On the origin of boatmen
According to legend, because Chongqing is located at the intersection of the Yangtze River and Jialing River, the shipping industry is very developed and there are many natural boatmen. These boatmen are doing hard work. After a day's work, they also want to have a rest, especially looking for something delicious. However, because of their relatively low income, they can't afford to buy any expensive ingredients, let alone eat out.
At that time, many butchers in Chongqing slaughtered pigs and cows, which were thrown into the water because no one ate them at that time. When the boatmen saw these things, they felt sorry, so they picked them up, washed them, mixed some spices and put them in the pot to cook. These ingredients are fresh because of the seasoning of pepper, and they taste good because they have just been discarded. And this has become the initial prototype of Chongqing hot pot.
However, the theory of the origin of boatmen has also been questioned, because there are many cities along the Yangtze River besides Chongqing, and there are boatmen in most places, not just Chongqing. Why is there only hot pot in Chongqing? So this statement may still be somewhat doubtful.
On the origin of miscellaneous vegetables
The so-called miscellaneous vegetables actually refer to leftovers in restaurants, animal offal that rich people don't like to eat, and of course, leftovers that can't be eaten. At that time, restaurants in the city would wholesale these unwanted leftovers to vendors, who would buy them back, set up a big pot on the dock and sell them to poor people passing by. At that time, the poor families usually bought some miscellaneous vegetables to go home and taste the oil and water in the vegetables, which was considered a meat.
Since it's leftovers, it must be tasty. At this time, the vendors thought of a "good way". They added a lot of red pepper and pepper to the dish. On the one hand, the dishes look heavy and bright, on the other hand, they want to suppress the taste of leftovers, so that there is no strange smell and business will naturally be better.
At that time, people's lives were not easy. After eating miscellaneous vegetables like this, they will leave the remaining spicy soup base to continue cooking. In the process of continuous evolution, miscellaneous vegetables are simplified to red soup and hot dishes, which is now hot pot.
This statement seems to be more universal, because Sichuan and Chongqing people generally like to eat spicy food, especially Chongqing people, who also have a soft spot for Chili, so there will be spicy hot pot in Chongqing. As for the later use of butter as the main ingredient in Chongqing hot pot, it all evolved in the later evolution process.