Sichuan hotpot is a Chongqing invention, brought downriver and softened in Chengdu; the numbing pepper is emphasized over sheer heat, and the broth is often a split pot with a mild white half for anyone who needs it. Chuan chuan takes the same broth and turns it into a per-stick business, which makes it cheaper and much easier to control.
How it works
You take a plastic basket and load it from the refrigerated shelves: beef and lamb slices, tripe, chicken gizzards, quail eggs, tofu skin, lotus root, potato slices, enoki mushrooms, green vegetables, fish balls. Everything is threaded onto bamboo skewers. You carry the basket to your table, drop the skewers into the boiling pot, wait, then lift them out and eat. Empty sticks go into a bucket and are counted when you pay.
The dipping sauce
A sauce station lets you build your own bowl: sesame oil, minced garlic, cilantro, scallion, chili flakes, fermented bean paste and vinegar. The classic Chengdu mix is sesame oil and garlic with a little vinegar, which cools the heat rather than adding to it. Ask for a mild pot if you are unsure.
Ma la tang
A related dish, sometimes called malatang, is the same ingredients cooked in a single bowl of spiced broth and served to you, rather than cooked at the table. It is faster, cheaper and better for solo diners.
Practical notes
Prices are per skewer, so the final bill is easy to predict. Vegetarian skewers are plentiful and are usually on a separate shelf. The oil is sesame-based, so guests with a sesame allergy must ask for a plain vinegar dip or skip the sauce station entirely. Skewer restaurants are everywhere; the busiest ones at 7 p.m. are the right ones.
