The origin of hot pot

Hot pot, called "ancient style soup" in ancient times, was named after the food was put into boiling water and made a "splash" sound. It is one of the original delicacies in China, and it is also a kind of food suitable for all ages.

It has a long history. According to research, there were hot pots in the Warring States period, and historians used clay pots as pots. By the Song Dynasty, eating hot pot was very common among the people. In Lin Hong's cookbook "Shanjia Qing Palace" in the Southern Song Dynasty, there was an introduction to eating hot pot with friends. In the Yuan Dynasty, hot pot spread to Mongolia. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, hot pot was not only popular among the people, but also became a famous "court dish" made of pheasants.

Hot pot generally refers to a cooking method in which a pot is used as a vessel, a pot is cooked with a heat source, and various foods are cooked with water or soup. At the same time, you can also refer to the pot used in this cooking method. It is characterized by cooking while eating, or the pot itself has the function of heat preservation. When eating, the food is still steaming and the soup is integrated. There are similar dishes all over the world, but they are especially popular mainly in East Asia. Hot pot tastes hot, spicy and salty, oily but not greasy, suitable for mountain and river climate. Nowadays, it has developed into a mandarin duck pot, which is spicy and light, and has its own needs. Different soups and foods are added according to personal preferences, which is suitable for all ages and the best in winter.

Typical hot pot ingredients include all kinds of meat, seafood, vegetables, bean products, mushrooms, egg products, staple foods and so on. They are cooked in boiling water or at the bottom of special soup pots. Some ways of eating will be dipped in seasoning and eaten together.

There are two theories about the origin of hot pot: one is in the period of China Three Kingdoms or Wei Wendi, when the "bronze tripod" was the predecessor of hot pot; The other is that hot pot began in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the "dou" in unearthed cultural relics refers to hot pot. It can be seen that hot pot has a history of 1900 years in China.

Shu Wei recorded that during the Three Kingdoms period, when Cao Pi was the emperor of the Han Dynasty, there was a hot pot made of copper. People use hot pot to rinse pork, cattle, sheep, chicken, fish and other meat, but it was not popular at that time. Later, with the further development of cooking technology, various hot pots appeared one after another. In the Northern Song Dynasty, there were hot pots in the pubs in Kaifeng, Bianjing, in winter. By the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, dozens of different hot pots had been formed all over the country, each with its own characteristics. During the Muromachi period in Japan, hot pot was introduced to Japan from China on 1338. Japanese call hot pot "Xi Shou Shao", also called "Hoe Shao". Today, hot pot has spread to the United States, France, Britain and other countries.

Hot pot has a long history in China. Small pottery stoves used with pottery pots more than 5,000 years ago were unearthed in Zhejiang and other places. It can be easily moved, which can be regarded as the primary form of hot pot. The bronze chafing dish of the Spring and Autumn Period unearthed from the site of Shanrong Culture in Longqingxia, Yanqing, Beijing, has traces of heating.

In the late slave society, a small bronze tripod appeared, with a height of less than 20 cm and a caliber of about 15 cm. Some ding and furnace are combined into one, that is, an interlayer is cast in the ding, which divides the belly of the ding into upper and lower parts, and the lower part has an opening, which can be used for feeding charcoal fire. Some tripod bellies are hollowed out for ventilation, and there is a charcoal plate in the middle of the tripod. People call this tripod "Wen Ding", which is small and convenient. It is said to be a better hot pot.

A small bronze ware named "Dyeing Furnace" and "Dyeing Cup" appeared in Han Dynasty. Its structure is divided into three parts: the main body is charcoal furnace; There is a cup with food on it, the volume is generally 250 to 300 ml; There is a charcoal fire tray below. It can be inferred that this is a small hot pot used by single people in ancient times.

During the Tang and Song Dynasties, hot pot became popular, and officials and celebrities held banquets to prepare more hot pots.

There are five grids of hot pot in the Five Dynasties, which are divided into five grids for guests to rinse. At that time, hot pot was also called warm pot, one was made of copper and the other was made of pottery, which was mainly used in cook the meat.

Hot pot feeling of porcelain enamel pattern

By the Qing Dynasty, all kinds of hot pots with hot pots had become the winter delicacies of the court. Hotpot is a unique way to eat in China. The circular design of hot pot makes the diners blend into a circle, which also indicates the traditional custom of China people to pay attention to reunion. When Emperor Jiaqing ascended the throne, in the grand palace banquet, in addition to delicacies, land and water, 1650 chafing dishes were specially used to entertain guests, making it the largest chafing dish banquet in China history.