The History of Chongqing Hot Pot

Chongqing hot pot, also named beef tripe hotpot

and spicy hot pot, is originated from dock man's coarse diet behavior in Jialing river bank, Chongqing, in Qing dynasty. Its main ingredients are beef tripe, pig gullet, duck gut and duck blood. As a dish of Chongqing people, it owns the features of heavy taste, spicy flavor, red peppers seasoner. Afterwards, it developed to be sold in itinerant booth.

It is said that 20-30's in last century, the brothers Ma opened a first hot pot restaurant characterized by beef tripe in Chongqing. In the period of Daoguang, estimated, beef tripe jot pot was list in Chongqing's feast. In the anti-Japanese war time, hot pot catering had made great improvement that hot pot restaurants were spread over streets and alleys. And that was the starting point of modern Chongqing hot pot.

The truly authentic beef tripe hot pot, according to the statement of senior citizens in Chongqing, appeared in about the 15^th year of Republican period, and originated in Zaifang Street, a place bellowed Yangtze River Bridge instead of Jiangbei. Most beef chapmen at that time carried cows from Sichuan, stayed overnight in Chongqing, and slaughtered cows in Zaifang Street. So Brothers Ma brought mass unsold tripe and blood at low cost, mainly with which they established a spicy hot pot restaurant imitating the folk cooking way.

Those are the stories about how beef tripe hot pot named and developed, reputedly. A restaurant specialized in making authentic beef tripe hot pot did not exist until the anti-Japanese war time came. It had won great reputation among customers for its fresh and tender tripe and its pleasant taste surpassing others.