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Hot pot or hotpot (), also known as soup-food or steamboat, is a cooking method that originated in China. A heat source on the dining table keeps a pot of soup stock simmering, and a variety of Chinese foodstuffs and ingredients are served beside the pot for the diners to put into the hot stock.


Description

Hot pot is a flavorful broth traditionally served inside a large metal pot. The broth is brought to a boil and left simmering for the duration of the meal. Raw ingredients, such as meat and vegetables, are placed into the simmering broth and thus cooked. The cooked pieces are dipped into dipping sauces for additional flavor. Hot pot is considered a main course and is usually served without rice or noodles on the side. Hot pots can be prepared and eaten at home or in a restaurant. Typical hot pot ingredients include thinly sliced
meat Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...
, leaf vegetables,
mushrooms A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...
,
vermicelli Vermicelli (; , , also , ) is a traditional type of pasta round in section similar to spaghetti. In English-speaking regions it is usually thinner than spaghetti, while in Italy it is typically thicker. The term ''vermicelli'' is also used ...
, sliced
potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Uni ...
es, bean products, egg
dumpling Dumpling is a broad class of dishes that consist of pieces of dough (made from a variety of starch sources), oftentimes wrapped around a filling. The dough can be based on bread, flour, buckwheat or potatoes, and may be filled with meat, ...
s,
tofu Tofu (), also known as bean curd in English, is a food prepared by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into solid white blocks of varying softness; it can be ''silken'', ''soft'', ''firm'', ''extra firm'' or ''super f ...
, and
seafood Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs (e.g. bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters and mussels, and cephalopods such as octopus an ...
. Raw ingredients are pre-sliced into thin sections that will cook quickly and consistently in the simmering broth, which is maintained at a gentle boiling temperature. Most raw foods can be cooked in a hot pot, although they may have different cooking times, and must be immersed in the soup and then removed accordingly. At the conclusion of the meal, the broth has acquired many flavors from the added ingredients, and may be served to the diners after turning off the cooking heat source.


History

The tripods of
Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by th ...
may be the earliest prototypes of the hot pot. Diners among the nobility each had a personal pot made of bronze, and called ''ran lu'' (/燃爐). The main part of ''ran lu'' was a small stove with a small pot above burning charcoal. Later, a hot pot made with copper was created during the "Three Kingdoms period" (200–280 AD), which is generally acknowledged as the origin of the hot pot. During the
Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
, hot pot became popular among the emperors. In particular, the
Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, born Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1735 ...
was very fond of hot pot and would eat it for almost every meal. Later, the Jiaqing Emperor also had a banquet with 1,550 hot pots at his coronation. Empress Dowager Cixi was also known to have enjoyed hot pot, especially in the winter months. Since the 1990s, as the number of Chinese immigrants entering the United States has grown significantly, Chinese food has also spread to the United States, and hot pot has also moved to the forefront of the global culinary scene.


Common ingredients


Regional variations


Greater China


Mainland China

Chinese hot pots are often divided into "Southern style" and "Northern style", paralleling the cultural regions of China. Although there are wide regional variations, in general, Southern styles tend to have spicy broths, complex dipping sauces and are heavier on seafood, vegetables and mushrooms, while Northern styles are simpler and focus more on the meat, particularly
mutton Lamb, hogget, and mutton, generically sheep meat, are the meat of domestic sheep, ''Ovis aries''. A sheep in its first year is a lamb and its meat is also lamb. The meat from sheep in their second year is hogget. Older sheep meat is mutton. Gen ...
. According to research, 67 spices of spices and condiments are commonly used in traditional Chinese hotpot, involving 82 plant species of 50 genera in 26 families. Modern eateries offer a partitioned pot with differently-flavored broths in each section. More traditional or older establishments often serve a fragrant, mild broth in a large brass vessel heated by burning coals in a central chimney. The broth is simmered in a deep, donut-shaped bowl surrounding the chimney.


=Southern styles

= One of the most famous Southern variations is the Chongqing hot pot (Chinese: 重庆火锅), which uses ''mala'' seasoning flavored with chilli peppers and Sichuan pepper for a spicy and numbing flavor. Chongqing hotpots often feature a wide variety of different meats and ingredients, and offer many
sauce In cooking, a sauce is a liquid, cream, or semi-solid food, served on or used in preparing other foods. Most sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to a dish. ''Sauce'' is a French wor ...
s and
condiment A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to impart a specific flavor, to enhance the flavor, or to complement the dish. A table condiment or table sauce is more specifically a condiment that is served separat ...
s to flavor the meat. The typical dipping sauce contains sesame oil and is mixed with crushed fresh garlic and chopped spring onions. Due to the high humidity in the region, local people eat spicy food to remove the moisture from their bodies.
Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of t ...
also has a number of "dry" hot pots such as mala xiangguo (Chinese: 麻辣香锅), which are similar to ''mala'' hot pot in ingredients and seasoning, but
stir-fry Stir frying () is a cooking technique in which ingredients are fried in a small amount of very hot oil while being stirred or tossed in a wok. The technique originated in China and in recent centuries has spread into other parts of Asia and ...
them instead of cooking in broth. In neighbouring
Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...
, although spicy broths are equally popular, there is another predominant type of hot pot that is made with various wild or farmed mushrooms. It is called the Wild Mushroom hot pot (). Due to the vast forests and abundant natural resources in
Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...
, people can find a wide variety of edible mushrooms. The easily accessible and fresh mushroom resources lead to the high popularity of the Wild Mushroom hot pot. The big difference between the mushroom hot pot and the spicy hot pot is that the former omits strong spice and chili, and the latter preserves the original flavor of the mushrooms. The mushroom hot pot is also seasonal, depending on the availability of local mushrooms. A
Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding a ...
variation includes mixing a raw egg with the condiments to reduce the amount of "heat" absorbed by the food, thereby reducing the likelihood of a sore throat after the steamboat meal, according to Chinese herbalist theories. In Hainan cuisine hot pot is generally served in small woks with a prepared broth containing pieces of meat. At the time of serving, the meat is not fully cooked, and approximately fifteen minutes are required before it is ready to eat. Items supplied to be cooked in this type of hot pot include mushrooms, thinly-shaved beef or goat meat, lettuce, and other green vegetables. This dish varies somewhat in different parts of the province.
Coconut milk Coconut milk is an opaque, milky-white liquid extracted from the grated pulp of mature coconuts. The opacity and rich taste of coconut milk are due to its high oil content, most of which is saturated fat. Coconut milk is a traditional food ...
and juice is commonly added into the hot pot. In
Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with it ...
and
Zhejiang cuisine Zhejiang cuisine, alternatively known as Zhe cuisine, is one of the Eight Culinary Traditions of Chinese cuisine. Zhejiang cuisine contains four different styles, Hangzhou, Shaoxing, Ningbo, and Wenzhou (also known as Ou cuisine). It derives fr ...
,
chrysanthemum Chrysanthemums (), sometimes called mums or chrysanths, are flowering plants of the genus ''Chrysanthemum'' in the family Asteraceae. They are native to East Asia and northeastern Europe. Most species originate from East Asia and the cent ...
flowers are cooked in the broth to give it a floral essence.


=Northern styles

= Instant-boiled mutton () could be viewed as representative of "northern style hot pot", which focus on the main ingredients rather than the soup base. Water is used as the main ingredient of the hotpot instead of the flavored broth. The
Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) an ...
hot pot () uses plenty of '' suan cai'' (Chinese sauerkraut) () to make the broth sour. In Hubei cuisine, hot pot is normally prepared with hot spices and Sichuan pepper. Items supplied to be cooked in this broth include mushrooms, thinly-shaved beef or lamb, lettuce, and various other green vegetables.


Taiwan

In
Taiwanese cuisine Taiwanese cuisine (, Bopomofo:ㄊㄞˊㄨㄢˉㄌㄧㄠˋㄌㄧˇ, or , Bopomofo:ㄊㄞˊㄨㄢˉㄘㄞˋ) has several variations. The earliest known cuisines of Taiwan are that of the Taiwanese indigenous peoples. Over hundred years of histor ...
, it is very common to eat hotpot food with a dipping sauce consisting of
shacha sauce Shacha sauce (; also spelled sa cha sauce) is a savory, slightly spicy Chinese condiment used in Teochew, Fujian, and Taiwanese cuisines. It is made from soybean oil, garlic, shallots, chilies, Chinese brill, and dried shrimp. It is also sometim ...
and raw egg yolk with stir-fried beef. (沙茶牛肉炉). One of the most authentic hotpot restaurants that locals widely praise is a hotpot restaurant called “Xiao Haozhou's sha-cha beef hot pot.” This restaurant was founded in 1949 by a man named Musheng Chen. The popularity of this hot pot restaurant and its unique secret recipe of sha-cha sauce has become one of the iconic sha-cha sauce brands in Taiwanese cuisine nowadays. Initially, this hotpot is only assorted with a light broth and dip with sha-cha source. Influenced by Japanese cuisine, the sha-cha source is now commonly served with raw egg yolk. The Taiwanese also developed their Taiwanese style of chili hotpot originated from the Sichuan chili hotpot style. In the Taiwanese style of chili hotpot, people who barely tolerate spicy favor are included. Rather than using animal offal as the main ingredient, the Taiwanese style of chili hotpot uses seafood and beef as their main ingredient due to Taiwan's locational characteristics of nearing the sea. In Taiwan, people usually have a hotpot meal during the Chinese Lunar New Year's Eve. Different from the usual days of cooking hotpots with whatever ingredients they like, the Taiwanese follow the principles of Wu-Xing (the five-element principle) when cooking the Lunar year Taiwan hotpot. They believe that by following the current principle of these five elements, then the food they eat can gain a “mutual generation sequence” (xiangsheng 相生) that is beneficial to the ones that eat them. In Taiwanese hotpot, these five elements are represented with the food in five colors: white, black, yellow, red, and green. Therefore, the five indispensable foods are * stew turnip, which represents white; * mushroom, which represents black; * burdock or pumpkin, which represents yellow; * carrot or tomato, which represents red and reddish leaves, which represent green. Moreover, locals believe that the more color there are shown in a hotpot, the more different nutrients they will gain from eating it. The reason why it is so crucial for Taiwanese people to consume hot pot during the Lunar year is that hot pot not only represents rich nutrition and blessings for family health, but it also represents family reunion and harmony.


Japan

In Japan, hot pots are known as nabemono. There are many variations, including sukiyaki,
yosenabe ''Nabemono'' (鍋物, なべ物, ''nabe'' "cooking pot" + ''mono'' "thing"), or simply ''nabe'', is a variety of Japanese hot pot dishes, also known as one pot dishes and "things in a pot". Description Nabemono are stews and soups containing ...
,
shabu-shabu ''Shabu-shabu'' ( ja, しゃぶしゃぶ, shabushabu) is a Japanese ''nabemono'' hotpot dish of thinly sliced meat and vegetables boiled in water and served with dipping sauces. The term is onomatopoeic, derived from the sound – "swish swi ...
, oden, and chankonabe.


Korean

There are two main Korean style hotpot, Jeongol (전골) and Budae Jjigae (부대찌개). Both hotpot have similar spicy broth, loaded with Kimchi, spam, sausages, vegetables and noodles.


Southeast Asia


Cambodia

In
Cambodian cuisine Cambodian cuisine is an umbrella term for the cuisines of all ethnic groups in Cambodia, whereas Khmer cuisine ( km, សិល្បៈធ្វើម្ហូបខ្មែរ; ) refers specifically to the more than thousand years old culi ...
, hot pot is called ''yao hon'' (យ៉ាវហន), though some regions call it ''chhnang pleurng'' (ឆ្នាំងភ្លើង), which literally translates to "pot fire". It is usually eaten during celebrations or family gatherings. Just like the Chinese version, Cambodian hot pot consist of similar ingredients although the dish differs in that
coconut milk Coconut milk is an opaque, milky-white liquid extracted from the grated pulp of mature coconuts. The opacity and rich taste of coconut milk are due to its high oil content, most of which is saturated fat. Coconut milk is a traditional food ...
is used as the base of the soup. Another variation of the dish is called "buttered yao hon" or "buttered chhnang pleurng"; the same ingredients are used but are instead cooked on a flat grill pan where butter is used as the base (this is similar to Korean barbecue). An herb sauce is usually added to "buttered yao hon", since the ingredients are not flavored by immersion in a broth.


Philippines

In
Philippine cuisine Filipino cuisine ( fil, lutong Pilipino/pagkaing Pilipino) is composed of the cuisines of more than a hundred distinct ethnolinguistic groups found throughout the Philippine archipelago. A majority of mainstream Filipino dishes that compose Fi ...
, hotpot is commonly served by Chinese specialty restaurants, and in some all-you-can-eat
buffet A buffet can be either a sideboard (a flat-topped piece of furniture with cupboards and drawers, used for storing crockery, glasses, and table linen) or a system of serving meals in which food is placed in a public area where the diners serve ...
s. The terms ''shabu-shabu'' and "hotpot" are also used interchangeably for this style of food preparation. In
Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Sugbo; fil, Lungsod ng Cebu; hil, Dakbanwa sang Sugbo), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines and capital of the Cebu Province. Ac ...
, a specialty restaurant offers a "hot pot" that is literally a huge ceramic pot filled with cooked rice, choice of
beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantit ...
,
pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved ...
, or
chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...
slices, special sauce, and choice vegetables such as
broccoli Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large flowering head, stalk and small associated leaves are eaten as a vegetable. Broccoli is cla ...
,
carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, ''Daucus carota'', na ...
,
shallot The shallot is a botanical variety (a cultivar) of the onion. Until 2010, the (French red) shallot was classified as a separate species, ''Allium ascalonicum''. The taxon was synonymized with '' Allium cepa'' (the common onion) in 2010, as the ...
,
ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is a herbaceous perennial which grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of ...
, pechay, kangkong leaves, spices, and some slices of hard-boiled eggs on top; it is more similar to '' kamameshi'' than the namesake.


Thailand

In
Thai cuisine Thai cuisine ( th, อาหารไทย, , ) is the national cuisine of Thailand. Thai cooking places emphasis on lightly prepared dishes with strong aromatic components and a spicy edge. Australian chef David Thompson, an expert on Thai ...
, hotpot is called '' Thai suki'', although it is quite different from the Japanese ''shabu-shabu'' variation called '' sukiyaki''. Originally a Chinese-style hot pot, the number of ingredients to choose from was greatly increased and a Thai-style dipping sauce with chili sauce, chilli, lime, and
coriander Coriander (;
leaves was added. Another variation is '' mu kratha'', the Thai hot pot which originated from Korean barbecue combined with ''Thai suki''. In the Northeast region, a similar style of cooking called chim chum where thinly sliced meat is cooked in clay pots on charcoal stove is also popular.
Tom Yum Tom yum or tom yam (, ; th, ต้มยำ, ) is a type of hot and sour Thai soup, usually cooked with shrimp (prawn). The words "tom yam" are derived from two Thai words. ''Tom'' refers to the boiling process, while ''yam'' means 'mixed'. ...
is a common soup base for Thai hot pot.


Vietnam

In
Vietnamese cuisine Vietnamese cuisine encompasses the foods and beverages of Vietnam. Meals feature a combination of five fundamental tastes ( vi, ngũ vị, links=no, label=none): sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and spicy. The distinctive nature of each dish refle ...
, a hot pot is called ''lẩu'' or ''cù lao''. There are many styles of lẩu ranging from seafood ''lẩu hải sản'',
canh chua ''Canh chua'' (, ''sour soup'')The term ''canh'' refers to a clear broth with vegetables and often meat, and ''chua'' means "sour". or ''cá nấu'' ("cooked fish") is a Vietnamese sour soup indigenous to the Mekong Delta region of Southern V ...
soup-base (''lẩu canh chua'') or salted fish hot pot (''lẩu mắm'').


Europe


Switzerland

In Swiss cuisine, a variation of the traditional Chinese hot pot locally called ''fondue chinoise'' (lit. "Chinese fondue") is a popular Christmas meal. Various types of meat, fish and vegetables are boiled in a shared pot of broth. Various sauces and pickled condiments are provided on the side. After all the diners have finished cooking, they eat the now well-flavored broth often combined with thin noodles.


Similar dishes

* Instant-boiled mutton * '' Jeongol'' - Korea ** '' Sinseollo'' * '' Nabemono'' - Japan ** ''
Shabu-shabu ''Shabu-shabu'' ( ja, しゃぶしゃぶ, shabushabu) is a Japanese ''nabemono'' hotpot dish of thinly sliced meat and vegetables boiled in water and served with dipping sauces. The term is onomatopoeic, derived from the sound – "swish swi ...
'' ** '' Sukiyaki'' ** '' Oden'' ** '' Chankonabe'' *''Yao Hon'' (យ៉ាវហន) or ''Chhnang Pleurng'' (ឆ្នាំងភ្លើង) - Cambodia **Buttered ''Chhnang Pleurng'' * '' Thai suki'' * '' Mu kratha'' – also called "Thai hot pot" or ''mookata'' * Clay pot cooking – referred to as "hot pot" or "hotpot" on Chinese restaurant menus in English-speaking regions * Lancashire hotpot – a dish referred to as "hot pot" (or "hotpot") in Britain *
Stew A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. A stew needs to have raw ingredients added to the gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables a ...
– may include similar ingredients but is not necessarily cooked the same way * '' Yong tau foo'' * ''Fondue Bourguignonne'' and ''Fondue chinoise''


See also

*
Buffet A buffet can be either a sideboard (a flat-topped piece of furniture with cupboards and drawers, used for storing crockery, glasses, and table linen) or a system of serving meals in which food is placed in a public area where the diners serve ...
* Fondue * List of Chinese dishes *
List of stews This is a list of notable stews. A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables (such as carrots, potatoes, bean ...


References


Further reading

* * * * * *


External links

* * * *A blog related to Chines
Hot pot
at G Adventures *An article related to Hot pot at WikiHow {{Yunnan cuisine Beijing cuisine Cantonese cuisine Chinese inventions Chongqing cuisine Hong Kong cuisine Japanese cuisine Jin dynasty (1115–1234) Sichuan cuisine Stews Table-cooked dishes Yunnan cuisine Communal eating