Chinese Hotpot: a Communal Food Culture

Another piece of literacy text, Han shi waizhuan written by master Han Yin around 150 B.C.E., also provides a possible answer to hot pot origin. Dated further back to the Warring States Period (475 – 221 B.C.E.), the concept of Chinese hotpot had already been developed and used in celebrating feasts. In the collection of songs, one piece of the song wrote: “bells were hit, and tripods were displayed.” This song describes a scenario that ancient people celebrated a sacrificial ceremony by hitting the bell, and the tripod was used as a fire-pot. They gathered around the tripod and put the meat, mainly beef and mutton, into the vast cooking vessel. The well-cooked meat was divided and distributed to each individual’s bowl. The idea of eating hotpot may evolve from this primitive way of adding and cooking all the raw ingredients in a simmering metal pot at the center of people, and the tripod is considered the prototype of hotpot (Han N.P.; “The Historical Origin of Hot Pot”). 

When the time moved to the period of Three Kingdoms (220 – 280 C.E.), The Book of Wei (Wei Shu) documented that Cao Pei, the Kind of Wei Dynasty, used wu shu fu (a cooking kettle with five interior dividers) to cook a variety of food separately at the same time, which was the earliest shabu-shabu pot in the world (Wei N.P.; “The Historical Origin of Hot Pot”). 

In the Northern and Southern Dynasties (386 – 589 C.E.), the copper tripod, Tong ding, had become the most common household utensil which developed into the modern hot pot. It can be inferred that hot pot has been a communal concept and cuisine from this period. There was no social status or prestige involved; lower-class people had access to it as well. The wealth may have better raw meat and more types of vegetables, but the manner of how to eat was same for people across the social class: they all used the firepot (“The Historical Origin of Hot Pot”).

In the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 C.E.), poetic works recorded hot pot in more detail. The renowned poet, Bai Juyi, described the scene of eating hot pot in his famous poem, "An invitation of my friend Liu Shijiu":  

" I have some recently fermented rice wine with green foam, the small terracotta pot stove is warm and inviting. There's a feeling of snow coming after dark, would you like to join me for a drink tonight?"

In this piece of work, inviting his friend, Bai Juyi wished to treat his friend with hotpot in his own home. This invitation also reflects the cultural value of hotpot ——a bridge to cohere the friendship (“The Historical Origin of Hot Pot”).

• Northern Taste: non-spicy

Typically, the hotpot in northern China is mutton based soup or non-spicy broth. Local people have the habit of drinking mutton soup in winter. Since ancient times, nomadic people mainly lived in the north part of China, where has plains and prairies that are more suitable for breeding sheep. In the north, mutton is a common meat and mutton soup is a main staple. There is a tradition of drinking mutton soup as a tonic to warm the body for nomadic people since ancient time. Additionally, the climate in the northern part is dry and cold. Instead of eating spicy cuisine, which has an effect of removing moisture, northerners are prone to eat neutral (neither hot nor cold) and warm food in winter, like mutton. Usually, people consider mutton as nourishing food and has a warming effect, especially eating it in cold weather (Anderson 232).

• Southern Taste: spicy

In ancient China, the south part of the country was more humid and colder than it is now (“History of Chinese Hotpot”). Generally, people who live in south China prefer spicy cuisines, and the hotpot there is always hot and spicy. According to Chinese culinary philosophy, spicy cuisine has the function of driving cold, keeping warmth, and removing moisture. The chili has become a central and potent symbol for several southern regions in China, such as Sichuan, Hunan, Yunnan, and Chongqing. The boldly use of chili peppers could be found in their cuisines. Those regions are also rich in various types of chili: capsicum annuumvar(朝天辣椒), capsicum annuum longum(长辣椒), capsicum chinense(灯笼辣椒) and capsicum frutescens(小米辣椒).

• Northern Taste: mainly eat meat

Northern people are famous for their love of meat, mutton in particular. The climate could partially explain their preference as meat-eaters. The climates of north and south vary greatly. The northern region is usually several degrees colder than the southern region in China, which makes an apparent temperature variation. Meat is the primary food and necessity for people living in a cold area to obtain enough calories and energy. 

When having hotpot in cold weather, it is perfect to have sliced meat (normally mutton and beef) as their main dish accompanied by only a small amount of vegetables, including Chinese cabbage, spinach, potato, bean vermicelli, and tofu.

• Southern Taste: mainly eat offal

Southern people are famous for their love of offal, including duck intestines, duck blood, boneless chick feet, tripe, and duck tongue. They mainly put offal and just a little meat and vegetables into the hotpot. Due to their spicy broth, they have more choice of ingredients. Even though the edible offal always has strong odor, the thick soup could easily remove the unpleasant smell. People fall in love with them is mainly because the texture of those ingredients is good for absorbing the hot pot soup; it is more tasty to eat with the spicy juice. They are adored by people also because of their good taste with enough elasticity. The particular food preference in south creates a unique sensation on the tongue and forms a classic taste of spicy hotpot.