Hot Pot
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Hot Pot
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Hot Pot (Simplified Chinese: 火锅; Traditional Chinese: 火鍋; Pinyin: Huǒ guō; also huoguo; Chinese hotpot) is a Chinese communal dining style built around a simmering pot of broth at the table: diners add thinly sliced meats, offal, seafood, tofu, vegetables, and noodles, then dip cooked pieces into sauces. Regional schools differ sharply—spicy mala broths of Sichuan Hot Pot and Chong Qing Hot Pot, clear-broth mutton of Instant-boiled Mutton, Teochew beef focus of Chaoshan Beef Hot Pot, and many local variants. Soft claims that one city invented all Chinese hot pot are folk. This page is an overview hub; detailed regional styles have their own articles.[1]
Characteristics
Shared bubbling pot; DIY cooking pace; strong regional broth personalities; sauce plates (sesame, shacha, fermented bean, etc.).
Ingredients (overview)
Broth base (mala, clear, tomato, herbal, and others); meats and vegetables; dipping sauces; optional divided yin-yang pot. Overview only.
History and culture
Long Chinese tradition of communal boiling pots with many regional evolutions; modern restaurant hot-pot chains popularized specialized broths nationwide. English says "hot pot" or "Chinese hotpot." See regional pages below.
Serving and variations
Evening communal meal. See Sichuan Hot Pot, Chong Qing Hot Pot, Instant-boiled Mutton, and Chaoshan Beef Hot Pot.