How to Make Chinese Hot Pot

Can everybody hear me? Great. This is Hao Wu. And my topic is about Chinese hot pot. Can I ask you a question? Thank you. Have you ever tried Chinese hot pot before? Do you like it?

I have spent the last few weeks connecting some Chinese people who are abroad with facebook. They all agreed that they are not alone in finding conventional Chinese hot pot under pressure from the ubiquitous spread of tasty foods in different countries. And I want you to know more about Chinese hot pot even find a time to try it with your friends. It could tempt you because it is very appetizing indeed. Chinese Hot pot can come in three interdependent aspects: disputable history, simple and convenient making process, long lists of different Chinese hot pot.

Let’s start from the long but controversial history. Nobody knows the exact time Hot pot was born and the birth place as well. But divided by its birth place, there are two versions of the origin of hot pot. Like most people, a famous historian Ce holds the view that after the generation of bronze tripod created by Chinese ancestor, it came out that Chinese hot pot generated based on raw meat like lamb and containers made by bronze. Besides, it could be date back to 1900 years.

The rest people have different opinion. An unknown author (2003)post in a work called “Mongolian hot pot and Chinese hot pot” insisted that Mongolian hot pot, which has a history of more than 1000 years, should be called the father of all Chinese hot pot. According to Morgan’s book “The Mongols”, Centuries ago the Mongol horsemen rode across Asia, those warriors nestled upturned helmets in the embers to simmer soup. And the earliest Mongolian hot pot simply held water. But as the dish spread to other parts of the country, it picked up local ingredients and embellishments.

Well, from my introduction, no matter how hard to demonstrate the true origin of Chinese hot pot, at least it is obvious that the embryo of Chinese hot pot turned clear, and has three essential parts: equipment like bronze tripod and helmet (Though these two cannot be used in modern world now), hot pot soup bases and ingredients.

With the definition of the above three elements, Chinese hot pot making process couldn’t seem to be a hard task. I am going to show you the four procedures directed by Elaine in an online journal. First of all, clean all equipment before use. For me, induction cooker and stainless steel soup pot are my best choice due to their safe performance and convenience of doing the cleaning. Then soup and slotted ladles are also required as cutlery. I have cleaned them before. Here comes the most vital part in order to determine the flavor of hot pot. That is: prepare for soup base. You can surely purchase one package directly from supermarket or be brave to make one at home. I bought a spicy soup base for my hot pot, and that’s a time-consuming decision for you……and for me now. And next, clean and cut the ingredients. There are various ingredients we can choose basically. Such as meat and meatball, vegetables, bean curd product and fungus. Finally, heat the rich blend of soup base and ingredients by switching the equipment on. After the first boiling in 5 minutes, we’d better control temperature and keep warm rather than maintain boiling and then enjoy it in order to eat healthily.