Once the weather turns “cold” in #vancouver, some friends of mine decided I needed to experience something called hot pot. Doesn’t sound like much and I actually thought it was a Canadian version of fondu.
Not exactly. All of this:
Ends up in this:
And it’s really good! You basically mark what you want on a menu, and they come around with this big plates of food. Granted we had eight people, but there were couples, groups of three and considerably larger groups as well. And all these people walking around with big plates of meat, veggies, what I’m guessing was a variety of seafood and stuff I don’t know how to describe other than little balls. Some turned out to be meat. Some turned out to be seafood. Some, well, I have no idea, but it was good.
All the food arrives uncooked. Hence the hot pot, which continues some kind of liquid soup and seasoning that you let boil. One side was spicy, made evident by a full top layer of chili peppers. The otherwise, lacking the layer of chili peppers, was mild. You throw what you want into the side you want, and stir it now and then while it cooks. When it looks done, you scoop it out and eat it. It takes some trial and error to figure out what is done v overcooked, but that’s part of the fun.
One thing that is a glaring difference, after being at home, is the heavy social aspect of Asian meals. Dim sum, for example, is a very social meal. You order for the table, pass, share and talk. Hot pot was very similar and sometimes we were all so engrossed in a conversation we forgot about the food. But there wasn’t an awkwardness when someone reached to scoop out food while talking, or while someone else was talking. It was expected. And the conversation maintained its flow. There wasn’t a dominate speaker, it moved around the table almost naturally.
Very different from my many American eating out experiences. That often varies by group. For hot pot I was really just along for the experience and moral support. They’re a tight group and rallied around a friend in need over a good meal. There’s something to that, too. I’ve been part of such rallies back home, but always as a participant.
New experience of being an outsider, yet being included.
The year of new experiences continues. Next up: snow shoeing!