Nowadays, hot pot has become a popular food in the world. The hot air, all kinds of ingredients rolling, taste spicy and delicious, is a kind of old and young food. Eat it in summer to get rid of body moisture; eat it in winter to keep your body warm.

There is a saying prevalent on the Internet: "There is nothing that a hot pot can't solve; if there is, then eat two." Enough to show how much we love hot pot, hot pot has basically become our staple food. When friends and family get together, couples, classmates and other kinds of gatherings, hot pot will not be absent.

Many people think that hot pot started in the Qing Dynasty, but in fact it is not, the history of hot pot from the Warring States period. So how did hot pot become the favorite cuisine of people all over the world after several twists and turns in this long history?

One, the hot pot's "past life"

On the origin of the hot pot, now has been circulating two sayings: one is in the Three Kingdoms period, when the so-called "copper tripod" is the predecessor of the hot pot; the second is that the hot pot began in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the excavated artifacts of the "bronze tripod" is the predecessor of the hot pot; the second is that the hot pot began in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the "copper tripod" is the predecessor of the hot pot. The second is that the hot pot began in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the "bucket" in the excavated artifacts refers to the hot pot.

But these two claims have not been the most conclusive evidence, relying on a few excavated artifacts, we can not confirm whether it is true or false. It's impossible to confirm which one is the source of hot pot, but we still know that it's been around longer than we thought. As for the origin of the hot pot's name, it is said to be called "antique soup" because of the "gurgling" sound that occurs when vegetables and other ingredients are added to the hot pot.

According to the Book of Wei, during the Three Kingdoms era, copper hot pots already existed and were used to cook chicken, duck, fish and other meats; however, due to the turmoil of the times, only the royal family could eat hot pots, and the royal family used copper utensils to make hot pots. In contrast, most of the people at the bottom were displaced from their homes and had no means of enjoying themselves, and the cooking techniques were not perfect enough, so hot pot was only popular among the nobles, and the development of hot pot in the private sector was greatly restricted.

Then the country's situation is much better, cooking technology is further improved, a variety of hot pot gradually introduced, the common people also began to gradually access to the hot pot, so the hot pot slowly began to popularize. It was then that the mandarin duck hotpot was created. It is said that Cao Pi, the Emperor of Wei, liked to cook things in an appliance called "five-cooking kettle". As the name suggests, the "five-cooking kettle" consisted of five compartments where different foods could be cooked in different compartments, which can be regarded as the originator of the mandarin duck hot pot.

The great poet Bai Juyi also wrote in his poem: "Green ants new drunkenness, red clay small stove". The name "red clay fireplace" refers to the ceramic hot pot.

During the Tang Dynasty, most vessels were made of pottery and were called "warming pots". Before that, most people used copper pots and other copper utensils to cook hot pots, but during the Tang Dynasty, most people used ceramic porcelain, and hot pots were no longer the exclusive privilege of royalty, which created certain conditions for the popularization of hot pots.

Tao Yuanming, the great poet of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, has always been listed as the first of the literati, he was hidden in the landscape, with mountains and rivers, insects and birds, his favorite is poetry, wine, willow and chrysanthemums, and is also very fond of hot pot. Tao Yuanming pursued a life of idyllic living, and for this reason, he has been out of office several times to go back to his hermitage, and his pursuit of seclusion and elegance can be seen everywhere.

His love for chrysanthemums was not just a phrase: "picking chrysanthemums under the east fence, leisurely see the south mountain", he even put chrysanthemums on the table, creating a hot pot, known as "chrysanthemum hot pot" - that is, put chrysanthemums on the hot pot, which is also called "chrysanthemum hot pot". -that is, putting chrysanthemums on the hot pot not only makes the color look better, but also prolongs one's life.

During the Tang Dynasty, the reputation of chrysanthemum hot pot grew as the literati competed to emulate their predecessors' high spirits. It is said that taverns and restaurants began to offer chrysanthemum hot pot in season, and the Empress Dowager Cixi was even more enamored of chrysanthemum hot pot. After the Tang Dynasty, hot pot had spread throughout the streets and alleys, becoming a well-known delicacy.

By the Song Dynasty, the world was stable and the economy was thriving, and it was said that the GDP of the Song Dynasty accounted for 22.7% of the world's GDP, and people's lives were getting better and better, and the money in their hands increased a lot, so they naturally thought about eating better and having a better life. So during the Song Dynasty, people became more and more particular about what they ate, and all the cooking, roasting, popping and stir-frying that we know today were invented at that time, and the shabu-shabu (hot pot) style of eating was developed from this time as well.

The story goes that Lin Hong, a gourmet of the Southern Song Dynasty, mentioned two experiences of shabu-shabu in his "Qingsui Shanjia" (The Clear Supply of the Mountain House): When Lin Hong came to Wuyi Mountain, there was a heavy snowfall, and someone caught a rabbit in the snow and wind, but there was no chef, so how could he eat it? Cut the rabbit into thin slices, use the wind stove as a vessel, put water on it, and when the water boils, you can use it by shabu-shabu.

After five or six years, Lin Hong ate shabu-shabu again in Hangzhou, and recalling the rabbit hot pot in the mountains, he couldn't help but be inspired and blurt out the words, "The waves of the clear river are snowing, and the wind is turning over the evening sun. So he named the hot pot "Puan Xia Zhui". Speaking of names, isn't that a picture?

By the Ming Dynasty, the hot pot had a more modern flavor. According to legend, the hot pot was not only about taste, but also about health. This is similar to the contemporary pursuit of "eating hot pot and drinking herbal tea".

To the Qing Dynasty, hot pot is greatly respected, the Manchu will be this way of eating again into the court cuisine. It is said that the development of hot pot has reached the point of unprecedented prosperity. Folk restaurant sold hot pot is a rich variety of chicken, duck, fish, meat, all kinds of vegetables and fruits, etc. let a person dizzy. Emperor Qianlong is very fond of eating hot pot, it is said that he was on a private visit, every place to go to taste the local hot pot, outside still so, in the palace, also can not leave the hot pot.

As a die-hard fan of hot pot, the Qianlong Emperor even developed different hot pot for his own consumption in different seasons: spring eat "stewed pickles hot pot", summer eat "wild hot pot", fall eat "! Bird's nest, onion and pepper duck hot pot", in the cold winter is more, almost never leave the hot pot. According to records, in the fourteenth year of Qianlong, he ate 23 kinds of hot pot in a month, together 66 times, it is really breathtaking. It seems that Qianlong is not only a wise ruler, but also a foodie.

He not only likes to eat hot pot himself, but also personally "endorse" hot pot. According to records, Qianlong forty-eight years on the tenth day of the first month, he had a banquet in the palace, 530 tables of hot pot feast, really magnificent. At the time of his abdication, that is, the first year of Jiaqing, he ran a larger hot pot feast, known as the "Thousand Old Men Banquet", *** to set up 1550 tables, inviting all the ministers of the Palace to taste, the number of people to the feast of 5,000 people, can be said to be the front of no one, and none of the latter.

To now hot pot is even better, not only in China's development, and has long been out of the country, many foreign countries on China's hot pot is also very favorite, there are people in order to eat Chinese food immigrants. The future of hot pot can be said to be flourishing ah.

Second, the hot pot "terminology"

Shabu-shabu: Meat and vegetables are easy to get old, and overcooking them not only tastes bad, but the shape is even more difficult to describe; the old meat is hard to swallow, and it's a test for our teeth. Vegetables such as potatoes and groundnuts, when overcooked, melt into the soup and are nowhere to be found. Boiled: offal, eel with worms, as well as seafood, fish and other ingredients, containing a lot of bacteria, several times after the heating and cooking times to eat. And some vegetables are not cooked if the body has a certain degree of toxicity, hot pot is delicious, but also do not rush oh. Boil: tripe duck intestines are the most delicate, always pay attention to the movement. Put it into the boiling hot pot, chopsticks strength is not loose or tight, 15 seconds to pick out the party can be Q Q Qiao, you can prevent the Samurai nutrients due to high temperature cooking and loss, so folklore is rumored to be a tripe boil seven on eight said that the duck intestines rolled on the three under the three maneuvers.

Summary

Today, hot pots have successfully spread throughout China. Although everything that can be eaten can be shabu-shabu, the environment is different from place to place, so naturally the preference and taste of eating hot pot is very different.

Sichuan and Shu areas love spicy, bright red oil mixed with chili peppers, so that people's appetites are full, eat up the oil but not greasy, so that people can not stop, spicy fish hot pot is also famous in the country; Chongqing hot pot is also favorite spicy, the most famous but also a number of small hot pots, the soup base is delicious, want a few strings to take a few strings, there is no eat the rest of the situation.

Chongqing hot pot soup base is the most authentic spicy flavor, let a person spicy but can not stop, Chongqing people love tripe, duck intestines, a plate of a plate is not too much; Yunnan hot pot is also like spicy, and most like to add mushrooms, a lot of unique mountain treasures can only be eaten here; Beijing is most like fat beef; Henan's favorite mutton; Hunan people are the most heavy, like shabu shabu pig brain.

Whether you like the freshness or spiciness of the mushroom soup pot, the seafood pot or the tomato pot, I'm sure you'll always be able to find a hot pot here that suits you best. Even though there are various ways of eating, various preferences, and various soup bases, there is only one purpose of eating hot pot, and that is to find a suitable excuse to get together with relatives, friends, classmates, and colleagues to talk about the present, review the past, and look forward to the future.

A hot pot is the emotional sustenance, we are busy in our own world, but we do not have time to consider the family, care for friends, but as long as a hot pot is enough. On the table, astronomy and geography, gossip and lace, wine and food, those in the unknown day faded feelings and began to gradually warm up.

Really, we eat hot pot, and not just hot pot. We are eating history, culture and heritage. These unique hot pots will become our memories and part of us.