The Cultural History of Chongqing Hotpot

Chongqing hot pot, also known as tripe hot pot or spicy hot pot, is a traditional way of eating in China. It originated from the extensive catering style of boatmen along Jialing River and Chaotianmen River in Chongqing in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. The raw materials are mainly tripe, pig's yellow throat, duck intestines and cow's blood.

In the 1920s, hot pot developed in Jiangbei Town, Chongqing. At first, the vendors carried a clay stove with a big iron basin filled with spicy and salty gravy. So it became the most delicious food for the workers selling coolies by the river, which could not only satisfy hunger, but also increase calories. As long as the food in the basin is tripe and liver.

Is Chongqing hot pot really like this?

It has also been written that Chaotianmen, where Chongqing's two rivers (Yangtze River and Jialing River) flow, is a place where Muslims slaughter animals, but Muslims who kill cattle will throw away their internal organs. Sailors and trackers on the shore picked it up, washed it, put it in a pot, and added spices such as pepper, pepper, ginger, garlic and salt. Later, it gradually became a spicy hairy belly hot pot in Chongqing.

Although there are different opinions about the origin of Chongqing hot pot, it was finally favored by Chongqing people and became the business card of Chongqing.