![]() Dip a slice of meat into the pot using chopsticks (ideally a different set than you’re using to eat), and hold onto it until it’s done cooking and can be added to your bowl. It’s best to cook these pieces for 10 seconds to a couple of minutes, or until the color has completely changed. Meats typically arrive at the table thinly sliced. Each meat platter comes with its own set of tongs. Metal slotted or mesh spoons are also provided, which you can use to stir the broth and to fish out meat and vegetables cooking in the broth. Each person is provided with a small plate or bowl, as well as a set of chopsticks. Wait for the broth to begin to simmer before you begin cooking your ingredients. The menu at every hot pot restaurant will vary. Some of the most common items you’ll find on a hot pot restaurant menu include pork belly, tripe, beef tongue, beef tendon, shrimp, squid, yams, lettuce, corn, bok choy, udon noodles, vegetable dumplings, and meatballs - but that’s really just scratching the surface. ![]() Instead, the broth is an agent for cooking fresh and raw ingredients. A hot pot menu is extensive and split into categories, including seafood, meat, meatballs, vegetables, dumplings, and tofu (all pre-cut). If you feel overwhelmed by the hot pot menu on your first, second, or even third visit, that’s normal. Once you’ve settled on the broth, you’ll have to decide what you want to cook in it. Some places might also include a “yin yang” option (a dual-sided hot pot) so that you can try two varieties of broth at once. Most restaurants offer a variety of options, including a mushroom soup broth or a vegetable-based broth. If spicy isn’t your style, don’t despair. The result is a rich, muddy red, and eye-wateringly spicy broth that will certainly clear your sinuses. Styles vary by region, though the two most popular are Chongqing and Sichuan hot pot, which incorporate tongue-numbing Sichuan peppers and handfuls of peppercorns (in Beijing on the other hand, hot pot broth trends to be on the milder side). The first to make is what type of broth to get. Your server will initially turn up the temperature on the burner, but feel free to adjust it over the course of your meal. At your table, you’ll find a cooktop or hot plate that will heat the pot of broth. ![]() At a modern hot pot restaurant, you’ll be handed a menu with serving options, the price per serving of each dish, and boxes to check that indicate what you want to order to the server. The beer flows and the spicy broth bubbles, no matter the time of year.Īnyone wondering what to order will be faced with a load of options. Much like Korean barbecue, the atmosphere at a hot pot restaurant is boisterous and celebratory. In Japan, hot pot is called nabemono, and there are two styles: sukiyaki and shabu shabu (the name of the latter refers to the “ swish-swish” motion made when quickly cooking raw meat in the broth). In Cambodia, hot pot is known as yao hon, and the broth is made with soybean paste, fish sauce, and sometimes flavored with coconut soda. Regardless of how it came about, China is undoubtedly the birthplace of hot pot. To this day, internal organs are still a popular accompaniment to hot pot. Sailors looking for a cheap meal invented the dish, as this story goes, originally adding duck intestines, beef tripe, and pork arteries to the broth - the discarded animal parts from nearby markets. Over the years, hot pot became much more egalitarian, and today is enjoyed by everyone regardless of rank.Īccording to another story, hot pot originated in Chongqing (still considered the “hot pot capital”), which is a city in southwest China, situated at the convergence of the Jialing and Yangtze rivers. Emperor Qianlong, who reigned from 1735 to 1796, favored the dish, eating it with roast duck and yams. Eventually, despite its humble beginnings, hot pot reached the Forbidden City in what is now Beijing. ![]() The people of the empire absorbed this meal favored by soldiers into their normal diet. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |