Hot pot is a popular food. Eating hot pot has many ingredients to choose from and is nutritious. It is a delicious food for all ages. Hot pot has a long history in China, and there have been many arguments about its origin. So where did the hot pot first originate? Let's look at the hot pot culture and introduce various viewpoints to everyone.

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 an original food in China with a long history. According to textual research, there was hot pot in the Western Han Dynasty, and it was very common for people to eat hot pot in the Song Dynasty. In Lin Hong's cookbook Shanjia Qinggong in the Southern Song Dynasty, there is an introduction about eating hot pot with friends.

In the Yuan Dynasty, hot pot spread to Mongolia and was used to cook beef and mutton. It is said that Kublai Khan of Yuan Shizu likes to eat hot pot, and his chef is also the inventor of instant-boiled mutton. In the Qing Dynasty, hot pot was not only popular among the people, but also became a famous "palace dish". Emperor Qianlong was fascinated by hot pot. It is said that he also gave a banquet in the palace in the first month of the first year of Jiaqing, 1550 hot pot, and invited more than 5,000 people to taste it, making it the largest hot pot feast in history.

The origin of hot pot is PK: Chongqing VS Zigong

There are also different opinions about the origin of hot pot. For a long time, it has been accepted and spread by the public that hot pot originated from Chongqing wharf, but now some people think that the earliest birthplace of hot pot is not in Chongqing, but in Zigong. Those who hold that hot pot originated in Zigong think that the salt workers in Zigong saltworks are more qualified to get the important materials of hot pot: beef, pepper and salt than the boatmen in Chongqing wharf.

Zigong has been famous for its well salt industry since the Eastern Han Dynasty. After Xianfeng in Qing Dynasty, due to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom War, sea salt and Huai salt could not be transported to the west. The well salt in Zigong was appointed by the Qing government to supply the central and southern provinces, which was called "Sichuan salt helps Chu" in history, making the well salt in Zigong increasingly prosperous and becoming the salt center in southwest China.

Due to the huge demand and rich profits, the local saltworks in Zigong started almost day and night, and a strong cow was eliminated or exhausted in only three to six months. Therefore, in the whole southwest region at that time, only Zigong salt workers, the cheapest and hardest people, had the opportunity to eat "free" beef and cattle in the water for a long time.

In addition, the surrounding area of Zigong is the main producing area of high-quality pepper and pepper, and the famous seven-star pepper is produced in Zigong. The salt well in Zigong saltworks is built on the mountain, which is very close to farmland farmers. These spices and vegetables are easily available, not to mention salt.

The boatmen in Chongqing are mainly trackers and porters. The boatmen have not only worked hard for a long time, but also the boatmen's organizations are mostly gang-like, with extremely strict management and rules, and generally there are few opportunities to go ashore. Chongqing riverside does not produce pepper and pepper, so dried pepper and pepper must be bought ashore. At that time, business was extremely underdeveloped, which was more or less a problem.

Until today, there are many schools of hot pot in China. The earliest dispute over the origin of hot pot in Zigong and Chongqing is actually a competition between Sichuan-style hot pot and Chongqing hot pot, but for ordinary diners who like food, they don't care as much as the locals, and the delicacy of hot pot itself is the most noteworthy focus.