It is said that in the 1920s and 1930s, the Ma brothers opened the first hotpot restaurant with red soup and hairy belly in Chongqing, and the main course was hairy belly. During the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, hairy belly hot pot began to appear at banquets in Chongqing. During the Anti-Japanese War, hot pot restaurants in Chongqing developed greatly, and hot pot restaurants opened all over the street. Among them, Yunlong Garden, Academy, 141, No Drunk, Qiaotou and so on are famous. On this basis, it became a hot pot in modern Chongqing.
Chongqing hot pot culture is rich and unique. One is to show the inclusiveness of China cooking. The word "hot pot" is not only the name of pot and container, but also the unity of technology and eating method of pot and container. The second is to show the harmony contained in China's diet. From the use of raw materials and soup materials to the coordination of cooking techniques, we should seek common ground while reserving differences and sum up the differences, so as to perfectly combine meat and vegetables, raw and cooked, spicy and fresh and sweet, tender and crisp and rotten, fragrant and strong with alcohol. Especially in folk customs, Chongqing hot pot presents a harmonious scene and psychological feelings, creating a cultural atmosphere of "concentricity, gathering, sharing and happiness". The third is universality.
Chongqing hot pot originated from the folk and sublimated to the temple fair. Whether vendors, servants, senior officials, literati, poets, businessmen, farmers or men with green hair and yellow hair, their consumer groups cover a wide range, and the per capita consumption times are far behind other places. As a kind of food, hot pot has become the representative of Chongqing cuisine and the business card of the city, so that people say, "If you don't eat hot pot in Chongqing, you have never been to Chongqing."