|
 Hot pot (huǒ guō 火锅 ) has a long history in China. It consists of a simmering metal pot of stock at the center of the dining table. While the hot pot is kept simmering, ingredients are placed in the pot and are cooked on the table. Typical hot pot dishes include thinly sliced meat, leafy vegetables, mushrooms, wontons, egg dumplings, and seafood. The cooked food is usually eaten with a dipping sauce.
Some have claimed that the Asian hot pot tradition has its origins in the region of Mongolia, even before the rise of the Mongols. Yet there is little historical evidence to support this and hot pot is not a part of Mongolian cuisine, but rather Chinese cuisine. Another claim of origin is from Sichuan province of China. Nonetheless, the practice of hot pot spread to other parts of Asia through Chinese influence.
The Mongolian hot pot tradition originated from northern nomadic tribes. The Mongolian version of the steaming feast has been called the father of all Chinese hot pots. The Chinese hot pot boasts a history of more than 1,000 years. Both the preparation method and the required equipment are unknown in the cuisine of contemporary Mongolia. Due to the complexity and specialization of the utensils and the method of eating it, hot pot cooking is much better suited to a sedentary culture. A nomadic household will avoid such highly specialized tools, to save volume and weight during migration.
 Frozen meat is sliced deli-thin to prepare it for hot pot cooking. Slicing frozen meat this way causes it to roll up during cooking, and it is often presented as such. Meats used include lamb, beef, chicken, and so on. The cooking pot is often sunk into the table and fueled by propane or alternatively is above the table and fueled by a portable butane gas stove or hot coals. Meat or vegetables are loaded individually into the hot cooking broth with chopsticks, and the cooking time is brief. Meat often only takes 15 to 30 seconds to cook.
The pot is made of brass with a wide outer rim around a chimney in which the charcoal burns to heat the soup broth. Diners dip thin slices of frozen raw meat into the boiling soup, where they get cooked quickly. The meat is dipped into a variety of sauces like sesame or soy sauce, chili oil, and vinegar and then eaten. The meat can be beef, mutton, chicken, fish, prawns and other seafood, but not pork, if you are in an Islamic restaurant. Vegetables such as mushrooms, bean curds and Chinese cabbage can be quickly boiled as well. Of course, you can also try other ingredients according to your preference.
There are often disagreements between different styles of hot pot enthusiasts. Some like to place items into the hot pot at a relaxed, leisurely pace, enjoying the cooking process, while others prefer to throw everything in at once and wait for the hotpot to return to a boil.
 Hot pot used to be favored only in winter, but has become so popular that it is available in other seasons. Some people especially like eating it in the summer, sitting in front of the fire with the air-conditioner cooling their backs!
Hot pot cooking seems to have spread to northern China during the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618-906). In time, regional variations developed with different ingredients such as seafood. By the Qing Dynasty, the hot pot became popular throughout most of China. Today in many modern homes, particularly in the big cities, the traditional coal-heated steamboat or hot pot has been replaced by electric or gas versions. Many different ingredients are used because steamboat and hot pot styles change so much from region to region.
There are several styles of hot pot:
In Beijing, hot pot is eaten year-round. Typical Beijing hot pot is eaten indoors during the winter. But different kinds of hot pot can also be found. More modern eateries offer the sectioned bowl with differently flavored broths in each section. More traditional or older establishments serve a fragrant , but mild, broth in the hot pot, which is a large brass vessel heated by burning coals in a central chimney. Broth is boiled in a deep, donut-shaped bowl surrounding the chimney.
The main ingredient of the Mongolian-style hot pot is raw mutton from lambs raised in Inner Mongolia. Chefs cut the iced mutton into paper-thin slices and prepare a sauce with ingredients like sesame butter, soy sauce, chili oil, chopped chives, glutinous rice wine, shrimp sauce, vinegar and Chinese parsley. The traditional hot pot meal is not considered complete without bean curd, sesame pancakes and Chinese cabbage.
 The Sichuan hot pot, much like all the cuisine in that humid and populous province, is very spicy. The broth is flavored with chili peppers and other pungent herbs and spices. The main ingredients include hot pepper, Chinese crystal sugar and wine. Slices of kidney, chicken breast, beef tripe, goose intestines, spring onion, soy bean sprouts, mushrooms, duck and sea cucumber are the usual ingredients used in the dish.
The southern Cantonese style is sweeter and features seafood ingredients that have become popular in most Cantonese eateries. Fresh shrimps, scallops, crab meat, white eels and scuttle fish are the staples of this hot pot style. They are served with a sweetish white sauce.
In Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province in southwestern China near the border with Myanmar, the broth is often divided into a Yin and Yang shape – a bubbling, fiery red chili broth on one side, and a cooler white chicken broth on the other.
A few things should be kept in mind to prevent E. Coli or Salmonella poisoning. After grasping raw meat with chopsticks, dip the chopsticks in the boiling broth to kill any microbes. If a raw egg is used, use only the freshest possible. Another alternative is to use separate chopsticks for the hotpot. It is important to note that these are just preventative measures and there is always a risk of food poisoning when handling or eating.
|
