and tahini sauce are the most popular.
After the opening of the shop, Lai Tangyuan was first famous for the chicken fat tangyuan, and since then the variety has increased, with more than 10 kinds of fillings such as black sesame seeds, sesame paste, ice oranges, roses, washing sand, eight treasures, cherries and so on. The tangyuan sold in the sitting hall has different shapes, some round, some pointed, some oval, some shaped like a pillow, a bowl of different forms, small and exquisite, 4 kinds of filling flavors, accompanied by sugar, sesame paste for guests to eat tangyuan dipping food, a fleet of foodies that come to admire the endless, Lai tangyuan has become the golden sign of Chengdu tangyuan. Collecting armpits into qiu, accumulating sand into towers, Lai Yuanxin made a fortune by selling tangyuan and made a lot of money.
For more than 100 years, Lai Tangyuan store has been operated by several generations. In the 1950s, Lai Tangyuan was transformed into a state-owned catering store, inheriting the "three-point" business strategy of founder Lai Yuanxin, inheriting the traditional production process, and the business was more prosperous.
Lai Tangyuan has always followed the operation mode of sitting in the store and operating in the front and back shops, and operates a single Tangyuan food. By the early 1980s, the operators of Lai Tangyuan changed their business philosophy and ideas, adhering to the concept of "snacks can make big articles, and small commodities also have a big market", which enabled the enterprise to achieve rapid development.
There is also a tangyuan shop in Chengdu that is as famous as Lai Tangyuan, called Guo Tangyuan. Guo Tangyuan stuffing is filled with a variety of preserves, a bowl of four tangyuan, each with different tastes, very distinctive.
Zhong Shui dumplings have a high status in Chengdu's famous snacks. The most famous varieties are red oil dumplings and clear soup dumplings: red oil dumplings are made of sweet red soy sauce, highlighting the sweet and salty umami and red oil garlic puree aroma; clear soup dumplings are clear and delicious, delicate and slaggy.
The filling of northern dumplings is generally based on vegetables, and the filling of bell dumplings is made of pure meat, which is the difference between bell dumplings and northern dumplings. Another feature of Zhong Shui Dumpling is that its seasoning is homemade salty red soy sauce, which has a very pleasant salty and sweet taste, which is the difference between Zhong Shui Dumplings and other dumplings in Sichuan.
Authentic bell dumplings are known for their red oil dumplings, which are handmade with skin, strict filling selection, fine production, slightly spicy, fresh, salty and sweet, and accompanied by the shop's special pretzel and salt crispy pot, which is really a unique flavor.
The clear soup dumplings of Zhong Shui Dumplings are also good, delicious, light but not thin, and the entrance is delicate and slagged, which is the best product among pasta products. Zhong Shui Dumplings became famous in Chengdu in the 1920s and became a famous local snack in Chengdu. In 1992, Zhong Shui Dumpling was rated as "Chengdu Famous Snack", in 1995 it was selected as "Chinese Time-honored Brand", and in 1999 it was awarded the title of "Chinese Famous Snack".
There are also sweet and delicious, oily but not greasy Guyue Hu Sanhe mud, meat filling, full of meat filling, fresh and fragrant Han buns, crisp and sweet flower cakes, white and crystal pearl balls, as well as oil tea, steamed steamed cakes, twist flowers, hair cakes, horseshoe cakes, sugar oil fruits, three cannons, sour and spicy powder, cold powder, cold noodles, pea cakes, fat intestine powder, small steamed buns, strange chicken nuggets, strange rabbit diced, cold belly strips, husband and wife lung slices, Wang Fat Duck, hanging furnace chicken in The Rat Hole, Huaiyuan Sanjie, Cha Slag Noodles, and so on. There are too many snacks in Chengdu to count. Nowadays, Chengdu's food festival is famous at home and abroad, Chengdu people love to eat, eat, eat exquisitely, Chengdu people and Chengdu snacks together, the world's reputation.