[First published Dec. 15, 2014] We've been to three different hot pot restaurants in the last few weeks and the experience, and the pot, was a little different at each one. In the picture above, for example, the pot is divided in half, with spicy broth on one side and unspicy broth on the other. But the basic principle is the same; you select the style of broth you want, select the meats and vegetables that you want, the food is brought to you on platters, you heat up the broth and start cooking, bit by bit!
We've shared a large copper pot shaped very similar to the Korean sinseollo pot my folks brought back from their time as missionaries in Korea. And we've sat at a big round banquet table where everyone had their own little pot. The meat (both mutton and beef) is sliced very thin and cooks quickly. We also had shrimp, tofu, mushrooms and other vegetables. That's warm pumpkin juice in the pitcher and the empty pitcher had plum juice. The little boxes in the foreground are tissue papers, which are provided in many restaurants in lieu of napkins.
You can finish off the meal with some noodles cooked in the same broth in which you've been simmering your meat and vegetables. Below is a picture of fresh noodles on a rack, ready to go into the broth. This, by the way, is a Chinese thing, or at least in these parts. We've very seldom had rice served with the meal. Instead, your host orders an extravagant amount of food. There are so many different dishes that you get full just by sampling a few pieces of each dish. Then, when the dinner is winding down, the host asks you, "would you like rice or dumplings?" and despite your protestations they order a plate or two of dumplings. The gracious Chinese host must be certain that food is provided in over-abundance.
We've shared a large copper pot shaped very similar to the Korean sinseollo pot my folks brought back from their time as missionaries in Korea. And we've sat at a big round banquet table where everyone had their own little pot. The meat (both mutton and beef) is sliced very thin and cooks quickly. We also had shrimp, tofu, mushrooms and other vegetables. That's warm pumpkin juice in the pitcher and the empty pitcher had plum juice. The little boxes in the foreground are tissue papers, which are provided in many restaurants in lieu of napkins.
You can finish off the meal with some noodles cooked in the same broth in which you've been simmering your meat and vegetables. Below is a picture of fresh noodles on a rack, ready to go into the broth. This, by the way, is a Chinese thing, or at least in these parts. We've very seldom had rice served with the meal. Instead, your host orders an extravagant amount of food. There are so many different dishes that you get full just by sampling a few pieces of each dish. Then, when the dinner is winding down, the host asks you, "would you like rice or dumplings?" and despite your protestations they order a plate or two of dumplings. The gracious Chinese host must be certain that food is provided in over-abundance.
We've also had a type of simmering skillet, seen above. This is beef, sweet potatoes and onions and so forth, cooked with sauce right on the table. This particular restaurant also offers bullfrog and snake but we went with beef (this time).
I thought this simmering meal would require more effort on our part -- what's the point of going out for dinner if you cook the meal yourself -- but all the work and pot-watching was done by our waiter, who pretty much stood by our table the whole time.
I thought this simmering meal would require more effort on our part -- what's the point of going out for dinner if you cook the meal yourself -- but all the work and pot-watching was done by our waiter, who pretty much stood by our table the whole time.
I just needed to space out my posts about food with posts about bicycle riding, so as to avoid the impression (ahem) that we are stuffing our faces everyday with delicious Chinese food. Although the last few days have been quite a marathon with frequent lunch and dinner invitations from hospitable Chinese people.
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