1982
Little Swan opens in Chongqing
He Yongzhi opens Little Swan in Chongqing, creating the starting point for the family legacy behind Hotpot Queen.
Our story
A Chongqing hotpot legacy for the modern pantry
Hotpot Queen is a Sichuan food brand rooted in Chongqing hotpot culture and a family legacy that began in 1982 with Little Swan.
Origin
A family story with a very specific point of view
Hotpot Queen is not about generic spice. It is about Chongqing, málà, hotpot, and a family legacy that still shapes the way this brand cooks, tastes, and speaks.
In 1982, He Yongzhi opened Little Swan in Chongqing, China. What began as a small hotpot restaurant grew into one of the city’s best-known hotpot names and helped popularize Yuan Yang hotpot for a wider audience.
Today, that same story lives on in sauces, noodles, and soup bases made for people who want bold, unmistakable flavor at home. The goal is not nostalgia for its own sake. It is to carry a real culinary inheritance into the way people cook now.
Hotpot Queen is a pantry brand, but it still starts from a restaurant legacy, a city, and a very particular flavor logic.
— Hotpot Queen
Built on real Chongqing lineage
From Little Swan to Hotpot Queen, the throughline is specific, factual, and rooted in Chongqing.
Yuan Yang
The split-pot original
Little Swan popularized Yuan Yang — the split-pot hotpot that became one of the most recognizable expressions of Chongqing food culture.
Today
Built for the modern pantry
Sauces, noodles, and soup bases designed for home cooks who still want the specificity and depth of real Chongqing flavor.
Why Chongqing matters
The brand is rooted in a place, not a vague idea of spice
Chongqing is not just a backdrop to the story. It is the culinary logic behind the brand.
Hotpot, fragrant chili heat, Sichuan pepper, and the numbing intensity of málà shape how Hotpot Queen thinks about flavor. That is why the brand does not aim for generic “spicy Asian” taste. It builds from a specific city, a specific tradition, and a specific eating experience.
That specificity matters for both trust and discovery. The closer the brand stays to Chongqing hotpot culture, the clearer it becomes what Hotpot Queen actually is.
The goal is not broad heat. It is the rich, aromatic, numbing balance that makes málà feel alive.
— Hotpot Queen
From Jia
A legacy carried forward, not frozen in the past
Hotpot Queen exists to carry forward the energy of Chongqing hotpot culture in a form that fits contemporary kitchens.
Jia grew up around the food culture of Chongqing and the world her mother built through hotpot. Hotpot Queen is her way of translating that inheritance into a living pantry brand rather than a museum piece.
The result is a story with both heritage and utility: a brand that can speak credibly about Little Swan, He Yongzhi, Yuan Yang hotpot, and málà while still helping someone make dinner on a weeknight.
I grew up around the food culture of Chongqing and the world my mother built through hotpot. Hotpot Queen is my way of carrying that energy forward for the way people cook now.
— Jia
What we make today
Where to start
Sauces, noodles, and soup bases are the clearest ways to experience Hotpot Queen at home.
Fastest entry point
Sauces
The fastest way to understand Hotpot Queen. Start here if you want a shortcut to heat, aroma, and personality in everyday meals.
Comfort with depth
Noodles
Fast meals with more character. Hotpot Queen noodles are built for comfort, texture, and speed without flattening the flavor story.
Hotpot night at home
Soup bases
Bring broth-driven meals home with soup bases that make a real hotpot experience more accessible without losing boldness.
Common questions about Hotpot Queen
What is Hotpot Queen?
Hotpot Queen is a Chongqing-inspired Sichuan food brand making sauces, noodles, and hotpot soup bases for modern home cooks.
What is Hotpot Queen’s connection to Little Swan?
Hotpot Queen is rooted in the family legacy of He Yongzhi, who founded Little Swan in Chongqing in 1982. That lineage shapes the flavor point of view behind the brand today.
What does málà mean?
Málà is the signature Sichuan flavor combination of chili heat and the numbing sensation of Sichuan pepper. It is one of the defining taste experiences behind Chongqing hotpot.
Where should I start if I’m new to the brand?
Start with the sauces if you want the fastest introduction to the brand. They are the easiest way to bring Hotpot Queen flavor to noodles, rice, eggs, dumplings, and weeknight cooking.