China's Most Appetizing Hot Pot: The Ultimate Rice Companion Conquering the Culinary World (Not Chongqing)

The greatest invention on the Chinese dining table!

No one can resist falling deeply in love with Guizhou sour soup after tasting it.

This vibrant red-orange delicacy, with its tangy and spicy flavors that whet the appetite, has emerged from the Miao Mountains in recent years to become an undisputed top trend in the culinary world. Numerous chain hotpot restaurants, noodle shops, and fast-food outlets have introduced sour soup flavors, and even cafes now sell sour soup lattes.

Among hotpot enthusiasts, Guizhou sour soup hotpot is a soul-stirring experience that lingers for a month after just one taste. For those on a weight-loss journey, the oil-free, sugar-free yet delicious Guizhou sour soup is a savior for bland boiled dishes. Some fervent fans even declare, "Guizhou sour soup is the greatest invention in the world."

Unlike outsiders who are amazed by sour soup, locals in Guizhou have embraced its flavors for centuries—whether it’s a weekday bowl of sour soup noodles, spicy sour soup dumplings, or a holiday treat like sour soup fish or beef, where the tangy broth enhances the meat’s tenderness, making it Guizhou’s top culinary ambassador.

In Guizhou, even rice noodles come with a sour soup twist.

Many feel they’ve discovered sour soup too late after just one taste. Yet, venturing into Guizhou’s cities, villages, and mountains reveals this enchanting fermented art has been underrated for far too long!

The backbone of Guizhou’s culinary fame!

A bubbling pot of crimson red sour soup hotpot is most people’s first impression of Guizhou sour soup. Before diving into the meal, servers often ladle a bowl of broth for guests to savor its pure tangy essence—a blend of fermented sourness, subtle spice, and a bright hint of mountain pepper, whetting the appetite for the feast ahead.

A bubbling pot of crimson red sour soup hotpot,

As you cook ingredients in the pot, you’ll realize sour soup seems tailor-made for hotpot. Its magic elevates every ingredient—whether fish slices or beef—making them tender and intensifying their natural flavors, like a flavor amplifier.

Fig. 1: Fermented wild tomatoes in jars. Photo/Chen Weihong

Fig. 2: Chopped chili peppers, a key step in making fermented chili paste. Photo/Xia Gongwen

Today’s urban red sour soup carries both sour and spicy notes, the latter from fermented chili paste, a cornerstone of Guizhou cuisine. Every autumn, the sound of chopping peppers echoes across neighborhoods and villages. Mixed with rock sugar, liquor, and salt, the peppers ferment into a mellow, tangy paste. Variations in chili types and ratios create unique sour soup flavors for each household.

If wild tomatoes and chili paste form the "bones and flesh" of red sour soup, then mountain pepper is its "soul." This uniquely intoxicating spice blends citrusy, lemongrass-like aromas with a cool minty zest, carving out its own niche beyond the five basic tastes. A dash transforms the boiling soup into a refreshing, complex delight. Together, these elements create Guizhou’s iconic tangy, spicy, and robust flavor profile.

Hidden in the sour soup, mountain pepper is its soul.

Every wild tomato, spoonful of chili, and grain of mountain pepper hails from Guizhou’s vast highlands. Thus, sour soup hotpot tops most visitors’ must-eat lists. But in Guizhou, sour soup’s versatility shines beyond hotpot. Locals love it in noodles for a morning energy boost, or in "sour-spicy烫" (Guizhou’s take on Sichuan’s mala tang), dipped in chili-mountain pepper oil—a local specialty.

Sour-spicy烫, Guizhou’s upgraded version of mala tang.

Sour soup’s adaptability lets it star solo or blend seamlessly into snacks. A spoonful finishes "roll-up dolls" (a local wrap), while market stalls toss potato slices in sour soup for a zesty kick.

Whether center stage or a supporting act, sour soup permeates every corner of Guizhou’s dining tables.

The flavors of over 100 types of sour soups!

Amid the current craze for sour soups, the red sour soup made with maolaguo (wild tomatoes) and fermented chili paste is the most iconic "surprise" to emerge from Guizhou's mountains. But if you venture deeper into Guizhou's local counties, its sour soups will astonish you even more.

One such astonishment is the deceptively simple white sour soup. Named for its clear, translucent appearance, it may look plain, but a single sip delivers a striking tangy aroma. Its simplicity lies in its ingredients—unlike the complex blend of flavors in red sour soup, white sour soup requires just one: rice.

Whether red or white, sour soup is a Guizhou favorite.

To make it, rice or glutinous rice water is poured into an existing sour soup jar for fermentation. Though the process seems straightforward, every step embodies the fermentation wisdom of Guizhou people.

For instance, the water temperature must not be too high when cooking rice, as it could kill the yeast in the aged sour soup. When adding fresh rice water, the jar should only be filled two-thirds full to leave room for oxygen. The jar is sealed with water to allow gas release while preventing new oxygen from entering. Today, many Miao villages in Guizhou still preserve white sour soups passed down for generations—some over a century old. The yeast in these jars, like Guizhou's culinary culture, continues to thrive.

Sour fish soup made with white sour broth highlights the fish's natural freshness.

Unlike the bold, spicy red sour soup, white sour soup is purely tangy with a smooth, subtly sweet aftertaste. Some locals even hold it in higher regard than red sour soup, as white sour predates the introduction of tomatoes and chili peppers to Guizhou.

Across Guizhou, sour soups dazzle with variety—classified by taste (fresh, astringent, spicy-numbing, salty), ingredients (vegetable, tofu, chicken, maolaguo, meat, fish, egg, shrimp), clarity (clear, thick, premium, high-grade, secondary), or ethnic origin (Dong, Shui, Miao, Buyi).

Red sour, stinky sour, shrimp sour—Guizhou offers a feast of tangy delights.

Sour soup pairs with almost anything: fish, pork trotters, beef, fern shoots, bamboo shoots, even plain rice. Over centuries, classic combinations emerged—stinky sour with tofu, pork belly, and intestines; salt-fermented pork belly as a rice companion; shrimp sour with beef.

A bowl of sour soup tells Guizhou's love affair with tanginess—a fermentation art and survival wisdom. Surrounded by the Miaoling, Dalou, Wuling, and Wumeng mountain ranges, Guizhou lacked salt deposits, and rugged terrain made transport difficult. Sourness replaced salt, preserving nutrients and transforming bland meals into an endlessly varied, unforgettable culinary hallmark.

As sour and spicy flavors ride an "addictive" trend, some wonder if sour soup is just another fleeting food fad. But Guizhou locals know: as long as they exist, sour soup will never fade.

Guizhou life is inseparable from sour soup.