Hot pot

This article is about varieties of stew. For other uses, see Hot pot (disambiguation).

Hot pot
Raw meats ready to be cooked
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	火鍋
Simplified Chinese	火锅
Literal meaning	fire pot
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin huǒguō Min - Hokkien POJ hué-ko Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping fo2 wo1
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	打邊爐 or 打甂爐
Simplified Chinese	打边炉 or 打甂炉
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin da3 bian1 lu2 Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping daa2 bin1 lou4
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese	lẩu

Hot pot (Chinese: 火鍋; pinyin: huǒ guō), less commonly Chinese fondue or steamboat, refers to several East Asian varieties of stew, consisting of a simmering metal pot of stock at the center of the dining table. While the hot pot is kept simmering, ingredients are placed into the pot and are cooked at 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. In many areas, hot pot meals are often eaten in the winter.

History

The Chinese hot pot boasts a history of more than 1,000 years.^[1] Hot pot cooking seems to have spread to northern China during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-906).^[1] 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 Today in many modern homes, particularly in the big cities, the traditional coal-heated steamboat or hot pot has been replaced by electric, gas or induction cooker versions.

Because hot pot styles change so much from region to region, many different ingredients are used.

Cooking method

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, duck, mutton, and others. 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 by chopsticks, and cooking time can take from 1 minute to 15, depending on the type of food. Meat should be cooked at the very least 20 seconds. Other hot pot dishes include leafy vegetables, mushrooms, seafood, and noodles. It can be eaten bland to very spicy, depending on how much spice has been put in the stew.

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 put everything in at once and wait for the hotpot to return to a boil. Occasionally due to evaporation the boiled water needs to be refilled. Usually the stew is strong and zesty enough to not require adding more condiments.

Common ingredients

Basic stock is often made using: Water Salt Soup base Meats and protein vary, and can include: Thinly sliced beef, pork, chicken, lamb, goat Fish Prawns Scallops Cockles Clams Mussels Beef balls Fish balls Shrimp balls Fish slices Offal, ear, and other delicacies Squid Crab Lobster Octopus Geoduck Cuttlefish Sea Cucumber Sea Asparagus Tofu, Tofu skin Egg dumplings (dàn jiǎo) Poached eggs Kamaboko and crab stick Starches include: Niangao Chinese noodles Udon Cellophane noodles

Vegetables include (and not limited to): Bok Choy Choy Sum Napa cabbage Spinach Bean sprouts Green beans Fat Choi Garland chrysanthemum (tong ho) Snake beans Mung bean Daikon Shallots Varieties of mushrooms, straw mushroom, enoki mushrooms, Shiitake, Chinese black mushrooms, Golden mushrooms Ginger Thinly sliced potatoes Taro Tomato Pumpkin Watercress Condiments: Hoisin sauce Soy sauce Vinegar (white or black) Coriander / Cilantro (or xiāng cài) Garlic Scallion Sesame oil White pepper Sa cha sauce Chili Sesame butter Chive flower paste (韭菜花酱) Pickled tofu (腐乳) Satay or Peanut butter sauce, made by mixing peanut butter with water to a thick consistency (or hua sheng ru fu) Raw egg

Regional variations

Steamboat at Smoke BBQ Company

Combination of hot-pot and barbecue

China

In Beijing (Peking), hot pot is eaten year-round. Typical Beijing hot pot is eaten indoors during the winter. Different kinds of hot pot can be found in Beijing - typically, 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.

One of the most famous variations is the Chongqing or Chungking "má là" (Chinese: 麻辣 — "numb and spicy") hot pot, to which a special spice known as huā jiāo (Chinese: 花椒 — "flower pepper" or Pepper, or Prickly Ash) is added. It creates a sensation on the tongue that is both spicy and burns and numbs slightly, almost like carbonated beverages. It was usual to use a variety of different meats as well as sliced mutton fillet. A Chongqing hotpot is markedly different from the types eaten in other parts of China. Quite often the differences lie in the meats used, the type of soup base, and the sauces and condiments used to flavor the meat. "má là huǒ guō" could be used to distinguish from simply "huǒ guō" in cases when people refer to the "Northern Style Hot Pot" in China. "Shuàn yáng ròu", Chinese: 涮羊肉 (instant-boiled lamb) could be viewed as representative of this kind of food, which does not focus on the soup base.

The Manchurian hot pot (Chinese: 東北酸菜火鍋) uses plenty of Suan cai (Chinese sauerkraut) (Chinese: 酸菜; pinyin: suān cài) to make the pot's stew sour.

A Cantonese variation includes mixing a raw egg with the condiments to reduce the amount of 'heat' absorbed by the food, thereby reducing the likelihood of a sore throat after the steamboat meal, according to Chinese herbalist theories. It is often seen as a social event for people in Hong Kong.^[2] Another variant includes the use of rice congee in place of stock.

In Hubei, hot pot is normally prepared with hot spice and Sichuan pepper. Items supplied to be cooked in this broth include: mushrooms, thinly-shaved beef or lamb, lettuce, and various other green vegetables.

In Hainan, hot pots are generally served in small woks with a prepared broth containing pieces of meat. At the times of serving, the meat is not fully cooked. Approximately fifteen minutes is required before it is ready. Items supplied to be cooked in this type of hot pot include: mushrooms, thinly-shaved beef, lettuce, and other green vegetables. This dish various somewhat in different parts of the province.

Other regions

In Japan, shabu shabu is the adaptation of the Chinese hot pot. The Japanese also adopted the sesame dipping sauce.

In the Taiwanese hot pot, also called shabu-shabu due to Japanese influence, people eat the food with a dipping sauce consisting of shacha sauce and raw egg yolk.

In Thailand, hotpot is called Thai suki, although it is quite different from a Japanese shabu-shabu variation called sukiyaki. Originally a Chinese-style hot pot, the number of ingredients to choose from was greatly increased and a Thai-style dipping sauce with chili sauce, chilli, lime and coriander leaves was added.

In Vietnam, a hot pot is called lẩu, and the sour soup called canh chua is often cooked in hot pot style (called lẩu canh chua). The generic term for a salted fish hot pot is lẩu mắm.

In Singapore and Malaysia, hot pot is known as steamboat.

Related dishes

• Jjigae Chongol - Korea
  • Sinseollo
• Nabemono - Japan
  • Shabu shabu
  • Sukiyaki
  • Oden
  • Chankonabe
• Thai suki
• Clay pot cooking - referred to as "hot pot" or "hotpot" on Chinese restaurant menus in English-speaking regions
• Lancashire hotpot - a dish referred to as "hot pot" (or "hotpot") in Britain
• Stew
• Yong Tau Foo

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Beijing service highlight
2. ^ CNN Go 40 Hong Kong foods we can't live without 13 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-09

External links

• Sichuan Hot Pot
• Varieties of Hot Pot
• Malaysia-style Hot Pot
• Singapore-style Hot Pot
• Things You need for Hot Pot