Spicy Hotpot

Chinese food can often be seen as a rich and complex cooking process but as one may see as they travel around, there are many dishes and meals that carry an air of simplicity. Some of my most favourite dishes are prepared in a matter of minutes. However, there are times where people will gather together for a more social experience and dine on some of the more interesting settings that travellers might come across. While in western countries there are many social dining settings, the barbecue often stands out as one of my favourites. In China, while barbecue is a very popular meal, there is another dining experience known as the hotpot. This is one of the most famous cooking styles that really stacks the dinner table with all kinds of wonderful things to eat in a social setting.

The Premise of hotpot is simple, a heated pot of soup base is kept in the centre for all to eat from and this is kept simmering throughout the entire meal. Boiling water is added occasionally as the soup evaporates throughout. When eating with friends this is one of the best ways to let people pick what they want to eat for the night and enjoy a tasty cooking style for all to try. For this style of hotpot we opted for a mixture of spicy and non-spicy bases.