Which Hot Pot Are You?

If there's one food that cold gloomy winter days call for it's hot pot! It's one of the easiest things to prepare and yet it never fails to be a hit no matter how eclectic your friends' food preferences are.

But how well do you know your hot pots? Aside from Beijing's classic copper top hot pot, there are plenty that range from the spiciest thing that's ever touched your tongue to beautiful and fragrant flower-filled ones from Yunnan.

Classic Beijing hot pot is cooked on a copper Mongolian pot heated with actual coals. According to legend, it was brought to Beijing over 800 years ago by Mongolian soldiers who would boil thin slices of meat in their helmets for dinner. The Beijing hot pot broth is both very simple and probably the healthiest around: consisting only of a few slices of ginger, scallions, and some dates with no oils or spicy sauces. Beijing-style hot pot is usually served with a simple sesame sauce along with some optional condiments like scallions and cilantro.

Very similar to the Beijing-style hot pot, Tibetan-style hot pot stands apart thanks to its use of yak bone to create the broth. The cuts of meat used for Tibetan-style hot pot are also usually thicker than those used in other hot pot styles, making this one a rare but lucky find for meat lovers.

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From the simplest of hot pot flavors to the most intense, Chongqing-style hot pot is famous throughout China as the spiciest of them all. Indeed, the city of Chongqing in Sichuan province is known as China’s hot pot capital, as approximately five out of six restaurants are dedicated to the dish. What makes Chongqing hot pot so unique is the numbing hot spiciness known as málà (麻辣), literally “numbing spicy.” The broth uses a lot of chili oils and the surface will usually be covered with a thick layer of chili peppers and mala peppercorns. It’s said that Chongqing hot pot was developed back in ancient times to satisfy poor dock workers who wanted a cheap, fast, and warming dinner. To help improve the taste of the meat they ate, the locals added more and more chilis and spices to their broth, thus giving birth to the famous Chongqing hot pot that we know and love today.

Yunnan cuisine has a reputation of being light and delicate, with dishes highlighting the natural flavors of the ingredients, and their hot pot style is no exception. Yunnan hot pot contains a lot of Southeast Asian flavor influences, and is possibly the most vegetarian-friendly hot pot available thanks to its rich broth flavor and focus on fresh vegetables. The broth is made from a variety of mushrooms and edible flowers that are also great for drinking in tea. Yunnan Hotpot in particular has become more popular in China in recent years, and it’s also my personal favorite as it is still very much a “Chinese” hotpot, but with clear Southeast Asian influences.

Originating from Jiangsu-Zhejiang, flower hot pot is more popular in Hangzhou and Suzhou, but if you do a bit of digging you’ll still be able to find one in Beijing. Flower hot pot is another one of the healthier hot pot options and is easily recognized by its tea-like fragrance and light flavors.

Then, just if you're in the mood for a slightly different flavor, Japanese hot pot, called sukiyaki, offers a slightly sweeter alternative.

Images: Uni You