Chinese Hot Pot

Chinese Hot Pot was one of my favorite ways to eat Chinese food. I was never 100% sure what I was eating, but friends always would assure me that I would like it when trying something new or unrecognizable, and most of the time they were right.

Many of the Chinese people value the the freshness of their food being brought to them when they go to a restaurant. The Chinese Hot Pot allows the patrons of the restaurant to cook their own food at the table, so it is as fresh as it could possibly be. The Hot Pot restaurants had large round tables with seating for about 8-10 per table with a hot plate in the middle of the table. A large pot of water was placed on the hot plate and was brought to a boil. You could then order your uncooked food and have it delivered to the table. Most of the food choices were cuts of meat, vegetables and many various dumplings. The very best meat was the unfrozen meat, because it would have been the freshest available. You would place the uncooked food in the water and let it come to a boil until it was finally cooked. As more various different types of food were placed in the water it made an interesting type broth which made the food taste even better.

As always, I tried to perform the proper table etiquette whenever I was eating with friends. I liked learning the new etiquette that should be observed with chopsticks, but one of the new things I learned about Hot Pots wasn't an etiquette ideal, it was more or less of a health concern. I had to always remember to place my chopsticks in the hot boiling water after I had put raw meat in the water because the ends of my chopsticks must then be sterilized after touching the raw meat. I know I forgot to do this a few times and fortunately never got sick, but it was a new eating style habit I had to learn.

Just like all the other eating places in Hong Kong, this restaurant was very noisy, full of the sounds of hot boiling water, plates clinking and loud chatter from all the guests. I really enjoyed the couple of times I had a Hot Pot. It was a lot of fun to choose and cook my own food while trying new and interesting things and I always met new friends while out with my own friends.