Chinese Hot Pot - a very interesting meal

Sept 27, 2007
Last night we went out with the office staff for what they call Hot Pot. It is sort of like fondue, but only as the Chinese can do it.


There were 10 of us so we had a big round table. There is a hot plate in the middle where the soup pot sits. Since there were so many people we got 2 soups. One was hot & sour, the other a meat broth of some kind (better not to ask). They couldn’t really explain to us what it was. Lots of things are like that here, you just have to go on blind faith or figure ignorance is bliss!

The first thing you do is put some condiments into your small bowl. This is the bowl that you will put your cooked food into after taking it out of the soup. There were about 16 choices of items. The ones I can remember are: peanut sauce, parsley, red chilies, green chilies, sesame seeds in vinegar, green onions, a bunch of different spices that I didn’t recognize.

I had been hiking all day, so I was very tired. I was not that happy that I’d have to cook my own food. Sometimes I feel like, if I’m spending all this money, I’d like them to cook the food, I don’t want to do all that work. But after a few beers I got feeling better.

Once we’d picked out condiments they started bringing dishes of raw food to the table. There were several kinds of veggies (tomato wedges, corn on the cob in small sections, mushrooms, lettuce, cabbage type greens, and other stuff I didn’t recognize). Then of course the meat & seafood, which included beef tongue, sliced beef, pork that was like spam, mutton, shrimp, scallops, shrimp paste, squid, fish balls with cheese inside, jellyfish, and other things that we didn’t recognize. There were about 4 kinds of dumplings also. Fortunately no chickens feet or ducks tongue. Each person had a little basket on a long stick that you put your food into, then placed it into the soup of your choice. You let it cook until you thought it was done or the Chinese folks told you it was time & then you dipped it in your bowl of condiments.

They did order one thing that was already cooked & it was delicious. There was one plate of shrimp bodies with potato wedges roasted with garlic & chili peppers. The other plate had the shrimp heads with potato wedges. Interestingly the Chinese preferred the heads to the bodies, which made the rest of us very happy. I did try a head & it was OK, but had a funky taste, not like shrimp.

As we cooked & ate the table began to clear off of the plates with the raw foods & I was feeling very satisfied when the waiter showed up with an entire now supply of everything. I think we were resupplied 2 more times. They tend to definitely overdo it with the amount of food they order. This happens every time we go out.

As the meal got towards the end, the locals asked John if he’d be interested trying pig brain. To there delight he said “sure, I’ll try that”. They were thrilled & took it another step. “John, how about fish lips?” John – “what the heck, how big can fish lips be”. Keep in mind I was only drinking beer, but everyone else was drinking sake, a favorite of the Cadmus HK office staff. The brains & lips arrived and we cooked them up & gave them a try. They didn’t really have much taste. The brains were like very soft tofu & the lips were chewy and tasteless, just like you’d imagine fish lips to be!! The staff was most impressed that we tried these items. The other Americans & the Thai who were with us, passed on these. I think John scored lots of “native” points with his willingness to try to local foods. Don’t worry, these items did not go to waste, the locals gobbled them up.

Pig Brains

Fish lips on right side of photo, shrimp heads on left
Fortunately we did not have to cook our own desserts. They brought a fruit tray and a sampler platter of cakes & puddings. These were just what every Westerner would want to see on a dessert plate, nothing strange to try.