Hot Pot!

Now that we're back in America, we're able to have all kinds of yummy food that we miss when we're in China: cheddar, Hershey's chocolate, Mozzarella, really good Mexican food, real Italian, Stilton, Brie, Parmesan . . . . But the truth is that (aside from missing cheese) we really love the cuisine in China. And when we're craving western food, we can usually get what we want if we're willing to pay a little extra (usually still less than what we'd pay in the States . . . well, with the exception of cheese).

Our favorite things to eat in China are dumplings, noodles, and hot pot--a kind of do-it-yourself soup. Noodles and dumplings are easy to get because they're available at our school cafeteria, but some of our favorite experiences with Chinese food can only be had when we're with a Chinese friend. Many restaurants are set up in a family style, where people order a variety of dishes and then share them all from the middle of the table. These dishes tend to be more complicated to order (judging from the amount of negotiating and discussing we hear from our Chinese friends and the waitresses), and usually we're limited to places that have pictures on the menu or that we have experience ordering from.

A few weeks ago, however, we felt extra brave and set out with a group of friends to order hot pot. It was awesome. We ordered a variety of meats, lots of potatoes, cabbage, noodles, mushrooms, and other veggies. The "pot" sits in the middle of the table and can be split into two sections--one for spicy broth and the other for non-spicy. The broth has garlic, ginger, peppers, and lots of other spices and herbs that we couldn't recognize. It's wonderful!



Desiree