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Mouth-Watering Chicken
口水鸡 · Kǒushuǐ Jī
Cold poached chicken in a vibrant chilli-oil-and-Sichuan-peppercorn sauce. Named for the saliva it provokes.
Mouth-watering chicken is the more aggressive cousin of bang bang chicken. Poached chicken pieces (bone-in or shredded) are smothered in a sauce of chilli oil, Sichuan peppercorn, sweet soy, garlic, ginger, sesame paste and crushed peanuts. The overall effect is sour-sweet-mala intensity. Standard cold-dish starter at Sichuan banquets.
Where to try
Sichuan restaurants nationwide.
Dietary notes
Contains peanuts and sesame.
Cities to try Mouth-Watering Chicken
Other southwest dishes
- Baba Flatbread粑粑
Yunnan's daily flatbread — a thick wheat or rice-flour round cooked on a griddle and eaten plain or stuffed.
- Bang Bang Chicken棒棒鸡
Cold poached chicken shredded by hand, dressed in chilli oil, sesame paste and Sichuan peppercorn.
- Boiled Fish in Chilli Oil水煮鱼
Fish slices submerged in a deep pool of chilli oil and Sichuan peppercorns. Served bubbling.
- Chongqing Hotpot重庆火锅
The original mala hotpot — a simmering cauldron of beef tallow, Pixian doubanjiang and Sichuan peppercorn for communal dipping.