Do you know the history of hotpot (火锅)? It's one of the most famous1 in China. There are many stories about how hotpot2 . The most traditional and oldest one has to do3 Genghis Khan.
Genghis Khan was the founder (建立者) of the Mongol Empire. He was also one of the greatest military leaders (军事领袖).
The place where he lived was very4 in winter. He needed food5 his army warm, strong and healthy. When it was time to eat, they built stoves (炉) and pots out of rocks (岩石). After finishing building these things, they put ice and6 into the pot. When they turned into water, and the7 of the water was high, they put meat into it. 8 a short time, the meat was OK, and they began to eat it. That might be the9 hotpot. They ate mutton, beef and horse meat most. Later people brought hotpot to other parts of China and10 it. People began to put more kinds of ingredients (烹调的原料) into the hotpot, 11 vegetables and seafood. By the Qing Dynasty, hotpot had become popular in most parts of China.
Today, we can find many12 kinds of hotpot in Beijing, Chongqing, Sichuan and13 in some foreign countries. When we14 the delicious hotpot, we also15 the special food culture of China.
