Hot pot is a style of Chinese eating that involves a hot pot and raw food, all put together while surrounded by people. It is a meal that doesn’t have a specific taste and doesn’t need a special reason to enjoy it; a hot pot is just a really convenient way of eating. With a hot pot, you can fit a group of about seven people around a boiling pot to have a meal. You choose the broth that is boiling and the type of meat and vegetables you would like with your meal. All of the food is given to you raw and you are responsible for throwing it into the hot pot and eating it.
When I first tried hot pot, my friends and I went to a restaurant that only had beef options. We were given the menu and we were told to pick what we wanted to eat. The food was given to us raw and it was our responsibility to cook the food. We ordered a spicy broth, five plates of different cuts of beef from a cow, mushrooms, potatoes, spinach, eggplant, corn, and lettuce. You eat at your own pace as you do not need to put all of the food in at once. You eat in rounds, deciding as a group when and what to add to the hot pot. Once the food is in the pot, you are able to grab and eat whatever you like.
