Hot Pot

·      One of the most classic Chinese dinners is called Hot Pot. Basically what it is, is a Chinese style fondue! You sit at a table and in the center is a big pot split in half filled with regular brother on one side and spicy broth on the other. Under the table is the fire that boils the broth. The 服务员 (fúwùyuán- waiter) brings you a tray filled with an array of different meats and veggies to cook in the broth! The first time I went was with my Beginner 1 Chinese classmates at a restaurant that is about a 10 minute walk away from our dorm. We got pork, beef, chicken, shrimp, lots of mushrooms, and other vegetables. It was really good! I was so fully after eating there! The second time I had hop pot was, unfortunately not quite as great of an experience. We went to a Hot Pot restaurant in the Sichuan province of China, known for their incredibly spicy food! Besides the fact that my mouth felt like it was on fire, the types of meat they brought out to us were less then appetizing. They brought whole fish and plopped them right into the broth which left an unpleasant fish taste afterwards, the broth was much more oily then the broth in Shanghai (a very common thing in Sichuan, oil is a very prominent ingredient in most of their cooking), and some of the meat they chose to serve was sheep lung, cow tongue, cow stomach lining, and a unknown animal’s intestines. Now I pride myself on being an adventurous eater and willing to try almost anything (which I did) but its hard to expect me to make a full meal out of inner organs! So I think I will stick with my preferred Shanghai style Hot Pot meals from now on, which I do enjoy very much!