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China
《中國》版塊
Regional cuisine
地方菜
The gripes of broth
火鍋湯的抱怨
Two cities tussle over who makes the tastiest Sichuan hotpot
兩個城市爭相認為自己做的火鍋更好吃
Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, has an ancient rivalry with Chongqing, a city to its south-east. Residents of Chongqing accuse their Chengdu cousins of being pompous. The people of Chongqing are hotheads, Chengdu dwellers shoot back. Both cities share a love of spice-laden Sichuan cuisine, which in recent decades has conquered Chinese palates. But they are at war over which has the best Sichuan hotpot—a type of DIY-cooking that involves boiling vegetables and slices of meat in a communal broth with chillies and numbing peppercorns.
四川省會成都與東南部城市重慶自古以來就在競爭。重慶人指責成都的兄弟們過于自負。重慶人是急性子，成都人則會回擊。這兩個城市都熱愛辛辣的川菜，近幾十年來，川菜已經征服了中國人的味覺。但是兩個城市正在為哪家的四川火鍋最好而爭論不休。火鍋是一種自己動手的烹調方式，將辣椒和帶來酥麻口感的胡椒粒撒進湯里，湯開后將蔬菜和肉片等燙熟。
A private museum in Chongqing, opened several years ago, makes the case for Chongqing-style hotpot. It describes how it developed from a method used to make cheap offcuts of meat taste delicious. But Chengdu is playing catch-up. In January the city sold a plot of land on condition that the developer build a hotpot museum on part of it. Such presumptuous behaviour will test the famous fiery tempers of Chongqing-ites. Chengdu may be the capital of Sichuan cuisine’s eponymous province, but Chongqing was part of Sichuan for long periods of history until 1997. It is now the capital of its own province-sized region, which is also called Chongqing.
幾年前，重慶的一家私人博物館對外開放，展示了重慶火鍋的特色。博物館展示了火鍋從使便宜的邊角肉嘗起來美味的方法的演變歷程。但成都正在迎頭趕上。今年1月，成都出售了一塊土地，條件是開發商在其中修建一座火鍋博物館。這種挑釁的行為將考驗重慶人的火爆脾氣。成都可能是川菜的代表，但在1997年以前重慶一直是四川的一部分。現在，重慶是省級行政區、直轄市。
The two cities are among many in China with their own styles of hotpot. The stories behind these dishes reveal how different regions like to see themselves. Chongqing’s is said to highlight the ingenuity of the proletariat. Other places describe their hotpots as the sophisticated food of emperors. Some say theirs have military origins: warriors on the march boiling scraps in their helmets. Hotpot contents are equally diverse. To keep warm in winter, Beijingers boil fatty lamb in a berry broth. Mint-suffused Yunnanese hotpot reflects the province’s links with South-East Asia.
這兩個城市在中國眾多火鍋風格各異的城市中榜上有名。這些菜肴背后的故事揭示了不同地區是如何自我評價的。據說，重慶火鍋彰顯了無產階級的創造力。其他地方把火鍋描述為皇帝的精致食物。一些人說重慶火鍋起源于軍事：戰士們在行軍時在頭盔里涮著可吃的食物。火鍋的配料食材也呈現出多元化。為在冬天取暖，北京人用蔥姜清湯涮肥美的羊肉。云南的薄荷火鍋則反映出云南與東南亞的聯系。
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