One of my favorite Chinese dinner experiences is the hotpot. So what is it? A bowl of soup, boiling on the table, filled with spices and vegetables. Around the bowl or bowls you have raw meat, seafood, vegetables, mushrooms, tofu, noodles or whatever. You put the raw food in the bowl and you eat it with sesame paste or sesame oil. Sounds pretty straight forward? Well it isn't, really. My last hotpot is only two days away, so I share the 7 rules to really enjoy this sensational dish:
1. As male member of the group, never sit near the non-spicy pot. To explain. Most of the time there are two pots on the table, one regular and one (really) spicy. Enjoying or enduring the spicy hotpot sensation earns you respect from everybody.
2. Don't eat too much tofu with the spicy pot. Well as you can imagine, tofu works like a sponge once put into the pot. Need I say more? Let's just say after a few minutes in the devilish pot, the tofu is done and soaked with chili.
3. Always be polite. Hotpot works pretty much like our fondue. With one difference. With fondue you have your skewer and you decide what to eat, you put the piece of meat into the soup, and you take it out when you deem it to be done. Chinese hotpot works differently. Everybody puts stuff into the bowl. And everybody takes out whatever she or he wants. Normally around a hotpot table, there is some kind of hierarchy at work. You have the parents, the kids, the spouses, friends, whoever. Some kinds of foot are naturally considered special delicacies, like shrimps. You are considered polite if you look out, that the members at the table, who are obviously below yourself in the hierarchy get a hold of the delicacies. For example, I'm maybe in the top half of our hierarchy. A new member of our family here in the West, a distant nephew always told me that the shrimps in the pot are now done and I should take them. I took them out and put them directly into his rice cup. He was happy and I gained respect. Of course I did not do this all the time, but once or twice is enough.
4. Choose wisely between sesame paste and sesame oil. Whatever food you take out of the pot, you dip it in your bowl before you eat it. There are basically two choices you have for your bowl. First, a dark sesame paste with cut coriander and spring onion. Or you go for the lighter sesame oil with cut garlic. I prefer the latter one, because it's less heavy.
5. Be oh so careful with dumplings. Sometimes you find small frozen dumplings, filled with meat or fish on the table. It's quite easy to put them into the pot, and they are tasty too. Since you are expected to fish out the food with your chopsticks, the situation can get complicated. The frozen dumplings change considerably while in the steaming pot. They get very slippery. You try to fish them out, they slip out of the chopstick, they smash back into the boiling water, the hot water sprays around the table. Not very nice scenario. Happened to me, unfortunately.
6. Let everybody patronize you. Hotpot is a national dish in China. Everybody tries to give you advice how to eat this and do this, and to drink that. It can get to the point that you feel like an underage child. Just smile and ignore it. Enjoy it even, the Chinese are just incredibly proud of their culture and hotpot is a big part of it. They're just happy that you sit on their table eat their national dish.
7. Take your time and enjoy. Time flies around a hotpot. It is a very communicative event, people drink and laugh and everybody has a good time. There is no need to rush and nobody will. Don't plan anything else for the evening.
1. As male member of the group, never sit near the non-spicy pot. To explain. Most of the time there are two pots on the table, one regular and one (really) spicy. Enjoying or enduring the spicy hotpot sensation earns you respect from everybody.
2. Don't eat too much tofu with the spicy pot. Well as you can imagine, tofu works like a sponge once put into the pot. Need I say more? Let's just say after a few minutes in the devilish pot, the tofu is done and soaked with chili.
3. Always be polite. Hotpot works pretty much like our fondue. With one difference. With fondue you have your skewer and you decide what to eat, you put the piece of meat into the soup, and you take it out when you deem it to be done. Chinese hotpot works differently. Everybody puts stuff into the bowl. And everybody takes out whatever she or he wants. Normally around a hotpot table, there is some kind of hierarchy at work. You have the parents, the kids, the spouses, friends, whoever. Some kinds of foot are naturally considered special delicacies, like shrimps. You are considered polite if you look out, that the members at the table, who are obviously below yourself in the hierarchy get a hold of the delicacies. For example, I'm maybe in the top half of our hierarchy. A new member of our family here in the West, a distant nephew always told me that the shrimps in the pot are now done and I should take them. I took them out and put them directly into his rice cup. He was happy and I gained respect. Of course I did not do this all the time, but once or twice is enough.
4. Choose wisely between sesame paste and sesame oil. Whatever food you take out of the pot, you dip it in your bowl before you eat it. There are basically two choices you have for your bowl. First, a dark sesame paste with cut coriander and spring onion. Or you go for the lighter sesame oil with cut garlic. I prefer the latter one, because it's less heavy.
5. Be oh so careful with dumplings. Sometimes you find small frozen dumplings, filled with meat or fish on the table. It's quite easy to put them into the pot, and they are tasty too. Since you are expected to fish out the food with your chopsticks, the situation can get complicated. The frozen dumplings change considerably while in the steaming pot. They get very slippery. You try to fish them out, they slip out of the chopstick, they smash back into the boiling water, the hot water sprays around the table. Not very nice scenario. Happened to me, unfortunately.
6. Let everybody patronize you. Hotpot is a national dish in China. Everybody tries to give you advice how to eat this and do this, and to drink that. It can get to the point that you feel like an underage child. Just smile and ignore it. Enjoy it even, the Chinese are just incredibly proud of their culture and hotpot is a big part of it. They're just happy that you sit on their table eat their national dish.
7. Take your time and enjoy. Time flies around a hotpot. It is a very communicative event, people drink and laugh and everybody has a good time. There is no need to rush and nobody will. Don't plan anything else for the evening.
No comments:
Post a Comment