It used to be popular to eat alone, and when it first appeared, it did not scald the belly. The nine-square grid was originally eight-square,...
Which of these rumors about Chongqing old hot pot are true?
You may have eaten a lot of Chongqing old hot pot, but do you know that old hot pot is what we eat now?
What was the form of the original hot pot?
Recently, a hot pot restaurant next to Hongya Cave in Yuzhong District launched an old hot pot for one person, claiming that this was a popular form of hot pot in Chongqing during the Republic of China, which sparked discussion among diners.
We found some rumors about hot pot: for example, hot pot was not hot when it first appeared, Jiugongge hot pot was originally eight-frame... These rumors are true or false, let us explore together with Chongqing literature, history and gourmet experts.
Hot pot was once popular to eat alone?
Really! Once popular around Chengdu
On the rusty coal stove, there was a small iron pot with a big mouth.
On the bright red charcoal, the butter red soup rolled gently, white gas.
Citizen Mr. Liu sat alone in front of the pot, and put down a piece of hairy belly with great interest. After 20 seconds, he got up the pot and entered the pot with relish.
Mr. Liu is an early adopter of "One-Man Hot Pot", a new style of hot pot near Hongya Cave.
According to He Zhengqin, the person in charge of the hot pot restaurant, the information he checked on the Internet showed that a small hot pot that was eaten by one person was popular during the Republic of China, and some people even found old photos.
So, he changed the storefront to the Republican style based on the look in the picture, and specifically searched for old stoves and small iron pots.
Was hot pot really popular to eat alone?
The reporter asked a number of Chongqing literature and history experts for verification.
"There is indeed such a form, but the most popular area is not in Chongqing." Xiao Nengzhu, a local cultural explorer in Chongqing, said that single-person hot pot should be popular in the surrounding areas of Chengdu.
According to some historical records, in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, there were more banner people living in this area, and the diet was more sophisticated, so there was a single-person hot pot similar to mutton-shabu.
Xiao Nengzhu recalled that in the late 1970s and early 1980s, he had eaten such a one-person hot pot in Guanghan, Sichuan.
At that time, you need to buy tickets to eat hot pot. There are roughly red tickets, white tickets, green tickets and other colored tickets, representing different grades of meat and vegetable ingredients. Unfinished dishes can be refunded as long as they have not been moved.
This form has also appeared in Chongqing, but it has not been popular, and it is a relatively small way of eating.
Doesn't hot pot scald the hairy belly at first?
fake! Hairy belly should be used as a food ingredient
Maodu is the most popular dish in Chongqing old hot pot, but it was once said that Chongqing hot pot did not initially have hairy belly. Is this true?
"The origin of hot pot is inconclusive, and in fact it was not invented overnight." Li Zhengquan, an expert on Chongqing place names and author of "Chongqing Place Names Miscellaneous Talk", said that the form of hot pot actually existed during the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Distributing it to everyone is the embryonic form of hot pot.
In ancient times, the army used a cauldron to cook rice. The so-called "partner" is also an extension of the meaning of eating in the same pot.
Even in the countryside, people use tripod pots to hang on the fire, and everyone sits around the fire to keep warm while cooking a pot of food. This can be regarded as the embryonic form of hot pot.
The source of Chongqing hot pot, the most common saying is that the boatmen boiled the "hodgepodge" of beef into a pot.
"Chongqing hot pot should still be related to cattle." Xiao Nengzhu added that Chongqing did not produce cattle. In the early years, the cattle in Chongqing came from Shaanxi by land, and the buffalo came from Guizhou, passing through Nanchuan, Banan and other places, and passed through Sichuan and Guizhou. The ancient road enters Chongqing, the journey is far away.
After these cattle have traveled hundreds of kilometers to reach Chongqing, they will inevitably suffer from natural wear and tear, and there will be sick or even dead cattle.
At that time, cattle entering Chongqing were required to pay related taxes, and sick cattle and dead cattle could not sell for a good price after paying taxes, so they were killed in advance to sell beef and offal.
Healthy cattle are sold to farmers as farm cattle, and the offal of the killed cattle is boiled into a pot in the simplest way. This is the original Chongqing hot pot.
No matter which way it is said, Chongqing hot pot has a deep connection with Niu He Niu Shui.
Xiao Nengzhu believes that at the time, as an important part of beef offal, it was considered a hot pot ingredient.
Jiugongge was originally eight?
fake! Eight grids are difficult to make and costly
It is rumored that the original hot pot was not "Nine Palaces" but eight grids.
Is there a basis for this?
"In the beginning, it was a cross grid." Li Zhengquan said that the original hot pot used a cross wooden block as a partition. Later, more grids were gradually derived and finally became the current nine-square grid form.
But it seems that the eight grids can only make the wooden grids into a rice shape.
In the context of underdeveloped productivity in the Republic of China and even in the late Qing Dynasty, such a design was more difficult to produce, and the cost would be relatively higher. Therefore, the operator's request for woodworkers to make eight-frame partitions does not meet the cost considerations.
Chen Yu, a well-known food critic in Chongqing, said that in the early years of hot pot, it was a common situation to join tables.
For example, when several people eat a pot, each person only occupies one of the grids and eats their own without interfering with each other, but sometimes there are exceptions, because the bottom of the wooden grid is not completely partitioned, and sometimes it can be eaten in other people’s grids. "Smuggled" ingredients.
Hot pot restaurants sold coffee during the Republic of China?
To be verified, or for profitability
There have been media reports that some people sold hot pot in cafes during the Republic of China.
On May 21, 1946, the Han Palace Café, located next to the "Spiritual Fortress" on Minquan Road, opened. The cafe operated cold drinks, coffee, milk, and pastries, but within a few months, the business scope became more "fresh and clean". "Mao Du", later simply advertised "Han Gong Fresh Hot Pot Hair Du".
"It should not be eating hot pot and drinking coffee at the same time. It's too bad." Li Zhengquan said that the form of operation of this cafe should be that you can drink coffee and eat hot pot at certain times.
But it is unlikely to be drinking coffee while eating hot pot.
Xiao Nengzhu added that in the early years, hot pot restaurants were often not full-time hot pot sellers, because simply operating hot pot often could not support the entire shop. Therefore, “stools” were used to eat hot pot.
At that time, the hot pot tables were all ordinary dining tables, and there was no hole in the middle. The stoves were all placed on the table tops, so they were extremely high.
Diners need to overlap the two benches to reach the pot.
On the other hand, because it uses a coal stove, if it is placed under the table, it will easily burn the diners’ pants.
It wasn't until the fuel for eating hot pot was improved that there was a hot pot table now digging holes.
Of course, this is also due to operating income. In the past, hot pot restaurants often sold other dishes. Combination of hot pot restaurants and Sichuan restaurants is more common.
It is not impossible to combine a cafe with a hot pot restaurant, but it is more playful to have a hot pot while drinking coffee. Therefore, it is more reasonable to use two forms of the same store at different times.
Chongqing Evening News-Upstream News Reporter Peng Guangrui Ranwen