Skewers · Chengdu Night Market

Chuan Chuan Xiang (串串香, Skewer Hot Pot)

Photo: Kitabc12345 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

The bill is tallied purely by counting how many bamboo skewers are left on your table — no menu, no receipt needed.

Skewers of meat, tofu, vegetables, and offal are lined up at streetside stalls, then dunked by the diner into a shared pot of bubbling mala broth until cooked, finished with a garlic-and-sesame dipping sauce.

Why it's made this way: It emerged in 1980s Chengdu as a cheap 'mini hot pot' that let workers with little money enjoy Sichuan's signature numbing-spicy flavors one skewer at a time instead of ordering a whole pot.