As someone who travels to China every summer, there are a lot of foods that I have tasted. Based on my experience, this is my favorite food that I recommend you try when you visit China.
When visiting China, me, my mom, dad and my sister would go visit my cousins and grandparents. We always go out to eat different kinds of food, but Hot Pot is one of our favorites. Now you might ask, what is a Hot Pot? Well, it is an interactive meal where there is a pot of soup stock at the dining table with East Asian foods, ready to be cooked. It is a main dish and its Chinese name is called “Huoguo.”
Hot Pot ingredients may include thin meat, vegetables, mushrooms, tofu, bean products, seafood, and basically anything you want to eat. By placing it in the soup, waiting for it to be cooked and then taking it out, dipping it in the sauces prepared for you, taking a bite brings satisfaction. Different ingredients have different cook times, and most raw foods can be cooked in a hot pot, some must be removed accordingly by time.
Hot Pot originated from the tripods of the Zhou dynasty. Empress Dowager Cixi was known to enjoy hot pot, along with Qianlong Emperor who was very fond of it and Jiaqing Emperor who had a banquet with 1,550 hot pots at his coronation.
Hot pot meals can enhance friendship and unite families because several people sit around the pot, talking, it makes people feel relaxed and it is very popular in winter and in cold places, since the hot pot itself is warm.
Hot Pot is extremely popular among Chinese foods and it is a must have when visiting China, it has become the major attraction of the tourism industry in some areas, go try it out for yourself.