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