Chuanchuanxiang: Sichuan's Skewered Hotpot

World Travel 编辑部 · 2026-09-10 · 6 min read

Chuanchuanxiang: Sichuan's Skewered Hotpot

One pot, a fistful of bamboo skewers, and a bill counted at the end by the stick — chuanchuanxiang is the most grass-roots, and most enduring, way Sichuan eats. Also called skewer hotpot, it is a traditional Sichuan snack in the mala-and-savoury register.

Where the skewer came from

Chuanchuanxiang began in the 1980s, when street vendors sold it from honeycomb coal stoves: ingredients sliced and threaded onto bamboo skewers, chosen by the customer, blanched in a spicy broth, then dipped and eaten — with the bill counted by the skewer. After 1996 it moved from stalls into shops and spread to cities across the country.

Its close relatives

Skewers did not appear alone. In Sichuan they gave rise to cold-pot chuanchuan, maocai and bobo chicken, and much of what is now lumped under the name malatang runs on the same logic.

The difference is how the food reaches the bowl. Skewers are charged by the stick, cooked in the pot and eaten straight away; later some vendors dropped the skewers and served the cooked food on a plate or in a bowl with an oil or dry dip — in Sichuan that is called pot malatang and plate malatang. Same broth, different service, new name.

Broth and ingredients

The broth is not an afterthought: the traditional version simmers more than twenty spices — cardamom, clove, amomum among them — with chicken and pork bones, in a stainless-steel pot or clay casserole. In Sichuan and Chongqing a mala base dominates, and ingredients are often marinated before cooking.

The range is wide, from tripe, sausage and squid to potato and kelp: meat, poultry, vegetables and seafood all get threaded, forming a broad menu. It is one of the most democratic expressions of Sichuan flavour.

How to eat

• Pay by the skewer: counting sticks at the end is the original method
• Dip as you like: oil or dry, though oil is the local default
• Go for the mala base: standard in Sichuan and Chongqing; a clear or split pot if you need it milder
• Having spread nationwide, chuanchuanxiang is now pushing into overseas markets

Practical notes

• Also called: skewer hotpot
• Origin: 1980s Sichuan street stalls, sold from honeycomb coal stoves
• Shift: shop-based businesses from 1996, then nationwide
• Broth: more than twenty spices including cardamom, clove and amomum, with chicken and pork bones
• Charging: by number of bamboo skewers
• Offshoots: cold-pot chuanchuan, maocai, bobo chicken, pot and plate malatang

Related

• Maocai, Bobo Chicken and Rabbit Head: Chengdu's Mala Street Food
• Chengdu Hotpot: A City's Character in One Red Broth

Photos

Sources

• Baidu Baike: Chuanchuanxiang
• Wikipedia: Malatang