Tengchong Earthen-Pot Hotpot

Tuguozi is a singular Tengchong dish: a fired-clay pot of local earth is set with charcoal at its heart and ingredients ringed around it, simmered in a broth of chicken and fresh pork rib, layered with crisp pork, egg roll, yellow bamboo shoots and greens, slow-cooked to keep every original flavour, rich and savoury.

Earthen-pot hotpot has been made in Tengchong for centuries; with charcoal at its centre like a volcanic crater and broth boiling around it like the hot-sea springs, locals nickname it "volcano and hot sea," a culinary mirror of Tengchong's own volcanic geology, the centrepiece of a qiaoxiang host's table and festival feast. Its cooking craft has been listed as Baoshan municipal intangible heritage.

Brought to the table whole, the family gathers round to drink the broth first, then lift the stacked crisp pork, egg roll and vegetables layer by layer, finishing with the broth over rice — the most ceremonial dish on a Tengchong winter or reunion table.

The charcoal-set clay-pot form, the art of stacking ingredients layer on layer, and the byname "volcano and hot sea" are what set earthen-pot hotpot apart from ordinary hotpot.