Hot Pot & Fondue • 火鍋和瑞士火鍋
Updated: Jul 3, 2021
Hello, my name is Halden Levin, and you are listening to Little Dragon’s Journey. 你好！我叫李靜辰，你正在聽小龍的旅程。
Transition Music（音樂）
Every year, on Christmas Eve, my family goes to Church for the Christmas Eve service and then has a fondue feast. This year, due to the pandemic, we won’t be going to Church in-person, and we also won’t be having fondue because I decided we should try something different, which is hot pot. If we don’t do hot pot on Christmas, then I think we will around the New Year.
In some respects, hot pot and fondue are quite similar. The basic concept of both is that you have a pot with a substance in which you cook food piece by piece and then sometimes flavor the food with sauces or aromatics. Of course, there are some significant differences between the two.
Fondue originates from Switzerland and traditionally consists of cheese and wine mixed with aromatics and other seasonings. There are many different types of cheeses and wines that can be utilized, but white wine and gruyere is a common pairing. Besides cheese, broths, chocolate, oils, and wines without cheese are other types of substances used for fondue. As a matter of fact, fondue made with broth is fondue chinoise in French, which literally translates to Chinese fondue. To eat fondue, people use fondue/dipping forks to dip usually bread in the cheese. Depending on the type of fondue, different types of foods are dipped. Refreshing bits of garlic, onion, olives, etc. are served on the side along with alcohol, tea, and other drinks.
Hot pot (or huo3 guo1) originates from China, where exactly in China, that’s rather debatable, and consists of a pot of simmering broth in which vegetables, meats, noodles, etc. are cooked. Commonly, the cooked food is dipped in sauces before being eaten, which not only serves to add flavor but also to cool off the steaming hot food. Cold beer, hot tea, and other drinks are commonly consumed on the side. Regional variations of hot pot can be found throughout China, and other countries, such as Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, also have their own takes on hot pot.
When I was living in Chengdu, I had the opportunity to eat hot pot two or three times. The Sichuan province is well known for their numbingly spicy peppers, and such is a common addition to hot pot broths. However, the first time I had hot pot, I was with my host family, and the pot they ordered had a small section in the middle for a less spicy broth. Although you can have hot pot with just one broth, it’s pretty common for people to order multiple broths, having one in the middle and one surrounding or one broth on one side and another on the other side.
My first hot pot experience was wonderful. I love being able to choose what ingredients I want to cook and eat. Every time I had hot pot in Chengdu, I ate tons of mushrooms, cabbage, and tofu. I personally shied away from dipping sauces. At the first hot pot restaurant we went to, I believe they only offered a bowl of oil with garlic and green onions to add into the oil. I believe I have a few blog posts on those hot pot experiences, so please feel free to check those out here and here and here. One time we went to a hot pot restaurant, I remember the floor was really slippery, and I fell down the stairs. So embarrassing!
Preparing a hot pot meal requires quite a bit of thought, research, and preparation. My plan of attack has been to (1) figure out what equipment and ingredients I need to purchase, (2) purchase said equipment and ingredients, (3) prepare the ingredients, and (4) serve hot pot.
I was honestly surprised to discover the extensive number of resources available on how to have hot pot at home. As per usual, I first checked out the resources available from the Omnivore’s Cookbook, the Woks of Life, and China Sichuan Food. Wirecutter from the New York Times also has a useful article on this topic.
After reading their articles, I crafted a list of equipment and ingredients to purchase at the Grand Asia Market. My list is rather long. For equipment, I determined that I need to purchase an electric hot pot, additional reusable chopsticks, and strainers. Instead of an electric hot pot, you can also use a Dutch oven or similar pan on top of a Bunsen burner or hot plate. The chopsticks and strainers are for cooking and eating; I already have chopsticks on hand, but I need to purchase some additional chopsticks to serve my whole family.
For the broth, I decided to make my own using this recipe from the Omnivore’s Cookbook. Pre-made hot pot broth mixes/bases are fairly common at Asian markets and online, but I wanted to have more control over the ingredients being put into the broth, as well as control the spice level a little more. Broth/Base ingredients include dried chili peppers, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, cloves, fermented black beans, mushroom bouillon, and vegetable broth.
For the food to be dipped, I decided to go with a nice variety of options, including baby bok choy, Napa cabbage, lotus root, pumpkin, potato, enoki mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, beech mushrooms, tofu, tofu skins, and thinly sliced beef. On the side, I decided to purchase ginger and scallions. I already have soy sauce, rice vinegar, and other condiments/sauce ingredients on hand.
At this point, I’ve haven’t purchased the equipment and ingredients yet or got started with food prep, but soon I will head over to the Grand Asia Market, prep ingredients and the hot pot base/broth, and serve a delicious at-home hot pot meal. I’m very excited and will share pictures as soon as I make it to step four of this extensive process.
If you are interested in having an authentic hot pot meal in North Carolina that you don’t have to make yourself, I recommend So Hot in Cary, North Carolina. After coming back from the Sichuan Province in 2018, I really wanted to give my family the opportunity to try hot pot, and that’s how I found So Hot. We’ve been there twice, and we would definitely go again.
Fondue Information Sources:
Hot Pot Information Sources:
Transition Music（音樂）
Please visit haldenlevin.wixsite.com/littledragonjourney to access the transcript of this episode, and know you are always welcome to contact me through my website, email, or social media. Thank you for joining Little Dragon’s Journey. 謝謝你們參加小龍的旅程。拜拜！
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