Xianghe Specialty Restaurant is located downstairs from the residents of Taoyuan Road No. 5 Community. This long-established Jianghu restaurant focuses on frogs and eels, and its food stall-style environment is not good-looking, but its delicious and affordable products make it highly well-known among locals, and it is often hard to find a restaurant in the store.
Sichuan and Chongqing have their own tradition of eating frogs, dry boiling, boiling, salt and pepper, red soup, stir-frying and other methods, most of the Jianghu restaurants have frog dishes on the menu. But when it comes to places dedicated to eating frogs, local gourmets will invariably recommend Xianghe. Since it is a frog eating specialty store, Xianghe's cooking methods and taste of frogs are naturally more changeable than ordinary Jianghu restaurants. There are more than ten kinds of recipes, corresponding to different types of frogs and different parts of frog meat, which are either numb or spicy, crispy or tender. Xianghe is definitely a must-visit restaurant for frog lovers in Chongqing.
The store's first recommended dried roasted frog meat is fried in boiling oil to form a layer of crispy shell, and then mixed with chili pepper, Chaotian pepper, ginger and chili sauce to tighten the gravy over low heat. The frog meat hidden in the chili pepper is firm and chewy, and the crispy aroma has a pungent spicy taste. Many people only choose large pieces of frog meat with bones when eating roasted frogs, but the "petal meat" (frog shank meat) buried at the bottom of the plate is also not to be missed. The small pieces of leg meat are fried golden and translucent, and the sauce is absorbed, although it is not large, the more you eat it, the more enjoyable it becomes.
In contrast to the spicy dry roasted frog, the boiled frog highlights the sour and numb taste. The seasoning of the boiled frog in the store is lantern pickled pepper, which is slightly less spicy but has a better freshness effect, as well as Mauwen peppercorns and sliced mustard to highlight the delicate texture of the frog meat. The cucumber and lettuce skin at the bottom absorb the flavor of the red soup, which is equally sour and spicy. However, the size of this dish frog meat is not as large as dry roasted frog and braised frog, the portion is less, and friends with a larger amount of food can choose another stir-fried frog belly to satisfy the stomach. The frog belly is a little more crispy than the frog leg meat, and the stir-fry method is dry and fragrant, and the garlic sprouts as a side dish also play a good role in enhancing the fragrance. In addition to the beautiful frog, you can also choose a frog belly commonly known as "bungee belly" in this dish. The latter is small, thin, and crispy, but the quantity is limited, and it is often preemptively booked by regular customers.
Most of the peaceful waiters are local "嬢嬢" (local dialect, meaning adult women), and they are quick with their hands and feet, but their response to customer needs is not ideal. The environment of the store is basically clean and tidy, but the temporary tables and chairs at the door are shabby, and the surrounding hygiene is poor. In addition, the store stated that it does not issue invoices, which may cause problems for some customers.
