Please tell me the difference between Chongqing hot pot and Sichuan hot pot

1. Different origins

Chongqing hot pot, also known as Maodu hot pot or spicy hot pot, is the traditional way of eating of the Han people. Originating in eastern Sichuan, the boatmen on the Sichuan River were the earliest inventors, enjoyers, and disseminators. From the earliest clay pots used as containers, hot pots were cooked casually on the bow of the river, to later there were loaders selling hot pot on the streets. He gradually took root in this soil and water.

In the 1930s, hot pot restaurants appeared on the streets of Chongqing. But Chengdu hot pot, according to the most common theory, was improved from Chongqing hot pot based on Chengdu’s food culture and geographical environment.

2. Different spiciness

Walking in the streets of Chongqing, you will often feel the spiciness lingering around you. The spiciness is like following you, passing through your nasal cavity and reaching your entire body. , and even felt the sticky hot pot smell on the soles of my feet.

Chongqing hot pot is heavy on spicy and spicy, which is a perfect fusion of spicy. The bottom of the pot prefers heavy seasonings such as butter, ginger, garlic, etc., which highlights the original spicy taste of hot pot.

Walking on the streets of Chengdu, you will feel a refreshing spiciness without any numbness. The spiciness can spread all over your body at once. Chengdu hot pot likes to use clear oil. The fat on the bottom of the pot is relatively thin, which makes the whole pot spicy but not greasy. But adding various spices to the bottom of the pot adds multiple flavors to the hot pot.

3. Different ingredients

Chengdu and Chongqing are not far apart, but their geographical environments are different, which makes the flavors on the table very different. The general principle of Chengdu hot pot is that everything can be boiled, so the ingredients are abundant.

It is not uncommon for many dishes such as fragrant tofu, red sweet potato starch, and taro to appear on Chengdu hot pot tables. When ordering, some dishes are ordered on a plate, while others are ordered individually on skewers.

Chongqing hot pot has very few vegetarian dishes. It focuses on various meats, including juicy fatty beef slices, chewy meatballs, secret recipe marinated coriander beef, and delicious ham, crab meat, and shrimp. Dumplings, etc., look very tempting.

Although many Chongqing hot pot restaurants have added new dishes to cater to the market and even introduced improved versions of hot pot based on local conditions, there are still many hot pot restaurant owners who insist on boiling the meat instead of the vegetables.

4. Different soup ingredients

If you walk around a hot pot restaurant in Chengdu, you can see many mandarin duck pots, which can easily distinguish the clear soup from the red soup.

Chengdu hot pot pursues a balance of taste, which is lighter than Chongqing hot pot. Chengdu hot pot likes to use Yuanyang pot, while Chongqing hot pot likes to use Jiugongge, and most of them are red soup Jiugongge. In the eyes of Chongqing people, hot pot is not considered hot pot if it is cooked with clear soup, and is no different from boiled vegetables. Eat just eat in a spicy word.

5. Different dipping ingredients

The dipping ingredients for Chongqing hot pot are very simple: usually sesame oil and minced garlic. There are many types of dipping sauces for Chengdu hot pot, such as sesame sauce, coriander, chili, crushed peanuts, seafood soy sauce, etc. There are basically all the seasonings you can think of.

Chengdu people have the advantage of having more food crops in the plains, but people in Chongqing are said to be shabby, and this dipping sauce is too bland. But Chongqing people can’t swallow Chengdu’s bowl of sauce.

In their opinion, adding coriander, oyster sauce, and green onions to the oil dish is the biggest insult to hot pot. The spices overwhelm the aroma of the bottom of the pot, making the rice inedible.