Jiangyou Cold Dipping Snacks 江油冷沾沾

Jiangyou Cold Dipping Snacks (江油冷沾沾) are a street snack of Jiangyou (江油), a city in Mianyang (绵阳), Sichuan: small pieces of cooked food threaded on toothpicks and dipped into seasoning before eating. The Mianyang city government compares them to Chengdu's bobo chicken (钵钵鸡) while stressing that the two are quite different.

Ingredients

The Mianyang city government lists potato, lotus root, dried and fresh tofu skin, liangpi (凉皮, cold noodle sheets), enoki mushrooms, liangfen (凉粉, starch jelly), tofu, tofu rings, Chinese cabbage, fengwei (凤尾, 'phoenix tail') and bamboo shoots among the foods used. A China News Service report on Jiangyou adds kelp, pork skin and quail eggs.

How it is made

Everything is cut small and boiled in plain water before it goes on the toothpicks. It is served with red and white dipping sauces, and diners dip whichever pieces they like.

How it is eaten

China News Service describes tables pushed together and covered with cooked potato, tofu skin and other foods on Huopao Street (火炮街, Firecracker Street), a narrow street of evening food stalls in Jiangyou where cold dipping snacks and spring rolls have long been staples. A skewer is soaked in the dip and eaten with sweet vinegar. According to the Mianyang city government, places that serve the snack usually also sell spring rolls: the wrapper is spread with mustard or peanut sauce and filled with red- or white-dressed shredded potato and kelp, then finished with sweet-and-sour vinegar. Some also sell fried potato, liangfen, aubergine cakes and liangpi.