For Sichuanese people, eating is something big, and a lot of people eating together is something bigger, especially on traditional festivals like the Spring Festival.

Needless to say that hotpot occupies a very important position in Sichuanese cuisine, as seen by the hotspot restaurants of various sizes that dot Sichuan’s avenues and alleys. However, there are a lot more than hotspot that appear on the dining tables of Sichuanese when they get together during the Spring Festival.

Fish is usually an essential foodstuff of a Spring Festival reunion dinner in Sichuan, like in many other parts of China, as “fish”has the same pronunciation as “surplus”in Chinese and thus is eaten to pray for a good year ahead. In Sichuan, fish is usually cooked with pickled Chinese cabbage and pepper.

Chicken is another essential foodstuff for Sichuanese. Different cooking methods are used to satisfy various tastes.