If you had to find the noisiest, most vertical, most chaotic, and most flavorful city in China, you'd find Chongqing. A megacity of 30 million people built on steep hills at the confluence of the Yangtze and Jialing rivers. A city you can't understand from an aerial photograph because most of its surface is vertical. And a city whose cuisine has influenced Chinese gastronomy more than most recognize.
Chongqing is officially a municipality under direct central government control. Its urban core is built on a series of hills falling toward two rivers. There are no bike lanes—outdoor escalators are essential public infrastructure. The metro passes through apartment buildings. The climate is brutal: humid, hot in summer, cloudy almost all winter. When the sun comes out, locals celebrate.
If there's one dish that defines Chongqing, it's hotpot (重庆火锅): a cauldron of bright red chili oil boiling and bubbling, so loaded with spices and Sichuan pepper that the steam alone makes your eyes sting. Into that cauldron goes everything: tripe, intestines, tofu, vegetables. You order what you want, drop it in the boiling broth, pull it out when ready, and dip it in sesame sauce with fresh garlic. A two-hour hotpot with friends is a top-tier social activity in Chongqing.
Chongqing is the birthplace of Jianghu cuisine (江湖菜), born on the riverbanks among stevedores, boatmen, and merchants. Jianghu means "rivers and lakes"—the term wuxia literature uses for wanderers and wandering warriors. The cuisine has that spirit: no protocol, no elaborate presentations. Generous portions, brutal flavors, ingredients that don't make it into high-end kitchens.
Gele Mountain is on the outskirts of western Chongqing. In the 90s, several restaurants in the area started serving chunks of fried chicken under an apparently absurd amount of toasted dried chilies—the chili-to-chicken ratio was approximately 3 to 1 by volume. People queued for hours to eat it. At HAMMER we serve our version as Pollo Mala.
Wanzhou is a district of Chongqing on the Yangtze shore. Its specialty traveled throughout China: Wanzhou-style grilled fish (万州烤鱼), roasted over charcoal and served over open flame with vegetables and a sauce of doubanjiang, garlic, and spices that continues cooking as you eat. At HAMMER we serve it with fresh sea bass. Find it on our menu.
Chengdu has the more formal gastronomic reputation—it was recognized as a UNESCO City of Gastronomy in 2010. Chongqing, administratively independent since 1997, has a rawer, more street-style cuisine. At HAMMER we take the best of both: Chengdu's complexity in classic dishes, Chongqing's honest brutality in the Jianghu section. If you want to understand Chongqing without taking a flight, come to HAMMER in Madrid or Barcelona.
Ready to try it?
VIEW OUR MENU →