烤和煮，作为最古老的两种烹饪方式，在中国已经延续发展了几千年。火锅，作为煮文化的集大成者，经过几千年的演变，早已风靡中国的大江南北，从烹饪器具到所用食材，不同地区又各有讲究。同样热气腾腾的火锅，或麻辣鲜香，或清淡滋补，人们充分利用所在地域的物产优势，开发了不同种类的火锅。不同吃法的背后，是人们道法自然的古朴智慧。如今，火锅已经成为中国的美食符号，像熊猫和京剧一样，为世界认识中国，打开了一扇香气四溢的窗。

Boiling and broiling represents two time-honored culinary arts that have continued in China over thousands of years. And hot pot, the epitome of boiling arts, has experienced thousands of years of evolution and enjoyed huge popularity around this country. Besides, hot pot in different regions develops distinguishing features in terms of utensils and ingredients. With a similarly steaming pot, it can be spicy and flavorful, or delicate and nutritious, depending on peoples various use of local products. Behind these tastes hides Chinese peoples ancient wisdom of following the law of nature. Nowadays, hot pot has become a symbol of China like panda and Peking Opera, and a window of taste into which people worldwide can see a clearer image of China.

火锅
不同口味
搭配不同食材
带来各种排列组合的美味
不变的
是酣畅淋漓的快乐
是烟火气里的生活

The emergence of hotpot indicates the fact that humans have mastered at least three skills: making a ?re, making cooking tools, and obtaining food. Obtaining food is a basic survival skill, while food cooked over a fire can prevent humans from more digestive diseases, and cooking tools can protect humans from tooth abrasion. Therefore, a relentless pursuit of ingredients and cooking methods essentially starts from the life instinct of humans. The Chinese people have carried this instinct to extremes.
The Chinese people began to eat hotpot 1,000 years ago according to written records, and even 2,000 years ago according to textual research on cultural relics. The extravagant funeral objects buried in tombs unexpectedly allowed future generations to catch a glimpse of lifestyles of thousands years ago, of which various exquisite food utensils unfolded the ancients wisdom in eating before our eyes. The ancients in China attached great importance to food as much as to administering a country. As the famous saying goes, governing a big country is the same as cooking a small fish, which was an inspiration drawn by the ancients from eating hotpot.
In the past 1,000-odd years, many cooking methods and popular dishes were lost, while hotpot was handed down and spread from the royal family to the ordinary people in a more sophisticated way. All the people across China, in spite of different accents, different regions, different customs, and different staple food and tastes, have reached an amazing agreement on hotpot: adding meat and vegetables to boiling soup, and picking up and dipping them in sauce, which is indeed an enjoyable thing in life.
The development of the Silk Road brought a profound impact on Chinese food, of which the most important impact was the introduction of hot peppers. Bene?ted from the peoples fertile imagination on eating, hot peppers were matched with different ingredients to form different combinations such as sour and hot, peppery and spicy, salty and spicy, and sweet and spicy tastes. Population mobility promoted the integration of not only population, but also food, making pepper tastes more diversi?ed. Peppery taste came out on top of other tastes to conquer the taste bud of people.
Today, eating is not only for filling the stomach, but also related to belief. Food is the ?rst necessity of the people, which is the simplest belief of Chinese people. When languages are insuf?cient to identify which ethnic people belong to, diet becomes important information to identify them. Eating speci?c ingredients at speci?c times symbols peoples inheritance of the civilization of ancestors, peoples commitment to their belief, and peoples con?rmation of their identity. At this time, diet is a spiritual comfort instead of ?lling the belly. No matter what belief you hold, there will be a hotpot right for you in China.

大琦，山东人，旅美作者，热爱美食和文字。著有《中国城市：成都印象》《中国城市：杭州印象》《地图上的中国：食在中国》。

Da Qi

A food and travel writer born in Shan- dong province, China; a super fan of delicacies and writing; and the author of Chinese Cities: Chengdu Impressions, Chi- nese Cities: Hangzhou Impressions and China on the map: Eating in China.

.Preface 01
Chapter I Hotpot and Food Utensils
Section 1 The Way to Eat over 1,000 Years 002
Section 2 From the Double-flavor Hotpot to Nine-grid Cauldron 013
Chapter II Long History of Hotpot Culture
Section 1 The Initial Recordation of Hotpot 022
Section 2 Highly Favored and Promoted by the Royal Family 028
Section 3 The Increasing Particularity of Eating Hotpot 036
Chapter III So Large Is the Catering World
Section 1 Instant-boiled Mutton in Old Beijing 042
Section 2 Sichuan and Chongqing Hotpot: The Taste of Ordinary People Goes beyond the Class 060
Section 3 Cantonese-style Hotpot: Back to Nature 094
Section 4 Hotpot in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces: Simple, Light and Fresh 114
Section 5 Yunnan Hotpot and Guizhou Hotpot: Peculiar Flavor on the Plateau 121
Section 6 Regional Featured Hotpot 134
Section 7 Condiment Sauce Is the Essence of Hotpot 145
Chapter IV External Influence and
Self-Integration of Chinese Food
Section 1 Influence of the Silk Road on Chinese Food 156
Section 2 Dietary Integration Driven by Population Migration 161
Section 3 A Panorama of Hotpots around the World 167
Chapter V Food is the First Necessity of People
Section 1 Belief in Eating 172
Section 2 Specialties of Eight Major Cuisines 178
Section 3 Chinese Food towards the World 207
Appendix A Brief Chinese Chronology 212