Hot pot, or 火鍋 (huǒ guō, lit. "fire pot"), is a delicious way to eat Chinese food. Wikipedia says it is popular in many East Asian countries and in many forms, but on a number of occasions I've had the same style of Chinese hot pot each time. Basically, you heat up a big bowl/wok full of water, add a bunch of flavoring, and put various veggies and meats in there. Think of it as Chinese fondue, without chocolate or strawberries or the $150 bill from The Melting Pot.
Richard is a great dude. He says he probably wants to go to business school in the US after CEI and I'm positive that he'll do incredibly well there as he is unbelievably quick-witted (hard enough in your native language, but he's sharp as a tack in English, too). He's dating another CEI fellow, Sophie, who lives almost 3 hours north of us. They use the weekends to act out scenes from The Sound of Music for local children in orphanages. Actually they usually go to Yunxian and go shopping, but close enough.
This past Friday (Oct. 22), Richard decided to use the new kitchen equipment River bought in order to impress his lady-friend with his unmatched hot pot cooking skills. He cleaned bowls, he rinsed veggies, and he ordered River and me to open disgusting cans of Chinese spam! (Yes, it's as bad as it sounds. Probably worse.) Apparently nobody was selling meat in Dazhai that day, so veggies and spam were about the main hot pot ingredients. There was also tofu. Mmm, tofu…
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(L to R) Richard, Sophie, and River enjoy our bootleg "restaurant."
Richard, being from Sichuan and all, is a hot pot master. He prepared small metal bowls full of vinegar, chopped up green onions, special Chinese spices, and various other seasonings. As I mentioned above, you drop the meat and veggies into the hot water and let it cook. Once cooked, you grab the food out and put it in your little bowl full of tasty spices to add some flavor, and then take a little nibble.
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This is the bowl with vinegar and all of those tasty spices.
More pictures below.
We sat around for a few hours, drinking beers, burning our tongues on the scalding tofu slices and cabbage. Then River and I played an absolutely mythic game of Age of Empires 2 for 5 hours and beat the computer. Here are a few more pictures from the night:
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Step back, let the master get to work.
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Richard being the best boyfriend he knows how to be. Sophie's totally eating it up.
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I don't know if Gareth was surprised by the flash, ate something really hot, or just saw Richard peeing in the hot pot.
bootleg restaurant/ghetto clothesline in one?! awe. some.
are those metal chopsticks? they are neat!