Sichuan Bang Bang Chicken (Bang Bang Ji) — Smashed Sesame Tradition
Leshan, Sichuan Province
Bang bang ji (棒棒鸡) — Leshan style — is a Sichuan street food where poached chicken is literally beaten with a wooden stick (bang) to separate the fibres, then dressed with a complex sesame-chili-vinegar sauce. The smashing tenderises and creates rough, sauce-catching surfaces. Distinguished from the modern 'bang bang chicken salad' that bears no resemblance to the original.