User:Chicagooo/Hot pot

About the origin of hot pot, the hot pot began in the Han Dynasty, and "dou" means hot pot. The tomb of the Marquis of Haixuan in the Western Han Dynasty has unearthed a hot pot.^[1] It can be seen that hot pot has a history of more than 2000 years in China.

The Book of Wei also records that during the Three Kingdoms period, a hot pot made of copper was used to cook various kinds of meat such as pork, beef, sheep, chicken, and fish, but it was not popular at that time, and later, with the further development of cooking technology, various kinds of hot pot also shone. In the Northern Song Dynasty, hotpot was already very common among the people, and the taverns in Kaifeng, Bianjing, had hotpot in winter. Southern Song dynasty Lin Hong's "Mountain Home" recipe, there will be with friends to eat hot pot introduction. Yuan Dynasty, hot pot spread to Mongolia, to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, hot pot was not only popular among the people, and became a famous "court cuisine", with ingredients such as mountain chicken wild game. By the end of the Qing dynasty, the early Republic of China, the country has formed dozens of different kinds of hot pots and each with its characteristics. In the Muromachi era in Japan, a hot pot was introduced from China to Japan in 1338. Japan calls hot pot "Sukiyaki (Sukiyaki)" also known as "Hoe Yaki". Today, hot pot has also been introduced to the United States, France, England, and other countries.^[2]

Han Dynasty (206 B.C.E. – 220 C.E.)The philosophical meaning of hot pot can be identified from historical documentation as well. Although there are several legends of its origin and not a lot of evidence left, the most common and believed one is that the hot pot began in the Han Dynasty. Through the research of the unearthed cultural relics, the Eastern Han (25 – 220 C.E.) relic, "Dongdou" (bronze hot pot), was discovered. In Haihunhou Cemetery, the burial place of Liu He the emperor of the Western Han Dynasty (202 B.C.E. – 8 C.E.), a fire boiler was found. Those critical excavations are contributing findings and support that hotpot had appeared at least from the Han Dynasty (“The Historical Origin of Hot Pot”).^[3]

Warring States Period (475 – 221 B.C.E.)Another piece of literacy text, Han shi waizhuan written by master Han Yin around 150 B.C.E., also provides a possible answer to hot pot origin. Dated further back to the Warring States Period (475 – 221 B.C.E.), the concept of Chinese hotpot had already been developed and used in celebrating feasts. In the collection of songs, one piece of the song wrote: “bells were hit, and tripods were displayed.” This song describes a scenario that ancient people celebrated a sacrificial ceremony by hitting the bell, and the tripod was used as a fire-pot. They gathered around the tripod and put the meat, mainly beef and mutton, into the vast cooking vessel. The well-cooked meat was divided and distributed to each individual’s bowl. The idea of eating hotpot may evolve from this primitive way of adding and cooking all the raw ingredients in a simmering metal pot at the center of people, and the tripod is considered the prototype of hotpot (Han N.P.; “The Historical Origin of Hot Pot”).^[4]

Three Kingdoms (220 – 280 C.E.)When the time moved to the period of Three Kingdoms (220 – 280 C.E.), The Book of Wei (Wei Shu) documented that Cao Pei, the Kind of Wei Dynasty, used wu shu fu (a cooking kettle with five interior dividers) to cook a variety of food separately at the same time, which was the earliest shabu-shabu pot in the world (Wei N.P.; “The Historical Origin of Hot Pot”).^[5]

Northern and Southern Dynasties (386 – 589 C.E.)In the Northern and Southern Dynasties (386 – 589 C.E.), the copper tripod, Tong ding, had become the most common household utensil which developed into the modern hot pot. It can be inferred that hot pot has been a communal concept and cuisine from this period. There was no social status or prestige involved; lower-class people had access to it as well. The wealth may have better raw meat and more types of vegetables, but the manner of how to eat was same for people across the social class: they all used the firepot (“The Historical Origin of Hot Pot”).^[6]

Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 C.E.)In the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 C.E.), poetic works recorded hot pot in more detail. The renowned poet, Bai Juyi, described the scene of eating hot pot in his famous poem, "An invitation of my friend Liu Shijiu": " I have some recently fermented rice wine with green foam, the small terracotta pot stove is warm and inviting. There's a feeling of snow coming after dark, would you like to join me for a drink tonight?"In this piece of work, inviting his friend, Bai Juyi wished to treat his friend with hotpot in his own home. This invitation also reflects the cultural value of hotpot ——a bridge to cohere the friendship (“The Historical Origin of Hot Pot”).^[7]

Qing Dynasty (1636 – 1912)In the Qing Dynasty (1636 – 1912), there is another example of hotpot as cultural commensality. In 1713, the Qianlong Emperor hosted a renowned “Qiansou Banquet,” one of the biggest hotpot feasts in history. Qianlong himself was very fond of the hotpot. In this grand banquet, it was allegedly included over 5,000 people and a total of 1,500 simmering hot pots. Eating hotpot together is an effective way to connect people with a shared experience and bring them closer in a short time. Holding such a scale of feast, Qianlong intended to strengthen his control and power. He successfully created a festive and warm atmosphere and built intimate relationships with his fellows (Zhu N.P.; “The Historical Origin of Hot Pot”).^[8]

In Taiwanese cuisine, it is very common to eat hotpot food with a dipping sauce consisting of shacha sauce and raw egg yolk with stir-fried beef. (沙茶牛肉炉). One of the most authentic hotpot restaurants that locals widely praise is a hotpot restaurant called “Xiao Haozhou’s sha-cha beef hot pot.” This restaurant was founded in 1949 by a man named Musheng Chen. The popularity of this hot pot restaurant and its unique secret recipe of sha-cha sauce has become one of the iconic sha-cha sauce brands in Taiwanese cuisine nowadays.^[9] Initially, this hotpot is only assorted with a light broth and dip with sha-cha source. Influenced by Japanese cuisine, the sha-cha source is now commonly served with raw egg yolk.^[10]

The Taiwanese also developed their Taiwanese style of chili hotpot originated from the Sichuan chili hotpot style. In the Taiwanese style of chili hotpot, people who barely tolerate spicy favor are included. Rather than using animal offal as the main ingredient, the Taiwanese style of chili hotpot uses seafood and beef as their main ingredient due to Taiwan's locational characteristics of nearing the sea.^[10]

In Taiwan, people usually have a hotpot meal during the Chinese Lunar New Year’s Eve. Different from the usual days of cooking hotpots with whatever ingredients they like, the Taiwanese follow the principles of Wu-Xing (the five-element principle) when cooking the Lunar year Taiwan hotpot. They believe that by following the current principle of these five elements, then the food they eat can gain a “mutual generation sequence” (xiangsheng 相生) that is beneficial to the ones that eat them. In Taiwanese hotpot, these five elements are represented with the food in five colors: white, black, yellow, red, and green. Therefore, the five indispensable food are

• stew turnip, which represents white;
• mushroom or jew, which represents black;
• burdock or pumpkin, which represents yellow;
• carrot or tomato, which represents red and reddish leaves, which represent green.

Moreover, locals believe that the more color there are shown in a hotpot, the more different nutrients they will gain from eating it. The reason why it is so crucial for Taiwanese people to consume hot pot during the Lunar year is that hot pot not only represents rich nutrition and blessings for family health, but it also represents family reunion and harmony.^[11]

Japanese Hot pot is known as Nabemono in Japanese. Various Ingredients are cooked in a soup with dashi, soy sauce, and mirin and are seasoned with chill powder, yuzu zest, and spring onions. Every region of the country has its style of hot pot with its regional ingredients. Nonetheless, as a base, all Japanese hot pots have meats and other proteins, vegetables, mushrooms, noodles, and some other ingredients such as eggs and tofu.^[12]

1. Yoke-nabe (寄せ鍋)

Yosenabe is the most fundamental Japanese hotpot style, and it can be simply called the “everything hotpot.” This hotpot is assorted with a dash-based broth with no constraints to the ingredients. Chicken, seafood, tofu, and vegetables are the common ingredients.^[13]

2. Sukiyaki (すき焼き)

Sukiyaki is a popular Japanese-style hotpot assorted with a sweet and salty soy sauce-based broth, featuring with thinly sliced beef for pork and vegetables. Traditionally, sukiyaki is cooked in a cast-iron pot, with the thinly sliced beef or pork being seared first in the iron pot and served with dipped raw egg. After the sliced beef has finished, the hotpot will then add broth and other ingredients such as tofu and vegetables into the pot. Japan has two different sukiyaki style receipts: the Kansai style and the Kanto style. The Kansai style specifically sears the mean before putting other ingredients and broth into the pot, while the Kanto style makes the sukiyaki sauce into the broth directly and serves all the ingredients simultaneously. The nowadays common sukiyaki hotpot receipt combines both the Kansai and Kanto style.^[14]

3. Shabu Shabu (しゃぶしゃぶ)

Shabu Shabu is a popular Japanese-style hotpot similar to sukiyaki while assorted with a clear kombu-based dashi broth, featuring with thinly sliced beef for pork and vegetables. Ponzu or sesame are typical dip sources served in Shabu Shabu. The name “Shabu Shabu” is a Japanese onomatopoeia that indicates the “swish swish” sounds when storing mean and vegetables with chopsticks in the hotpot. Traditionally, Shabu Shabu is cooked in a Japanese clay pot called donate (土鍋). The uncooked ingredients are typically served on two large plates before the meal starts, including one plate for the sliced meat and the other one with the vegetables and tofu, respectively. Shabu Shabu is similar to sukiyaki, with the sliced beef slightly thicker than the one in the sukiyaki style.^[15]

4. Oden (おでん)

Oden is a classic winter comfort dish in Japan that is usually found in specialty restaurants and convenience stores. Oden is assorted with a soy sauce-based dashi broth featuring fish cake, fried tofu, mochi, boiled eggs, konnyaku, kombo, and vegetables. Oden has become a popular night snack for the locals with its one-pot dish characteristics. It has also spread to other Asian countries, such as China, where it has been called (关东煮).^[16]

5. Chanko-nabe (ちゃんこ鍋)

Chanko-nabe is also called Sumo stew, is assorted with a rich chicken-base dashi broth featuring all kinds of vegetables and proteins. While all other Japanese hotpots are frequently served during fall and winter, Chanko-nabe is particularly popular in spring. Chanko-nabe is traditionally served to sumo wrestlers for massive quantities wrestlers to gain weight. Therefore, Chanko-nabe is popular with its richness in protein as a hotpot.^[17]

6. Yodofu (湯豆腐)

Yodofu, also known as Hot Tofu, is a vegan-friendly dish assorted with miso broth featuring tofu. Yodofu specifically highlights the delicate flavor of soft tofu and is served with ponzu or sesame as a dipping sauce. Yodofu is popular among restaurants in Kyoto.^[18]

There are two main Korean style hotpot, Jeongol (전골) and Budae Jjigae (부대찌개). Both hotpot have similar spicy broth, loaded with Kimchi, spam, sausages, vegetables and noodles.

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